Anatomy of the Chevy Blazer
(Circa 1989):
-8 Rockford Fosgate Power 1000's
-16-15" Rockford Fosgate Woofers
-Morel & Dynaudio high frequency drivers
-Alpine high frequency amplifier
-Motorized amplifiers, head unit, and processors
-50 remote function alarm system (displayed in rear lift gate)
-Motorized rear side windows
(Circa 1994, focus on SPL)
-8 Rockford Fosgate 1000's were changed for 32-Rockford M500's
-All high end removed
-All alarm with remote functions removed
-1" thick polycarbonate windshield installed with steel brace Charging/Power System:Industry firsts:
-Custom-built charging system with 20v field winding voltage for the alternators vs. a standard 12V which typically would drop to around 9 volts. This system also had adjustments for voltage charge set point and current output in 20 amp increments. Also had LED display monitoring. System could charge up to 600 amps at 18.7 volts
-Custom-built 10, 0000 amp, 2-volt UPS (Uninterrupted Power Suppy) batteries. I used eight of these for 16-volt nominal voltage which was the first of its kind. They were 150 pounds each with dual plus and minus poles to handle the current
-Custom-built MCM 1000 million strand power cables, about the diameter of a Coke can. This was the main power distribution cable that would run from the batteries to the 1" copper buss distribution
-Custom built 1" copper buss bar system allowed all of the amplifier power wires to have equal and very short length for both plus and minus
-1/0 Silver power cable for alternator runs to batteries
-1 Farad bypass capacitors for filtering Preamp/Amplifier Industry firsts:
-Custom preamp distribution with build in signal matching amplifier. This allowed for multiple amplifiers to be connected at preamp level without typical voltage drop
-Custom-built outside podium that attached in the gas tank filler opening. This podium could control amplifier turn on/off, monitor output for each amp lifer, hit the button and make big SPL
-Custom-built amplifier monitoring system. Read the output voltage RMS and peak hold, speaker impedance, battery voltage, and temperature of each amplifier. This was very similar to a Fluke Oscope being attached to every amplifier but in a selectable format x 32
-Custom-built 16-channel delay preamp system for woofer time alignment
-Custom-built 200 volt capacity capacitor bank that was attached to the rail voltage of amplifiers Sound Q
-Custom fiberglass enclosure for all high frequency speakers in the doors
-Aperiodic Vero vents (industry first) for the mid-bass drivers in sealed enclosure
-Sound absorbing material on enclosure, ceiling, and dash
-Seats moved slightly to the middle to improve imaging, also an industry first Extras
Industry firsts:
-50 remote function alarm system. Would control motorized panels, head unit, EQ and processors, lighting, system powerSect
-120-volt flat panel lighting used through out (EL Lighting or Electroluminescent Lighting) Now used in cell phones or any other backlit panels. Much cooler than neon which was the craze at the time
-1" Thick polycarbonate windshield with steel brace
-Motorized internal chambers in enclosure. Used to change the airspace for sound quality to SPL CA&E: So why did you leave the car audio industry and what are you doing now?
MF: I am actually still in the car audio industry as a sales rep. I now co-own a rep company "The Wave Group" in Houston, Tx. We sell home and car products so I never got away from it at all.
Speakerworks Buick Grand National
Steve Brown's Acura