It doesn't matter how much money you have, you can't buy style. We've seen plenty of cars with "tricked out" systems in some expensive vehicles that no installer worth a damn would drive himself. Sometimes it's just a question of bad taste; other times, poor execution. None of that applies to this 2002 Cadillac Escalade. It belongs to NBA veteran forward Chris Mills, a car audio enthusiast if there ever was one. He's so into it he's part-owner of one of the best and most recognizable shops in the country, 310 Motoring. The guys there have developed such a strong reputation they have more work than they can handle. That rep is well earned, as you can see from the photo spread.
Cool Custom
Nelson Monge and Raul Becceril had the task of converting Chris' SUV into a multimedia marvel on wheels. Raul designed the system while Nelson handled the installation; and they had just six weeks to complete the job. Considering all the custom work that had to be done it's amazing they were able to pull it off. The sheer labor involved is mind-boggling: the blue interior, which was originally gray, was completely re-done, from the two-tone leather seats to the blue suede throughout: see the headliner and the rest of the upper interior panels. Notice the attention to detail: even the steering wheel gets the blue/gray motif. And all the accent panels around the radio and the dash were painted Horizon Blue to match the vehicle. There are more radical changes as well. The rear seat was cut into two bucket seats, which made it possible to run the center console from the front to back. Then above you have a custom sunroof: it only looks factory; believe us, it didn't come from GM that way.
High-End Sound
In the dash, practically everything was rearranged. The radio and HVAC were removed in favor of an Accele 10-inch monitor. Controls for heat and air conditioning were relocated to under the lid of the front end of the center console. Rear passengers access climate control separately with a cluster of knobs mounted on a fiberglass pod located on the ceiling, rear of the sunroof.
Below the monitor it's all F1 Status. Alpine's CDA-7990 tuner/CD player sits at the top. Below are the PXA-H900, Alpine's multimedia manager, which handles the DSP, and the DVA-5205 DVD player. (For more music there's a CHA-S624 six-disc CD changer tucked away at the bottom of the custom center console up front.) With this setup additional processors were hardly necessary.
The front stage is made up of a myriad of speakers. In the door, custom panels made out of MDF and fiberglass, painted to match the exterior of the vehicle, hold MB Quart's PSD 316 and 210 component sets. Like a basketball team, there are five players: two 4" midrange speakers, plus a 6" midbass and two 1" tweeters, which make up a formidable sonic force. In the A-pillars, beautifully integrated, you see the PSD 210 4" mid and the 1" tweet again. There's also a center channel that consists of MB's 4" midrange speaker in a fiberglass mount, mated with an RXC 110 tweeter that sits on top. The rear speakers are MB Quart's PSD 216's in customized panels in factory locations. As for speaker cable, 16 awg from Phoenix Gold (SS164) serves the mids and highs while the 12 awg (SS124) runs to the subwoofers.
There isn't a wrong note in the whole of this system design. Things are kept at a high level on the low end with three JL Audio 12W6 subwoofers in a sealed enclosure (the box is made of MDF and acrylic). Covered in suede, inside it's painted to match the exterior of the Escalade. But it sounds even better than it looks with great bass extension and an uncompromising quality of low frequency response.
The entire speaker setup is powered by five amps, four of which are visible through acrylic panels in the center console in the passenger row. (Notice also the 1-farad capacitors showing through the back of the console.) Two JL Audio 300/4's take care of the mids and highs in the doors; the 500/1 amp runs the subs, while a 300/2 takes care of the midbass. An Alpine SBS-0515 amp powers the center channel.
More Media
The multimedia equipment in the vehicle is impressive. There are a total of six monitors: overhead and just forward of the sunroof you have the Alpine TMX-R705 7-inch motorized flip-down monitor; in the headrests there are four 7-inch widescreen monitors from Accele that can serve individual entertainment needs via the Audiovox SDB 45 switching unit, which is accessible in the console in the back. There's also an SDB 45 on the center console up front. Passengers can choose between watching a video tape or DVD or playing on the PS2, which sits neatly in the rear of the center console. With Clarion's TV tuner you can catch a favorite program or local news. The VCR, an Alpine VPE-180A, was installed in the rear quarter panel, which makes for easy access; above it sits the Alpine navigation unit. And when the nav system isn't giving you directions you can rely on your own eyes; that is, through a rear camera installed in the back bumper.
With all this equipment the Escalade definitely needed a power upgrade. A 250-amp Wrangler alternator provides extra juice on top of the factory alternator that remains.
Moreover, there are three Optima Yellow Top batteries in the vehicle, one up front and two in the rear. And protecting it all, from front to end, is an Alpine alarm, the SEC-8063, which features remote-start, a hatch opener, and of course, control over the windows.
Rounding it out on the exterior are 24" Commanche rims from OZ wrapped in BFG 305/30/24's. Brembo brakes bring the huge wheels to a halt with ease, no matter how much Chris has been pushing the Whipple supercharged V8. Other performance products include a Flowmaster exhaust. The engine compartment received as much aesthetic care as the interior. That's when you know an enthusiast is a serious addict for details. Like a work of art, everything must conform to the vision and order of the design, regardless of whether or not others can see it. So of course it was important to have the Horizon Blue fiberglass panels in the engine compartment, which finish things off in high style.
The installation may have taken a month and a half to complete but in the end the time and the money, a not unreasonable $65K, was well worth it to Chris. The Escalade is his daily driver and now he can enjoy a slammin', very high-end A/V system everyday, much to the envy of everyone who's seen the ride - including us. Chris thanks Nelson and Raul for their incredible work; and we thank them for sharing it with us.