You've probably read all the magazine articles about this car by now. With the F50 successor nowhere to be see as yet, this is Ferrari's latest supercar. And it is super - beyond super. 400 horsepower at 8500 rpm. That's higher than even an Integra Type R. Only another Honda, the S2000 comes close, but the Ferrari is revving eight cylinders sky-high! This brand new Ferrari Modena belongs to James Chen of La Habra, California. James is also the owner of Axis Wheels, a very popular wheel manufacturer. The Axis Wheels story is James Chen's story and it's a classic American rags-to-riches story.
A few years back, James was working for a company called Wheel Warehouse in southern California. He started doing sales and management, then took off to DAZZ Motorsport as the store manager, then general manager, then all the way up to being the owner's right hand man. This wasn't a short trip through the company ladder, it was a lot of work and dedication. After learning the ropes thoroughly and realizing he couldn't go any further, James' competitive nature got the best of him and he went out on a short ledge, borrowing a bunch of money to start his own store called Axis Sport Tuning in 1997. Using connections he has overseas to get his own brand of wheels made, he launched Axis Wheels in 1998.
Judging from the fact that he now drives a $165,000 Ferrari, I'd say things worked out for James. Axis is doing well and they're introducing another line called Xenex to the U.S. market. So why with an engine that features five valves per cylinder, a 9000 rpm redline and Italian love, would you ever want a better car audio system? The answer is simple. James grew up with it. Every car he owns has had its audio system seriously upgraded. Just because it's a Ferrari doesn't mean it shouldn't be touched. But finding someone to do it was a whole different story.
For that he turned to one of the big boys. Wait, make that one of the Good Guys. Jon Yorkis, General Manager of Installation for the Good Guys chain of stores handled this installation in the Laguna Hills, California store. Jon has been working in car audio for 13 years and has some experience with high dollar cars like the Ferrari. He says you always pay extra attention and charge a little more just for dealing with the stress!
The Modena's install had to be simple because there isn't a great deal of room in the car. There's no trunk because it's a mid-engine car and the storage space under the hood leaves little room as well. A single slot for a source unit and speakers in the doors are all you get in a factory Modena. Working inside those parameters, Jon got to work. James and Jon decided on an all Sony system using ES components, in particular the astounding Sony XDP-4000X digital processor. The dash work was obviously simple. There is only a single DIN slot for the source unit. Yanking the old one and replacing it with a cool new Sony Mobile ES CDX-M650 was a snap. This CD player has Sony's new Black Panel display where it looks like a plain ol' black plastic panel until the unit is turned on. Flip it over and there's another display with the usual buttons. It's also connected to the factory CD changer which just happens to be a Sony supplied unit making this pretty easy. The CDX-M650 is connected to the Sony XDP-4000X digital crossover-equalizer. This beast converts all signals to digital for digital parametric equalization, time alignment, room effects and super steep crossovers for a 4-way system. Since it's all in the digital domain, there is no noise added and no problems with phase shift. Consider it the ultimate tuning piece.
The XDP-4000X is mounted under the hood along with some of Monster Cable's hot new M-Series power distribution. Also from Monster is a 1-farad stiffening cap to help support Sony's Mobile ES XM-7557 5-channel amp. The amp sends 75 watts to each of the component speakers mounted in the doors with 180 watts left over for a dedicated subwoofer channel. The amp is mounted just above the 4000X and the Monster Cable accessories.
To make it look really trick, Jon constructed a trim panel around the top from MDF and lots of Bondo to match the contours of the amplifier. Once it fit perfect, he primed it and sanded it - ready to be painted. Here's where James proves he's not spoiled by all his success. James actually took all the yellow panels in the car and painted them himself. With power distribution and the amp sitting nicely under the hood, Jon put his attention back on the passenger cabin. Adding subwoofers was a challenge, but he figured it out. A small area behind the rear seats was a perfect place for sub enclosure to run the length of the cabin. Made from more MDF and Bondo, it's a single box with two chambers.
It holds four Sony XSL-830 8-inch woofers. The front has some contours added for cosmetics and yellow trim rings (painted by James) around each woofer. The entire thing is finished with black leather to match the cabin. Believe it or not, Jon's biggest challenge was getting the speakers in the doors wired. Because the Sony XDP-4000X is at its best when it runs each speaker individually, Jon needed to run two pair of speaker wires in each door. But, there was only room for one pair in the factory wire harness. So with special permission from James, he drilled a small hole in the aluminum doors, grommeted them and inserted a nice rubber boot to run the speaker wire through. Those two pairs of wires connect to the 5.25-inch mid and 1-inch tweeter of a Sony Mobile ES XS-HF58 component system.
With the installation now complete, Jon proceeded to tune the system using all the DSP power available in the 4000X to make a great, wide soundstage on top of the dash even though the speakers are quite far down in the doors. What does James think? He's happy, not only with the system, but that he could contribute as well. That's what you call a team effort.