When it comes to figuring out what makes a vehicle worthy of the pages of CA&E, George Saltzman seems to have a good idea. This is his second car to grace these pages. Saltzman's previously featured vehicle, a '97 Honda Prelude, was a powerhouse on the IASCA circuit and considered by many both a work of art and a sound beauty. This time around, he was intent on creating the ultimate SQ car around subtleties and stealth attire. After nine years of planning, Saltzman's dream of owning a Corvette became a reality.
From the research, design, equipment selection, location and tuning of the vehicle, Saltzman was completely hands on. But with no place to build his system, he turned to Todd Crowder at TC Audio for the fabrication and implementation of the design.
Sourcery
It's a little known secret that the Rockford Fosgate RFX-8240 source unit is very much a Denon design and a highly sought after unit for high-end car audio. With knowledge of its potential (after a stint as a Rockford employee), Saltzman tracked one down. But a clean signal wasn't the only reason he selected this unit. Since his Vette was lavished with GM's boxy interior design of 1989, the RFX-8240's classic aesthetics tied in with the overall look of the 18-year-old interior. To make the RFX work, the double-DIN opening where the factory Delco radio once resided required some cosmetic surgery for the retrofit. As a result, Crowder designed and created a solid, single-DIN ISO mount and trimmed it with black acrylic to match the black theme of the installation. Additionally, Saltzman installed a Sirius Satellite Radio controller where an ashtray used to be.
Sound Tuning
Since the RFX-8240 head unit is a barebones, audiophile design, Saltzman had to look elsewhere for his system's processing requirements. Fortunately, his answer was just a stockroom away. The Rockford Fosgate 3Sixty.2 was all he needed. This all-in-one processor serves several functions in his system including a line driver, equalizer and crossover. The small footprint of the 3Sixty.2 was a welcome trait since real estate in the back of the Vette is sparse and the units ability to sync wirelessly with a PDA using RF's proprietary software created the best of both worlds in real-time adjustment for all channels and installation.
Trade Secrets
When you've worked for almost a decade on a design destined to win you a top seat at any sound competition, you're likely to be a bit reserved in discussing your trade secrets. But after a little arm-twisting and bribery, Saltzman was coerced into at least sharing his speaker selections for the Vette... er, sort of. Mounted in the stock locations on the top of the long, flat dash, Saltzman selected Peerless 5.25" midrange drivers and 1" dome tweeters (model numbers left undisclosed), both designed for high-end home audio applications. He did note that the 1" Peerless drivers generate a wide frequency range and make for pure, clean music reproduction, which suited his application well.
Using fiberglass and body filler to complete the modification, a center channel was fabricated in the top of the dash where the defroster once resided. But, the center channel isn't for surround sound, rather its intention is to help create a good center image by using signal summed (from both the left and right channels) by the 3Sixty.2 processor. With all the drivers on the same plane, and no swoopy dash lines to contend with, there's little room for phase error or cancellation.
Control That Boom!
Saltzman explains, "The vehicle is not loud by any means... but it has extremely accurate bass at any volume." Those are words spoken by a true audiophile. Generating the low frequencies, the design incorporates a single Rockford Fosgate T112D4 subwoofer. Since the Vette doesn't have all that much trunk space, the sub enclosure is comprised of 2.5ft3 built out of 31/44" MDF and consumes the entire hatch area and storage compartments that used to be directly behind the seats. The big box is ported to assist with efficiency, but its low tuning frequency makes for a flat, low roll-off that falls in line with the vehicle's original purpose - sound quality. The enclosure was built with a low enough profile to allow stowage of the targa top for those sunny days.