• Premium car audio manufacturer Focal gave us the scoop on their new Solid Series amplifiers. These mid-level amplifiers offer great flexibility, small footprints, and uber-clean sound quality. The plain-Jane design is great for flush-mounting, and the amps are available in Wrinkle Black or Wrinkle Red. SoundDomain is the first place you’ll see these audiophile amps, so make sure to check them out and let us know what you think! One thing to point out, Focal’s parent company, home audio manufacturer JM Labs, has a home speaker that sells for over $35,000 EACH. These guys know what they’re doing when it comes to offering the best of the best. What’s in your ride?
• Team Hybrids member Dave Brooks is a World Champion car audio competitor, and last year won the MECA Modex Division National Championship, earned the title of IASCA’s Rookie World Champion, and took first place in the Sound Quality Championship. Dave’s sponsor, Hybrid Audio also wanted to congratulate him for recently achieving the rank of Chief Master Sergeant, and is now the highest ranking enlisted serviceman in the USAF. Congrats to Dave!
• We’ve got another video from Scosche live on the site. In this episode Trevor Kaplan walks you through their iPod auxiliary input for the Toyota Tundra. The AXIPTA interface is extremely easy to use and seamlessly interfaces with the factory radio almost like it was just meant to be.
• Microsoft and Alpine just inked a deal to share technology and patents. This shoudl be a pretty cool partnership since Alpine is pretty much the #1 car audio manufacturer, and Microsoft is the world dominator when it comes to software and their new Sync system is just SICK!

Ever wonder what life would be like without music? I’ve wondered it, but I don’t think I’d ever want to experience it. Music is one of the reasons I got into the Mobile Electronics industry. The gadgets and the cool devices that help make the music in my car and life are only secondary, but they make my job and hobby that much more exciting. I know nothing really beats the sound of a finely tuned engine, but nothing compliments it better than a finely tuned car stereo system. And if I couldn’t listen to music, well, then I guess I’d just hop over to SoundDomain and catch up on the news!

• High-end home audio manufacturer Naim has announced it will provide the audio systems for future Bentley vehicles. Produced under the moniker "naim for Bentley", the system will belt out 1100 watts of pure audiophile power to 15 speakers. How much does the Naim system add to the bottom line of a Bentley? Well, as the saying goes – if you have to ask….
• If you’ve got an old school muscle car or classic cruiser in your garage and you’ve considered upgrading the radio and audio system, your options are pretty slim. Fortunately there are companies like RetroSound that offer the latest technology in a radio package designed to look factory in your retro-rod. USB, MP3, CD Changer controls, multi-color LCD… Get all the modern luxuries in a classic package.
• Blast from the past… Back in the good ‘ol days of Car Audio, Alpine and the Lambo Countach were one of the most recognized symbols in the industry (Alpine still is for that matter). I was digging around the net and stumbled on some oldie-but-goodie shots of this classic car stereo icon.
• Our man "Crazy Like a" Brian Fox is at it again… This time he’s creating a work of art to be showcased at Nissan’s booth at the New York International Auto Show this March. His new project is another Nissan Altima Coupe that will sport the new Fox Marketing 6-piece body kit, 19" Work wheels, and a bad-ass Rockford Fosgate stereo system.

There comes a time in every man’s life when he has to make a decision. You should weigh the positives, and negatives carefully because you don’t want to make a hasty decision and figure out it was the wrong one after its too late.** Well, while you’re thinking about your decision, maybe you should catch up on the SoundDomain news:

• We told you about Realm’s ’63 Lincoln Conti not to long ago; the car is just plain hot. Well, apparently MC Hammer thought so too and at CES he tested out his new CD on the Conti’s system and the guys at Realm snagged some video of Hammer getting down to his album. Hammer didn’t hurt ‘em, but you still can’t touch this. Oh yeah… I went there.
• The guys at Thought Out developed some pretty unique iPod and iPhone accessories and the Ped3 for the iPod Touch and iPhone is by far one of the best desktop solutions I’ve seen yet.
• Tim from HzEmall Customs is back and his most recent installment for SoundDomain gives us an in-depth look into the progress on a 1969 Camaro project car. The crew is basically customizing the entire interior, re-doing most of the electronics, suspension, etc. This is going to be one big, bad-ass old school when the wrap it up. Custom seats, VERY custom car stereo install, custom center console, custom trunk, custom suspension, big ‘ol LS2/6 motor and tranny swap, air bags, and chrome 18s up front and big ‘ol 20s in the rear. You don’t want to miss this.
• And don’t forget to check out the last two installments of the Alpine Million Dollar Imprint RLS demo car build videos. In Part 3 the guys get the exterior skeleton built for the custom body panels and the fabrication of the interior panels. In Part 4, with 1 week to go before CES, it’s paint, prep, and finished product. I’m surprised Gary, Steve, and Brent had any skin left on their fingers after all the sanding this project needed!

**The CarDomain editors are not responsible for pointless, mindless, babble contained in these blog posts. And what are you doing reading this anyway?? You should be reading the SoundDomain news!!

It’s amazing where the mobile electronics industry has gone in the last 15 years…. Tape decks were still around, CD players were just starting to be commonplace, and in-dash LCDs and navigation weren’t even a glimmer in our eyes. Now technology is evolving so quickly that if you stop paying attention for a while, you can easily get left behind. But lucky for you, SoundDomain is here to keep you in the loop:

• If you’ve ever installed new speakers in your ride and then flipped on your system only to find your new gear sounds like you’re listening to it in a long empty hallway, you probably have your speaker wires mixed up and they’re out of phase. Either you can rip your car back apart and find the culprit, or you can pick up a handy tool called the Phase-It.
• Massive Audio’s new SQX woofer is GI-NORMOUS. It’s designed for Sound Quality competitions, but SPL junkies will be more than satisfied with this big boomer.
• Hemp is about as handy as the soy bean; you can make just about anything from it, and whatever you make is bound to be better than it’s mass market counterpart (paper, rope, clothing, oils, etc). Check out these new hemp-coned woofers from Hemp Hop! If you’re lucky, you might even win one!
• The guys from Alpine stopped by the site and dropped off a few videos showing the amazing, and I mean AMAZING, build of the 2007 CES demo extravaganza, the Imprint RLS. Check out Part one in a four-part series. You won’t be disappointed!

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: A priest, a rabbi, and donkey walk into a bar…. Oh.. You’ve heard that one? Ok. How about this one:

• Realm’s ’63 Conti is one of the cleanest old school resto-demo projects I’ve come across in a long time. The car is just straight up sexy.
• Got some fiberglassin’ skillz? Want a chance to win part of a $3500 prize pack? BassForms is holding the a box-building compeition to see who can build the loudest, hottest-looking fiberglass box. The winner will be chosen at Spring Break Nationals in Daytona Beach. Peep the deets over at SoundDomain: Does your box rock?
• Scosche loaded up our video section with a ton of great informational and How-To videos. This week’s feature: Aux-In installation in a Chevy Silverado.  Check it out – it’s a lot easier than you think!
• Image Dynamics released the details on their new horn-loaded compression drivers. They’re available in both full size and mini, but both come with full-size sound.
• Car alarms are pretty common nowadays, and unfortunately so is the sound the siren makes. Although the DonkeyLabs video is purely a spoof, they’re on the right track, and this alarm certainly would get plenty attention when it’s tripped!

I know you all wish the SoundDomain Sound-Off would post earlier, since I know reading it is highlight of your day. But I like to think that because of my tardiness, you’re ending it on a high note. What better way to unwind than to read the latest and greatest news about car audio and portable gadgets? Bon appetit: 

• Attention true gadget geeks! The NaviSurferII is the world’s first single-DIN in-dash carPC. If you want something more than just an in-dash LCD, the NaviSurferII offers GPS navigation, a built-in Media player, at least a 40GB hard drive, USB inputs and AV inputs, and comes in way under $1000.
• More great news from SoundStream! Just as the auto industry is reviving old model names from the good ‘ol days, audio companies are doing the same thing. SoundStream announced the re-introduction of the famous Lil’ Wonder, which features killer power and awesome sound quality with an amazingly small footprint. And now, the series will include 2-, 4-, 5- and mono subwoofer amps!
• SoundDomain moderator Thumper26 recently finished fabricating custom A-pillar tweeter mounts in his Honda Accord. It turned out very clean, looks nearly factory, and he was nice enough to provide a brief tutorial. Great job, John!

And don’t forget to voice your opinions in the SoundDomain News forums!

Well, typical Seattle weather this weekend so another day and no sound in the ride. A co-worker suggested I rig up a garbage bag tent around my car so I can get work done in the rain. I suggested he go back to his desk and check out the news on SoundDomain instead:

• Rich Truesdell told you about the Garmin Nüvifone  not too long ago. Well videos have come forth from Garmin and this phone could quite possibly the ultimate iPhone killer!!
• Adding an Xbox to your car’s audio/video system is not too uncommon these days, but disassembling and custom-installing the separate components is not so common. These guys take apart an Xbox and show you some ideas on how to custom-mount a system in your ride.
• MECP is an installer certification program in the mobile electronics industry, similar to ASE certification for a mechanic. It represents the best of the best in the industry, separating the men from the boys. But if you want to take your skills "out-of-this-world", why not go for NASA standards!
• The Tracer Heads-Up Display (HUD) is a design study that incorporates GPS, HUD technology, and SMS text messaging. The cool part of this is the Heads-Up display, the scary part is if you start speeding, it sends a text message to your parents. Doh!
• Crazy man Steve Meade got a chance to demo his tuff Tahoe for Ice Cube’s producers, Teak and Dee. Needless to say, even those these guys listen to bangin’ beats all day long, they weren’t prepared for Steve to push the magic button in his system! Watch ‘em squirm!

Varad needs a booth car to showcase a few of their products, and theyasked CarDomain to help find the perfect car! The Varad crew is searching for a "tuner-themed" car for the Varad booth at the Lordco Trade Show in Vancouver, British Columbia April 7th and 8th at the Pacific Coliseum. This is one of BC’s biggest automotive consumer industry trade events, and Varad wants to hook you up! The car needs to be a "tuner" themed, clean and show-worthy.

So what’s in it for you?? Well, other than getting to showcase your car in one of the hottest automotive accessory brand’s booth for the world to see and people to photograph, Varad is also going to hook you up with…

Continue reading "Shine On! Get Free Gear & Your Ride in Varad's Booth!" »

SoundDomain made a change to the blog yesterday. We’re going to experiment with moving the comments for the blog posts over into the forums rather than in the blog. You can do both right now, but the forums might end up being an even better comment sounding area. You can read all about why we want to try this here.  But of course that’s not the news you really care about it…. This is:

• XM announced the winner of the "Wild Ride" contest, where you could enter for a chance to win a $30,000 vehicle of your choice plus a free year of XM. I bet you thought nobody ever actually won these things, huh?  What did the winner choose? Check it out.
• Looks like the whole "We’re switching over to digital and switching off the analog" isn’t going as smoothly as OnStar hoped. Are you getting screwed?
• I recently dubbed the Navigon 7100 the "King of Portable Navs"…. Well it’s already getting dethroned, but the crown is staying in the family. Welcome the Navigon 8180.

So the new SoundDomain is now only a month old, but it’s been a successful month so far. Thanks for your support! As the year progresses, we’ll start offering some great hands-on gadget reviews, longer feature articles and complete build articles from some of the greatest shops around the US and Canada (maybe even a few worldwide!). Expect some cool changes to come for SoundDomain. For now, just expect a really cool forum, and some really great news… Like this:

• SoundStream is coming out with a 15,000 watt amp designed for SPL competitors and those that like to sonically rattle their fillings loose.
• MB Quart is known for incredible sounding speakers and amplifiers, and their recent journey into marine audio has led to some really innovative products. The new MB Quart APC (Audio/Video Processing Center), also known as the "Black Box" is one of the most unique source-solutions for boats that I’ve seen in my 10+ years in the industry.
• The Japanese consumer electronics industry is filled with cool gadgets, some we’ll either never see or we’ll have to wait at least a year or two before coming to our shores. Such an example is the new Kenwood K-WD01, a double DIN in-dash CD and MD player – a device we’ll probably never see. I vote this a "never see" since it has MD , and the mini-disc just never made it big here (unfortunately).
• The P-Per phone from Chocolate is one of the coolest concepts I’ve come across in a long time. Of course it follows the typical iPhone styling, but it uses an ePaper display on both sides, features a 3.0mp panoramic camera, a haptic touchscreen, and more. Seriously, check it out.