Tabla de contenidos para #4 2015 en InCar Entertainment

Digital Designs, American designer of powerhouse car audio components and renowned for its massive low frequency drivers, has released the LE-M series of enclosured subwoofers. Available in 8-, 10-, 12-inch models and, somewhat unusually, in a 6.5-inch version, the new subs feature Digital Design’s signature high power ratings and large magnet systems. The neat black carpet-covered enclosures have been designed to minimise real estate occupancy with a small footprint while maximising internal cabinet volume with a taller profile which results in higher output and lowend extension. The enclosures are constructed from ¾-inch MDF and feature fully sealed joints and high output flared ports – a slot port for the 6.5-incher – designed to minimise air turbulence, more commonly referred to as chuffing. The Digital Design drivers feature massive motors with…

The 2015 Polaris Slingshot SL LE model here is an insane futuristic three-wheeled motorcycle on steroids. One amazing feature the slingshot offers is a front row shot of adrenaline along with its 360-degree all round rush of sound, sight and smell that you get to experience first-hand. This is a demo car owned by Polaris Industries Inc. and its collaborating builders MTX Audio. Upon its release — it has had such an impact at the reasonable price of US$24,999 (around AU$31,950 for a three-wheeled vehicle in today’s market) — the orders soon went through the roof. Now enthusiasts have options for a killer-looking jet fighter roadster that offers more than just strong performance. It’s equipped with a 2.4L DOHC Ecotec engine that can quickly respond to a simple push of…

Relative newcomers to our industry are weighted with all sorts of baggage. Who and what is it, where and why is it and more to the point; does it have a clue what it’s doing? Proving oneself on the battlefield that is car audio is a task that has broken many a small company. This didn’t stop Mosconi, I’ll give you the tip. Conceived in 2009, the Italian company arose like a phoenix from the ashes when Ivan Mosconi, driven by his love for electronics and sound, left his old audio company. He then brought together a select team of designers and engineers, each with many years of experience, in order to create a company that could address the professional-level needs of audiophiles around the world. The resulting company has…

The Encounter EN-CM652 stereo car speakers are new to Fusion’s 2015 range. Boasting very moderate pricing and a shallow installation depth, they include separate dome tweeters with swivel mounts for best high frequency performance. SHALLOW MOUNTS At $79 for a pair of 2-way speakers with separate tweeters we’re talking excellent value here. The 6-inch bass/midrange drivers are designed for installations where the mount depth is limited, requiring only 46mm. The polypropylene cones actually measure 115mm across their diameters and they are supported by rubber roll surrounds. Metal grilles are provided to cover them. Several sets of mounting screw holes provide a bit of installation flexibility. The tweeters were a bit hard to make out because they were covered by a perforated metal grille that was either fixed, or at least…

Rockford Fosgate has announced the release of what could possibly be the biggest and baddest massively over-engineered subwoofer on the market. The new T3 is a 19-inch – yes, no typo there – monster with Rockford Fosgate’s most advanced driver design technologies. The subwoofer features a massive neodymium stacked magnet system designed to provide ultra-high levels of magnetic flux for a no compromise control of the voice coil system. The voice coil itself is a ginormous 5-inch stacked arrangement with a single layer edge wound design which allows extra cooling for the obvious high power the subwoofer is capable of. Dual Nomex spiders have been designed to allow full excursion while providing tight control and driver linearity. The motor system is attached to an ultrastiff yet relatively light three-layer glass…

Rockford Fosgate is a brand that’s known globally for their high performance range of car and marine audio products and are a brand of choice for mobile sound fanatics. Rockford’s mantra of “Audio For Fanatics” is true in many ways; just take a look at either their USA or Australian social media pages and you’ll see that Rockford Fosgate fans are passionately brand-loyal and hooked for life. So it is that on May 7 Rockford Fosgate’s 2015 range was launched in this country by mobile electronics specialists Directed Australia at a gala trade event at Melbourne’s Docklands, attended by around 70 Australian car audio specialist dealers, media and Directed staff. Not your typical product launch, the launch was held at Alumbra on Central Pier, a beautiful location right on the…

Flagship model, gloss black, chrome accents, the Grange name… all ingredients that spell out class. Here at InCar features-Central, we get more Commodores – and Falcons for that matter – than any other model. But seldom do we see our now almost defunct Aussie brand’s flagship, the famous Grange, come in for featuring. And a Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) special at that! This one, owned by Daniel Broadbent, has been reworked with a stunning audio system with the factory Blaupunkt head unit being augmented via added amplification of the very best kind and a superb mix of Morel speakers. DARK KNIGHT Let’s start at the simple and elegant exterior. The black Grange has been debadged to simplify its look and the only tell-tale sign of its pedigree is the chrome…

Behind the metal work and custom fittings lies a Nissan Pulsar with top-notch audio, skilled installation techniques and superb engine refinements. Matthew Ridley, with the aid of a whole stream of the best people in the business, has transformed this humble Pulsar into one hell-of-a car. And there’s been no skimping either; he’s chosen high quality materials and accessories with electronics, speakers and subwoofers that could be considered end-gamers. DEVELOPED AUDIO It took some preparation to get things under way. For starters – and after the extensive Dynamat sound deadening applied throughout the floor, doors, hatch and firewall – a custom sealed subwoofer enclosure was fabricated from MDF and fibreglass while a trim piece was designed from Zenolite and three-toned acrylic. The hatch was also trimmed in Warwick micro-suede and…

It would appear that functionality is currently the colloquial yard stick within the Australian car audio market. The more feats your receiver is capable of, the more stars it scores. All well and good but what about the intrinsic cost? This is where you’ll find the boys separated from the men; because getting all the goodies into said particular unit is not so much the challenge, it’s getting it in there without costing the world. This is territory where companies like Blaupunkt excel; for not only is it a master of saddling its receivers with a ton of abilities, it’s also conducive to low pricing. The new Cape Town 940 is proof positive with its modest asking price of $1299. So much so that many opponents may just be running…

What an interesting name for an in-car audio product. Conjures up images of blissful sound and altered states of consciousness! But it’s not a name you’re likely to forget, and it’s a name that a lot of you will no doubt become familiar with. Euphoria is in fact one of the family of brands under the dB Drive umbrella, which include Buzzmat, Bass Inferno and Quantum Audio amongst others. The Euphoria ES are its flagship series of speakers, with the subject of this review, the ES9 6C, being a pair of 6.5-inch drivers and a pair of 1-inch magnesium alloy tweeters. Included is a pair of 12dB per octave High Pass crossovers, with selectable attenuation for the tweeters. There’s also a range of dB Drive Euphoria Amplifiers, Subwoofers and Processors.…

If ever there was a company conducive to serious noise it’s Digital Designs. The company often affectionately referred to simply as DD was started in 1986 in the United States and has henceforth expanded its operations from simple subwoofer manufacturer to nowadays offering a comprehensive suite of amplifiers, speakers and other ancillary components. Nevertheless subwoofers have always remained Digital Designs’ core interest and it’s what it’s best at. COMP SUBS Although specialising primarily in extremely durable, sound pressure type competition subwoofers, for years Digital Designs has also offered a plethora of nice sounding units. Naturally this lends itself to a certain level of technical evolution, with it also becoming a master of enclosure and porting design over the years. With its stable already in possession of some of the loudest…

New from Fusion is a set of component speakers that promises very easy installation in the shallowest of door cavities. The new ‘Encounter’ EN-CM522 splits’ 165mm midbass driver is a mere 45mm deep but, according to Fusion, a very powerful and efficient magnet system offers performance equal to any high quality split speaker system. Further ease of installation is provided via the internally-mounted crossover while the advanced materials in the speakers’ construction — including a durable butyl rubber surround — promise robustness and longevity against harsh in-car conditions. As the model name implies, these are a 5.25-inch split system. Further models in the Encounter range will be available including several coaxial models (and 6x9 variants) and a larger 165mm split system. Matching subwoofers will also be offered in 10- and…

Katoomba, in the picturesque Blue Mountains of NSW, was once again the venue for the Lady Luck Festival in January. The event is a celebration of 1950s culture and features activities based around the music, films, cars and fashion of those nostalgic days-gone-by when life was simpler and when bobby-socks and ‘Brylcreem’ were must-have accessories. Lined-up on show in Katoomba’s main drag were a fleet of Hot Rods (some even well beyond the 1950s era, both before and after) and cars that fit the bill even while being regularly-seen local attractions. The main stage saw a variety of Rockabilly and 1950s rock bands providing entertainment and an excuse for bebop dancers – heavily tattooed and in full 1950s regalia – to strut their stuff. Of course, the area out the…

In a style reminiscent of the gangster days of the 1930s the Chrysler PT Cruiser was somewhat of a short-lived success story. Despite its mechanical, um… eccentricities, its first factory run in America sold very strongly and paved a path to moderate success for Chrysler in Europe – especially Germany. Even the Japanese market took 10,000 units. Australian motorists, however, did not universally gush with unhinged enthusiasm. There’s no denying that the ‘PT’ is a distinctive design – it won’t be mistaken for anything else. But at the time, in this country, we preferred our cars with either a blue oval or lion badge. Especially in light of the first gen 2L engine which was too small for the solidly-built (therefore heavy) PT, even if it still was a ‘Mopar’.…

The Pioneer AVH-X8750BT comes as a breath of fresh air, for this reviewer at least. Gone are the clumsy attempts over past years of trying to solve the smartphone, to head unit, to car interface. Most importantly, it now doesn’t matter whether you’re a dyed-in-the-wool “Apple’ophile”, or whether you are 100 percent Android to the bone. The Pioneer AVH-X8750BT caters for both, and does so seamlessly. Honestly, it’s a breeze to use, and I say that unreservedly. Even the novice user will have no problems, and will be able to access the benefits and features with only a little practice. The AVH-X8750BT has a clear-type resistive 800 by 480 pixels touch screen display, offering brighter colours and improved touch sensitivity. This is noticeable immediately on first touch. CRYSTAL CLEAR COMMUNICATION…

They’re a peculiar bunch those Scandinavians, especially Swedishborn DLS with its intricately eccentric speaker design philosophies. Perhaps the air is a little thinner in that hemisphere, for when one draws a comparison between many designs and the quirkiness their engineers persist with, you get the feeling that perhaps they’re the ones standing on their heads and not us. That is until you hear something DLS has designed – because those of us who’ve had the privilege of experiencing the DLS products first-hand know to keep our mouths shut when auditioning new designs. This is because since 1979 DLS has been developing and producing products that defy some conventions and seem to bend the laws of physics in startling ways. No wonder some of the world’s largest synchrotrons hail from that…