Car Audio Sound Competitions
Those of you who really enjoy your car audio system may enjoy sound offs and other audio system competitions. These events are held around the country by specialty car-audio retail stores to promote their business and national sanctioning organizations like the International Auto Sound Competition Association (IASCA), the United States Autosound Competition International (USACi) and dB Drag Racing. The sanctioning groups have developed rules which guide judges in evaluating an elaborate car audio system. Systems are judged on such things as sound quality, installation technique and creativity of installation, as well as sound pressure level (SPL), which actually measures the volume of the subwoofers in a system.
These events first appeared in Texas in the early 1980s and measured SPL. Then in the mid 1980s major manufacturers of aftermarket car audio products saw that these events could be a major marketing tool that could help them sell their products. Soon companies like Rockford Fosgate, Alpine and Harman Kardon developed programs that educated their dealers in how to present a sound off event to attract consumers to their stores. These early events commonly attracted about 20 to 25 cars laden with elaborate audio systems that were constructed by the dealers putting on the event or other dealers in the neighborhood. The systems were judged based on guidelines developed by the manufacturers and sometimes refined by retailers.
Then by the summer of 1986, owners of specialty audio retail shops in Southern California, Isaac Goren and Kip Grossman, produced an event called “Car Wars.” It attracted 168 contestants from all around the U.S. as well as 5,000 spectators. The occasion took sound offs to a whole new level and soon the first major national sanctioning organization called NACA was formed. About that same time Alpine created its own sound off organization called “Car Audio Nationals” which became a marketing tool for the company. After some period of times, it was recognized by all concerned that one national sanctioning organization would be best for the industry and so NACA and the “Car Audio Nationals” evolved into IASCA. Later other sanctioning bodies were created including USACi and dB Drag Racing. Each organization drafted their own rules based on the rules first created by Rockford and other manufacturers. Much of the judging concerned the appearance or cosmetics of the installation and this encouraged installers to be creative with the systems they constructed. They started using unusual materials like Formica, plexiglass, bevel glass, fiberglass, vinyl, leather and more. As a result, cosmetics became an essential part of all car audio systems.
If you are a car audio enthusiasts, then just attending an event as a spectator can be worthwhile. It gives you an opportunity to see well-designed, great-sounding systems. You can learn about what makes a good car audio system by just observing and asking questions of the owners of winning cars as well as the judges. If you get caught up in the enthusiasm of an event, you can become a contestant.
To become a contestant it is advised that you construct a competition system. You can learn how to do this and how to keep the audio system within the rules of the sanctioning bodies by visiting the websites of the major sanctioning organizations including IASCA, USACi and dB Drag Racing. Check out their calendar of events to see when a sound off will be held in your area, down load their rule book and follow their advice in developing a competition worthy system.
