FEATURES
When Worlds Collide
By Rob Hephner
Posted on Jan 3, 2006

Sometimes, the right thing is hard to do; Sometimes, the right thing requires pain and sacrifice; And, sometimes, the positive gain from doing what’s right gets overlooked. Hopefully, for the sake of car audio competition, the latter will not be the case for a Unified World Finals. Instead, hopefully, a year from now I can use the phrase “When the going got tough, the tough got going.”

In any event, the major case of worry of whether IASCA and USACi competitors could get along with one another in the same place was put to rest thanks to the 2005 Unified World Finals. In fact, they seemed to have a heck of a lot of fun — now, if we could just get he manufactures back to the show in force we would have exactly what we are all looking for!
This Finals event had everything that you look for in competition — an impossible task being overcome, a classic David vs. Goliath match, and the story of tribute that ends with overall happiness.

Dream The Impossible
I remember quite a few years ago, in a non-descript auditorium, the first time that I saw 150 dB broken in a vehicle. It was unbelievable and loud — REALLY LOUD. A few years after that, I stood in yet another building as a Bronco (you know which one) burst the 160 dB barrier. While it was loud, it was actually quite high pitched.

Fast forward to this year’s Finals and there I was standing next to Scott Owens’ impressive, big honkin’ truck. (I think it is a Ford, but, honestly, the outer shell really doesn’t mean much to most and all you really remember is silver and PIONEER.) The point? It’s a number machine, and on this day it did the number. What number you ask? A legitimate, on-the-dash score of 180 dB. The funny thing is that as we were standing outside of the vehicle as it hit the number we all carried on a conversation, never really interrupted by the fury unleashed inside. As the technology of SPL has increased, the effect outside the of cabin has diminished. What has not is the passion and respect of those who do compete against one another. Much like a high performance Funny Car driver makes the 1/4-mile look easy, these guys do the same with the creation of pressure inside a vehicle. The difference? Support of Industry — but I’ll get to that later.

David vs. Goliath
From a gargantuan manufacturer versus a little one, to a seasoned expert versus street level competitors, and even a guy that has just continued to chip away at things taking home top honors, this classic battle showed up in a few different forms at this year’s event. Finals is a place that, honestly, is less of a competition and more of a coronation, because when you make it to this show, you’re already standing on the top. The final push to the top takes some years and years of effort and, take it from them, when you achieve something like this after trying for a long time the victory is even sweeter. Kudos to guys like Eddie DeJesus and Keith Doney — when you try and try and then meet success, the ride home just doesn’t seem
so long.

A Tribute To Those Who Have Fallen
Greg Welch was a competitor in spirit, mind, and effort, like almost everyone else that you can find in the competition lanes. Earlier this year, his life tragically ended, but his efforts to win a Finals was carried forward by his friends and family. By continuing on and not giving up, these folks carried the torch of a lot of people who have passed this year, including Mark Barmoore who helped create the very organization in which Greg and others competed and compete in.

It’s the spirit of carrying on the meaning of teamwork and challenge that really makes any win special, but the win of Greg’s vehicle also helps to close a chapter and allows many to move on. No greater tribute can be offered than simply continuing on, as we all should. We should never forget where we have started, least we forget where we are going.

A Few More Lessons
You really can build your dream car, and if you ask Phil Petracca you’ll find out that he has done exactly that. Never have I stood around a vehicle to here more people say “I thought of doing that, but never had the time...” While Petracca didn’t do the actual work to put the vehicle together (it was classic Mark Eldridge and Gary Biggs), he did put the time in to pay for and direct this effort. It paid off when the ISQC top award was handed out and Petracca’s car not only took top honors but also did it with points to spare. The combination of Eldridge’s and Biggs’s talents showed as Petracca decimated the competition.

Another notable performer was Daryl Trammell with his near-landmark DTS Dare car. This guy has been around forever, and the car is a good tribute to what perseverance and competition can lead to, a good following and killer sound. You cannot help but admire Trammell’s ability to reach all types of people and expose them to good sound.

This year, I saw more sharing of good sound experiences then I can remember. Maybe a long time ago this was happening, but at this gathering the show really was about the sound, and that’s notable because Finals is the place to tout good sound, and manufactures need to take note. People still do want better sound, and if the manufacturers want to send that message out they should look back to their beginnings and rediscover what Unity can bring.

Hopefully this year was the low watermark, and, from now on, we will only see rising ships...

For full results, visit www.soundoff.org and www.iasca.com.