1976 Porsche Carrera

  Evolution Audio's entry took me by surprise. Many 'audiophile' features and customized components are included in this fast paced Porsche. My feelings are that you should have as much bass as possible, if not all of it, produced in the front of the car and not in the rear. i've also told people time and time again that if you don't do your power supply right you may as well pack it in and go home. Well, these guys went above and beyond what i expected.

 

          Dual Alternators!

For those who know the Porsche will see the standard alternator in the center of the engine compartment. What's cool is that they removed the air conditioner unit to the right and added a chromed high-output 140 amp. alternator! This car literally has two separate power systems. The center alternator is for the car whereas the chromed high-output unit is strictly for the music reproduction system!

 

  View From Under the Hood

Under the hood we find four Kicker 500si amplifiers and two 50si amplifiers to allow each speaker it's very own amplifier (bottom). In the middle of the above picture we find two White Instruments 4710 one-sixth octave mono digitally controlled analogue equalizers give them full digital control of their eq curve yet the signal is routed in the analog domain and not put through another analogue to digital then digital to analogue conversion. Each time one converts the signal it degrades it to some degree. Therefor Evolution Audio chose these units for their ease of use and sound quality. To round this all off we find an Image Dynamic 481DC three-way crossover (top).

 

  
Tektronics TEK METER

Just above and to the left of all the components in the hood lies a Tektronics TEK METER. This is a professional grade meter which not only serves as an RTA, but can also measure other various signals in the car. This is the very first time i've seen i professional-grade Tektronics unit in 12 volt competition. For many years Tektronics has been highly respected in the military and precision laboratories across the world for their extremely durable, yet high quality measuring devices.

 

      TAD 11" Midbass Driver

You haveta look carefully, but just between the clutch and the brake you can see the carefully custom mounted 11" TAD midbass driver. This helps to bring the bass up front where it belongs. Behind each seat is a 15" Kicker subwoofer to reproduce the deepest frequencies. My picture of this didn't come out well, though there are horn drivers mounted just above knee level on the lower part of the passenger and the driver-side dashboard. TAD2001 compression drivers are used inside these horns to supply mids/highs and to keep the soundstage firmly planted in the front of the car where it belongs! Evolution Audio chose to use the Alpine 7909 head unit which controls the Alpine 5952 CD changer. The digital output of the changer is then fed to a customized Evolution Audio digital to analogue unit. To say i was highly impressed with all the customization and technology in this Porsche would be an understatement. Ya really should check these guys out next time they compete near you. Evolution Audio is located in Portland Oregon and this system was designed by Gerrald Garrison. Too bad i couldn't take it for a drive!