Round 3 - 28/6/09 - BDL Car Stereo, Fyshwick.

  Presented by MEA-ACT in conjunction with MEASQ.

Mobile Electronics Australia ACT
Round 3 - 2009 Listen n Loud Series

Author: Matthew Windsor/Matt VIP.
Photos: Rick Formosa/mad89.

Well the dust has finally settled after a raucous weekend of car stereos, burnt sausages, good times and quality noise. Sunday 28 June saw a fantastic turnout at BDL Car Stereo in Fyshwick, ACT with 31 competitors from all over the ACT and NSW coming together to feel the love of heavy bass and pristine sound quality.

The weather was kind - as kind as Canberra can be in June - as competitors, spectators and carefully polished show cars filled the BDL car park from the early morning. Already the organisers were swamped as no one was quite prepared for the number of people interested to get involved.

The Sound Quality judging got under way before 10am, usually a good sign that there's a lot to do, with Novice competitors invited to sit in with the judges as they went through the judging sheet. Novice is one of the best parts about the MEASQ format, as it allows anyone new to the car audio scene to get an idea of what it takes to get a car to sound good, as well as providing an opportunity for the judges to help get the most out of a new competitor's car. There is considerable effort on the part of organisers to make car audio as accessible and fun as possible, and this has been shown by the growing support from competitors.

Intermediate Sound Quality was hotly contested, as usual. A couple of interstate cars decided to make the journey, putting pressure on the locals to try and snare a place on the podium. Expert Sound Quality (for senior competitors and industry members) continues to grow, with some exquisite sounding cars on display (check the Black Vito!). Once again BDL continued to show the masses how it's done, with three of their cars in the top five as well as 1st, 2nd and 3rd in Show Class - a fine result.

The SPL competition drew the crowd to the judging lanes. This was the first time MEA ACT has run this event head-to-head, and what a success this was! Everyone in the Street classes had a mad time trying to find the most bass-riddled song in their collection, with mishaps, close calls and crushing bass the order of the day. Two dB Drag competitors, Rob Collison and Rohan Pearce, showed everyone what Very Loud! sounds like, going head to head with Rob emerging victorious with a final score of 150.7dB and a new personal best.

Suddenly it was 3pm, and the competitors were getting toey. Major sponsors Focal had provided trophies in all classes, and BDL in conjunction with MEA ACT sponsored a number of store vouchers for winners as well. The results were close in every class, see below:

Sound Quality Results

Novice Class:
1st Place - Ben Jackson (Nissan Pulsar) - 99 points
2nd Place - Matt Dennis (BMW 730) - 98.5 points
3rd Place - Tom Blunden (Holden Calais) - 91 points

Intermediate Class:
1st Place - Rick Formosa (Holden Nova) - 110 points
2nd Place - Matthew Windsor (Mercedes 300SEL) - 108 points
3rd Place - Jono Cross (Ford Fiesta XR4) - 101 points

Expert Class:
1st Place - Warren Bulmer (Ford EF Falcon) - 109.5 points
2nd Place - Rob Lintermans (Ford EF Falcon) - 105 points
3rd Place - Adam Lubinski (Mercedes Vito) - 102 points

Show Class:
1st Place - Adam Lubinski (Mercedes Vito) - 72 points
2nd Place - Zach Churchill (Holden Commodore) - 72 points
3rd Place - Stephen Barber (Honda Civic) - 65 points
 
SPL Results

Street A
1st Place - Jess Jalkanen (Mitsubishi Mirage) - 138.6dB
2nd Place - Daniel West (Subaru Liberty) - 137.1dB
3rd Place - Jason Leschnik (Peugeot 306) - 134.5dB

Street B
1st Place - John Leahy (Nissan Pulsar N15) - 139.9dB
2nd Place - Zach Churchill (Holden Commodore) - 135.4dB
3rd Place - Shaun Smith (Holden Barina) - 133.7dB

Street C
1st Place - Sam Linden (Holden Calais) - 137.7dB
2nd Place - Glen Young (Holden VN SS) - 131.3dB
3rd Place - Ellis Dickson (Holden VN Commodore) - 131.2dB

Open Class
1st Place - Rob Collison (Suzuki Swift) - 150.7dB
2nd Place - Rohan Peace (Ford Festiva) - 150.1dB
3rd Place - Justin Pausic (Toyota Yaris) - 140.6dB

MEA ACT was proud to have DNA, Eclipse, Pioneer, Aerpro and Dynamat as co-sponsors for the event who provided the goodies to fill out the winners bags - thanks very much guys, we are most appreciative!

But most of all, MEA ACT is thrilled to have so many of Canberra's car audio enthusiasts supporting our events. Without the competitors, there's no show, so thank you.

On with the pics!

Matthew Windsor
ACT Representative
Mobile Electronics Australia