# Joint Finals - Don't Waste your Time & Money



## lsm (Mar 11, 2009)

Walked through the entire place in under 30 minutes. There were less than 10 booths and almost no spectators. Nothing but loud SPL vehicles. You had to shout to talk to someone right next to you. It was an absolute joke.... Three


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## lsm (Mar 11, 2009)

Damn phone...

Anyway, I cant believe that three sound off organizations combined couldn't manage to put together a bigger, better show. And for the SQ people out there you could count all the entries on two hands, but it wouldn't have mattered if 1,000 showed up because you couldn't hear a damn thing anyway! What a shame, last time I'll go...


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## SouthSyde (Dec 25, 2006)

are you talking about usac/iasca finals?


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## chefhow (Apr 29, 2007)

They had the SQ judging and portion of the show from 8-1 and the SPL portion from 1-finished.


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## goodstuff (Jan 9, 2008)

chefhow said:


> They had the SQ judging and portion of the show from 8-1 and the SPL portion from 1-finished.


How was it? Did you take any pics?


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## chefhow (Apr 29, 2007)

Didnt make it out, talked to Mic and he said it was VERY well run. I'm sure pics will go up soon.


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## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

I've been competing and judging since 99 and while the competition scene is nothing like it was- for a finals that was just announced a few months ago and in an overall down economy this is actually a pretty cool finals.
All sq was judged during designated quiet time 8am to 1pm.
After that all the cars for install were moved outside for install while they spl cars went and did their thing .spl was still running when I left for the night at 10pm.

So under the circumstances this is a very we'll run show. 24 sq cars total at last count. 50+ spl for usaci db drag and iasca


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## lsm (Mar 11, 2009)

I sure wish i could have found the 24 SQ cars because i drove 3 hours and spent about $250 for the weekend to see 6 or so cars and hear nothing but boom boom boom.....


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## chefhow (Apr 29, 2007)

If you arrived after 1pm they may have been gone, or atleast outside the arena since they were finished for the day.


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## lsm (Mar 11, 2009)

I was there before 1 but not by much. I never read anything about the fact that the SQ portion being 5 hours in the morning or i would have saved the $$ I spent on a hotel room, two day passes, etc... Oh well I guess.


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## tijuana_no (Jan 31, 2008)

Mic10is said:


> I've been competing and judging since 99 and while the competition scene is nothing like it was- for a finals that was just announced a few months ago and in an overall down economy this is actually a pretty cool finals.
> All sq was judged during designated quiet time 8am to 1pm.
> After that all the cars for install were moved outside for install while they spl cars went and did their thing .spl was still running when I left for the night at 10pm.
> 
> So under the circumstances this is a very we'll run show. 24 sq cars total at last count. 50+ spl for usaci db drag and iasca


I agree , there was not a very big turn out , but very good quality of competitors and from my point of view very good judging .
It was great meeting you and the rest of the IASCA judges .I hope we can do this again .


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## SteveH! (Nov 7, 2005)

So, are there any pics?


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## c_lacombe (Jan 24, 2011)

It was a very well organized show. Mic, Travis, and Keith did an excellent job and spent a lot of time on the floor after SQ judging getting off the record demo's and giving out some good advice from their years of experience.
The SPL portion held up to their end of the bargain and kept the floor quiet during SQ judging. The awards ceremony was smooth, humerous, and very timely.
For 4 months planning this show went very well. I can see with another year of planning this show being easily 2-3 times bigger.


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## Thrill_House (Nov 20, 2008)

Its funny to read such a scathing review because I drove 8 hours from canada to compete in IASCA pro am sq and had an amazing time! For me it was the best finals yet, and I have been to 4 others before. There was a super solid turn out of great sounding sq cars, sorry you werent able to find us for whatever reason but I assure you there were quite a few of us there.


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## pocket5s (Jan 6, 2012)

It wasn't hard to find us. We had one corner all to ourselves. We were the corner with all the really clean cars and one ugly truck (mine  ). I heard nothing but good things about the judging. I think the one thing people were worried about would be consistency between east and west coast and that didn't seem to be an issue at all. So kudos to Keith, Mic and Travis. 

The only issue I had with the whole thing was the noise floor was high enough to make it hard to have a conversation most of the time. The SPL competition itself wasn't an issue, it was everyone else hammering away endlessly. At one point I pulled out my JL Audio App equipped iPhone and measured a consistent 80-85db, with the occasional 90db depending on who was playing and how close. Given that a normal conversation is 60-65db, 80+ heard for hours on end is loud. If it had been warmer we all probably would have gone outside for the day.

As my first finals as a competitor (went to many 'back in the day' as a spectator) I had a good time and look forward to many more.


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## Thrill_House (Nov 20, 2008)

pocket5s said:


> It wasn't hard to find us. We had one corner all to ourselves. We were the corner with all the really clean cars and one ugly truck (mine  ). I heard nothing but good things about the judging. I think the one thing people were worried about would be consistency between east and west coast and that didn't seem to be an issue at all. So kudos to Keith, Mic and Travis.
> 
> The only issue I had with the whole thing was the noise floor was high enough to make it hard to have a conversation most of the time. The SPL competition itself wasn't an issue, it was everyone else hammering away endlessly. At one point I pulled out my JL Audio App equipped iPhone and measured a consistent 80-85db, with the occasional 90db depending on who was playing and how close. Given that a normal conversation is 60-65db, 80+ heard for hours on end is loud. If it had been warmer we all probably would have gone outside for the day.
> 
> As my first finals as a competitor (went to many 'back in the day' as a spectator) I had a good time and look forward to many more.


Yeah all the excessive "spl demoing" was fatiguing to say the least. I did talk to Paul Papadeas after the show was done though and I expressed the fact that next year there really needs to be a seperate building for the SPL cars and he completely agreed and mentioned that they do plan to move them to one of the adjacent buildings.


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## jsketoe (Aug 8, 2008)

I thought it was a well done show. I can see Moe's wheels turning on directions for next year.


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## lsm (Mar 11, 2009)

My comments were purely from a spectators viewpoint and not the competitors. Im sure the judging portion, etc was great but thats not easily seen unless you're actually competing. My point was the lack of presence, organization, and promotion of the SQ portion of the show. For example the judging started at 8 but the doors didn't open until 10, the SPL cars were in full swing mode around noon (whether competing or showing off their systems) and the booth cars were booming so loud you couldn't even talk to people in the other booths. I really wanted to chat with the guys at HAT and Ohio Generator but I couldn't hear a damn thing... Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the point of these shows to attract new customers/enthusiasts?

As for the corner where the SQ cars were there was no where near 24 cars when I walked through (unless some of them were mixed in with some of the SPL vehicles). After I made my first pass I walked over to the IASCA/USACi/dB Drag booth and asked if there was another hall or area where the SQ portion of the show was and we were told they're all over there pointing to the corner. I did see some awesome cars with beautiful installs but I would have liked to chat with the owners and possibly take a listen. 

I am not bashing the judging, competitors, or promoters in regards to the quality or execution of the actual competition, all I'm saying here is that from a spectators point of view if you wanted to see or hear some SQ cars you were gonna be disappointed. No doubt SPL cars are cool to watch but SQ cars are what drive consumers into the stores and those sales are what keeps the industry moving forward. 

I planned the whole weekend around that show so I could see and hear some SQ cars and get a close up look at the new products available because I want to compete myself next year. I walked away empty handed, disappointed, and with absolutely nothing for my investment. I personally would have rather spent all that money on my system...


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## pocket5s (Jan 6, 2012)

I didn't realize the doors didn't open till 10 for the public, so yes from that point it would be difficult to get in some seat time on cars . Heck it was hard enough for me to get to sit in some due to time running out 

The two rows closest to the wall were all sq cars and a few on the third row were mixed with some spl cars. The only outier was Mark Eldridge's NASCAR because his was next to his booth. 

In general audio shows tend to not get much promotion and thus not a lot of spectators which is a shame. I'm sure a lot of it is just due to financially not being able to get advertising and such. The ones with the most foot traffic are the ones in conjunction with car shows, like Sketoes show in Conway. I don't know how those guys get the word out, but they do.


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## jsketoe (Aug 8, 2008)

there were 4 sq cars iver in usac spl, marks car, plus the corner they directed you to. we started pulling some cars out at 10am sunday, fyi. too loud. i was out driving around with the new owner of the GN.


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## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

Its highly likely that when he came Saturday, thats when we had the majority of Cars pulled outside to do Install.


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## Micksh (Jul 27, 2011)

I thought it was a great show overall... I posted a thread with pics of some of the SQ cars. I only got one demo too, since I was involved with the SPL side, but was really impressed with the quality of the SQ cars and was surprised how many turned out on short notice honestly. They didn't really announce the SQ portion till really late. A separate building would be good though...


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## Micksh (Jul 27, 2011)

Here's the picture thread. http://diymobileaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137683


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## lsm (Mar 11, 2009)

Wish I could have seen more of these. Very nice!


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