MECA at Sacramento Autorama - noob's perspective

I made it out to my first MECA event yesterday at the Sacramento Autorama (spectator only) and had a good time.

Got to chat with Larry Ng whose Nationals video I had seen (by SkizeR).

Got a demo in a 2015+ Convertible Mustang, my apologies I did not get the owner's name, but he gave me some great input on my Mustang build. He had a 3 way set-up with Hybrid Audio upfront.

Brian Mitchell demo'd the ELR Caddy for me.

Robert, another Arc Audio Team member, demo'd his 2015 Challenger for me. His set-up had the Arc Audio Class D amps and three 12" subs.

All of the SQ demos were fantastic, you read about centered stages, wide stages, etc on forums but until you hear it for yourself you really can't appreciate it. I have never really listened to a trully high end system until yesterday.

The bass in the Caddy was amazing considering its a 10" sub in a 0.4 CF box, I'm sure having it mounted upfront in the passenger footwell made a difference, if I didn't already have my AF 12" GS sub, I would consider this approach as I wanted to preserve as much of my trunk space as possible. I rarely have a passenger in my Mustang and even when the wife rides along there's just a ton of leg room in it with the seat all the way back. Both Arc Audio cars were no slouches in the SPL area either as they demo'd their bass capabilities for me as well, not just their SQ.

It definintely would have helped to go to a few of these before planning my build, the forums are great, but I definitely get something out of seeing them in person. Live and learn, I think what I have planned will be fine for my budget, I just need to execute it well and then get the tuning down.

For some reason I had it in my mind that Nick Adams had a VW wagon, it wasn't until after I left that I realized the white GTI was likely Nick's car, all the pictures I have seen of his set-up were of the interior, :doh:, my loss.

Wish I could be there today for the SPL portion...

It's great to hear you had a good time at the show. I am also heading to my first real SQ event this year, and reading your post has got me pumped up even more. It's a bonus that you got to sit in the same kind of car you are currently working on. What a sweet way to work out some of your own details and get some new ideas. Good post!

larry and brian have fantastic-sounding cars. robert's getting there and eitan's (mustang) just getting started.

i had the white gti somewhere in the middle of the field.

glad you could make it it out. the next "norcal" meca show scheduled for june in fremont. we'll see if richard can squeeze one sooner or maybe we just do a get-together instead.

I’m happy to hear that some new blood came out. I don’t think I met you, but I was there with my white Scion xB. If I had known you were wanting to hear more cars I would have gladly given you a demo. I agree with Nick’s breakdown on the cars you heard.

I hope you do try to make it out to one of the next NorCal events. And make sure to get demos, even though sometimes it might feel awkward or intimidating when you don’t know people yet. Pretty much everyone at these events would be happy to give you a demo and answer any questions about their system.

Thanks guys, a GTG would be fun and I remember seeing the xB, I always liked the xB, would have loved one for my daughter but mama got to pick that one out.

Speaking of GTG's, I'm going to my first local Mustang 6G GTG next Saturday, hope the weather holds up (knock on wood), it was awesome for during the Autorama...

results posted. https://mecaevents.com/results/2759

the trophies are cool. https://agitated.net/gallery/d/17734-1/image1.jpeg

That is a really nice trophy, from my Bass Fishing and Golf Tournament Days I learned to appreciate a cool and thoughful trophy versus the standard run of the mill ones.

I need to spend some time understanding the different classes, the details of them, the names gives me a decent idea but I'm sure there are some subtleties there I'm not aware of. Curious to see if my first phase in my Mustang would put me in the Stock or Street class...

probably street class (depends on the number of DSP channels and source types)

take a look at the 2020 rulebook. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jRr...4_mxxJYX_/view

my suggestion is to build it the way you want and figure out the class later.

however, the sound deadening (CLD, CCF, MLV/sheet-lead) while you've got it apart. :)