Pure Sound Quality
Stereo cars have never really been a big thing for me. I appreciate good sound when I hear it, but these days every second car has a big loud stereo and most of them have what I thought was really good quality sound. That was until I met Woody, Jamie Harwood. It is very hard for me to describe what I heard the afternoon I was in Woody's car, but it was far and away better than any sound reproduction I had ever heard. The car is a Nissan X-Trail and the car was built around the design of the stereo. To get the speakers up as high as possible, they needed a car with the instrument panel in the centre of the car instead of behind the steering wheel. Before Woody even drove the car, it was delivered across the road to Northfield Car Sound at Moorooka, where it got all the leather fitted and Dynomat installed on both the inside and outside of the doors, essentially turning the entire door into one big speaker box.
Before I get too much further into the car, let me introduce you to Kylie Schultz. Kylie is a model from the northside of Brisbane and I am sure you will agree, if the sound coming out of Woody's car couldn't get your attention, Kylie would. She is available for modelling and promo work and is one hell of a fun girl to work with ( I call her "the noise") and is very professional and friendly. I can't recommend her highly enough. Let's get back to Woody's car........
Woody spent $7000 on the car before he even drove it. Shortly after, he got the call up to go over to Iraq with the Army. When he returned, the rest of the car was completed to how it is now. He threw some cash at Drew at Northfield and said this is what I want, let's do it. Prior to this car, Woody had a Pulsar which was the signature car for Northfield, and he won just about every competition he entered for sound quality, and this car is an upgrade on that. When he returned from Iraq, he found 2 12 inch IDMax sub woofers in the back, which are the only 2 of their kind in the country at the moment. The amps are ARC Audio SEs, they are 2300SCs, 3 of them, and there are only 6 of them in the country. These amps are hand crafted. When it comes to audio, the stuff from the USA is considered the best, and this is some of the best of the best gear. These amps are so exclusive that when the president himself of ARC Audio in America saw photos of the car, it was chosen to actually be on the ARC Audio website. Woody's car is the only one on the site from Australia. You can see it here -
ARC AUDIO USA - Click on the "international vehicles" galleries button and then Australia.
Every speaker in this car has been installed to perfection, with a lot of trial and error to get the speaker angles and locations perfect for the ideal sound. Ultimately, to sit in the driver's seat of this car, you are sitting in the ultimate sound stage. Woody played a few songs for me while I was in the car with him. Firstly, he played "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins. I think if i was in a soundproof room with Phil himself the sound could not have been more perfect. The 2 songs that were played that stood out in my mind were not because of the song, but because of the sound. One of them consisted of 2 acoustic guitars being played live on stage. The sound was so clear I could distinguish the sound between the 2 guitars. In the second song, Woody demonstrated how he could move the sound around the car. He told me to close my eyes and listen to the woman singing, and asked me where I thought the woman was located. It sounded like she was sitting in the middle of the dash on the instrument panel. He then proceeded to move her from left to right. The quality of sound in this car is, as I said before, nothing like I have ever heard. PURE SOUND QUALITY.
The stereo isn't just about music either. There is full digital TV, a video reversing sensor and full bluetooth capabilities. The car is fully automated. The electric windows, sunroof etc are all controllable through the stereo. Different sections of the car can be locked and unlocked individually, allowing access for car shows etc. For example, the front of the car can be locked and leave the back door open. All cabling for the car is Stinger expert, which is a combination of copper and brass cable. One of the best things about this car is that by throwing the odd cover over bits and pieces in the boot, the car still functions completely as a daily driver. You can still throw the shopping in the back.
The outside of the car hasn't had much work. The wheels are 18" Lenso Widetrack with 2" dish up front and 4" on the rear. But it is definitely what is on the inside that counts with this car. If there is such a thing as perfect sound quality, I would think this car goes close. And if there is such a thing as a perfect model to work with, I would say Kylie would be right up there too, but I will let you make your own decisions about that. Let me say one thing though, I think Kylie was the perfect girl to be working on a car that is owned by a guy named "Woody"..................
