Audio2Music: From Mississippi to Nebraska

Surprised, I said "what the hell are you guys doing there?" I opened the garage's overhead door when I saw the two guys who had just left their car for me to work on the day before. This was a custom installation that would take many days. So when I saw the them coming out from behind a tree, in the middle of the Nebraska winter, at seven in the morning, I was stunned to say the least. The two guys told me they had slept outdoors the night before. "The whole night?" I asked. They went on to explain that they had no money left for a hotel. These guys had come from Minnesota for me to work on their car and had spent all the money they had on my work. I couldn't believe it.
I know it sounds crazy. So if you don't believe it either, I don't blame you. But the truth is that, during the golden years at Stereo West, I had people come from very far away. They were looking for help. While some needed complete installations, the best and most notable vehicles needed my help for two things: either eliminating noise or completely overhauling their sound performance. These special vehicles already had elaborate installations by some of the best craftsmen in the industry. Yet, my reputation for having the understanding of the physics behind sound quality and for sporting a pair of golden ears, meant that I got an exclusive opportunity to peek behind the scenes of incredible sound systems.

picture of John Stubbs in front of his 1993 Toyota 4x4

Such was the case with John Stubbs. I guess he had taken a sabbatical from the police force in Mississippi to come to hang out with us to Nebraska. It is very easy to like John. He's an honest, transparent, and charismatic guy with a great sense of humor. The time we spend together was very memorable indeed.
Before heading our way, John had the guys at Pro Audio in Mississippi build an incredible instal for his truck. The system had the USAC solid construction blended with the IASCA beauty. But many trucks are notably difficult for good sound quality performance; especially those where you stuff a huge woofer box behind the front seats.
This was a different era in sound quality. The midget-sized-instruments on top of the dash that are so common today were not acceptable back then. Today, poor judging describes such affect as good imaging specificity. Back then, we just called it what it is: funny midgets on the dash; not real music.

picture of John Stubbs' kick panel inside of his 1993 Toyota 4x4, with protective grills

We were looking to achieve large, realistic images over a well-defined stage. While kick panels can get you close, there is only one kick panel layout that takes into consideration the low-pass phase-lag created by crossovers. If you look close at most of our competition cars, you will see such magical layout. I once looked into patenting it before I realized it would be expensive with no reward from the effort. I believe that the only other high profile competitor ever to use a similar setup was Chad Klodner in his incredible red Mustang.

picture of John Stubbs' kick panel inside of his 1993 Toyota 4x4, without protective grills

After changing his front stage for our magical kick-panel set up with built in a-periodic enclosures behind the mids, the mid-bass image kept giving us trouble. Mathematically, it takes only a simple calculation to see that midbass in the doors will tend to cancel with a wide 'Q' centered around 250Hz.

picture of John Stubbs' door panel inside of his 1993 Toyota 4x4, without protective grills

So I decided to borrow a positive characteristic of waveguides: energy dispersion control. I theorize that mounting the midbass drivers backwards would make their sound disperse in a similar fashion to convex domes with phase plugs in front of them.

picture of John Stubbs' door panel inside of his 1993 Toyota 4x4, with protective grills

Everyone remembers the 3/4" titanium MB Quart domes that could produce 20kHz in any direction. I used to say that you could point them to the toilet and still get 20KHz on the RTA. Their performance results from their phase plug redirecting energy omnidirectionally. I was hoping that the magnet structure would do the same to the back of the cone of the mid-bass drivers in the doors. Incredibly, while the effect wasn't absolutely perfect, it did a very good job. It was the best midbass set up I ever did on a door.
Yet, I must admit that I never again placed midbass speakers on the doors. I have a hard time settling for almost good enough. At the end of the day we all learn from what we do. I loved working in John's truck. Looking back, I can comfortably say that I feel privileged to have met him.
Following is a transcript of the feature article on his struck as it appeared in the annual '96 edition of Mobile Sound Competition. Enjoy!

High Roller

Mobile Sound Competition '96 Annual

Staff Writer

When you think of USAC competition, think of John Stubbs of Florence, Mississippi. He and his 1993 Toyota 4x4 have been making quite a ruckus the last few years in USAC circles, and it looks as though he's ready to make more noise in '96.

When John first got started in a Novice competition in 1992, he knew that this was his gig. He teamed up with US AC competition masters Pro Audio in Richmond, Mississippi, to integrate a no-holds-barred competition system that later proved to be the ring leader.

picture of the back of John Stubbs in front of his 1993 Toyota 4x4, with motorized back window open and motorized amp rack open

John Stubbs diamond-plate "toolbox" houses four amplifiers

—two Kicker 200si's and two 50si's.

A seemingly simple equipment layout was chosen with components from Clarion and Kicker. Clarion's Pro Audio 7770 was installed in the dash and sends its signal to a Clarion 920 EQ in-dash 9-band equalizer. Two Kicker 200sI and two 50si amplifiers were installed in the bed of the truck in what appears to be nothing other than a simple, diamond plate tool bin. A look inside, however, reveals that it is a center of electronics and amplification.

picture of behind the seats inside of John Stubbs' 1993 Toyota 4x4 truck

While you're looking in that area, look at what lurks on the cabin side of a motorized sliding back window: Kicker SoloBaric 12-inchwoofers highlighted with red neon are sure to get the attention of any judge. Another attention getter is a unique installation of the mid-bass drivers in the doors. Kicker R-4 speakers are mounted backward in the hope of reeling in a couple of extra creativity points. The sound isn't affected by this arrangement, according to John, since the basket is "open" and the build-outs are non-obtrusive.

John's hard work earned him a runner-up award at the 1994 USAC Finals and both the highest IASCA regional and USAC national points leader in 1995 —in all totaling nearly 50 trophies in a few short years. Though a team to be reckoned with, John has decided to part with his "toy" after the '95 USAC Finals to build something new with installers Greg Pauley and Alberto Lopez of Stereo West. In the meantime, you can expect to see John at the events —judging and being his usual enthusiastic self about this great sport.