SPL Competition in Australia has always had a small but loyal following. I remember attending my first event when I was 16 (14 years ago!) and being absolutely blown away by the competitors and their vehicles. At the time, Boyd Kraigher from Total Recoil was hitting ridiculous SPL numbers (~ 155db) and the other standout was DJ Hamo with a ute.

I was hooked. Two weeks later I had two Kicker 10" subwoofers (free air mind you) installed in a VH Commodore (on LPG) and powered them with a Audioline 1000 watter. The amp was massive and stretched the entire width of the boot area. If you opened it up however, you quickly noticed that the amplifier was only half full of components. I quickly learnt about the marketing tactics of some of the cheaper 'competition' products on the market.

I dabbled in competition with reasonable results, getting the absolute most from the equipment I had before realising it was upgrade time if I wanted to go any further. Soon after my interest in car audio changed somewhat with the creation of this very website, and my time and focus shifted slightly and it was some years before I returned to competition (CAA/Audison Extreme Mini). By that time, the SPL competition scene had changed entirely.

Numbers had taken a massive step forward and were getting on par with world level results. A number of manufacturers (or competitors turned manufacturer) had shifted their focus towards dedicated SPL competition products and on a world level, could justify operating a company specialising in such a niche market. Here in Australia, such a small island, consumers have benefited from having access to just as many brands as are available in the USA (despite the population size difference). Not all brands however have had great success as from a business perspective, the market simply isn't big enough.

Such companies as Digital Designs, have shone through and certainly attracted a massive following in this country. If you looked back at competition results in this country you'd be hard pressed to find any other brand with as much success as 'DD' have had surely. However along with high performance products (at the winning end of the scale), comes a price tag. To be competetive in Australia, consumers have had to pay the price, forking out their hard earned to absolutely fill their boots with amps and subs, along with batteries, cables and a bucketload of other gear.

Many fall into SPL Competition, and quickly realise the costs to be competitive, and more often than not unfortunately, they're never to be seen at an event again.

On a world level, SPL competition and in particular dB Drag Racing, has recognised that the classes have 'out-classed' many first timers and new entrants to the sport. Classes have been addressed, and new classed have been introduced to attract first timers. This is a great step forward on an industry level, and specifically for the sport of SPL competition.

In Australia however, the pre-requisites have remained the same. You need 'x' brand if you want to win, or at least thats what the perception has been. In very recent times, rival brands with just as much potential to win have become available to Australia. Many of the mainstream (or larger) manufacturer's have recognised their is a niche market for SPL competition products and their technology has caught up with others who had specialised in SPL competition soley. Companies such as Pioneer, JL Audio, Rockford Fosgate had begun releasing dedicated SPL products and slowly but surely, these products have been creeping up in the results (with a number of world records being achieved).

Even more recently, brands such as SPL Dynamics and Atomic Loudspeakers have become available in Australia with products just as capable of producing records and winning classes as Digital Designs and others. Of course, there are varying product ranges and the top shelf products still carry decent price tags, but at least there is some choice now, and perhaps the single brand constantly winning here in Australia that has kept some people away from the sport may actually attract some fresh motivation from competitors?

I myself look forward to the 2008 season and seeing the results. I also welcome the introduction of other brands into the mix such as the Hertz SPL woofers, and the products on offer by George from Atomic, and Billy and Adam from SPL Dynamics. Let's hope we see some good competition, increased competitor numbers (both in attendance and results!).

A new era for SPL Competition in Australia has been overdue, and welcomed by many!

And of course, anyone wanting more information about dB Drag Racing in Australia can visit: http://www.dbdragracing.com.au

I echo Marc's words. Hopefully 2008 will see some huge numbers here in Oz.

i hope there are the amount of db drag events that caasq has. few and far between isnt enough for people to fork out the dough.
so my one request is more events.

Every single MEASQ event CAN be a dB Drag Racing event if it's desired. All that's needed is a few retailers to become dB Drag Members, and a few members willing to volunteer to get involved with organisation on the day etc.

Hell I'll throw some dollars at Termlab / P.A gear etc.

TermLab - Check
P.A. Gear - Check

Money and time to compete in dB drags this year - probably not

But hopefully we do see some big numbers AND some more smaller numbers to encourage newbies into the scene too!

i would love to play around with DB again, just dont have a car sutible for it (stupid ute!) and no money for gear

will be at a syd db drag meet sometime this year.. and caasq nsw as well.. hopefully 2008 will be a good season.. hopefully get some good numbers in beginner or novice

cheers trent

my hands up for volunteering to help out etc. as long as i can still compete.

got a spare SPL car up here my suzuki swift. someone can use on loan to play around with until they can get an build a SPL dedicated car.

And if anyone needs help or advice they can contact me or even Billy and we will give them a helping hand and i think the new rules and the avalible gear at hand that SPL can move forward and become a bigger competition that will make the car audio companies take notice

The new rules should make it alot more inviting for new competitors. I know from the local comps ie. Myself, Autobarn and a few of the local car shows, there are many guys that go along and want to compete, but the massive scores achieved by the bigger players keeps entry numbers down. I can't wait to see what the new system brings to the industry
A couple of good new brands to play with, should make it a little more interesting
this year and for the coming years.

In the past a lot of people have been put off DB Drag because they were told their subs, amps and even their installs were no good for high SPL but with the new street stock A & street stock B rules which will eliminate the high end competition equipment from these classes, this means that the average street beater will be competitive, this should encourage more people to enter these two classes.

As Brad said before with the " heavy hitters " coming along to SPL events people seem to get scared off by there much higher numbers... speaking to some people the average attitute towards the autobarn events seems to be " Well if those guys are there.. whats the point of even going.. where never going to win "... but in saying that.. towards the end of last year the numbers seemed to pick up again. and hopfuly this will continue through 2008

And i would also like to wish all competitors the best of luck for the new season.


( sorry for bad grammer/spelling )

send it down full of gear

I reckon the two new "entry level" classes are a great start, but we need more.

I've said for a long, long time we need a sedan class also. I also think it would be good to run novice class, where you can only enter for the first year and get bumped up as soon as you "out grow" it, say 2-3 wins and you're out.

I also liked the old power classes. Rate everyone's system in watts. Take the maximum advertised power claim of an amp and that's it's rating. You don't find that many true novices run 5000W monster amps.

Phil

The " out grown " thing is a really good idea.. splits the comp soo u dont get people pushing 150 and higher vs people that are only just breaking 130s..

We need bassrace

Andrew, I think you are getting a little confused, you’re talking about Autobarn sound offs we’re talking about DB Drag, each AB store runs sound offs by their own rules, DB drag has one set of rules world wide.

Maybe AB should look at running sound off with DB Drag rules all the people who normally enter AB events would now run street stock A or street stock B and the “heavy hitters” as you call them would run street A,B or C.

I think Autobarn should work in with DB Drag racing Australia so each AB sound off could become a round of the national point scoring events this would see more of the dedicated DB Drager at these events but still leave Street stock A&B for the street beater guys to enter and not have to run up against cars that do 150+

As I have mentioned in the past, if people turn up to events. You would be surprised at how much things can and will change.

Bassrace and like are great ideas, but it again we need the numbers at the events to do this.

Yeah!

I think all lower classes should be based on a 30 sec average.

Phil

I think we should all bow down to the mighty teg boy, he makes the most important point out of the lot of you's. More people need to turn up to events! and then they will see more changes to the rules to keep the people coming back time and time again!

unfortunately competitor levels dropped in QLD (at sanctioned events) that there has been none listed for this year. and for those aiming high who need points and certified SPL scores this is an issue as with only GCAS and BAS as the only db Drag events (so far) it will be nigh on impossible for us to earn sufficient points.

as for comps that Autobarn runs, i know i will get my bum handed to me, but i still go to have fun.

the question is, how do we get more people to events?
advertising?
word of mouth? - hasnt done very well to date with the decline in attendance.

agreed also. adding the new classes doesnt just help. we need to let people know the classes are there and tell everyone.

a good 50% of the regular competitors dont visit sites like dbdragracing or even MEA. they find out from the shops when events are on or hear it on other forums.
but many people dont visit sites that compete

many people also dont know what the rules are or what their cars would be up against if they competed. the majority think it is just for seriously loud cars and not everyday cars also.


but anyway the topic at hand i havent been competing long and in the 2 and a half years that i have been competing i have seen so many cars that have stayed and got louder and i have also seen so many cars get loud and disappear.

i have seen many new competitors come to events and starting to get louder also. but in the end more people have been leaving the sport then the amount of people entering the sport. this being because it was hard for ya everyday guy to have a chance against the cars that are dedicated to winning their classes.

so the new classes should see numbers increase over time. it wont happen straight away but it will happen.

there are many areas in the street stock classes that leave the rules to be bent. with the latest comp. a comercially available amp being the XXX6500 being used in the street stock class. the rules state it has to be from an approved list and the approved list is the amps just has to be comercially available in shops to be used in street stock which the grey area. as the Z1 is no longer available the Z1A isnt the D6 isnt. these amps are rated about the same or above the XXX6500 but the XXX6500 is comercially available which means you can run it in the street stock classes.
so this will also turn people away with guys that choose to run these amps still getting massive amounts of power in street stock classes.

but anyway thats another topic for discusion but honestly the sport is slowly heading in the right direction to increasing numbers here in australia thats for sure. and with more products being made available the numbers and the sport can only get better for australia.


cheers billy

Isn't there going to be an "approved product list"?

Commercial availability? How is this defined? Any one can walk into any one of 130+ stores and buy a DD amp, surely this is "available".

Phil

ah im not sure how it is defined.

Street Stock Division

The Street Stock classes are intended for normal, after market auto sound systems. The equipment permitted in these classes is restricted to the "consumer-grade" components that are sold everyday at auto sound retail establishments. Veteran contestants, competition teams, and "hardcore" competitors are encouraged to compete in one of our other divisions.

my interpretation of the street stock under the approved product list was that you wouldnt be able to use amps like the SS XXX6500 as it is an amp that is used purely for SPL in most applications and not available in your every day audio store. just like the Z1's and Z1A's they may be available at stores but are not available at your everyday audio store really.

but yeah a XXX6500 was used in street stock and im not complaining im just saying this is a thing that has to be sorted out with wayne on what amps are going to be allowed to be used in the street stock classes. cause if a 6500 is allowed then the Z1's and Z1A's should be also. which then in turn negates the whole purpose of why there is street stock classes. thats all and thats why i bought the point up cause wayne hasnt put street stock classes approved amp list out, it has to be sorted thats all.

it needs to be better defined in the rules and stated exactly what they mean by everyday store. i know the XXX6500 shouldnt be used. but it is commercially available but it isnt available at ya everyday retail audio shop. which means it should not have been allowed for street stock.

im just thinking and talking for the everyday guy that turns up and see these amps being used in street stock classes and they then give up on the sport right off the bat.


cheers billy

Street Stock Division

The Street Stock classes are intended for normal, after market auto sound systems. The equipment permitted in these classes is restricted to the "consumer-grade" components that are sold everyday at auto sound retail establishments. Veteran contestants, competition teams, and "hardcore" competitors are encouraged to compete in one of our other divisions.

• Only amps and woofers on the currently approved dB Drag Racing product list may be used.
• Vans, CRX's, Panda's (or Panda derivatives), and commercial vehicles are prohibited from competing in the Street Stock Division.
• Contestants must play music when competing. Test tones (or songs containing test tones) are prohibited.

How does it work??? I'm an "every day audio store" and AutoBarn sells DD
I have plenty of customers driving around with Z1a's and 99's in thier daily drivers, I have a few customers driving around with Z2's.

Maybe they should re-name the classes ie. people that buy from JB & WOW vs others

Had a quick look around on Termpro; didn't find much.

Anyone been more patient than me?

Phil



God bless them.

Phil

but once it is sorted all out im sure this year with the new rules, will be the start of dbdrag numbers slowly increasing more and more as time goes on under the new format.

I believe with the new products that I saw in Vegas this year that there will be many brands barking at the heals of the current "perceived" market leader.

All competition is good competition but that said, especially if it keeps the interest and vibe in the industry, but we must not loose sight of the fact that it has to be affordable and able to sustain the interest of those who have a home work shop and modest budget as opposed to the shop and in some cases distributor backed cars competition.

RM Audio will very shortly be making an announcement about the much anticipated Hertz SPL Monster speakers, so keep an eye open in the forums for breaking news.

Umm.. was there a particular reason for Marc's little speech?

It seems to me i've missed the point except for there are some other brands around ready to make some noise...

Please keep your brand bashing out of this thread, or it will be closed!

plus i think it was to announce over the years DD has dominated SPL in australia. and has been that way for a long time. but now due to myself and others out there we are bringing in products that are in direct competition and match it with DD in the world of SPL.

plus also to mention how much the numbers have climbed over time in SPL.

with some 5 classes set to be over the 160 mark this year. and how close the street competition in SPL will be with new rules changes and stuff. thats all really i think it was mainly about. just to say how much the sport has changed since he first came on the scene and how much the products have changed.

but anyway thats all.




and as for DD being used in SPL any one of their amps bar the Z1 and Z1A's will be allowed in street stock. it doesnt go on our shops the rules are based on Americas stores just so you know SUPRA.


whole point i made is basically any amps with an ability to do 2900wrms at 1ohm or better ya wont be seeing in street stock in reallity, this is what will end up happening, if it doesnt this is how i think it should be for street stock.



cheers billy

And i thought i was alone in thinking this. Same people, different brands and classes?

I see no brand bashing here......

What the??? From what i've read (mostly this page) there hasn't been any brand bashing... It is actually a nice change

Some posts have been deleted hence you may not have seen them.

You're welcome to continue the conversation like gentlemen

I have a question.....
What is considered "commercially available music" for the Street Stock A and B classes.??

Music brought over the counter from JB Hi Fi or any other music outlet?
Not a tone CD or SPL CD or CD containing anything directed at SPL?

IS THAT CORRECT?

I think your pretty close to the mark there, i'm sure wayne will have an indepth description some time soon, hopefully sooner then later, because of these rule delays i think the 2008 season has practically gone to the crapter.....

Thats nothing unusual

they should start working on the rules for the 2010 season now.... so at least half of them will be sorted by the time it comes around. hopefully the z1bs will be arriving by then...

HAHA Trism you belong in a tree your a nut HAHA

That's exactly what it was, to let people know OTHER brands are available.

Digital Designs has become boring, dB Drag has become boring, and the whole sport is uninviting to new competitors as a result. There will be some die hard SPL'ers that may take offence to my comment ... so be it, it's my opinion and a widely shared industry opinion too.

I'm sincerely hoping for the industry AND the sport's sake that making others aware that these brands exist and that DD is not the be all and end all of SPL competition may just ignite some enthusiasm amongst potential competitors!

Call it a marketing speil if you like ... I call it an opinion.

I welcome all competitors, what ever gear they choose to use. It's great for the sport.

Phil

It's not rocket surgery!
I'm not dirrectly backing up DDPhil here, but there is a reason that DD has been so successfull over that past 5 or so years. Phil is at every comp he can possibly attend, he is non stop designing and building cars to be loud. Phil lives, breaths, sh!ts car audio.
I really hope the importers of these other brands put as much time and effort into the SPL scene as DDPhil. I, as much as anyone want the sport to grow and in the past have tried to use many other brands to beat the scores that are achieved by DD, but to no avail. There are a few new products hitting our shores this year so this should spice things up.
I too have seen numbers drop off in the SPL scene and I agree that it has been due to the fact that there has been no other brand to rival DD, lets hope that with SPL Dynamics and ATOMIC we can create more of a buzz in the industry and get more people along to events.

danny the moderator from hell! aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the world is doomed

And this in turn is a great Opinion, and i mean that not just saying it.

Glad to see doors finally opening up, and actually getting some distributors with real stock backing behind them approaching the market.

We stock 1000s of speakers and amps.

Phil