This project was a bit of a World Exclusive for D`N`D Services Ltd. We knew that Kenwood were looking to design and develop a very large 32" Subwoofer, and with the past successes we have had building some of their Demo cars, coupled with the fact that Sid Jervis from the Loud! Association was virtually living in our workshop, we knew that it would not be too long before we saw one in the flesh. And sure enough, the guys from Kenwood arrived one day with a very large box containing a hand built prototype (1 of only 10 produced) and said that they needed a vehicle to show it off at the 2000 motorshow. When we asked for the technical specs of the speaker, we were met with a bit of a glazed look and a reply of "not sure, we haven`t powered it up yet" - so, no pressure there then !!

Sid had just purchased a brand new Honda HRV, and by our calculations, it looked about the right size to start shoehorning this speaker into.

Very, Very, Big Sub! Yes, this is for real! 32 inches of incredibly big Subwoofer! As this was an unproven product, and that to date nobody had actually powered one up, there were no specifications! Power Rating, Box Size, XMax, etc, had to be guessed. For this reason, we have very little pictures of the box whilst under construction, because once the final figures are released from Kenwood, our box design will almost certainly have to be changed.

Blue is the Colour As Sid`s HRV had already received a retrim in blue Suede, and Kenwood PS Amps were to be used, the natural choice was to use our own Anodised versions. The two amps were mounted side by side, and needed some form of bridging unit to hide all the cables (the bit shown in silver). Guess what! Kenwood do not make one, so we had to get a complete brand new amp and literally cut it in half to bridge the gap!

3 Amps ? No, actually it isn`t, but you would be forgiven for thinking so. We were very carefull in deciding how wide the center bridging part should be, and we made sure to incorporate the Logo found on the plastic top moulding, also cut to the same size. Anodise to the same shade, and refit it.

Subtle? NOT ! Where would we be without Alcantara? Sid had to make a quick dash across the pond, and with time contraints against us, the final trimming in the striking red Alcantara was done by Sid and some of his friends at Audio Advice in Northern Ireland. Very nicely done indeed !

Mind your Language! Sid is developing a bit of a complex and he finds that everywhere he goes, people are violently swearing at him and his car. They see the graphics and the 18" wheels and agree that it looks good. But . . . Whenever the tailgate is opened . . . "FFFFFUUU........!!!" If you see the car, I defy you to come up with a different initial reaction!

The car made its debut at the 2000 Motorshow at the NEC, Birmingham and went down an absolute storm. However, not knowing how many subwoofers were actually sold on the back of this demo car, I think we have done far much better out of this than Kenwood did. The phone did not stop ringing afterwards at our place, as everybody wanted the Blue Limited Edition Anodised Amps. These were not actually available from Kenwood, as they were all hand built by us !!

I spent a lot of time myself in this car touring Europe with Sid on the lookout for the next project - and that bizarre journey even involved travelling from a vehicle manufacturer in Germany, to another Dealer in Belgium, just to discuss having an extra window fitted !!

Intriuged? Wait and see . . . .