2000 Ferarri 360 Modena - Keeping Clean

All sports cars have one thing in common: a lack of space. (Well, they also have performance in common, but hey, this an audio mag!) Anyone who has ever wanted to install a complete sound system in one has grappled with the questions, "How can I fit the subs?" and "Where will the amps go?" Doug Mongeon, an entrepreneur and sailing professional who loves high-quality sound didn't put himself through the mental anguish. Instead he did what he always does: drop the Tour de France Blue Ferrari 360 Modena off to Henry Sudit at Audio Designs of Anaheim Hills, CA.

Sudit faced the problem of not only getting a quality system to fit, but also making it blend with the Ferrari's low-key interior. On top of that, the owner didn't want anything invasive. "We didn't want to put a screw hole in the Ferrari," Mongeon reveals, "so everything had to be hand designed and fitted exactly." The first part of the solution was to conform, just a little bit, to the stock layout. Retaining the factory head unit (with the use of two PAC SNI-35 line level converters) kept the dash clean. Meanwhile, putting new components in the stock locations did the same for the doors. The midbasses from a pair of Morel Hybrid Ovation 6 components fit easily into the doors' enclosures. The tweeters had to be recessed into the factory locations up by the side mirrors.

The box for the two Kicker Solobaric L5 8" subwoofers required a lot more finagling. Located behind the front seats, the 3/4" MDF box spans the entire width of the rear wall. Given the shallow space and the not particularly shallow woofers, Audio Designs had to cut out the spots behind the woofer magnets in order to get them to fit. Having magnets jut out of a sealed enclosure just doesn't work, so the installers sealed these holes with fiberglass, contoured to accommodate the sub bottoms. For the finishing touch on the enclosure, upholsterer John Moc obtained Ferrari hides dyed to match the interior and upholstered the box with them. Coordinating further, blue welt piping edges the entire box and a silken prancing pony emblem was embroidered at the center.

Tucked up front in the storage compartment, the pair of amps didn't have to match anything, not even the fancy trunk gear Ferrari outfits its cars with. Nonetheless, the installers kept the amprack clean (though they did have a little fun by adding four 12" sticks of blue cathode tube lighting). Underneath a sheet of acrylic, the Arc Audio KAR 900.1D amp puts out 900 watts RMS into 1-ohm mono for the subs. Using Monster Cable for all cable and wiring needs, the subs are wired in parallel down to 1 ohm. For the components, an Arc Audio KAR 400.4 is bridged into two channels putting out 200 watts RMS by two for 400 watts total. The amps take little space in the compartment and the acrylic protects them from luggage tossed in for Mongeon's weekend trips to Santa Barbara.

Not everyone has the misfortune of trying to fit an audio system into cramped quarters (and even fewer have to drive a Ferrari around, poor dude), but Audio Designs got the job done. After a few days of waiting to get his ride back and $7,900 less in his pocket, Mongeon enjoys taking his weekend car for a spin, sweet sounds pouring from the open windows.

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Audio Designs

Anaheim Hills, CA

Owner: Henry Sudit