The SoundQ Garage
Tech talk for the DIY car audio enthusiast that cares about sound quality
The SoundQ Garage
From Beta Speakers To Big Plans: Season One Wrap Up For SoundQ Garage
Miss the rush of a great car audio demo that changes your mind on the spot? This season one recap brings you there, starting with Ryan’s beta test of Xcelsus wide band speakers that made a strong case for a clean, coherent two-way system. We unpack why wide bands can unlock simpler installs, tighter imaging, and less crossover complexity, while still being honest about the trade-offs and timing before retail release.
We also track the builds that kept our community buzzing. Mike’s Volvo inches toward a debut for that long-anticipated up mixer, proof that the last 10 percent often decides greatness. Dan—a 90s IASCA champion—returns to the scene and calls today’s cars “very digital,” sparking a rich contrast between analog warmth and modern precision. Luke shocks us by tearing down an already excellent truck to chase surgical like precision, while Chris revives the bold spirit of 90s show installs with a DIY Charger that already sounds promising. The industry’s human side shows too, as Miguel closes his traveling tuning business, a reminder of how hard it is to scale passion across miles and months.
Looking ahead, we share our own next move: exploring infinite baffle after hearing IB done right, with Acoustic Elegance on the shortlist. And we outline a new segment designed to be deeply practical: DSP strategies, MiniDSP and Dirac workflows, DAPS, OEM integration, speaker choices, and placement that actually works in real cars. Expect clear steps, fewer myths, and more music-first results. If you care about sound quality, staging, phase, and low noise floors, you’ll feel right at home as we turn community lessons into a reliable playbook.
If this recap resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who chases better sound, and leave a quick review with the one topic you want us to tackle first in season two. Your ideas shape the lineup.
Hello, hello, hello. Hey everyone, welcome back to the SoundQ Garage Podcast. So this is gonna be a season one recap, but before we get into today's recap, I want to start by apologizing for the delay in episodes. Work has been crazy lately and life has been running wide open. So the podcast had to take a brief pit stop, but I appreciate every single one of you sticking around. And uh so we're back now and there's a lot to catch up on. So we're gonna do uh some guest updates and some uh updates for next season. So first up we have Ryan. Ryan's been uh beta testing the wide band speakers from Excelsius, and so I got to hear a demo the other day, and let me just say they sound pretty damn good. If you're still debating whether a two-way setup is enough, these wide bands might convince you. I was honestly surprised by how clean and full they sounded. Full disclosure, though the Excelsius wide bands aren't for sale just yet. Ryan is beta testing, and let me just say, so if Excelsius just sticks with that second version that Ryan is testing, uh let me tell you, they sound really good. Doesn't mean you have to go with Excelsius, you know? But just um take into consideration if you want a cheap setup or an easy setup, wide bands is the way to go, especially if you want to just do two-way. So next up is Mike and his Vovo. Mike's Vovo isn't quite finished yet. I've been dying to get a demo of the riven up mixer. I've heard a lot of good things about it, but the car just wasn't ready. Knowing Mike, though, it won't be long, so that car is gonna be a monster once it's buttoned up. I saw his car, I didn't get to listen to it. Everything was installed and buttoned up. So uh I'm excited to hear it as soon as he's ready. So Dan, my good buddy Cartoons 2, he finally got to make an appearance to uh compare today's builds compared to his classic 90s setup. Dan, if you remember, had a uh Iaska winning sorry about that, sounds like there's a car in the background. So Dan had a 90s uh 96 uh Accord that they built, him and a good friend of his, Ray Broder, and uh they won the championship back in I think '96, '97. So I was uh, you know, egging him on to come down to one of the meets so uh we could rub elbows, maybe break bread. But uh I didn't get to see him personally, but he did make it to the uh, I think it was the Virginia meet, one of the big meets out there, and he met up with with Ryan and stuff like that, and they took pictures and uh had a good old time. And so it was uh just uh if you want to know his reaction, he told me that today's cars have a very digital sound. So you gotta remember that's uh somebody's coming from the analog era, but he said that was really interesting and uh how the cars are built nowadays, and he said that uh kind of put a little fire under his butt and he said he's contemplating doing one last build. Um he did tell me he was seriously considering buying Ray's Accord. He told me it's got a little bit, you know, maybe a couple grand worth of um fixing up and he said the foam on the speakers was uh coming unglued on on a couple of the speakers and a carpet's coming up, but he said nothing that wouldn't, you know, m maybe a a week's worth of work couldn't fix. And then there's Luke. Luke is actually redoing his setup, and that actually shocked me because uh in my opinion, I thought his truck sounded incredible. But if you know Luke, you know he approaches approaches everything with uh surgical precision. He pushes the boundaries, he obsesses over details, which isn't a bad thing. So I'm ready to see what he brings next to the table next season, and uh should be interesting. A little sad news about Miguel Rio. So Miguel shuttered down uh waveform tuning, which kind of honestly bummed me out. He had this uh unique business where he travels the country tuning tuning cars and stuff like that and setting them up. And uh so his his traveling tuning business was unique and he helped a lot a ton of people across the country. So after his move to Texas, uh logistics got tougher. The profit probably dipped. You know, these days things are really tough, and he made the tough call. Miguel, buddy, you appreciate it big time. So Matt Kim. Matt Kim is going strong here in Houston. Uh he told me he started to expand his offerings from uh pillars to front sub enclosures and in full system installs. Proud of you, Matt. Glad he's doing good. Chris's charger. So finally I got to do some uh got this got some seat time on Chris's build. You know what he reminds me of what he's doing, reminds me of those installs, the massive 90s installs, if you're old enough to remember. The ambitious creative and pushing do-it-yourself to the limit. So even unfinished, the car sounded really good to me. I can't wait to hear the final product. So with my build and what's next, I also got a lot of positive feedback this season on my own build, especially people who really understand sound quality. But you know how this hobby goes. There's always one more thing. Always trying to push it. So after sitting in Ryan's car, I'm seriously considering going infinite baffle. I already started to do the research. I think I might go with acoustic elegant uh 15-inch subwoofer. So I'm doing the research now. Might be the cherry on top for next season. Who knows? Just dipping my toes in the research right now. So for next season, we got new guests lined up, new discussions, and I'm introducing a brand new segment focused on gear talk and gear reviews. Uh, we're gonna be looking um, talking about DSPs, how to do basic setups, deep dive into mini DSP and Dirac, looking at dApps, OEM integration, speaker choices, speaker placement, all kinds of fun stuff. So stay tuned. And again, thanks for being part of the SoundQ Garage community. Thanks for supporting season one. Stay tuned, pun intended. Season two is right around the corner. Thank you guys.