Furisi has always been an avid listener of music. He is something of an audiophile when it comes to his home system, but up until a few years ago he never imagined what could be done with a car. A good friend and former competitor of Furisi's turned him on to the world of car audio tour years ago. He recalls that when he first purchased his 1995 Honda Prelude, he knew he wanted more than a factory stereo setup. His intention was to install a system with great sound quality and not necessarily to compete that is. Until he attended his first show Alter listening to several vehicles, Furisi quickly made up his mind to get involved. Keeping true to his goal of creating a competition-level vehicle that, boasts good sound rather than a complicated installation he began working towards his goal.

After the initial decision, it took nearly two years before Furisi entered his first competition. He spent the preliminary months doing extensive research on what products to install. He then did many listening tests on various home and car audio equipment, in addition to travelling throughout the northeast to listen to some of the top competitive vehicles. After gathering all the information he had to that point, he interviewed installers and shops to engage someone for the installation. He went through a dozen interviews, but there was only one shop that he felt comfortable with. It turned out to be Ultrasounds LTD. in Lynbrook, New York where John Delorenzo is head installer. He is no stranger to the competition scene and was a regular in the Car Audio Nationals and NACA days. After claiming a few of his own National Championships as a competitor, he continued his involvement in competing by claiming more than a dozen championships as an installer. The owner of Ultrasounds, John Francioso, has been involved with the competition scene for over ten years as well. He is more “low key” but is a major player. He is the man behind designing and tuning all of the competition cars. As Furisi pointed out, “They always have vehicles at the Finals and always wind up on the stage when all is said and done. Their reputation precedes them.”

PASSENGER COMPARTMENT
Positioned in the factory radio location is a Sony CDX-C910 AMIFWCD player that sits flush in the dash thanks to a custom made double DIN trim ring that Delorenzo made out of 1/4-inch smoked Plexiglas. Just beneath the radio are blue voltage and temperature gauges from Dakota Digital. The blue gauges are a perfect match for the vehicle because they match the factory gauges of the Prelude. When the system is turned off, the gauges disappear behind the dark tint of the Plexiglas. Focal speakers handle the front stage. A set of 4RK335 4-inch midrange drivers and TN-46 tweeters are located in the kick- panels, protected with perforated steel grills. “After listening to many component sets, these were by far the best,” according to Furisi. The original kickpanels were removed and replaced with new ones that accommodate the Focal drivers. Francioso and Delorenzo made several mock kickpanels before making the finished product to ensure that the imaging and staging were at the highest level. Delorenzo construct- ed them of fiberglass and body filler, finishing them off with black factory vinyl. The factory floor mats were slightly shaved and re- stitched to fit the new shape of the floor. The factory door locations hold a pair of Focal 6K315DB 6- inch mid-woofers. The whole door panel including the inner and outer door skins was damped with V-Bloc to reduce any resonance.

RACK PROCESSORS
After months of research, Funsi made the decision to go with USD processors. The Prelude uses two 30-band SW-30 equalizers. One equalizer tunes the driver’s side of the vehicle while its companion tunes the passenger side. This setup allows a matched left and right frequency response. A USD SW-3X 3-way crossover ensures proper crossover points for the components in the kick- panels, as well as the 6-inch woofers and subwoofers. Furisi wanted the processors to be very accessible. Delorenzo had done systems in Preludes before and remembered that one that came with a rear center console. Unfortunately, Furisi’s Honda was not outfitted with one. This was easily resolved when Delorenzo made his own to accommodate the processors. The new console is made from 3/4-inch MDF and body filler, wrapped in black vinyl to match the rest of the interior. When you look in the vehicle, the console looks absolutely factory. Furisi affirmed this with glowing approval, saying that “it looks like it came from Honda that way.’ When the top panel is closed, the processors are out of sight. In front of the center console are four empty accessory panels. The two panels in the middle were replaced with facto- ry Honda seat warmer switches. The one on the left activates an electromagnetic switch that pops open the rear passenger seat. Folding down the seat reveals a housing with two StreetWires 1-farad capacitors and a Goldquest fuse block that protect several of the system’s components. The cover panel is also finished in black vinyl. The last switch is used for SPL mode. By activating it, the subwoofer amplifier bypasses the sound quality gain structure and adjusts the gain for SPL, thereby reducing the hassle of playing with the gain stage of the amplifier and the risk of possibly forget- ting where the gain “should be” for either sound quality or SPL.

TRUNK COMPARTMENT
As with everything else Furisi studied which subwoofer he thought would be best suited for his taste and desire. The group of subwoofers that reside in the trunk are composed of four JL Audio 8W6’s. The cones for two woofers on the outside are exposed while the two inside woofers show off the chrome baskets. The enclosure was wrapped in black vinyl to match the rest of the vehicle and to highlight the chrome baskets. The original gray carpeting of the trunk was removed and Delorenzo re-covered all the panels in black. Also in the trunk and beneath the custom made carpet on the trunk’s floor there are two Xtant amplifiers, facing up from the spare tire well. Plexiglas protects both the Xtant 1001DX and the Xtant 4180X. The former sits below the latter in a step configuration. A 4-inch linear actuator was installed to lift the 4180X to a 45-degree angle just in case the sub amp needs to be serviced. The actuator is activated by the security remote. The 100 1DX powers the subwoofers and the 4180X powers all of the Focal drivers in the vehicle.

UNDER THE HOOD
Unlike most of today’s imports, Furisi’s 4-cylinder 2.3 liter Prelude is stock under the hood. No intake, no cams, no pulleys, no turbocharger, etc. This should not be a surprise, considering this vehicle is designed for a sound quality system, not necessarily speed. Besides, how much fun would the sys- tem be with an intake that is constantly howling? But in the end two changes were made under the hood, but they both involve the sound system. Furisi believed that the original 90-amp alternator wouldn’t be enough for him, especially during the hot and humid summer nights in New York City when all of the Prelude’s accessories are on. So the factory part was replaced with a new 130- amp alternator. The replacement was not as easy as you might think. Delorenzo and Francioso manufactured new brackets made of aluminum to accommodate the larger case Nippon Denso alternator. The brackets were then welded into place and drilled out to fit the provisions of the new one. The second change under the hood entailed upgrading the stock battery with a StreetWires 4010 battery. This carefully planned and high quality system needed protection. When Furisi is away from the Prelude, a Viper 500HF is there to protect it. The alarm’s features include remote start, dome light supervision, shock sensor and radar sensor protection. Delorenzo also wired the Viper so two channels of the remote include activating the motorized amp rack and popping open the rear seat to access the system fuses.

WHAT’S NEXT?
Furisi would like to thank John Delorenzo, John Francioso, and Kevin Fedynak of Ultrasounds LTD. for the time and effort they put into his Prelude. For now, Furisi will continue to compete in the Novice 601+ category for the rest of the year, and you can bet that you will see him at the Finals. He has aleady taken several first and second place awards including a first place at Masters in Perry, Georgia. Minor upgrades will be performed before the finals, but he will keep that “hush-hush” for now. “Who knows, maybe I’ll just get a set of rims,” joked Furisi.