Car stereo enthusiasts have found a new home for their annual competition - the parking lot at Pottsville's Union Station.
"It's a great facility for it. With car stereo contests, they're pretty much like a car show sitting on a parking lot. And it's new. It's nice and clean and it's appealing. And because of how it's positioned, once it gets to about 1 o'clock in the afternoon, it starts to shade that whole lot as the sun passes over the City of Pottsville," David W. Clews, owner of 12-Volt Dave's Audio & Stereo, Pottsville, said Tuesday.
He's hosted sound off events in various places in the city since 1996. And he's slated two for Union Station, 300 S. Centre St., this year.
The first, the 12-Volt Thunder Sound Off & Car Show, hosted by 12-Volt Dave's, will be held Sunday, with registration at 9 a.m. and the event starting at 10 a.m. Entries are $30 per vehicle, Clews said.
The second, a four-state championship hosted by Clews and Syracuse Customs, Brewerton, N.Y., is slated for Sept. 16.
"It's the first time we're doing something like that. That's going to bring a lot of cars. The details for that event are still being worked out," Clews said Tuesday.
Clews started hosting Sound Off competitions in Pottsville in 1996 when he worked at Hadesty's in the city. In 2001, he opened his own business, 12-Volt Dave's Audio & Stereo at 2004 W. Market St., and continued the event to promote it.
In 2002, the event became part of the Great Pottsville Cruise. This year, the cruise is scaling back its activities from four days to one. Therefore, Clews decided to hold his event on a different date.
"On that one day, there will be a lot of activity in town and too much going on to facilitate the event," he said.
Clews held two Sound Off competitions in 2011, including one in July at Union Station.
"I usually average about 30 cars in each of these competitions. But on Sunday, I'm hoping for close to 50," Clews said.
The sanctioning bodies at Sunday's event will be MECA: Mobile Electronics Competition Association, Tennessee, and IASCA: International Auto Sound Competition Association, Florida, Clews said.
Sunday's judges will include Mic Wallace, York, Thomas Shaw, Lenglestown, and Howard Cantor, Maryland, Clews said.
Prizes will include trophies, plaques and "bragging rights," Clews said.
The competition will be held on the east side of Union Station, in the wide open space at the parking lot at the former 81 Lumber site. That area is managed by the Pottsville Area Development Corp., according to Clews.
"It's a car stereo competition, so it can get a little loud. But sitting down in there on the Route 61 side of the building, it shouldn't disturb anybody," Clews said.
The competitors can bring some serious sound equipment. While a jet engine at 100 feet measures 140 dB (decibels), some of the competitors may bring in stereos which can pump out 146.5 dB or more, Clews said.