Dr. Koneairea Sits Down with Greg Davis
Kicker Technical Tips
Page 28
Dr. Koneairea makes a visit to KCG World Headquarters for a “Sit Down with Greg Davis”
We have two of the most sought after minds in the Audio world sitting down to discuss system tuning.
Greg Davis is the “Kingpin” of the Kicker Competition Group. A founding father of IASCA and its predecessor
NACA. He has been cited by Audio Gurus magazine as having some of “the best ears in the business”. He is
the personal tuner of many of the top competitors in the KCG and a host of other World Champions. He
collects Vintage Tube Amps and lives and breathes Car Audio.
Dr. Koneairea (pronounced Co nair e ah) has a PhD from the Earology Institute located in the lateral lobial
region of the cranium. He is a highly published author of many books dealing with sound and its effects on
the human mind, including the runaway bestseller, “I Can Hear your Music, But You Can Feel Mine”.
Dr. K: Good afternoon Greg, I am glad you could make it!
Greg: No problem dude, I am always glad to help fellow Audio Freaks.
Dr. K: How about we jump right in?
Greg: Right on!
Dr. K: First of all, explain to me why you are so into the competition scene.
Greg: Tuning vehicles for competition is a passion for me. First-time competitor or World Class pro, seeing
a competitor on stage is one of the most rewarding aspects of my position at Kicker. Tuning is a vast, and
sometimes controversial subject that I cannot fully cover in the scope of one interview. My goal is to get
the competitor to approach tuning with a systematic approach. The key is to develop a routine that you will
use consistently in setting up the system in your vehicle. I recommend that you use a checklist to keep
yourself on track, and a logbook to document your results.
Dr. K: That makes sense, but how do we get started?
Greg: Before you ever start on your car there are a number of things to address. Do you know what the
test recordings are supposed to sound like? If you cannot score tickets to the symphony, there may still be
hope for a newbie’s you’re yet to be trained ears, so now is the time to listen up. A great way to get a
good reference is to invest in a good pair of headphones. This takes the playback room out of the equa-
tion, and it’s portable! Last year several of the top judges in Perry came over to listen to a set of Stax head-
phones we had in the tune-up booth. It helped everyone involved to keep a reference. Buy a set and keep
them as close as Brittany does lipstick. Then get your hands on the choice cuts. Not the butcher’s, but the
ones on the top labels like Opus, Chesky, Telarc, and reference Recordings. Next, do not venture into
tuneland without calling Autosound 2000 for a copy of their tech briefs and a set of their setup discs. You
can save several years of hardknocks with one phone call. Maybe you could even convince Uncle Sam to
give you a tax deduction.
Dr.K: Yes, that would be great, maybe I could also write my wife’s off...
Greg: (interrupting the Dr.) Hey Toto, pay attention to the stage maps and liner notes included with the
various discs mentioned; they are the Yellow Brick Road to the Promised Land.
Dr. K: Wow, I am looking forward to prepping my sick Six Four for the lanes...
Greg:(rolling his eyes) The choice of vehicle is another often overlooked part of competition. A wide vehi-
cle with a low dash, like a truck, or your Konekruiser can be trouble! The relatively flat dash and close path
lengths provided by a late model Civic would provide fewer obstacles on the road to acoustical nirvana.
Think this though before you spend a court settlement on a set of 20s that will not deliver the points with-
out a megabuck rebuild.
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