The 9th Annual Audio Concepts Toys For Tots Donations Delivered Christmas Day

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FRESNO CA (12.28.22) On Saturday and Christmas Day Ray Aragon and his wife Maria delivered nearly 500 toys donated at the Audio Concepts 9th Annual Toys for Tots event in Fresno on Saturday, December 17th. BassWars, IASCA, USACi and EMMA competitions took place in the lanes. Competitors,144 strong, and others attending brought toy donations for the Toys For Tots drive.

Ray Aragon is with smiling faces at the Fresno Rescue The Children facility as he delivered Toys for Tots donations.

Ray Aragon, Audio Concepts owner, related “On Saturday and Christmas day we visited 5 organizations in the Fresno area dedicated to helping unfortunate children and families. There were big smiles on faces at Angel House, Naomi’s House, Fresno Mission, Fresno County Foster and Fresno Rescue The Chuldren. This year’s Toys for Tots event was right up toward the top of our annual events. We had 476 toys donated. We thank each sound-off organization that dedicated so much time and energy for this event and worthy cause.”

Audio Concepts has 2 Crew Cab Silverados. “Maria and I carried out the boxes and set them in front of each location and let the children pick out 2 gifts a piece. It is so great to see the smiles on the faces of the children and parents” Aragon stated.

The Fresno Mission was another stop to deliver Toys for Tots donations Ray and Maria Aragon made on Christmas weekend.

Linda Kobayashi and husband Richard were once again onsite conducting action in the BassWars and EMMA lanes. “The annual Audio Concepts Toys for Tots is a well attended event involving several sound-off organizations. Attendees from all around the state are generous in giving toys for a great cause. Richard and I are grateful to work with Audio Concepts on sound-off events at their Fresno location throughout the year with the Toys for Tots event being one we look forward to doing the most each year” Linda related.

Ray Aragon with all the 476 toys donated after the Audio Concepts Toys for Tots event on December 17th.

Concluding Aragon offered “Our two biggest and most important shows each year are our annual 9/11 Show where we donate to the Wounded Warrior Foundation and the Toys for Tots event. We have now been hosting the Toys for Tots event for 9 years and it gets bigger and better every year. A huge Christmas Thank You to all for their support.”

The 9th Annual Audio Concepts Toys For Tots Event Filled Santa’s Sleigh

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FRESNO, CA (12.28.22) – Audio Concepts hosted the company’s 9th Annual Toys for Tots event in Fresno on Saturday, December 17th. BassWars, IASCA, USACi and EMMA competitions took place in the lanes. Competitors and and others attending brought toy donations for the Toys For Tots drive.

Ray Aragon pictured on Monday outside his store with all the toys donated plus his store’s competition Integra.
Are area surrounding the Audio Concepts store was filled tents from BassWars, IASCA, USACi and EMMA plus competitor‘s vehicles.

Ray Aragon, Audio Concepts owner, related “This year’s Toys for Tots event was right up toward the top of our annual events. We had well 476 toys donated. All with each sound-off organization dedicated so much time and energy for this event and worthy cause. Competitors on site with BassWars, IASCA, USACi and EMMA had an opportunity to have their systems judged, show off their projects plus donate to the Toys for Tots drive. Between the four organizations we had 144 competitors on site.”

Richard Papasin under the BassWars tent with a competitor in the lane.
 Ray Pimley working with IASCA competitors under the tent.

Richard Papasin was in charge of the BassWars competition and was setup under a large BassWars tent. Papasin also orchestrated the EMMA activities and ran the lanes for Sound Pressure. Nick Adams judged SQ for EMMA.

Ray Pimley handled the IASCA lanes for Sound Pressure as Linda Kobayashi judged SQ for IASCA.

Jose Ramos monitors a USACi competitor in the lane.
Nick Adams (R) headed the EMMA Competiton at the event and is pictured with Richard Papasin who assisted in the EMMA lanes.

Jose Ramos handled all of the action in the USACi lane for Sound Pressure.

The large area connected to the Audio Concepts facility was filled with tents from each organization. The early morning fog cleared by mid morning and the sun shined on the event for the rest of the day.

Ray Aragon holds a Certificate of Appreciation with Richard Papasin sharing a light moment for a fun image.
When the event wrapped Saturday evening many who worked the event gathered for a group image with the donated toys secured in the warehouse.

“No doubt our 9th Annual Toys for Tots event was a success. My wife Maria and I will spend time on this Saturday and Sunday visiting five or six area charity organization to personally deliver the toys donated at our Audio Concepts 2022 event. For us that is such a special occasion to see the smiles on the faces of children receiving the toys. We are looking forward to our 10th Annual Toys for Tots event in 2023” Aragon concluded.

A special thanks to Linda Kobayashi supplying images and info from the 9th Annual Audio Concepts Toys for Tots event.

Visit facebook.com/Audioconceptsfresno for more.

Spy Shots: 2024 Corvette E-Ray Spied With RHD Setup

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Here’s a first look at the RHD Corvette E-Ray while testing outside of GMs Milford Proving Grounds.

Back in 2021, GM confirmed that they would offer the Z06 in right hand drive following the reveal of the C8 Corvette. The Z06 is expected to be offered in the UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and other RHD markets. That being said, GM has been pretty quiet when it comes to the E-Ray, but our shots confirm that it will be available in the aforementioned markets.

The Corvette E-Ray is expected to mate the 6.2L V8 from the Stingray with a hybrid configuration, adding a new model to the Corvette family. Expect an official debut in early 2023 with an on-sale date in Q2 as a 2024 model.

Sony Car Audio Announces Demo Car Build Winners

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12-27-2022 – Sony Car Audio has announced the winners from the Sony Mobile ES demo car build contest, which were chosen from the pool of Top 10 candidates by industry veteran judges Bryan Schmitt (Mobile Solutions), Gary Bell (Define Concepts), Paul Trueman (SiriusXM), and Chris Cook (MEA).

The winners are:

  • First Place: Xtreme Auto Sound – Louisville, KY. They receive a $5,000 credit for Sony gear at their distributor (Davis Distribution), a customized plaque, shirts and wireless noise-canceling headphones for the entire crew, and a staff dinner with their Sony Field Account Manager Mike Rundel.
  • Second Place: Absolute Electronix, Rockville, MD. They receive a $2,500 credit for Sony gear at their distributor (DAS Companies, Inc.), a customized plaque, and shirts for the entire crew.
  • Third Place: Kartele Mobile Electronics – Waterbury, CT. They receive a $2,500 credit for Sony gear at their distributor (GoFast Solutions) and a customized plaque
     

“We were overwhelmed with the high number of retailers that stepped up to be part of this contest. Each had a great example of a vehicle they can use to sell Sony Mobile ES successfully,” said Anthony Tozzi, Sony Car Audio Distribution Accounts Manager. “Our impartial, outside group of judges spent a lot of time reviewing the Top 10 candidates to make great selections with our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. We’re very proud of our retailers and the work they are capable of.”
 
Sony plans to keep retailers engaged in 2023 with new contests, some of which may be tied to new car audio products that will debut throughout the next calendar year.
 
Contact Anthony Tozzi at Anthony.Tozzi@Sony.com for more information about Sony, the Mobile ES line, or how to connect with an authorized distributor.

Don’t Wait: SEMA Board of Directors Nominations Due January 4

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A strong SEMA Board means wise leadership and an association that serves its members well. As a member of the Association, we are currently seeking your recommendation of industry leaders to serve on the SEMA Board of Directors.

The following seats are open for this year’s election:

  • Chairman-elect (one open seat)
  • Distributor/Retailer (one open seat)

Please take a moment and tell us whom you would recommend as a potential nominee for a board member position by completing and submitting a nomination form. To help the vetting process, please include brief information about the nominee’s qualifications, such as background, experience and achievements that would make that nominee an outstanding board candidate.

Nominations for the SEMA Board of Directors are
due on Wednesday, January 4, 2023.

Nominations for the SEMA Board of Directors are due on Wednesday, January 4, 2023. Please complete and submit the nomination form.

We urge you to take part in the nominations process—our industry has many individuals who would be an asset to the Board, but we need you to help bring them to the attention of the Nominating Committee.

Thank you for your attention to this important request.

Sincerely,

Mike Spagnola
SEMA President and CEO

WTF…Where’s The Fun…On The 12volt Spin-To-Win Wheel 209 On Friday, January 6th

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SHREVEPORT LA (12.27.22) With the Christmas and New Years Holidays falling on celebration weekends the 12volt Spin To Win Wheel 209 was postponed until January 6th to begin in year 2023. Spin-To-Win Wheel 209 will get the year 2023 off to a fast start.

The 12volt Spin-to-Win Wheel was created to bring an element of fun to the 12volt industry. The weekly 12volt Spin-To-Win Wheel is now spinning in Year 5.

A check headed to The 12volt Spin-To-Win winner on September 12th.

Spinning out a winner each Friday, a lucky 12volt retailer can win a cool prize and top brands receive visibility across the marketplace.

12volt brands with a space on the 12volt Spin-To-Win Wheel include Kicker, NavAtlas, SiriusXM, PowerBass, CRUX, DS18, JBL, RDV Automotive, Kenwood, JVC, Nakamichi and Maximum Power. 12volt News $100. cash awards have spaces on the 12volt Spin-To-Wheel for a winning 12volt retailer.

These JVC prizes are available as the 12volt Spin-To-Win Wheel rolls into 2023.

WTF… Where’s the Fun. On the next spin of the 12volt Spin-To-Win Wheel… on Friday January 6th. With the Christmas and New Years Holidays falling on weekends we will delay the next 12volt Spin-To-Win Wheel until Friday January 6th and get Year 5 off to a very fast start with Spin 209.

Let’s Work To Finish 2022 On A High Note

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SHREVEPORT LA (12.26.22) In less than a week we will say goodbye to the Year 2022. No doubt 2022 has been another year filled with continuing challenges including COVID-19 and related variants plus inflation that has impacted brick and mortar traffic. This past week, at the peak of the Christmas season, weather impacted in-store traffic and crippled holiday travel in many parts of the U.S.

The 12volt Central Studios continues to showcase positive news across the 12volt industry. Toys for Tots events during December definitely put smiles on the faces on many children. The 9th Annual Audio Concept Toys for Tots was a terrific example. During the event at the company’s Fresno location nearly 500 toys were donated during the December 17th event that was attended by 144 competitors from BassWars, IASCA, USACi and EMMA. On December 24th and Christmas Day Ray Aragon and his wife Maria visited a number of area organizations to personally deliver toys donated at the Audio Concepts Toys for Tots event.

Ray Aragon pictured with the nearly 500 toys donated at the 9th Annual Audio Concepts Toys for Tots event in Fresno CA.
Customers navigated snow covered streets to make it to Team Nutz for Christmas purchases.

The weather in Pittsburgh, as in many areas across the country, has been a real challenge for 12volt retailers. Team Nutz in Pittsburgh continued to charge forward with positive activities and social media posts right up to Christmas Day. Snow covered the city and roads. Ed Nuttall, and the crew, charged forward. The installation bay was packed and techs were on the cold floor making installs on vehicles with ice on the hoods and lights.

Long time customer Luke Heller, at the Christmas themed counter, drove 60 miles for more upgrades to his vehicle.

Companies also took time to have Christmas parties and dinners. Charles Stewart, Car Toys Tulsa, made a social media post with the crew after dinner at a local Japanese restaurant.

Toys collected for local charities are packaged in Christmas sacks and ready for pickup.

As we move into 2023, in a few short days, let’s all think about highlighting positives in our day-to-day business activities. The 12voltSTP Tool certainly makes that possible. Just Snap an image and Txt it to 318 465 0844. Presto…your positive news can be in the 12volt News.

The installation bay is filled and some techs lay on the cold, wet floor to complete jobs.

2023 will certainly begin differently for many across the 12volt industry who in the past have planned to travel to Las Vegas. CES 2023 is set for January 5-8 but definitely will not look like previous CES events from the 12volt industry perspective.

Charles Stewart, 2nd L, and the Car Toys Tulsa crew just finished a company Christmas dinner at Osaka Japanese restaurant.

The Year 2022 marked the 55th Christmas Holiday Anniversary in the 12volt industry for this old guy. Let’s finish 2022 on a high note.

2022 SEMA Battle of the Builders Special to Air on FYI Channel in January

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Mike and Jim Ring of Spring Green, Wisconsin, garnered top honors at the ninth annual SEMA Battle of the Builders Presented by Mothers Polishes competition at the 2022 SEMA Show, held November 1–4 in Las Vegas. The announcement was made at the start of SEMA Ignited, the official SEMA Show after-party designed to celebrate the builders and showcase products from the trade-only Show.

The Ringbrothers celebrated their win at 2022 Battle of the Builders Presented by Mothers Polishes.

The four class winners of this year’s competition will be highlighted along with other featured builders in a new TV special, “SEMA: Battle of the Builders, Presented by Mothers High Performance Car Care” scheduled to debut on A+E Networks’ FYI and History’s Drive block Saturday, January 28, at 9:00 a.m. (EST). Check your local station listings for additional broadcast details.

For 2022, the Battle of the Builders competition was fine-tuned to reflect changes in the customization space and to encourage greater diversity in the field of entrants. The Hot Rod category was modified to include street trucks for the first time, and the Truck/Off-Road category was altered to Four-Wheel Drive/Off-Road. The Sport-Compact category was expanded to include Import Performance, Luxury and Exotic vehicles, and the age limit for the The Young Guns competition was bumped up from 27 to 29 years old.

A panel of industry experts assessed all the entrants and narrowed down the field of more than 200 entries to a Top 40 (10 in each category) before selecting the top 12 builds overall.

The top 12 finalists are listed in the sidebar to the right.

BOTB finalists’ vehicles were on display throughout SEMA Show week inside North Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Top 12 Finalists:

Hot Rod/Hot Rod Truck

  • Mike Ring/Ringbrothers–’48 Chevrolet Loadmaster pickup
  • Tim Devlin–’34 Chevrolet roadster
  • Tyler Nelson–’58 Ford F100

Sport Compact, Import Performance, Luxury and Exotic

  • CJ Pullman–’77 Ford Pinto
  • Shawn Bassett–’91 Nissan Skyline GT-R
  • TJ Russell–’91 Porsche 911 Baja

4-Wheel Drive/Off-Road

  • Cody Dabney–’70 Ford F-250
  • Greg Ward–’71 Toyota FJ40 Landcruiser
  • Jim Ring/Ringbrothers–’72 Chevrolet K5 Blazer

Young Guns

  • Austin Phipps–’66 Chevrolet Nova
  • Cameron Cocalis–’15 Scion FR-S
  • Josh Michels–’66 Chevrolet Corvette

SiriusXM To Air 45 College Football Games This Postseason

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NEW YORK – December 26, 2022 – SiriusXM announced today that it is providing fans with access to 45 games this college football postseason. SiriusXM will carry live play-by-play of every Division I FBS bowl game – including the College Football Playoff Semifinals and National Championship – as well as the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) National Championship game and other postseason All-Star games. Subscribers can tune in to these games on the SiriusXM radios in their cars and on the SXM App.

The schedule begins this Friday, December 16. A schedule of games and their SiriusXM channel assignments can be found at SiriusXM.com/BowlGames.

On New Year’s Eve, subscribers can tune in for broadcasts of both College Football Playoff Semifinal games – the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl featuring #2 Michigan vs. #3 TCU (4 pm ET), followed by #1 Georgia vs. #4 Ohio State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (8 pm ET). Then on January 9, listeners will get live play-by-play as the winners of those two games face off in the College Football Playoff National Championship at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California (7:30 pm ET). For all three games the ESPN Radio broadcast will air on SiriusXM channel 80 (ESPN Radio), and team broadcasts can be found on SiriusXM channels 81 (ESPN Xtra), 82 (Mad Dog Sports Radio) or 84 (ESPNU Radio).

In addition to the College Football Playoff games, SiriusXM’s postseason schedule also features seven other matchups between AP Top 25-ranked teams:

  • #22 UTSA #23 Troy – Duluth Trading Cure Bowl (Dec. 16)
  • #12 Washington #21 Texas – Valero Alamo Bowl (Dec. 29)
  • #6 Tennessee #10 Clemson – Capital One Orange Bowl (Dec. 30)
  • #19 Notre Dame #20 South Carolina – TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (Dec. 30)
  • #5 Alabama #11 Kansas State – Allstate Sugar Bowl (Dec. 31)
  • #8 USC #14 Tulane – Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (Jan. 2)
  • #7 Utah #9 Penn State – Rose Bowl Game (Jan. 2)

SiriusXM will carry Westwood One’s broadcast of the FCS Football Championship on January 8 (1:30 pm ET). The FCS Football Championship game will feature the winners of this weekend’s semifinal games – North Dakota St. vs. Incarnate Word and South Dakota St. vs. Montana St.

SiriusXM will also air other postseason All-Star football games of interest, including the HBCU Pigskin Showdown, showcasing the best senior football stars from historically black colleges and universities (Dec. 17 at 1 pm ET) and the All-American Bowl, which will be played by the best high school players from around the country (Jan. 7 at 1 pm ET). 

SiriusXM will carry the official radio broadcasts for many of the schools playing in Division I FBS bowl games through its agreement with LEARFIELD or individual universities. Twenty of the bowl game broadcasts – including the College Football Playoff Semifinals and College Football Playoff National Championship – are produced and provided by ESPN Radio or an affiliate. Other broadcast providers are NBC Sports Audio Network, Bowl Season Radio, Touchdown Radio and Westwood One.

During the postseason, and throughout the year, SiriusXM offers fans the most in-depth audio analysis of the college game with six channels dedicated to collegiate sports. These include ESPNU Radio on SiriusXM, SiriusXM ACC Radio, SiriusXM Big Ten Radio, SiriusXM Pac-12 Radio, SiriusXM SEC Radio and SiriusXM Big 12 Radio.

College football bowl games and SiriusXM’s college sports programming are available to subscribers nationwide in their cars, as well as on their phones and connected devices at home with the SXM App.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All Across the 12Volt Industry

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SHREVEPORT, LA (12.23.2022) – We truly wish all across the 12volt industry a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Season.

During this time of the year we wanted to take time to thank all across the 12volt industry for their support, encouragement and business in 2022 as we continue to work each day to showcase positives across the 12volt industry.

The year 2022 continued to be an uncertain time in the world and 12volt industry with so many changing factors at play. In many cases inventory supply issues were solved in 2022 but high inflation and gas prices impacted consumer spending on non-essentials. Many brick and mortar retailers are well stocked but are not seeing the 2021 sales spike from stimulus checks. Increases in online spending continues impact the brick and mortar 12volt marketplace as well.

Work is now underway on the grounds of the LVCC in Vegas for CES 2023. The presence of 12volt companies planning to exhibit seems to reach a new low each CES as auto manufactures have taken so much space in the North Hall with huge booths. Travel concerns also continue with recurring COVID-19 spikes and other transmittable health issues.

The above narrative is a harsh reality that each business is facing.

The Christmas tree is up at the 12volt Central Studios.

From the 12volt Central Studios, we encourage all to evaluate their situation and play to their strengths. Build on your company’s strengths and highlight the positives in your every day activities…Manufacturers, Distributors, Rep Firms and Retailers alike. Let’s all work to make a bigger pie for all to share across the 12volt industry.

We look forward to continuing to showcase positives from companies across the 12volt industry in 2023.