Meeting with installer Elie Rothstein, Hendeles learned about some solutions that would greatly improve upon the OEM sound system. Confident that Al and Ed's could meet his expectations, he gave Rothstein the go-ahead for the $10,000 install. After all, if you're spending $140K on a car, what's an extra 10 grand?Subwoofer Enclosure And AMP RackEmbedded in the rear wall behind the seats, a subwoofer and amps add some powerful lows to the system. "The goal was to achieve a nice, tight bass response to complement the front speakers," Rothstein explains. "This was definitely achieved!" Flushed into the wall and hidden by the seats, you won't even know the Alpine amps and Pioneer subs are back there until you turn on the stereo. Carbon fiber by Sly Machines covers the custom enclosure, coordinating with the Audi's sleek aesthetics.
AMPS
wo Alpine PDX amplifiers power the system. For the front Focals, a four-channel PDX-4.100 pumps out 400 watts of power. Handling the subwoofer, a two-channel PDX-2.150 brings 300 watts.
Sub
Pioneer TS-SW104D slim line subwoofer pumps the bass from Hendeles' favorite rock songs right into the occupants' midsections. The new upgrades by Al & Ed's Autosound blow the original audio system out of the water and Hendeles couldn't be happier. The OEM system may have let him down, but the aftermarket sound met his expectations and then some.
art of Rothstein's plan was to retain the factory source unit by using a Rockford Fosgate 3Sixty.2 processor as an integration device. "This is the best way to integrate with the factory system," Rothstein says. "The built-in time alignment and EQ features truly made this system sound amazing." Shifter Knob
on keeping with the carbon fiber on the vehicle's exterior, Rothstein used Sly Machines carbon-fiber trim liberally in the cabin. In addition to framing the factory head unit, the material adds some lightweight flair to the doors, the sub enclosure/amp rack, and, of course, the trim around the shifter.
Radar Detector
With a performer like the Audi R8, you know Hendeles can't possibly stick to the speed limit. The Passport radar detector helps keep traffic tickets to a minimum. Doors
Keeping things simple, Rothstein disconnected the center channel and rear speakers. He then focused on the front only, mounting new speakers in the factory locations. A Focal K2 Power series three-way component set creates the soundstage. The 6.5-inch midbass and 4-inch woofer lodge in the doors, while the tweeter sits up in the sail panel.
Exterior
The '08 Audi R8 is gorgeous as is. Hendeles left the original body and wheels alone, making his only change in the engine compartment. There, he had the engine walls replaced with carbon fiber.">
MILAN - President Massimo Moratti gave a brief interview to journalists outside the Saras offices on Monday lunchtime.
President Moratti. It has been a wonderful 2008 for Inter. It's a pity about everything that was said after Siena...
"No, it's not. It's you who spoke badly of us. We deserve this first place in the table, just like we deserved to win the Scudetto. What happened in Siena was an incident that we admitted to, I don't know what more we could have done. It was in good faith, and this is very different to what happened years ago. The same thing happened to Juventus yesterday."
The two-legged tie with Manchester United is on the horizon.
"It's an interesting tie and we need it to verify our potential. And it's great for the fans because there will be a lot of interesting players on the pitch."
Are you expecting a full stadium at last in the first leg?
"What do you mean by at last? The stadium has already been full this season when they haven't banned the fans of other teams. So it will be full..."
Do Inter have a good chance of winning the Scudetto early and concentrating on the Champions League, or will Milan and Juventus make it harder for Inter than they have in past years?
"It was Roma that did this in past years and I always consider Roma a great team that play beautiful football. I think it will be a hard championship until the end because Milan have great quality and Juventus have great character, and we can't underestimate this. We have to continue with the same tempo. It won't be easy, but it's a duty, so let's hope we do well."
A lot has been said about Zlatan Ibrahimovic and José Mourinho, and a lot always will be said about them, but is there another player you want to say something about at the end of this year?
"Cambiasso is always to be taken into consideration. He doesn't always make the news, but he has certainly done well this year, too. Cordoba and Samuel have also done their best since returning from serious injuries, like Cruz, for example. But I want to name all of them because they have all done very well, and I'm very grateful to this team."
An adjective to describe this 2008?
"It has been a very good year that will enter football history with an Inter that has dominated, and now we have to show that we can do more. And perhaps with a bit more luck than last season so we can do better on the international stage."
Can you exclude resorting to the transfer market in January?
"Personally, I would exclude it."
Are you talking with Mourinho about Adriano? Does the player need a tutor?
"More than a tutor, he has had a crisis that he is trying to overcome. He has the qualities, so he's a player to always keep in consideration. He's one of the best in the world. It is our constant duty to recover him and we have to help him make the best possible recovery."
Talking exclusively to MUTV in Japan, the boss said: "They kept us hanging being last out of the hat, but its interesting to come up against Jose again. He's a character with a good personality and I've always got on well with him.
"He knocked us out of the competition with Porto, so I hope we have the luck they had in that tie this time round. Inter have had a tremendous domestic record recently and that speaks volumes for the consistency of their team.
"They've got a lot of experience which includes a few South American players. In fact, I think they've only two Italians in their team. That represents a challenge because you know South American players are very tough defensively and resilient players.
"We've played against most of their players over the years and met them in a friendly last year at Old Trafford. So we know about them. Hopefully we'll do the job in the first game and give ourselves a platform to take back to Old Trafford.
"Playing against bigger teams always brings focus to our game, as we showed against Barcelona last season. The most important thing in that tie was to concentrate, and our concentration was terrific.
"The San Siro is a great stadium. We played Inter in the quarter-final in '99 and there were problems with the pitch, it had been relaid a couple of weeks before. But now it's much better. We've been knocked out twice there by AC Milan so we want to go there and do better. Now the competition really gets going and all the English teams have a good chance. I'm happy with our draw."
Next year is set to be a watershed in European women's football but there was plenty to remember in 2008.
EURO excitement
UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ runs from 23 August until 10 September next year, with a record 12 teams involved in the finals and hosts Finland hoping for an average attendance of more than 10,000. The organisers will no doubt hope for as much excitement as there was in the qualifying group stage. While first holders Germany and then Sweden clinched automatic finals places with games to spare and ultimately perfect records, the other four groups went to last-match deciders where the teams in second were at home to the leaders. In two the home sides overtook their opponents, France beating Iceland 2-1 and Denmark defeating Ukraine 1-0, while England came from two goals down to get the 2-2 draw they needed in Spain and Norway held Russia 0-0.
Play-offs
At that point, only one of the eight 2005 finalists, Italy, were not already through but they defeated the Czech Republic 3-1 on aggregate in the play-offs to put that right. Iceland, Ukraine and the Netherlands reached the finals for the first time, defeating the Republic of Ireland, Slovenia and Spain respectively, while Russia repeated their 2001 feat but needed away goals to see off Scotland. The draw was held in Helsinki on 18 November: the full fixture list can be seen by clicking here.
German success
Prior to the end of qualifying, Germany, Sweden and Norway travelled to China for the Olympics. Sweden and Norway fell in the quarter-finals and after losing to Brazil, Germany clinched a third consecutive bronze medal 2-0 against Japan while the United States pipped Brazil for gold. Still, Germany will aim for a third straight FIFA Women's World Cup at home after being named 2011 hosts.
Youth events
At youth level Germany won the first UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship in May in Nyon but two months later lost their grip on the U19 title, Italy beating Norway in the final in France. In the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in New Zealand, Germany beat England 3-0 for third place while North Korea took the title against the United States. Similarly, in the U20 event in Chile, Germany overcame France to claim the bronze medal, while the US turned the tables on holders North Korea in the final.
Women's Champions League
At club level, the UEFA Women's Cup will be transformed in 2009/10 after it was announced in December that a new UEFA Women's Champions League will take its place, with more entries, more two-legged knockout rounds, and a one-off decider on the eve of the UEFA Champions League final in the same city. That said, the 2007/08 UEFA Women's Cup final was memorable enough after 1. FFC Frankfurt and Umeå IK beat ASD CF Bardolino Verona and Olympique Lyonnais in the last four.
Frankfurt thrill fans
With the victors to become the first three-time winners, Marta scored in the opening seconds of Umeå's home leg only for Frankfurt to peg back to 1-1 and in the return a week later a competition record crowd of 27,640 was thrilled by the German side's 3-2 victory. However, Frankfurt departed the 2008/09 edition in the quarter-finals against league rivals FCR Duisburg. Duisburg will meet Lyon in the semi-finals in the spring while another club new to the tournament, Zvezda-2005 of Russia, face Umeå.
