Car Audio-Visual Systems Day at the Technical University – Sofia

On October 12, 2022, the first "Day of Automotive Audio-Visual Systems" was held at the Technical University – Sofia, organized by the Faculty of Telecommunications in collaboration with the partner KarAudio-BG EOOD. The event took place between the I-st and II-nd academic blocks of the university from 10:00 to 16:00. Prof. Dr. Eng. Iliya Iliev – Dean of the Faculty of Telecommunications, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Agata Manolova – Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs of the Faculty of Telecommunications, Prof. Dr. Eng. Sn. Pleshkova-Bekyarska – Head of the Audio and Video Communications and Technologies Direction at the Department of RKT from the Faculty of Telecommunications, Asst. Prof. Dr. Eng. Ts. Valkovski and Eng. Mnzh. E. Ilkov opened the event and welcomed the guests who attended. 

Speakers designed and assembled in Bulgaria were presented, along with cars with audio-visual systems prepared for optical tuning competitions, high-quality audio-visual presentation (SQ), and achieving high sound pressure level (ESPL). The first designed and assembled 33-inch subwoofer not only in Bulgaria but also in Europe was presented at the event. Asst. Prof. Dr. Eng. Tsvetan Valkovski and Eng. Mnzh. Emiliyan Ilkov presented its main characteristics and achievements of the speaker both in Bulgaria and on the international stage. Various models of subwoofers in mass production and their characteristics were reviewed. This was followed by a presentation of the displayed cars, their audio-video systems, the components that make them up, characteristics, and achievements in competitions organized under the rules of EMMA (European Multimedia Association) and the "Propper droppers" association.

Visitors had the opportunity to get up close with the components, construction methods, and complete multimedia systems in the displayed cars.

The car demonstrations began during the lunch break at 13:15, with the start given by a VW Jetta with the most powerful wideband system in front doors in Bulgaria, boasting colossal power exceeding 10 kilowatts.

During the demonstrations with cars prepared for high sound pressure level competitions, a result of 164.13 dB was measured in a VW Passat, which is the highest publicly measured result to date in Bulgaria. Additionally, enthusiasts from the audience had the opportunity to get into the demonstration cars and enjoy the experience of kilowatts of power reproduced by the speakers mounted in the multimedia systems. One of these cars was a Ford Focus, which is in the top three in all of Europe – the unlimited class category. Guests had the opportunity to get into a small Opel Corsa car, equipped with two 18-inch speakers and a complete audio system weighing nearly as much as the car itself.

After the demonstrations, a "Workshop" on speaker assembly was held, so that anyone interested had the opportunity to see and perform some of the steps in assembling such a device. Over 10 interested participants from the audience joined in, and the final result was a fully functional low-frequency speaker, which will be used for training and testing by students from the Faculty of Telecommunications in courses such as Fundamentals of Video and Audio Technologies and Audio Systems.