Car Audio Competitions and Judging: How EMMA Scores a Car

4 hours ago

8 min read

Competition judging scores how accurately a car plays music and how well the install is built. It matters for how a car sounds because the score sheet quietly shapes where speakers go, how the bass is tuned and what gets built at all. Peter Steinbacher of Pssound mostly competes in EMMA, a worldwide sound-quality competition format, and his core idea is to compete to learn and to let people hear what is possible, to plan around the rules, and never to treat a trophy as proof that a system can't be better.

The short version

Peter competes mainly so people can hear what a car can do and so he can learn, and a win only means your car was best in its class that day.
EMMA judges the technical positioning tracks first, then music at no more than 85 dB, and a centre image that is off drags the whole score down.
Rules can cost as many places as the sound, from the 40 mm view line and front-sub legroom to fuse access and a proper build book.
Class limits count gear at new list price, so expensive drivers can push you into a tougher class, while factory-location (OEM) cars can still win.
Judging at 85 dB has blind spots, so tune for the format without letting the score sheet decide how your car should sound.
Don't retune because of one judge's comment; wait until the same feedback keeps coming back.
You don't need a perfect car to start, because first-year entrants win and the community is the real prize.

Why Peter competes, and what a win proves

Peter's main reason for competing is travel: he takes cars to events so people can hear what is possible, since he says the only way to train people is to let them hear strong systems (watch). His team goes for the community rather than the competition. When he started, competitors were secretive, and he chose to teach instead, even if it strengthened his competition, because the whole industry moves forward.

A win has limits. Peter's view is that it only shows your car was the best in its category on that day, and "it could still be better" (watch). You also don't need the priciest gear to place well.

At one Euro Finals (EMMA's yearly European final, held in Salzburg) a car from Lee's camp, built with value-priced gear, came 4th of about 18, behind only cars with Brax DSPs (digital sound processors) and amps, MP Studio and diamond tweeters. Peter's reason: it was built well, tuned well and ticked EMMA's boxes (watch).

How EMMA scores the sound

Judges start with the technical tracks, which test positioning: does each sound appear in the right place (left, centre, right, plus left-centre and right-centre)? Then come the music tracks, scored for tonal accuracy (how natural the sound is) across the highs, midrange, lower midrange and bass, then spectral balance (whether bass, mids and treble sit in proportion) and listening pleasure.

Positioning sets the tier. If judges dispute where left-centre and right-centre fall, they assume the speakers are misaligned and score tonal accuracy 22–24 out of 30 instead of 25–27. A 28 or above is rare (watch).
Stage distance is not depth. It is how far away the stage starts, and further scores more. Stage height should sit at eye level.
Sub-bass is worth 30 points: 15 from the tonality tracks and 15 from a technical "cigar box" track with notes at 100, 80, 60, 40 and 30 Hz. Those 15 split into 5 for all notes at equal level, 5 for notes coming from the front and centre (40 and 30 Hz are the hard ones) and 5 for no noise, rattle, vibration or squeak (watch).
An African hand drum on the old EMMA disc peaks at 124 Hz, panned left then right, and must sound the same size on both sides. A dip in the driver-side door midbass (the speaker for punchy lower notes) takes the body out of it, and judges hear that at once (watch). Our midbass guide explains why doors are a hard place for it.
Noise counts. Judges play a silent track at full volume and deduct points for any audible noise (watch).
Music is never played above 85 dB, and the EMMA disc is a test, not demo material. For good demo tracks, see our guide to judging a system.

Where judging falls short

Peter says EMMA judging can be objective: judges are trained every year, the finals use two judges whose scores are compared, and a head judge steps in only for big discrepancies. He still sees blind spots.

Judging at 85 dB only rewards systems that work at 85 dB, yet drums and bass guitar need to sound lifelike at live level. Many cars fall apart when turned up: the balance shifts, speakers scream and poor installation shows. He wants a best-of-show award at the Euro Finals (watch).
Door midbass gets away with it. At about 80–85 dB the midbass isn't seeing even a watt, so it barely moves the door, and chest or kick bass isn't tested. Problems appear only when you turn a dynamic system up (watch).
The positioning penalty can be harsh. Mark's Skoda Superb placed left-centre and right-centre a bit wider than judges like, yet was accurate, well separated and 3D on daily music, and it went from European champion to 13th of 17 (watch). Peter's own order for judging a tune is the reverse: spectral balance first, then technical correctness.

Classes, price limits and OEM classes

Classes keep similar cars together: some limit equipment price, some limit where speakers may go, and the top ones have no limits.

Price limits count gear at its new list price, not what you paid. Peter's second-hand equipment added up to a huge figure at list price, so at his first competition he was put in the highest class against long-time competitors (watch). One expensive set of drivers can also throw you out of the lower price-limited classes.
The ladder starts with Entry 3000, which caps the source (head unit or player), DSP, amplifiers and speakers at €3,000 in total; installation and the battery don't count. Entry Unlimited covers systems above €3,000, and Skilled Unlimited has no equipment limit and sits one level below Master.
OEM classes start at Skilled. All front speakers must sit in factory locations, and the rear can be anything. The price-limited OEM class allows €4,000 of equipment at new price, but in the Euro category the head unit counts too (a factory one is valued at €500), so it is really €3,500 of added gear.
Factory locations can beat custom builds. At its first German IASCA-format event, a joint event with EMMA, Peter's S-Class won its OEM class of 5–6 cars with a sound score of about 176, the highest of any class that day, with every speaker in a factory location and only the boot changed (watch).

Rules that cost points: view line, legroom and fuses

Several of EMMA's rules rest on common sense, but they can cost as many places as the sound, so Peter plans builds around them from the start.

The 40 mm view rule: looking from the driving position, nothing may come more than 40 mm (4 cm) in from where the windscreen's black-dot band ends. Judges mark the line and check it from the listening position, and each speaker that blocks it loses three installation points (watch). For serious European builders this effectively rules out dash pods (speaker pods on the dashboard).
Know when to break it. Peter says it is better to lose three points and gain ten more, so if a location sounds clearly better, ignore the little rule (watch).
The legroom rule: EMMA measures from the driver's seat to the closest pedal, and with the seats lined up the passenger footwell must keep at least that distance. Less legroom costs 3 points, so a big front sub (a woofer built into the front of the cabin) can lose points (watch).
Fuses and terminals: fuses must be reachable within a time limit (Peter recalls a minute or two), the main fuse must be within 40 cm of the battery, and exposed terminals are banned, so Pssound 3D-printed covers for them.

Install judging, documentation and presenting the car

Install is judged as well as sound. In EMMA it is compulsory and you must carry a book showing every step (in America it is optional). Peter learned the cost at his first competition in 2014: he had no documentation, lost about 25–30 install points and finished last in his class, despite a very good sound score of 263.

Judges check details. At the Euro Finals they run a finger along the power cable in the engine bay, and dust costs a point.
Never leave the book at home. Eddie forgot his at the finals and lost so many points that he had no chance in a very tight class (watch).
Photograph every fabrication step, and at Master level show how speakers are mounted and how cables run and are secured.
Don't document your faults. The Chrysler 300C's original builders photographed speaker drivers mounted without machine bolts and threaded inserts, which highlighted a fault and showed they didn't know the rules (watch).
Display a signal-flow diagram (sources, amps, speakers) and a power diagram (every cable size and fuse rating) in the boot; Master and Expert classes require diagrams.
Make the car easy to judge: present it front to back (starting with the battery and power run), remove distractions such as tape over lights, and give judges simple volume and track control, such as a DSP controller or USB.

Tuning for the format and getting started

A competition season rewards patience: tune for the format, then change things slowly.

Tune for the format. Competition house curves (the target tonal shape) are set with the car parked and the engine off, and formats want different bass depending on their reference disc. Peter usually finds EMMA wants a very lean, on-point, accurate bass line (watch), while in his experience MECA is the one format that tests at higher levels and rewards systems that stay controlled when turned up. Keep one preset (a saved tune) per organisation and, with true-IB subs, re-measure every morning before judging. Our tuning guide covers the basics.
Don't retune on one judge's comment. Each judge comes at a different site and time, so only worry if you get the same feedback three times back to back (watch).
Don't build only for the score. Peter says a demo or daily car should show off the best possible sound, because daily use matters more than a couple of competition days a year.
First-year entrants can win. Owner Daniel became German champion in EMMA Entry, the lowest class, in his first competition year and qualified for the Euros (watch). A car doesn't have to be finished either: one owner took his Focus ST500, with its boot still unfinished, to meetings and competitions for half a season.

Common mistakes to avoid

Treating a trophy as proof that a system can't be improved.
Building only for the score sheet, when judging at 85 dB hides problems that appear once you turn the system up.
Learning the rules after the build, when the 40 mm line, legroom and fuse access are cheap to plan for and costly to fix.
Forgetting that price limits use new list price, so second-hand gear can put you in a tougher class.
Leaving the build book at home, or putting photos of your faults in it.
Retuning after a single judge's comment, or using one tune for every format.
Staying home because the car isn't finished.

Watch Peter explain it

This is an independent, plain-English summary of Peter Steinbacher's public YouTube videos, written by VA3 Car Studio. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Pssound. The links jump to the moment in each video where he makes the point.

Part of our series: Car audio lessons from Pssound, start here