By Richard Truesdell
Tesla has already sold almost two million vehicles in North America. That’s a huge market segment that some 12 volt retailers have shied away from. But not Fantazy Audio and Fantazy Motorsports, a successful two-store chain in Southern California.
In fact, some of the work that the shop has done on Tesla vehicles have been adopted by the Tesla factory.
If Fantazy Audio sounds familiar, it may be because former JL Audio VP of Global Sales, Carl Kennedy, just joined the company as CEO.
The shop started as a mobile, van-based business in 2005 by George Armanious and Sam Panayotti. In 2006 they opened a small store in Reseda that has grown steadily since.
The second store opened in 2012 in Thousand Oaks, a very upscale community. And then the Reseda store moved to nearby Northridge, not far from Rolls-Royce, Bentley, McLaren, Porsche, BMW, and Jaguar dealerships as well as a Tesla storefront.
This put the company in contact with regional executives at Tesla. Since Armanious has been creating innovative products for Teslas since 2014, some of these concepts attracted Tesla’s attention and were adopted in Tesla production vehicles. This includes ambient lighting. Another feature, Starlight Headliners has also peaked the interest of Tesla.
Starlight headliners were created by Rolls-Royce and introduced in 2007 for the top-end Phantom to mimic the night sky. A customer bought in a Rolls-Royce Phantom to Fantazy that didn’t have that feature, so Armanious made his first Starlight Headliner for the vehicle, and later adapted it for Teslas. This was brought to the attention of the local Tesla storefront. The execs there saw Fantazy’s work and had Armanious add the ambient lighting (light pipes) to Tesla interiors. Now Tesla offers ambient lighting on new vehicles on an OEM basis. Tesla doesn’t supply Starlight Headliners on an OEM basis… yet.
Armanious mentioned that the largest single category of Fantazy’s business is paint protection–vehicle wraps, ceramic coating and PPF (aka clear bra). “We are the exclusive Ceramic Pro Elite Dealer in the entire San Fernando Valley and in Thousand Oaks as we feel this is the best brand. Most often, audio is an add-on in the sales process to paint protection. We are growing our focus on the audio segment,” he said.
When queried on which audio component brands are especially EV-friendly, Kennedy said, “We are authorized for all major audio brands. Our go-to audio brand is Hertz-Audison and we use the bit One for most interface applications. For lower cost systems we tend to go with the JL Audio LoC-22.”
What’s Fantazy’s biggest audio build to date? Kennedy said, “We have done massive builds with multiple JL Audio 13W7s, HD amplifiers, and Focal mains in years past. These days large systems usually have Hertz shallow subs, Hertz Mille mains, and Audison amps and processors. The largest EV system thus far in 2023 would likely be a Hummer with the Hertz/Audison product and an outboard lithium battery for power.”
Kennedy offered this advice to retailers who may be ignoring the EV category. “First, make up your mind to commit to the category and the learning curve. Research how to take the vehicle apart without breaking expensive components.”
Kennedy continued, “Tesla dashboards can be tricky and mistakes get expensive when replacing broken trim pieces. The key to getting started with EVs begins with the sale. Don’t enter the category by selling ground-pounding designs. Most customers want a modest upgrade, and this can be done fairly easily. Alpine offers a Tesla system for Model 3 and Model Y that has a $3,000 retail and takes about six hours to install.”
“And don’t overlook sound deadening in the process. This is a modest upgrade so don’t expect to blow people away. For more elaborate systems, use the most efficient amplifiers and subs you can find. Shoot for total system power between 750 and 1,500 watts because the accessory batteries are small. Ideally, add a 12v battery just for the audio. If you have a customer who is likely to blast EDM for hours straight, plan to add a lithium 12-volt or 14-volt battery.”
We posed the question of how to reach EV-specific customers and Kennedy offered this advice. “Irrespective of the vehicles you service, social media is an absolute must for all businesses. Hire a pro to manage this daily and make sure you have an active presence on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Also, consider a TikTok component to your promotional efforts. Create videos that both entertain and explain/educate but keep them very short, no more than two minutes. When engaging customers via text, email or phone send them links to videos that show your work and the products being discussed. Join consumer/enthusiast user groups on Facebook, and Instagram. Don’t forget participating in Reddit forums and most of all, continually participate.” (Check out their archive of video content on YouTube.)
And for your final thoughts based on your newfound retail and previous corporate experience at JL Audio, Kennedy added. “Once you are fully conversant on the EV models, features, etc, participate in local car events, and introduce yourself to local owners anytime you see them. Have a professional (modern design) business card at the ready with a QR code to your website on the back. One thing that helps a lot is to drive one. Buy an inexpensive used Model 3 Tesla and make it your shop demo vehicle with nice paint/wrap, wheels audio, etc. If you prefer, use a Rivian, Hummer, Polestar, Porsche, Ford, or other EV to promote your business.”
Rich Truesdell
Rich is an industry veteran and longtime automotive photojournalist He has served as an installer, a 12 volt retail store owner, and a car audio and automotive journalist.
Truesdell founded Kartunes Mobile Electronics in New Jersey in 1976 with a retail storefront from 1980 to 1992. He’s contributed to publications including Motor Trend and has been a full-time automotive journalist since 2000 to more than 30 magazines around the world. He is also the co-author of three books with collaborator Mark Fletcher; Hurst Equipped (2012), 1970 Maximum Muscle (2021), and Hemi Under Glass (2021). Truesdell even appeared on Jay Leno’s Garage!
Truesdell welcomes questions from readers and he hopes to connect with colleagues from his many years in the car audio industry at [email protected]
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