Easy Bonus Points EMMA Competitors Forget

Most competitors pour every spare hour into fusing, wiring and tuning — and then leave points sitting on the table that cost almost nothing to pick up. Bonus and presentation points aren't a huge slice of the overall score, but they're some of the easiest points at the entire event, because unlike Sound Quality they don't depend on your gear or your ear, just on whether you bothered.

Presentation to the public

The Install Judgebook has a specific bonus category for how your system is presented, on top of the core install score. It's not about how expensive the build is — it rewards effort that goes toward explaining and showcasing the system to anyone walking past, judges included.

• One of the simplest wins here: make your EMMA affiliation visible somewhere in the presentation. A lot of competitors never think to display it, and it costs nothing to add.
• A small printed card naming your class, your brands, and a one-line description of the build goes a long way — it shows effort, and effort is exactly what this category is scoring.
• A word of caution from head judge training: bonus point claims are, in the trainers' own words, "a sell/buy situation — but not subjective." Judges are told to be strict about whether a claimed bonus point genuinely fits one of the defined categories, not just whether you made a good case for it. Don't oversell; make sure what you're presenting actually fits.

System documentation and wiring diagram

There are separate points on the sheet specifically for having a system or wiring diagram, and for broader system documentation. Competitors who build one treat it as an afterthought; it isn't — it's free points for something you should be doing anyway to keep track of your own build.

• Print it. A diagram on your phone that you have to unlock and scroll to find doesn't create the same impression as one sitting on the seat ready to hand over.
• Keep it accurate. A judge who spots the diagram doesn't match the real installation will mark it against you rather than for you — see our page on using AI to create a car audio system diagram if you haven't put one together yet.

Explaining your system to the judges

There are points specifically for how well you can explain your own system when a judge asks. This is entirely within your control and costs nothing but a bit of rehearsal.

• Know your signal chain cold: source, DSP, amp channels, crossover points, driver complement. If you can't explain it, it looks like someone else built it and you're reciting notes.
• Keep it concise. Judges are working through a full field of cars — a tight, confident two-minute walkthrough scores better than a rambling ten-minute one.

Craftsmanship: the "earn" culture

Craftsmanship scoring starts at zero and you earn your way up — it isn't graded down from a perfect score. From this year's head judge training: "Craftsmanship is about how the work is done, not what the installation looks like." It's scored on effort, execution and detail level, not on how much you spent on materials, decoration, or design theme.

• Clean, consistent workmanship on a modest budget will out-score an expensive install with sloppy finishing every time.
• If you're short on time before an event, spend it finishing details properly rather than adding another component — craftsmanship rewards the former, not the latter.

None of this replaces a well-built, well-tuned system — but if two cars are close on Sound Quality and Install Quality, it's often the presentation and craftsmanship points that decide the placing. They're free if you plan for them and forgotten if you don't.

Pair this with our week-before install quality checklist and the rules competitors get wrong most often to make sure you're not leaving points anywhere on the sheet.

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