Who wouldn’t want to buy the loudest, most efficient speaker possible to upgrade their car audio system? A speaker that does a better job converting electrical energy into sound reduces the load on the vehicle’s electrical system, right? Well, efficiency is just a single parameter in the myriad values that describe how a speaker works. […]
Upgrading Your Car Radio Just Got More Complicated
Decades ago, it took about $40 in parts, on top of the cost of a new car radio, to give yourself improved sound quality and more features. A simple wire harness adapter would let a single-DIN radio connect right to the factory radio harness behind your dash. Add an antenna adapter and you were likely […]
What Does it Mean When a Subwoofer Claims to Work in a Small Enclosure?
If there’s a single marketing statement that makes my eye twitch, it’s one that claims a specific subwoofer will “work” in a small enclosure. Contrary to many marketing claims, enclosure volume is directly proportional to low-frequency extension and sound quality. Let’s look at the math and how these tiny enclosures ruin the performance of your […]
Car Audio Speakers Should Be Installed Properly
I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve seen car audio speakers installed improperly in the doors, dash or rear deck of a car or truck. Many amateur car audio enthusiasts don’t understand that unlike home audio and Bluetooth speakers that come in an enclosure, the way that raw speakers are mounted […]
What Kind of Amp Should I Use with My 500-Watt Car Audio Subwoofer?
You’d think it’d be easy to choose an amplifier of a specific power rating to work with a 500-watt subwoofer. In reality, we need to consider several factors, particularly performance and reliability. Let’s take a detailed look at the complexity of choosing the perfect amplifier for your car audio subwoofer system. The Myth and Mystery […]
How Much Power Does a Car Radio Really Make?
For as long as I can remember, car radios have had their “maximum power” ratings all over their packaging and often right on the face of the radio. These numbers are not only useless in terms of an ability to reproduce music with any sense of quality, but I have always questioned whether they are […]
Caring for Your Car Audio Touchscreen
The most popular car radio upgrades these days include a touchscreen. Multimedia receivers with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are a great way to make communicating safer while driving. When it comes time to clean your car or truck’s interior, here are a few things to keep in mind to ensure that the display on […]
Car Audio Equipment Distortion Harmonics Add Unwanted Information
We’ve talked about audio component and speaker distortion a great deal. The reason for this is that distortion is one of the critical factors in quantifying the quality of an audio system. Components that add a lot of distortion take away from the realism of the listening experience, making the music blurred, muddy and unnatural. […]
Why Do All Car Audio Speakers Need To Be Auditioned Before Buying?
Picking new speakers for your home, a new set of headphones or upgrades for your car audio system should all involve the same auditioning process. Take two or three of your favorite songs on a memory stick to a local mobile enhancement retailer and audition the speakers under controlled conditions. We can’t count the number […]
Understanding Speaker Quality: OEM Speakers
Up to this point, we’ve explained the difference in performance between entry level, poorly designed and premium car audio amplifiers. We hope you’ve found this informative, and now it’s time we took a close look at car audio speakers. No car audio component is more crucial than speakers for reproducing music with accuracy and clarity. […]
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