When it comes to car audio subwoofer upgrades, infinite baffle installations have been around for as long as subwoofers have existed. The science behind a subwoofer installation that doesn’t use a compact enclosure is quite simple. As with any subwoofer system design, some benefits and drawbacks need to be considered. Strap on your thinking caps; […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
