Showcasing the Best in the Mobile Enhancement Industry
Most car audio enthusiasts know that the typical car radio can produce 18 to 20 watts of power per channel from its internal amplifier. If you send a full-range signal to the front and rear speakers, this is usually enough power to enjoy your music at modest listening levels. That said, it’s not enough power to make the music really fun. Let’s look at what happens when we add a Read more
(This article was updated in November 2023.)With the rise in popularity of digital media files over the last decade, car audio enthusiasts are more likely to carry a USB drive than a stack of compact discs. When it comes to organizing all those MP3, WMA, AAC and FLAC files, most manufacturers suggest that you don’t put all the songs in one folder. Read on to find out Read more
There isn’t a category in the mobile enhancement industry not plagued by myths and misunderstandings. There’s nonsense about subwoofer cone materials improving sound quality, claims that Class D can’t sound better than Class AB, or that remote car starters are bad for your vehicle. This article will be the first in a series that addresses and explains the most common myths Read more
Speaker power ratings are among the most confusing and misleading specifications in the car audio industry. Once you understand the process used to test speaker power handling, you’ll quickly realize that the information doesn’t always translate to information that’s helpful in choosing an amplifier. Let’s dive into the science behind choosing the best amplifier for your car Read more
Understanding how DC voltages combine is quite simple. They add linearly when we wire sources (like batteries) in series. But understanding how AC waveforms combine is complicated. AC waveforms don’t always sum intuitively unless the peaks and valleys align perfectly. We see many examples where people interchange the terms phase and polarity. In reality, those words refer to Read more
There will always be debates about whether a Class D amplifier can sound as good as a Class AB. We’ve proven that it all depends on who designs the amplifier. We also see mumblings about single-ended amps versus full-bridge designs. STMicroelectronics created a different and unexpected way to deliver efficient power. These amplifiers are categorized Class SB and Class SBI. Read more
Over the last decade, the popularity of under-seat truck subwoofer upgrades has exploded. At least a dozen companies offer vehicle-specific solutions with shallow-mount subwoofers to add bass to these vehicles. If you’re perusing the enclosure options for your truck, you’ll notice two distinct options: enclosures with drivers that face upward into the seat bottom and those that Read more
I was recently rewatching the YouTube video from GoldenSound about how he tested the quality of the MQA file format by uploading several test tones and part of a song to Tidal. His results showed without any shadow of a doubt that the MQA format didn’t meet many of the claims made by the company. This article isn’t about MQA, thankfully.I’ve often wondered about the quality Read more
Any time your installer wants to wire two subwoofers to the same channel of an amplifier, they can wire them in series or parallel. The same goes for a dual voice coil design subwoofer. The only benefit of a DVC subwoofer over a single is that there are three wiring options. We examined whether the wiring options for dual voice coil subwoofers differed a while back. Thinking Read more
