Showcasing the Best in the Mobile Enhancement Industry
Car audio upgrades are much more complex than setting up speakers in your living room. They are, unless all you have in the system is a set of coaxial speakers in your doors. Your installer has to consider crossover slopes and alignments if you have front and rear speakers and a subwoofer. They must also understand how the settings interact at the crossover frequency. Let’s Read more
If there’s one thing that’s challenging for car audio manufacturers and retailers, it’s explaining the sonic benefits of higher-quality products. Based on our research, many consumers correlate the word “better” with more power production from an amplifier, more power handling from a speaker, or more features from a source unit. While these statements are often accurate, they Read more
Rockford Fosgate, a brand synonymous with Harley-Davidson amplifier, speaker and subwoofer upgrades, has just introduced its PMX-HD14 multimedia infotainment system. If you have a 2014 and newer Street Glide or Ultra, or 2015 and newer Road Glide, this might be the perfect way to make your entire stereo system sound better. Best of all, it’s got a unique trick up its sleeve. Read more
How much does it cost to install a car audio amplifier? What a great question! How many channels does the amplifier have? What kind of speakers are being powered by the amp? What source unit are you using? How difficult is it to run power wiring to the battery? As you can see, there’s no “one size fits all” answer to this question. Let’s discuss the bare necessities and the Read more
A short while ago, we published an article examining the resistance of different wire-to-wire electrical connection methods. We tested everything from twisting the wires to soldering, crimp connections, and even some popular connections for residential applications. Aside from the solder sleeve connection’s performance, nothing surprised us. Let’s dig into what worked, what Read more
We really like the engineering behind Tesla vehicles. But sometimes the execution is not as good as the design. People have been complaining about the panel gaps in Tesla vehicles for years. But it also was the best choice in the EV market. Consumers were willing to put up with small niggles for engineering prowess. No doubt about it, Toyota knows how to make a reliable Read more
It should go without saying that a car stereo system designed around multiple amplifier channels and a DSP is the easiest way to get great sound in your vehicle. The technician working on your vehicle has complete control over the output level, sound arrival time and the frequency response of each speaker in the system. The result should be a sound system that is as optimized Read more
We’ve talked at length about how car audio line output converters work and have even compared a few to see which sound best. We skipped over a discussion on whether a car audio amplifier upgrade needs a line-output converter. Let’s dive in! What Does a Line Output Converter Do? A high-quality line output converter serves three purposes. First and foremost, it can reduce the Read more
It’s been more than a year since we first got our hands on the amazing Sony Mobile ES XAV-9500ES multimedia receiver for a detailed Test Drive Review. Our takeaway from that testing experience was that Sony had pulled out all the stops when developing this radio: It sounds stunning, measures superbly on the test bench, and, as we would confirm after an extended period of Read more
If you pay attention, you’ll see cars and trucks on the road with white, yellow, blue and even purple headlight bulbs. Whether chosen for style or performance, hundreds, if not thousands, of options are available to upgrade the lighting on your car, truck or motorcycle. Some replacement bulbs look neat, some are brighter, some have unwanted side effects, and some perform Read more
We see a lot of questions like “My car audio amp can produce 800 watts; how much power does each of my subs get?” If you aren’t versed in the calculation basics of Ohm’s law, the answer might not be intuitive. Let’s dive into the math and logic that will let us calculate how the power from an amplifier is distributed through multiple speakers or subwoofers. How Much Power Does Read more
Brian Mitchell’s name should be familiar if you’ve looked at results of any significant sound quality auto sound competition in the last 15 years. Whether using his Zombie Apocalypse Chevy Cruze or the amazing Cadillac ELR, he’s racked up hundreds (yes, hundreds) of first-place and best-in-class finishes across the country. Brian has two jobs: By day, he’s a sales manager Read more
