Showcasing the Best in the Mobile Enhancement Industry
If you read our recent Sound Check article on the 2023 Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, you know that a subwoofer system upgrade is a great way to improve a factory-installed stereo system. Dozens of car audio companies offer subwoofer solutions explicitly designed to work with factory-installed radios and amplifiers. That said, the upgrade process isn’t always straightforward in Read more
In our never-ending efforts to create great content, we devised a plan a while back to share listening tips for specific tracks with our readers. Our plan at the time was to explain what to listen for in different songs to evaluate the performance and capabilities of an audio system. After some research and experiments, we’ve come up with a twist on this plan that we think Read more
Every genre of car audio enthusiast looks at amplifier performance differently. The SQ guys worry about distortion and noise. The bass heads focus on power. The keyboard commandos and know-it-alls talk about slew rate or something equally irrelevant. Despite all this, an audio system's frequency response matters the most regarding the perception of quality. The folks at KICKER Read more
We’ve recently seen a resurfacing of keyboard commandos who claim that the ability to hear the differences between the amplifiers is hogwash. Those who have been around the car audio scene for a while often bring up Richard Clark’s famous $10,000 Amplifier Challenge to support their hypothesis that all amplifiers sound the same. If true, why do companies offer different Read more
If you’ve been a long-time BestCarAudio.com reader, you know we prioritize performance and reliability when choosing audio system components. With that said, an installation that looks good does matter. You don’t want a bunch of amplifiers in your vehicle that are all different shapes, designs or colors. This is your car or truck, and it should look clean and classy, not like a Read more
The Genesis GV70 is a very good luxury SUV at a reasonable price point. With its 2.5-liter turbocharged engine, it’s been well received by both the press and public. But the really cool part is Genesis’ ability to remove the gasoline powerplant altogether and replace it with a fully electric setup. This versatility in the platform shows the engineering involved in the design. 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
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
We’re kicking off a monthly column called the BestCarAudio Question of the Month. Many basic car audio-related questions are answered incorrectly or incompletely on social media and in online forums. In our ongoing efforts to educate consumers about the products and solutions available to upgrade their vehicles, we will pick a random question each month and provide a detailed Read more
What happens when a subwoofer is used with an oversized subwoofer enclosure? This article will look at the good, the bad and the ugly in terms of an improper match between the electromechanical characteristics of a subwoofer and the need for a proper enclosure. Why Do Subwoofers Need an Enclosure? If you’ve been following our series of articles on understanding subwoofer Read more
One thing common to every car audio subwoofer enclosure is that they need to connect to the subwoofer amplifier. Most subwoofer enclosures include a terminal cup or something similar to facilitate easy connection to the subwoofers. Let’s look at subwoofer enclosure speaker wire connection options. Guess What? Ohm’s Law If you’re serious about car audio, Ohm’s law should be Read more
If we could send just one message to car audio enthusiasts, it would be to stop talking about wattage ratings. These numbers are irrelevant and often misleading in the context of quality, performance and value. Leave the reference to watts out if you want to sound intelligent when discussing car audio upgrades. What Are Watts? The SI Unit watt is used to measure power. One Read more
