The Best Mobile Enhancement Retailers
It’s hard not to notice that almost every reputable car audio manufacturer now offers several ultra-compact amplifier solutions. These amplifiers are small enough to fit in the pocket of your jeans and help make installations easier when space is tight. While diminutive, they can deliver an impressive amount of power to upgrade the signal to your factory speakers or let Read more
Many decades ago, my father and I were avid readers of car magazines like Motor Trend, Road & Track, Car and Driver and occasionally Automobile. We’d read the car reviews and I’d commit to memory the 0-60 times for amazing new vehicles like the C4 Corvette and Dodge Viper. Decades later, I found myself as the Technical Editor of a car and mobile audio magazine based out of Read more
Nobody will deny that the Apple iPod is single-handedly responsible for a massive shift in the portability of music. Sure, the Walkman and Discman were important components in the history of portable media players, but those technologies supported existing music formats in the form of cassettes and compact discs. The iPod embraced digital media file formats, and though Apple Read more
In the ’80s, ’90s and early part of the 2000s, upgrading the car stereo system in your vehicle was a relatively simple process. You’d start by picking out a new radio that offered the features you wanted and add a set of speakers to improve the sound of the system. Pretty much anyone with a basic understanding of electrical systems could use a wire harness adapter to install Read more
On Sept. 17, 2018, Apple launched iOS12 – its latest update to the operating system behind its venerable iPhone and iPad devices. Aside from security updates, performance enhancements and battery life improvements, Apple has added support for third-party applications to CarPlay. Users of factory-installed and aftermarket multimedia receivers that support CarPlay will now be Read more
Enthusiasts have been trying to find ways to bring their music into their cars for more than 100 years. What started with a phonograph in the back seat or strapped to the fender of a horseless carriage has evolved to Internet-connected computers with voice recognition systems that allow us to communicate with friends and play source music from the ever-miraculous cloud. In Read more
Just as the invention of the transistor eliminated the need for vacuum tubes, advances in technology allow us to create new and unique entertainment solutions with more and more features. We thought it would be fun to take a quick look at a few important car audio technologies throughout history. Transistors The first car radios used vacuum tubes as integral parts of their Read more
From biggest to smallest: Expedition, Explorer, Edge, Escape and, finally, EcoSport. There have been rumors that Ford may exit the mass-market sedan game altogether (but we find this doubtful) and specialize in only high-margin vehicles. So, what are you going to sell to someone who likes their Fiesta? How about the EcoSport? The diminutive SUV seems small on the outside but is Read more
If you ask someone in the mobile electronics industry what “source unit integration” means, they’ll probably tell you about making an aftermarket radio fit into the dash of a vehicle and allowing it to send audio to the speakers. For decades, this has been the extent of the task. Physical Source Unit Integration Mounting a new radio in the dash of most vehicles involves Read more
