Showcasing the Best in the Mobile Enhancement Industry
In the last five years, the popularity of six- and eight-channel car audio amplifiers has increased dramatically. These amplifiers are often equipped with integrated digital signal processing, making them a perfect solution to power an entire car audio system. When analyzing power ratings, it’s crucial to know how these amplifiers are tested. Let’s look at the “all channels Read more
It would be a gross understatement to say I spend a lot of time reading the content on car audio manufacturer websites and social media. The average day can involve a minimum of an hour researching information for articles, and sometimes it’s more than five or six hours. During this time, I see many terms passed down from model to model, even if they are technically incorrect. Read more
Designing a subwoofer system for a car or SUV can be tricky. We’ve talked about the need for retailers to quantify a customer’s expectations while working within their budget. The shop designing the upgrade should also verify that the system will function reliably. Some components in this process include ensuring that there are enough subwoofers, a powerful enough amplifier and Read more
I bought my youngest son a small gardening trowel from the dollar store to use when he and I go metal detecting. The rod that connects the blade to the handle started to bend after being used six times. No, not six outings. Six attempts to dig small objects out of soft, damp dirt. As the lads on the Cleetus McFarland YouTube Channel say, "I’m an idiot!”Indeed, a stick would Read more
A few months back, I wrote a very detailed article that explained what happens when you push the output of an amplifier (or source unit) to the point that the signal clips. To be clear, and much to the dismay of many who think otherwise, there is NO DC component riding on the top of the waveform. What you see there is a large number of harmonics that produce the top of what is Read more
These days, it’s effectively impossible to replace the radio in many new cars and trucks. With display screens integrated into the dash and controls in the center console, there’s nowhere to mount a nice double-DIN multimedia receiver. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t ways to upgrade the audio system. A line output converter is the starting point, whether you’re adding a Read more
I’ve been a magazine guy for more than 35 years. I used to read four car audio and six car magazines every month. Sometimes there would be a few RC car or bicycling mags thrown in, depending on the season and my mood. All of this was even before I got into the magazine industry as a writer and started my career in car audio marketing. Being overly technical in my approach to Read more
If the sound system in your car or truck doesn’t put a smile on your face, it’s time to visit your local authorized Rockford Fosgate retailer and ask about the impressive P1000X5 five-channel amplifier. This single-channel amp can dish out an effortless 75 watts of power from the four main channels and up to 500 watts of power to a subwoofer. Best of all, it has all the Read more
If you were into car audio in the ’90s, you’ve likely heard of amplifiers having mixed-mode or tri-mode capability. The implication was that these amps could power a pair of coaxial speakers and a subwoofer at the same time from a cost-effective and straightforward two-channel design. If you dig down into the nitty-gritty of how this works, you’ll see it’s pretty simple. With Read more
