Showcasing the Best in the Mobile Enhancement Industry
The single most crucial upgrade a person can make to their car audio system is to incorporate a properly configured equalizer. Whether you have a radio and two speakers or a high-end four-way system with active crossovers, ensuring that the system’s frequency response is accurate remains the most important consideration concerning quality. Let’s examine how a car audio Read more
AmsssssssPart Two of our series on the difference between car audio amplifiers will look at the topic of noise. Every amplifier, from every brand and at every price point, adds a little bit of noise to the audio signal that passes through it. Whether that noise is an issue depends on the amplifier’s design and the speakers you’re using. Let’s take a close look at noise and Read more
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
If you’re old enough, you might remember that car radios, specifically CD receivers through the late ’80s and ’90s, were full of what seemed like crazy features. Double-DIN multimedia receivers, like we’re accustomed to today, barely existed back then, and we didn’t even have Bluetooth. Radio manufacturers like Sony, Alpine, Clarion, Kenwood, Pioneer, Panasonic, Eclipse, Read more
What is this slick looking car? Did a Civic have an affair with a Lamborghini? What is this? A Toyota Prius! I was legitimately shocked the first time I put my eyes on the new Toyota Prius. The company has always been known for reliable and well-engineered transportation, but not necessarily cutting-edge design. However, not only is the new Prius well-engineered with its Read more
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
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
A few car companies fell woefully behind when it comes to infotainment systems. Brand-new vehicles sold in 2017, 2018 and 2019 that didn’t have proper smartphone integration or connectivity were outdated. By now, you’ve heard of RDV Automotive Technology and their CarPlay and Android Auto interfaces for modern multimedia systems. The RDV folks have a few tricks up their sleeves Read more
