Did you know that in Europe, there aren’t nearly the number of qualified car audio installers that there are here in North America? In some countries, shops that primarily sell wheels and tires are the most popular choice for purchasing and installing audio system upgrades. Manufacturers that want to provide consumers with premium sound system […]
The Basics of Sound and How it Works
Understanding how to recreate music in our vehicles is a complicated science. Balancing speaker sizes and locations with the goal of recreating what the recording engineer heard in the mastering studio or, at the very least, making your system enjoyable isn’t always easy. We want to take a look at the physics behind sound and […]
Behind the Scenes of Speaker Power Handling
We’ve written several articles about speaker power ratings over the years, but the topic seems to be one that very few people understand fully. This article will serve as the reference guide for how premium and reputable manufacturers rate the power handling capabilities of their speakers. We’ll start by looking at the physics of speaker […]
Ultra-Compact Amplifiers, Big Power from a Small Package
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 […]
Product Spotlight: ARC Audio RS Series Speakers
The new RS Series speakers from ARC Audio combine amazing technologies and design to deliver crystal-clear sound to music lovers and audiophiles around the globe. The RS project began several years ago and is a collaboration between the transducer development teams in ARC’s US and Danish offices. The goal of the project was to develop […]
Why You Shouldn’t Use Home Audio Speakers in Your Car
If you look at some amateur car audio forums and Facebook groups, you’ll see a disturbing trend of people using speakers that are intended for home applications in their cars. While these speakers initially seem to offer impressive performance for their price, they simply aren’t designed to withstand the challenges associated with a mobile audio […]
Product Spotlight: Momento M6 Dashcam
The Momento M6 smart dashcam continues the evolution of amazing features and performance that drivers have come to expect from Firstech. Equipped with a Wi-Fi hotspot that works with an app on your smartphone, downloading videos from the M6 is as easy as tapping a few icons. Read on to learn more about the features […]
Touchscreen Radio Buyers Guide
Years ago, upgrading your car stereo meant buying a new radio that would play MP3 files or that included Bluetooth hands-free calling and audio streaming. As automobile manufacturers have increased their interest in providing advanced infotainment features, the aftermarket head unit industry has evolved away from conventional single- and double-DIN radios with segmented displays to […]
All About Apple Product Certification
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 […]
Ten Steps To Better Car Audio
Let’s face it, most of us aren’t really happy with the stereo system that comes in our car. Sure, if you bought a Lexus with a top-of-the-line Mark Levinson system, you’re more than likely content. For the rest of us, the good news is that for a very reasonable investment, you can upgrade the performance […]