Undoubtedly, you’ve heard the term GPS. It’s not uncommon for consumers to refer to navigation software like Waze, Google Maps, Apple Maps or a portable navigation device from Garmin or TomTom as a GPS. Unfortunately, giving these solutions the GPS title is incorrect. Let’s look at GPS, how it works, and how similar technologies are […]
How Amplifiers Distribute Their Power to Multiple Car Audio Speakers
The concept of how car audio amplifiers distribute power to multiple speakers connected to the same channel seems simple. A little math with Ohm’s law and looking at the amplifier’s specifications should tell the tale, right? Yes and no. Things get more complicated when crossovers are involved. Don’t fret; we’re here to make everything easy […]
Headlight Bulb Upgrades: Part 5: Electrical Interference
As we continue our series on headlight bulb upgrades, it’s time to discuss electrical interference. Just as in the previous article on spectral content, this is an issue that very few retailers or manufacturers check for or discuss. While these considerations don’t affect the performance of your lighting system, they can significantly affect the performance […]
Car Audio Crossover Slopes, Alignments and Summing
Car audio upgrades are much more complex than setting up speakers in your living room. They are, unless all you have in the system is a set of coaxial speakers in your doors. Your installer has to consider crossover slopes and alignments if you have front and rear speakers and a subwoofer. They must also […]
Headlight Bulb Upgrades: Part 4 – Headlight Bulb Type and Object Illumination
We’ve watched hundreds of videos on YouTube and read dozens of articles on headlight upgrades, yet we’ve never seen anybody discuss how different bulb types light up different colored objects. We aren’t discussing the headlight bulbs’ brightness or the beam pattern. Halogen, HID and LED bulbs output different wavelengths of energy. We see objects when […]
Headlight Bulb Upgrades: Part 3: Beam Patterns
We are back with the third article in our series about headlight bulb upgrades. In the first article, we discussed the many different headlight bulb designs and how they’ve advanced over the last century. The second article in the series explained the terminology used when discussing light sources. How a light assembly projects light onto […]
Car Audio Myth: Larger or More Subwoofers Are Always Louder
There’s a common belief that an audio system with more subwoofers will produce more bass. This statement can be 100% true or completely false. Why might it be false? A subwoofer’s output depends heavily on enclosure design. Let’s look at two examples where the output of one subwoofer is more than two. The Most Bass […]
Revisiting Sealed Subwoofer Enclosure Stuffing with SPL Measurements
A while back, we looked at how adding stuffing to a sealed enclosure affects its performance. It was clear from our measurements that the addition of Dacron lowered the system’s Qtc (Total Q). The original theory was that adding stuffing made the enclosure seem larger and let the driver play louder at low frequencies. Let’s […]
Automotive Headlight Upgrades – Part 2: Terminology
We talked about headlight bulb styles in the first part of our series on understanding headlight upgrades. In this article, we will briefly explain relevant light terminology to help you understand what lumens, lux, candela and watts mean. Knowing what these terms mean will help you make better bulb upgrade choices – and you’ll be […]
How Do I Know if My Car Audio DSP Is Adjusted Properly?
It should go without saying that a car stereo system designed around multiple amplifier channels and a DSP is the easiest way to get great sound in your vehicle. The technician working on your vehicle has complete control over the output level, sound arrival time and the frequency response of each speaker in the system. […]