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 […]
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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 […]
Upgrading Your Car Stereo System
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 […]
Safely Using Your Smartphone in Your Car
In 1982, Michael Knight was able to talk to his 1982 Pontiac Firebird and ask it for navigation directions. Of course, watching “Knight Rider” meant that we understood that KITT was make-believe. Fast-forward 35 years, and talking to our vehicles is now a reality, thanks to our smartphone. The modern smartphone, be it an iPhone […]
Be Wary of Top 10 Lists
Not too long ago, we saw a discussion about an article called “The 12 Best Tweeters (Reviews & Ultimate Buying Guide 2018).” Being curious, we decided to check the article out to see what criteria they used to choose the products and how they tested them. Much to our dismay, there were no criteria, nor […]
Product Spotlight: ARC Audio Pro-Series DSP Platform
The product development team at ARC Audio has been hard at work developing a new collection of digital signal processors called the Pro-Series. This new family of processors includes the flagship stand-alone PS8-PRO, the PS8-50 DSP-equipped eight-channel amplifier rated at 50 watts per channel and the IPS8.8 DSP upgrade module for the new two-, four- […]
Tools of the Trade: ProDemand Vehicle Information Service
Among the many tools that mobile enhancement technicians use, one of the most valuable is ProDemand from Mitchell1. If you’ve spent any time in the automotive service industry, you’ll recognize the classic brown-and-yellow Mitchell service books. The information in these paperbacks is now available to automotive and electronics technicians through a web interface. Let’s look […]
Car Audio Electrical Theory – Capacitance and Inductance
As we move toward the end of our discussion of car audio electrical theory, we need to talk about capacitance and inductance and how the characteristics of those phenomena interact with AC and DC signals. There’s no doubt that these are advanced concepts, but even a basic understanding of how capacitors and inductors work is […]
Car Audio Electrical Theory – Magnetic Fields
Furthering our discussion about car audio electrical theory brings us to a discussion of how the flow of electricity through a conductor creates magnetic fields around the conductor. Understanding the relationship between current flow and magnetism is crucial to understanding how a speaker works. History of Electromagnetism The first documented correlation between electricity and magnetism […]
