Amplifiers have a very tough job. They have to take a very low voltage signal and increase it in amplitude so it can drive a speaker. In this transformation, we expect the signal to remain pure – no distortion or no noise should be added. We also want significant amounts of power to drive our speakers, even though we only feed our amplifiers with a measly 12 to 14 volts of electricity. The laws of … [Read more...]

Enclosure, box or cabinet: Whatever you want to call them, where you install your speaker or subwoofer is critically important to their resulting performance. In this article, we focus on the simplest and most forgiving of enclosures to design and construct – the acoustic suspension or sealed enclosure. The Laws of Physics There are a few characteristics to keep in mind about every speaker. The … [Read more...]

Installing mobile electronics systems is not as easy as it used to be. In the “good old days,” cars were made from thick metal and didn’t have many electrical components. Modern vehicle construction makes use of the thinnest, lightest materials possible. These body panels are held together with non-conductive adhesives, and it seems that every square inch of our cars and trucks are packed with … [Read more...]

Installing mobile electronics in a vehicle is a balance of technical skill and creativity. From the seemingly simple task of connecting wires to the creation of a custom amp rack or subwoofer enclosure, each task requires the car audio installation technician to call upon many different skills. When it comes to installing audio gear in your car, many retailers offer packaged solutions at different … [Read more...]