Showcasing the Best in the Mobile Enhancement Industry
If you’ve been around the car audio industry for as long as I have, you know Rockford Fosgate started in 1973 with the introduction of its first car audio amplifier. Through the ’80s and ’90s, the brand grew at an exponential rate, adding subwoofers, speakers and more amplifiers that deliver fantastic performance to car audio fanatics who want their music clear and loud. The Read more
So, as a longtime car audio guy, I have peers and friends who cover every conceivable genre of car audio enthusiasm. I have friends who are installers, own and run stores, work at distributors and at manufacturers. I have tweaky friends that think high-end interconnects and low-efficiency wideband drivers are the way to go for sound quality. I also have a ton of friends who are Read more
I remember being at a car audio trade show about a decade ago where I overheard a conversation between a manufacturer rep and a customer about why a set of tweeters didn’t sound good on a particular amplifier. A few weeks later, I did some research on that amp to begin learning about what might have produced the customer perception. The amp in question uses a Class D output Read more
Whether you’re a die-hard sound quality fanatic or want your stereo system to reproduce your music at concert-level volumes, custom door panels are a popular upgrade. So we reached out to some of the best fabricators in the car audio industry and asked them to share samples of their work. From subtle and beautifully integrated to loud, over-the-top creations, here are some of Read more
Ah, the oh-so-complex world of amplifier sensitivity control configuration. One would think that there would be a scientific process that would ensure that an amplifier could be set perfectly every time. But in reality, many criteria affect where a sensitivity control is adjusted. The topic of gain overlap pertains equally to source units as amplifiers. What is it? Why do we Read more
When Toyota first came out with the Toyota Prius, the powertrain was so far from the mainstream it was destined to be in its own vehicle. But Toyota has perfected the hybrid powertrain and has made it commonplace. In addition to the Prius, I’ve tried it in the Sienna minivan and the RAV4 SUV.The 2022 Toyota Camry Hybrid brings the fuel-sipping savings of the Prius to a Read more
In the fall of 2018, Focal introduced the latest generation of its Utopia speaker solutions at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. Wayne Smedile from Paragon Sales & Marketing knew right away that their dealers needed to experience these new flagship drivers to appreciate their clarity and realism. So he ordered a 2018 Tesla Model X the next weekend and put a plan in motion to have Read more
While it’s fun to play with flagship products like Audison Thesis amplifiers and speakers, the reality is that there’s a lot more business done at the opposite end of the financial spectrum. The latest generation of the SR line from Audison gives car audio enthusiasts an affordable upgrade option that is laden with the features found in much more expensive solutions. For this Read more
As we’ve said before, car shopping today is a challenge because of the lack of inventory. The local Volvo dealership I pass daily has more used vehicles of makes other than Volvo out front.Although large luxury vehicles aren’t as popular as they once were because of the proliferation of SUVs, there will always be customers who yearn for a large, comfortable car. Audi, BMW, Read more
