To close out our series of educational articles on amplifier specifications, we are going to talk about operating voltage limits and, by association, the protection circuits built into a car audio amplifier. In the good old days of electrical systems that were composed of an alternator, battery, switches and a couple of relays, delivering a Read More…

If you are thinking about having your local mobile enhancement retailer add a subwoofer amplifier to your car or truck, you may want to ask them about the remote level or bass boost control options that are available. Being able to adjust the amount of bass your system produces from the driver’s seat allows you Read More…

We are at our second-to-last article in our car audio amplifier specification series and this time, we are going to talk about Class AB amplifier crossover distortion. This distortion has nothing to do with the high- or low-pass filters built into your amplifier; it’s a problem with the very concept of the Class B amplifier Read More…

It’s time to look at the input stage of how a modern car audio amplifier works. The input stage is responsible for interfacing with your radio and provides features like the gain control, crossovers, bass boost, remote level control and signal summing that your installer will use to make your stereo system sound great and Read More…

Whether the sound system in your car or truck is bone stock or upgraded with premium amplifiers, speakers and subwoofers, the system’s maximum volume may not directly coincide with turning the knob up all the way. The short and sweet of why this happens is something called gain overlap. This conscious and deliberate design decision Read More…

We’ve talked about car audio amplifier features and specifications at great length, but up to this point, we haven’t discussed how a car audio amplifier works. In this article, we’ll provide a simple overview of how the power supply in your mobile amplifier can take the 12 volts supplied by your electrical system and convert Read More…

As we slowly approach the end of our latest Understanding Specifications series, we want to take a look at car audio amplifier distortion ratings and explain what they mean. We should make it clear: No matter how or good or bad a piece of audio equipment is, every audio component adds some amount of distortion Read More…

Unlike buying and setting up a basic home audio system, having a new amplifier and speakers installed in your car or truck requires proper setup and tuning. At home, you can adjust the placement of the speakers and how much they are toed in to affect the focus of the soundstage and the bass response. Read More…

We’re back in the lab and working on a few more articles about amplifier specifications in order to wrap up this series. This time, we’re going to talk about the amplifier stereo separation specification. In a nutshell, the stereo separation, or crosstalk, number tells us how much of an audio signal leaks from one channel Read More…

If you are in your late 40s or older, then you likely grew up with a turntable or tape player in your home as a way of listening to store-bought music. Between 1982 and 1983, the compact disc entered the market and forever changed the way music was stored and transported. In this article, we Read More…

We recently talked about how the conversion from analog to digital works and explained some of the basic terminology associated with digital audio files. In this article, we are going to look at how different digital audio compression algorithms work to reduce file size so that files can be shared more easily. The Basics of Read More…

  These days, it seems like there are more vehicle technology options than ever that can plug into the power outlet in your car or stick to the windshield. The problem with using the cigarette lighter outlet in your vehicle is that you end up with a lot of wire clutter and components attached to Read More…

Next, on our look through the common specifications included with modern car audio amplifiers, we want to take a look at amplifier efficiency. With the electrical systems in modern cars shrinking in capacity with every passing year, getting power from your amplifier without taxing the wiring, battery, and alternator in your car is a genuine Read More…

As the next topic in our series explaining amplifier specifications, we will look at the frequency response information that manufacturers provide and explain how to interpret this information. In the simplest of statements, the frequency response spec will tell you about the low- and high-frequency limits of the amplifier based on its design. As with Read More…

The next topic in our look at car audio amplifier specifications is input sensitivity. This specification is easy to understand but is important to choose an amp that will work with the system your local car stereo shop has designed. In the simplest of terms, the sensitivity specification determines how much voltage is required on Read More…

Welcome to our new series about understanding product specifications. Our goal in these articles is to help you understand what the amplifier power ratings mean when you start to compare solutions. We’ll not only explain which numbers are good, but we’ll include a detailed description of what each specification means, how it’s measured and how Read More…

Welcome to our new series about understanding product specifications. Our goal in these articles is to help you understand what the amplifier power ratings mean when you start to compare solutions. We’ll not only explain which numbers are good, but we’ll include a detailed description of what each specification means, how it’s measured and how Read More…