Every fall, car stereo and automotive accessory shops install thousands of lighting upgrades. These days, the most common upgrade is a set of LED headlight bulbs that fit into the stock light locations. While seemingly simple, the resulting beam pattern can be negatively affected if the chosen bulbs are not designed specifically for the lens Read More…
The Difference Between Lumens, Lux and Candela
When it comes to upgrading your vehicle’s lighting, a clear understanding of lumens, lux and candela is not just beneficial, it’s crucial. Just like some less scrupulous car audio amplifier, speaker and subwoofer manufacturers, automotive lighting manufacturers often manipulate specifications. This is evident when you browse through platforms like Amazon, AliExpress or Temu, where you’ll Read More…
Extreme Audio Turns 25: A Journey from Passion to Powerhouse
In 1999, Mike Bartells decided it was time to take complete control over his car audio career. With eight years of experience working for a local car stereo shop, Mike took a leap of faith and signed a lease to take over a defunct car dealership. He and his installer launched Extreme Audio on Broad Read More…
Harley-Davidson Road Glide CVO Gets Amazing Audio Upgrade
A long-time Midlothian client brought his 2023 Harley Davidson Road Glide CVO to Extreme Audio for help with a motorcycle audio upgrade. While he loved the motorcycle, the stereo system didn’t play loudly enough, and he wasn’t happy that the bass got quieter as he turned the volume up. After letting the client audition some Read More…
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 Read More…
Product Spotlight: Rockford Fosgate Polaris Ranger Roof Audio Systems
Polaris Rangers are among the most popular side-by-sides for work applications. Rockford Fosgate, a leader in motorsports audio systems, has just introduced three stunning roof-mount audio solutions that will transform these vehicles into a concert on wheels. All three options include speakers and amplification in custom enclosures. Let’s check them out! Rockford Fosgate Polaris Ranger Read More…
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 Read More…
Product Spotlight: Lucas Lighting LED Bulbs
Extreme Audio in Mechanicsville and Midlothian offers a variety of automotive lighting upgrades. We’ve recently added Lucas Lighting LED bulbs to our offerings to provide our clients reliable ways to make driving safer. Whether you want that clean, crisp LED look or need the most light possible on the road, we have a solution. Let’s Read More…
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 Read More…
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 Read More…
Automotive Headlight Upgrades – Part 1: Technologies
If you pay attention, you’ll see cars and trucks on the road with white, yellow, blue and even purple headlight bulbs. Whether chosen for style or performance, hundreds, if not thousands, of options are available to upgrade the lighting on your car, truck or motorcycle. Some replacement bulbs look neat, some are brighter, some have Read More…
Audio and Video Upgrade for Richmond Mercedes-Benz Sprinter
A client from Richmond contacted the Extreme Audio team for some help upgrading the audio and video options for his 2019 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. The owner is transforming the van into an off-road adventure vehicle and wanted some help upgrading the radio to something with more features and a larger screen. He also wanted the system Read More…
Understanding Light Color and Illumination
We took our first look at measuring light sources a while back as our first step toward understanding the differences in automotive headlight options. In this article, we’ll provide a practical demonstration of why it’s crucial for the lighting on your car, truck, motorcycle, ATV or side-by-side to emit light that covers the entire color Read More…
Interior Lighting and Rear Seat Entertainment for 2023 Range Rover
A repeat client recently visited Extreme Audio‘s Midlothian location. We’d done some interior lighting upgrades on his wife’s vehicle, and he was interested in a little bit of the same for his new 2023 Land Rover Range Rover. He was also interested in adding some sort of rear seat entertainment for passengers in the back. Read More…
Lighting Upgrade for Midlothian Ford F-150 Shelby Truck
A repeat client from here in Midlothian recently returned to Extreme Audio in search of a lighting upgrade for his 2019 Ford F-150 Shelby pickup truck. He wasn’t happy with the light output, even though the truck came with LED bulbs right from the factory. After inspecting the vehicle and looking at the light output Read More…
Understanding the Science Behind Automotive Headlight Bulb Colors
When it comes to lighting the road in front of your car or truck at night, most enthusiasts focus on light intensity instead of headlight bulb color. It’s straightforward to see the difference between yellowish light produced by incandescent halogen bulbs and the white/blue output of HID or LED bulbs. The science behind these light Read More…
Stereo and Lighting Upgrade for Four Winns H260
The owner of this magnificent 2020 Four Winns H260 recently contacted Extreme Audio in Midlothian to ask about upgrading the audio system and adding lighting. He made it quite clear that he wanted people to see and hear the boat from the other side of the lake. We inspected the existing audio gear to see Read More…
Midlothian Client Adds Premium Stereo and Lighting to New GMC Sierra Pickup
A longtime client of Extreme Audio dropped by to talk about the stereo system and safety lighting he wanted us to install in his new 2022 GMC Sierra 3500 HD pickup truck. We’ve done similar upgrades for this client over the years, and with each iteration, we’ve fine-tuned the recipe to meet his listening preferences. Read More…
Farmville 2022 GMC Sierra Denali Gets Strobe Lighting
One of Extreme Audio Midlothian’s regular clients recently purchased new trucks for their business. We’ve featured many of their work vehicles on our site over the years, and they wanted to go all-out on the new ones as well. We got started with this 2022 GMC Sierra Denali. The new GMC Sierra models come with Read More…
Upgrades for Your Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe and GMC Yukon
As some of the largest people-movers on the road, the GMC Yukon and the Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe can benefit from the countless upgrades that are available for them. Whether you want a subtle improvement in audio system performance with a custom-fit subwoofer solution or you want to shake the paint off the walls with Read More…
Audio and Lighting Upgrades for Legend Car Trailer
A client from Chesterfield brought his Legend trailer to Extreme Audio in Midlothian for an audio system and lighting upgrade. This client is a friend of a client who owns a Bel Air and Corvette. After seeing the work we did on the Bel Air, he called us to plan to upgrade his Trailmaster Race Read More…
Custom Audio System for Chesterfield Chevrolet Corvette
A client recently called Extreme Audio to let us know he’d finally purchased the 1961 Chevrolet Corvette of his dreams. He described the car as his unicorn, since he’d been looking for a clean example to add to his collection for years. Based on his enjoyment of the audio system we installed in his ’55 Read More…
Proper Headlight Aiming Makes Driving Safer at Night
As fall approaches, we find the sun setting hours earlier than it did in the summer. With this increase in darkness, we need to rely on the forward lighting systems in our cars and trucks to keep us safe. In this article, we are going to look at the importance of making sure your headlights Read More…
Amp, Speaker and Lighting Upgrade for Chesapeake Polaris Slingshot
A client from down in Chesapeake recently contacted the team at Extreme Audio about upgrading her 2017 Polaris Slingshot with new speakers, an amplifier and more lighting. The sound system she had already installed in the vehicle was experiencing noise problems, and the source unit lacked the connectivity features she wanted. After inspecting the vehicle Read More…
Audio and Lighting Upgrades for 2012 Kawasaki Ultra 300x Jet Ski
One of our repeat clients from North Prince George brought his 2012 Kawasaki Ultra 300x jet ski in for audio and lighting upgrades. We had done a lot of RGB LED lighting upgrades for him on his truck in the past and he wanted to add some of that to the jet ski. He also Read More…
New 2021 GMC Yukon Gets Wicked Warnings Upgrades for Strobe Light
One of our great clients who regularly brings us his work trucks brought in his 2021 GMC Yukon for a strobe light upgrade. He wanted the same visibility and safety as the Wicked Warnings strobe lights that we have integrated into his Ford F-450 work trucks, but with this higher-end truck looking a bit more Read More…
Strobe Light Upgrades for 2021 Ford F-450 Provide Worksite Safety
One of our repeat clients brought his brand-new 2021 Ford F-450 work truck to us to get a strobe light kit and accessories. He upgrades his work trucks regularly, and we are usually the first stop he makes with them so we can get his strobe lights functional before he visits his worksites. We added Read More…
LED Lighting Upgrade to 2020 Kawasaki Mule for Safety and Work
A repeat client brought his 2020 Kawasaki Mule to our team because he needed some lighting upgrades for it. He wanted to have more light when backing up, when working in it and when working around it. We jumped at the chance to upgrade the Mule with some durable lighting. We selected a Rigid Industries Read More…
Upgrade Your Car with Style and Accent Lights
Custom lights and LED strips have been a staple for car upgrades since the Fast & Furious days. Whether it’s a strip of blue, green or red lights in the footwells or a complete custom amp rack or center console, lighting can add personality, style and flair to your vehicle. Let’s look at some options Read More…
2020 Indian Roadmaster from Virginia Beach Gets Audio and Lighting
A client from Virginia Beach who had seen our online reviews contacted us to upgrade the audio system on a 2020 Indian Roadmaster motorcycle. It was originally equipped from the factory with the upgraded audio system that has individual amplifiers on each speaker, but he wanted something with higher output, better sound quality and a Read More…