Powersports speaker upgrades for UTVs and side-by-sides are all the rage these days. Car audio manufacturers offer pods, soundbars and enclosures to let your local specialty mobile enhancement retailer add or enhance the sound system on your Polaris, Can-Am, Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki or Textron vehicle. Let’s look at some of the options available to make […]
Sound Deadening Adds Luxury to Your Car, Truck or SUV
One trait that has come to be universally expected among luxury vehicles is the quietness of their interior. Once exclusive to such premium vehicles as Mercedes, Audi, BMW and Rolls-Royce, companies like Hyundai and Kia are delivering startlingly quiet interiors. In addition to minimizing road and wind noise, the drone of an exhaust system and […]
Will New Speakers Make My Car Stereo Louder?
Over the years, many car audio enthusiasts have complained that while new speakers made their car stereo systems sound better, the new speakers didn’t make the systems any louder. In fact, the more you work to upgrade your speakers, the more you often find that you have traded efficiency for smooth frequency, accuracy and clarity. […]
Why Do Car Audio Amps Have Max Power Ratings?
When it comes to car audio amplifiers, people often mistake quality with high power ratings. This misperception has led to manufacturers coming up with every angle or trick possible to measure as much power as possible from their designs. Many manufacturers publish both continuous low-distortion specs as well as maximum power ratings. Are the high […]
Speaker Power Ratings Don’t Define Their Quality
The number of times a consumer has asked for a set of speakers based on power ratings is incomprehensibly huge. They ask for 300-watt 6×9’s or a 1,000-watt subwoofer without understanding how the power ratings are created. Let’s quickly review what it takes to make a speaker that can handle a lot of power and […]
Fixing the Stereo in the New Jeep Wrangler
Jeep Wranglers are surprisingly popular vehicles, given their heritage as a wartime tool. They aren’t particularly stylish, and they don’t handle as well as a regular car. These issues aside, they sell like crazy. In 2017, Jeep launched the fourth-generation Wrangler with improved aerodynamics, a larger interior and better fuel economy. Unless you opted for […]
Why Turning it to 11 Doesn’t Work in a Car Audio System
If we can take anything useful away from the 1984 movie “This is Spinal Tap,” we know that “turning it to 11” is for those times when you need your car audio system to play louder than loud. While the concept seems like a lot of fun when your favorite song comes on, playing your […]
Powersports Amplifier Upgrades For Fun and Function
UTVs and side-by-sides from companies like Polaris, Yamaha, Honda and Can-Am can provide hours of fun on the trails or sand dunes. While some of these vehicles come with basic audio systems, none has the power to drown out wind and exhaust noise entirely when the pedal is to the floor. Adding a powersports-specific amplifier […]
Why Does My Sub Amp Have Two Sets of Terminals?
If you’re shopping for a subwoofer amplifier for your car stereo system, you may have noticed that some have two sets of speaker terminals. In most cases, it’s reasonable to assume that an amp with two positive and two negative speaker connections would be a stereo amp. As you’ll soon see, this isn’t always the […]
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 […]
