Though it only seems like last year, our 2019 article about the importance of test-driving a new car radio before buying is suddenly more important than ever. So let’s review some key factors and discuss a few new things you ought to test before purchasing a new radio for your car or truck.

Test the Interface

One of the most important reasons to try out a new car radio, especially a multimedia receiver, is to evaluate the responsiveness and simplicity of the interface. For example, years ago, I had a top-of-the-line navigation-equipped multimedia receiver in my Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8. The radio sounded amazing and had every feature imaginable at the time. Unfortunately, to make the radio as “cool” as possible, the manufacturer included a capacitive touch interface across the bottom of the screen. Whenever I went to adjust the subwoofer level from the on-screen menu, my fingers would accidentally touch this panel and bring up the radio’s configuration menu. It was very frustrating to use.

When shopping for a radio, you want to try to use it as you would in a vehicle. Is the volume easily accessible without looking at the radio? Can you change songs easily? Can you change sources easily? How quickly does the interface respond to your inputs? You would be surprised at how slowly some radios respond to inputs. You want the radio to act like a smartphone. It’s impossible to gauge responsiveness by looking at a picture or watching a video.

Will It Play My Music?

Another critical test is to confirm that the radio will play your music. We aren’t talking about rock versus country and heavy metal. Do you have a digital audio collection stored in a format other than MP3? If so, you’ll want to connect your USB memory stick to the radio you have in mind to see whether it will recognize your music collection. You’ll want to ensure that it can detect all the tracks on the memory stick, checking to make sure that software restrictions aren’t hiding some files. Check both the root and subfolders to see that all the tracks are listed and in the order you expect.

You’ll also want to know if the radio remembers the song playing when the ignition is turned off, then back on. In the same scenario, does it restart at the song’s beginning or continue where it left off? If you listen to concerts or something like an audiobook, this matters. Check to see whether the radio adds a pause between tracks. Pauses between tracks make listening to concert albums annoying. Also, test to see how long it takes for the radio to play music after you turn it on.

Will the Radio Work Correctly with My Vehicle?

You’ll want to ask the retailer how the radio will function with your vehicle. Will the illumination dimmer work? Will a factory-installed backup camera display properly? Can the radio buttons on the steering wheel work with the aftermarket receiver? Find out how the steering wheel’s up and down tracking buttons work when listening to the radio. Do they take you to the next radio station preset or seek the next frequency the radio can lock on to?

Smartphone Integration

Here’s the topic that was the inspiration for this article. If you plan to use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, you must check that your phone and the software it’s running will work with the radio. More importantly, if you plan to use wireless CarPlay or Android Auto, you must test that functionality. Three popular Android-based smartphone brands don’t work with wireless Android Auto on some multimedia receivers. Based on some cursory research, the issue appears to be a hardware limitation, so hoping that a software update will resolve things isn’t likely.

Have Realistic Expectations That Manufacturers Can Help

If you’ve purchased a radio that doesn’t work with your device or how you want, you can ask the manufacturer if they’re working on an update to address the issue. That said, please don’t assume they can or will be able to fix any problems. The software in a multimedia receiver is complicated; changing one part can dramatically affect the other functions in a radio.

Testing an update can take weeks or months to ensure that one change doesn’t break anything else. High-quality radio manufacturers like Sony, Kenwood, Pioneer, JVC and Alpine have teams dedicated to testing multimedia receiver software. If they’re working on an update to an existing product, that often delays the delivery of new models for the following years. Updates that might affect the operation of a technology like Apple CarPlay must go to Apple for approval. That process can take half a year. Trust us; we’ve been through it.

We can’t say it enough: Before purchasing, you MUST test the radio you want to buy on a display board. When it’s time to upgrade the technology in your vehicle, drop into a local specialty mobile enhancement retailer and talk with one of their product specialists. Bring your smartphone and some digital audio files along to test that the radio they suggest will function the way you want once it’s installed in your vehicle.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

Unlike a home audio system, you can listen to your car audio system as loudly as you want while driving to work or school. Sure, the folks beside you at a stoplight might laugh as bit as you’re rocking out to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but that’s their problem, not yours! If you want your music to sound good at high volumes, you’ll likely need to upgrade your car stereo system with an amplifier. Let’s look at three reasons music enthusiasts need an amplifier added to their car stereo system.

Laying the Foundation

To be clear, even the most basic car radio, installed by the factory or at a mobile enhancement retailer, has an amplifier built in. In most cases, these amplifiers are a single integrated circuit that can deliver between 15 and 20 watts of continuous power to four speakers. Sony High Power radios are the exception to this. These High Power radios use an amplifier that can deliver an actual continuous 45 watts of power to each of the four speakers.

When we talk about adding an amplifier to an audio system, we’re talking about a stand-alone solution that would mount under a seat or in a vehicle’s trunk or storage area.

One last note before we dive into the reasons to upgrade your car’s audio system with an amplifier. When looking at amplifier ratings, we only discuss continuous ratings and never peak or dynamic power. If you want to understand how amplifier power (and other specifications) should be measured, please refer to the BestCarAudio.com article about the recently-updated ANSI/CTA-2006-D Testing and Measurement Methods for In-Vehicle Audio Amplifiers standard.

Amp Upgrade Reason 1: More Output

Let’s assume that you have a basic factory-installed radio in your vehicle that can provide about 20 watts of power to each speaker. Assuming the speakers are about 89 dB (1-W/1-M) efficient like the Honda speaker we tested, we can surmise that 20 watts of power would let each speaker produce about 102 SPL dB of output. With four playing in the car, 112 dB SPL is theoretically possible before the amplifier hits its power limit and starts clipping and adding distortion. Clipping will make the music sound very garbled and muddy.

If we upgrade the system to an amplifier that provides 75 watts of power to each speaker, the maximum output would be almost 108 dB SPL per speaker. The four could theoretically produce 120 dB of output. Unfortunately, the speakers that came with your car likely can’t handle this much power or play that loudly. Nevertheless, your stereo system will play louder and clearer with an amplifier than just running off the little IC amp built into the radio.

Amp Upgrade Reason 2: More Bass

You likely know that it takes a lot more power for speakers to reproduce bass frequencies than it does to produce midrange and high-frequency information. In fact, for a constant output level, speakers need twice as much power for every octave lower you want the system to play. By way of an example, if a speaker required 10 watts of power to play 200 hertz at 100 dB SPL, it would require 20 watts of power to play 100 hertz at the same volume level. If we extend this further, we need 40 watts to play 50 Hz and 80 watts to play 25 Hz. It’s easy to see that we run out of power quickly as the audio information we want to play loudly contains more bass information.

One of the most significant benefits of having a more powerful amplifier is the ability of the audio system to reproduce the low-frequency information in the music you’ve chosen without distorting it. Think about what adding a dedicated subwoofer and amplifier does. The small speakers in your car can focus on playing audio information above 80 Hz, and the subwoofer and its amplifier can handle the heavy lifting for frequencies below that. Even if you use a radio to power the smaller speakers, they can play louder because they don’t need to try playing bass frequencies. This is why adding a subwoofer to your car audio system is one of the best upgrades you can make.

Amp Upgrade Reason 3: Improved Performance

Another great reason to upgrade your car’s audio system with an amplifier is to improve performance. The little IC amplifiers are impressive in their capabilities, but they can’t hold a candle to a premium amplifier in terms of distortion characteristics. These IC amps’ distortion versus output power characteristics are reasonable around 1 kHz but fall short of what would be considered good at frequencies outside that range. Conversely, a well-designed amplifier adds several orders of magnitude less distortion. Likewise, the channel separation will improve, and the system will add less noise. Of course, the accuracy of this statement depends wholly on the amplifier you choose. If you pick one of those internet brands, you’ll likely be relegated to the system just playing louder and not being any clearer.

Improve Your Car Audio System with an Amplifier Upgrade

If you want your car audio system to play louder, produce more bass and sound more precise, visit a local specialty mobile enhancement retailer today and ask about adding an amplifier. They can help you choose a model that will sound great, have enough channels to drive the speakers you want and include features that will improve the system’s performance. Best of all, they can install and configure the amp to provide the best possible performance.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

It should come as no surprise that supply chain issues have wreaked havoc on the automotive industry. From the need to shut down production facilities to shipping vehicles with missing features or components, automakers’ inability to get the parts they need has changed the new vehicle buying experience. While the aftermarket can’t supply a body control module or ABS module, we can help with many components the OEM suppliers can’t deliver.

Missing Ford Bronco Features

The mighty Bronco is Ford’s answer to the Jeep Wrangler. But, sadly, its popularity has been hampered by suppliers’ inability to deliver vehicle components. One of the better-known issues is the missing subwoofer and amplifier. While a cursory inspection makes it look like a speaker and an amp are attached to the plastic enclosure, more research reveals that those components are nothing more than window dressing. For example, if you removed the subwoofer from the enclosure, you’d find it had no voice coil, tinsel leads or motor assembly.

Disassembling the amplifier shows that the circuit board isn’t populated with anything other than the input and output connectors. The large red X on the amplifier theoretically identifies it as a non-functioning unit.

According to many sources, Ford offers a discount to owners to compensate for that lack of functionality in the subwoofer system. A few dollars in your pocket might be nice, but it doesn’t make up for not having good bass in your audio system. Fortunately, the aftermarket can deliver where the manufacturer has fallen short. Drop by a local mobile enhancement retailer and talk with them about a subwoofer that will fit into the factory enclosure and a compact amplifier than can drive that sub. This might be an excellent opportunity to upgrade to a subwoofer solution that will make you smile. Ask about an upgrade to a subwoofer that can deliver much better low-frequency extension and excellent output.

We’ve heard that Porsche dealers are suggesting to clients that they forego buying premium audio systems because the amplifiers are in short supply. But, of course, the aftermarket can easily provide a high-quality amplifier with integrated digital signal processing to power all the speakers. In addition, you can upgrade the speakers to units with better clarity, improved low-frequency performance and enhanced output capabilities. Moreover, almost any specialty mobile enhancement retailer can make the audio system in a Porsche sound amazing.

Missing Heated Seats

According to many reports, Ford F-150s and Broncos and Chevrolet Silverados are being delivered without heated seats. While this is less of a problem if you live in Florida or Texas, for those of us in the North or Canada, getting into a vehicle in the winter brings an expectation of this luxury heating solution for our posteriors. Once again, an expert mobile enhancement retailer can install seat heaters in almost any vehicle that doesn’t have the leather or fabric glued to the foam. Most aftermarket heating solutions include a simple mechanical high or low switch that can be left on so that the seats start warming up as soon as the vehicle starts. Adding a remote car starter is an excellent investment to get the heat into the seat before you get to the vehicle.

Lighting Upgrades

Jeep supposedly has trouble delivering their LED headlight assemblies on the newer Wranglers. If you end up without LED lights, a reputable mobile enhancement retailer can help get you the lighting performance you want with a high-quality LED bulb upgrade. Make sure the upgraded bulbs are designed specifically for the light assemblies in the vehicle (projector or reflector) and that the hot spot is centered on the road well out in front of the vehicle. You don’t want the headlights to light up the area directly in front of the vehicle brightly. Also, ensure that the cut-off is appropriate and won’t blind oncoming drivers.

Ford Bronco Hard Tops

Tangential to those supply issues, there is another concern on the Ford Bronco: The optional hard tops from the factory supposedly have serious quality issues, including the fiberglass delaminating and cracking. But, once again, aftermarket options can fulfill your needs and help avoid the frustration of dealer claims that cracks in a component are somehow normal.

Companies like Rally Top, Anderson Composites and Advanced Fiberglass Concepts, to name a few, make aftermarket hard tops that don’t suffer from the same failures as the Webasto units that Ford offers.

Cordless Phone Chargers

There’s also talk that the 2022 Silverado was missing its cordless smartphone charging base. However, several aftermarket companies make wireless charging pads and even phone brackets. A local mobile enhancement retailer can mount one in your vehicle and wire it to activate when the engine starts. These are an excellent investment, especially if your vehicle has Apple CarPlay or Android Auto that uses a wireless data connection.

If you don’t have room for a dedicated charging pad, having a high-current USB charging port is another option. You can choose from USB-A or USB-C designs that include quick-charging capabilities to top off a modern phone or tablet quickly and efficiently.

Mobile Enhancement Retailers Can Install Missing Components

If your new car is missing a feature that should have been installed on the assembly line, or you want to upgrade your vehicle with a backup camera, parking sensors or a blind spot monitoring system, drop by a specialty mobile enhancement retailer today and talk with one of their product specialists. They won’t have a solution for every challenge, but they can likely resolve most issues so you can fully enjoy your vehicle.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

If you’ve been paying attention to the car audio industry over the last decade, you know that the number of discrete channels available from quality amplifiers has increased steadily. Some better brands now have solutions with as many as 12 channels. So let’s consider why you might want more amplifier channels in your car audio system.

Car Audio Systems Using Amplifiers in Radios

The most straightforward car audio system would include a radio and a pair of speakers. This sound system would be adequate for letting you listen to the news or play your favorite music. Most radios include a small four-channel amplifier integrated circuit that can produce between 15 and 20 watts of power. With reasonably efficient speakers, that’s enough for many people. So, as a minimum, your car stereo system needs two channels to allow the system to reproduce a stereo audio signal and send independent information to the left and right speakers.

If you want the audio system to play a little louder, have a specialty car audio retailer add a second set of speakers to the rear amplifier channels built into the radio. Now, each speaker will receive 15 to 20 watts of power, and assuming the speakers are of the same efficiency, the system can play at least 6 dB louder.

When four channels of amplification are available, you can use the fader control to adjust the relative output levels of the front and rear speakers.

If you want a dramatic improvement in performance and output capability from a deck-powered audio system, we strongly suggest adding a subwoofer. Even a modest amplified subwoofer can make a significant difference to the perceived quality of your audio system. In addition, the dedicated subwoofer can reproduce low-frequency audio information at higher volumes.

Audio Systems with External Amplifiers

Let’s look at systems with external amplifiers. We’ll start with a basic two-channel amplifier. Most car audio amplifiers are capable of driving a 2-ohm load. The ability of an amplifier to drive lower impedances means your installer could wire two 4-ohm speakers in parallel to each channel without upsetting the amplifier. As such, you could use a two-channel amplifier to power four speakers with the two left speakers on one channel and the two right speakers on the other. Back in the ’80s and early ’90s, some car audio manufacturers suggested using 4-ohm speakers for the front and 8-ohm speakers for the rear with a two-channel amplifier. The goal was to reduce the power sent to the rear speakers to help improve the perception of the sound coming from the front of the vehicle. Remember, if you’re after the best sound quality, most amplifiers add distortion when driving lower impedances.

If you want to control the relative level of the front and rear speakers in your car stereo system, you’ll need a four-channel amplifier. Assuming the radio has front and rear RCA preamp outputs, the fader control on the radio will adjust the relative volume of the front and rear speakers.

One popular audio system configuration uses a four-channel amplifier with two sets of speakers and a subwoofer. The front and rear speakers would be connected to one pair of channels, and the second pair of amplifier channels would be wired in a bridged configuration to provide more power to the subwoofer.

If you want more system flexibility, try a five- or six-channel amplifier. The extra stereo channels will add the ability to adjust the relative volume level of the front and rear speakers while using a dedicated pair of channels in a bridged configuration or a high-power mono for a subwoofer.

Actively Filtered Car Audio Systems

If you want the most control over each speaker in your car audio system, dedicating an amplifier channel to each one is the best way. The challenge here is that the amplifiers must have crossovers that will allow each speaker to receive only the range of frequencies for which it is designed. Some higher-end radios include three-way crossover modes with high-pass filters for coaxial drivers or tweeters on the dash, bandpass crossovers for midrange or midbass drivers in the doors and a low-pass filter for the subwoofer. Many five- and six-channel amplifiers also include crossovers with adjustable range crossovers that can handle bandpass filtering on a midrange driver and a high-pass crossover for a tweeter.

The next step from the above system is to include a digital signal processor to handle the filtering, delays and channel-by-channel equalization. While radios like the Sony XAV-9500ES have all these features, very few (if any) radios on the market include channel-specific crossovers. In this case, you must include an external digital signal processor to handle the filtering, delays and equalization. If you want to use a mid and tweeter in the front and a subwoofer in the back, you will need a DSP with six outputs (three for the left and three for the right) and a five- or six-channel amplifier.

If you don’t already have an amplifier, you might want to consider purchasing one with a built-in digital signal processor. These all-in-one processing and amplification solutions simplify the installation and reduce the interconnect cables required to feed signals around the system.

The next step up takes two routes. First, if you have passengers in the rear of your vehicle or prefer to have the sound from your stereo wrap around you as you’d hear at a club or when listening to headphones, you might want to add rear speakers. You’ll need another pair of amplifier channels for the rear speakers. No name-brand car audio amplifier manufacturer (that we know of) offers a seven-channel amplifier. You’ll need to go with an eight-channel amp and use a pair of channels bridged to power a subwoofer.

The alternative is to move up from the three-way system to a four-way design with tweeters, midrange drivers, midbass drivers and a subwoofer. The benefit of a four-way system is that the midrange drivers can be placed higher in the vehicle – in the dash, at the top of the doors or in custom pods on the A-pillars or sail panels. These higher midrange mounting locations can improve the perception of stage height. A three-way front stage also allows each speaker to operate in a frequency range where directivity becomes less of an issue so that the audio system will sound better from both front seats.

Many eight-channel amplifiers include RCA preamp outputs that can be used to power additional amplifiers. A popular option for those who enjoy listening to music at higher volume levels is to bridge two pairs of the eight channels to provide more power to the midbass drivers, then use an external high-power amplifier to drive the subwoofer.

If you wanted to add rear speakers to the above configuration, you’d need two more channels for 10.

We aren’t going to delve into the world of re-amplifying premium factory-installed audio systems like Bose Centerpoint and Harman Quantum Logic Immersion. Those can quickly require 12 or more channels of amplification to cover mid-level systems. For example, some of the Harman audio systems included in vehicles from Lexus have 23 speakers and 16 channels of amplification. Dealing with these systems involves complex elements that include active noise cancellation and volume-based response changes, as well as signal delays and all-pass filters.

One last thought: You don’t have to choose a single amplifier with the number of channels you want. For example, you could use a two-channel amp for a pair of front speakers and a monoblock amp for a subwoofer for three channels. A popular system configuration is a four-channel amp for front and rear speakers and a monoblock amp for a sub. Some elaborate systems use two four-channel amplifiers for the front speakers. One amp would run the left tweeter, the left midrange and the left midbass from a pair of bridged channels. The other four-channel amp would power the three right speakers. This configuration can improve stereo separation a bit but is complex and expensive.

There are many other ways to configure car audio systems, and each has different amplifier channel requirements and benefits. This article covers some of the most common to help you understand what the product specialist you’re working with might suggest. Before shopping, think about how you like to listen to your music and how loudly. Provide that information to the team at the specialty mobile enhancement retailer you’re working with, and they can quickly narrow down the number of amplifier channels you’ll need.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.