Q: Have you ever wondered how people become knowledgeable about car audio systems?

A: I got lucky since I used to live with a professional installer so I learned from him. Unfortunately not everyone else has had access to someone like that so I created these pages to help you, the car audio novice, get involved and learn about car audio systems. I hope you find the information here useful.

Head Units: This is where it all begins. Whatever the rest of your system includes, the sound starts here. Choosing the proper head unit is important. If you use a poor one no matter how good your equipment down the line is you will be stuck with low quality sound. Also, read my explanation of power amplifier specs if you think your head unit is producing over 100 watts of power.

Amplifiers: These make the head unit's signal more powerful in order to drive the speakers. Skimp here and you will not take take advantage of your speaker's power handling capability nor get adequate volume and clarity. As mentioned above I have written an explanation of power amplifier specs.

Speakers: These are the final link and arguably the most important component in the quality of sound you actually hear. Skimp here and even the best head units and amplifiers will sound bad.

Equalizers/Crossovers: Equalizers can help balance your sound when used properly and crossovers help divide up the full range of sound frequencies so that you can use special speakers for each range. This is an improvement because no single speaker can accurately produce the full range of sound humans can hear.

Accessories: These range from important details to just making installations "look good."

Planning: Now that you have some background on the world of car audio it is time to plan your system. I'll give you some pointers and an example system.

Tech Articles: As mentioned above I have written an article explaining power amplifier specs. I have also written an article primarily explaining ohms but it also has information on parallel / series wiring configurations, bridging amps, and dual voice coil speakers. Finally there's an article on how to match amplifiers and speakers and understaing the power ratings. I have a BS in electrical engineering and I tried to make these articles easy for everyone to understand.

I have installed a modest system (not competition level) in my Trans Am. Check out what is in my car here.

There is also a newsgroup devoted to car audio called rec.audio.car, click here to see if you can access it.

When you are ready to take a break from the world of car audio you can find out more about me on my bio page or check out the pictures from the partying we do in Texas consisting of all my worthless beer guzzling friends and the women that hang around us for some unknown reason.

Finally, I've decided to add a page of links. I had to remove the last one I had because it was a straight copy of the links page at JL Audio and eventually I got a nice email message from the Man Dan Kreft himself telling me to remove it or else. If you've ever spent time reading rec.audio.car then you know that Dan keeps people in line there!

I am always open to comments and suggestions about anything and what you would like to see on these pages so please use the links below:
Sign My Car Audio Help Guestbook
View My Car Audio Help Guestbook

Please do not ask questions on the guestbook or to me by email.

These pages were created by Rayfes Mondal for Lester Faigley's English 309M course in the spring of 1996 and was extensively modified on 1/17/00.

You would be visitor number to this site if my counter were accurate.