Posts Tagged car audio system
A Car Stereo System Is A Great Gift Idea For Music Lovers
Posted on November 23, 2011 | Car Stereo.
Sometimes something happens to give you a strong feeling of exhilaration and your spirit lifts up to a higher level than where it normally is. For some it’s that winning goal in a football match, or being the first to the tape in a race. For me that’s when one of my favourite tracks starts playing and everything starts to feel better, no matter what my problems.
Music from my youth, or even from my childhood years that I’ve grown attached to and never seems to age for me. Music that brings poignant memories of good times, that changes the way the world looks – sometimes in an instant, sometimes it just grows on you slowly.
Although we always take our music with us there are some places that consistently seem to be places where we really need it. In the home and in the car are particular places where you automatically turn the music on, when you want to listen to it and at the volume that suits the mood you are in. Of course, you can spend the day with a portable stereo and earphones plugged in, great if you are on foot. However, the two places we usually want the best quality music player in are the home and in the car and that’s where the quality becomes more important.
Often when setting up home we treat ourselves to a music system that allows us to play our carefully acquired music whenever we please, but the car tends to be left out because the music system in it comes as standard. Although we spend a lot of time in the car we tend to get used to what is available to us and the factory fitted car stereo system is accepted.
Remember that a car audio system is factory fitted with a low cost system that doesn’t waste too much money on car owners who really do not care about music. They sound OK, they have to, just so that cars in the showroom at least sound good, but when you spend so much time driving and appreciate music then you might feel better with a change.
Why put up with factory specification when you can put some power and quality into that beautiful sound you want to enjoy whilst you are held captive going from A to B? Get a brand new quality car stereo system that gives your music the justice it deserves.
In fact, doesn’t this sound like a great gift to somebody you know. Someone who travels often, loves music and would appreciate a gift of a quality new car stereo system. If you did give this as a gift then imagine that moment their favourite music is played, it catches them just at the right time, lifts them higher than they have felt for ages, in perfect clarity and powerful volume. A car stereo system is the perfect gift of a perfect sound in a place where it really does get appreciated.
How to Pick the Right Fuse Rating For Your Car Amps
Posted on November 15, 2011 | Amplifiers.
Understanding what the fuse does for your car amps and stereo equipment is critical. A simple fuse protects your stereo from being over powered and possibly burned out, or even worse catching fire. It is very dangerous to install a stereo without the properly rated fuse, because this will protect against shorts or other problems that can occur when driving your car. Some people blow fuses and just think oh I need a higher rated fuse or that a higher rated fuse will help their system perform better. This is not the case. Having a 120 amp or a 20 amp fuse will not make your stereo play any louder.
So how do you pick the right size fuse for your car audio system? First off you need to make sure you put the fuses in the right spot. I typically recommend having the fuse within 12″ of the battery. What this does is help the fuse blow faster. If there is a short the fuse will blow right away protecting the wire from melting and hopefully stopping power before reaching the amps. Now if we have a fuse in the trunk of the car it will take longer for the fuse to blow so the wire could get really hot and the current might reach your expensive stereo equipment.
Now as I mentioned before you also need to have the right rated fuse to protect your car amps. Finding out what size fuse you need is pretty simple. For a single amp install you simply add up the fuse rating on your amp. Be careful that the original rated fuses were not replaced with the wrong ones as this is pretty common. So say my amp has a single 25A fuse. I would then want to have a 25A fuse up by the battery as well. Sometime you have to round up so I might use a 30A fuse, but you definitely wouldn’t want to put in a 100A fuse. This is because a 120A fuse will allow 120 amperes before it blows. Your amp only needs 25 amperes so I would be allowing a lot of dangerous amount of current to get to the amp before the fuse blew. You could have a short the fried your amp and the fuse would still not have blown.
Now when you are installing multiple car amps in you system the process is somewhat the same. You have the main fuse within 12″ of the battery. The rating of this fuse will be determined by all the fuse ratings of all the amps you are installing. So let’s say I added another amp to the system above and this amp had 3) 20A fuses. So that would give us a total of 60 amperes for that amp and the 25 amperes for the other amp for a total of 85. I would want my fuse by the battery to be 85, or most likely rounded up to a 90A fuse. Now I also need to fuse each amp as well. For this you would use a distribution block. A distribution block is just what it sounds like; it distributes the main power wire to smaller power wires that go to the individual components.
I want to use a fused distribution block and the fuse rating would be the same as above. I would use a 60A fuse and a 25A fuse, and run the wire from the distribution block to the amp itself. By wiring up your car amps this way you will not allow more current than your amp can handle. It is also important to make sure your system is properly grounded when using multiple components. I usually will use a ground distribution block. These are not fused but other than that they are the same as a power distribution block. It is also a good idea to make sure you have the right size wire for the amount of power your system is producing.