The Blog
Sound Processors
Jul 20th
Sound Processors are an important part of any great sounding system and include equalizers and crossovers.
Equalizers control the volume of different frequencies and channels in your music. They allow you to tune your music for the best sound with much more freedom then your aftermarket or stock receiver which usually only have high, low, and possibly a mid range options. On most equalizers also let you control the volume of the voices separately from the volume of the rest of the music.
Crossovers are filters that separate out different frequencies and send them to different speakers. This way your subwoofers are only playing the low notes, your tweeters are only playing highs and your mids get what they need. It is really important to have some sort of crossover in your system because sending low frequencies to your tweeters will cause them to wear out much faster and the same thing goes for sending highs to your subwoofers.
If you want some more information on crossovers click HERE to go to our knowledge center.
Choosing Home Theater Speaker
Jul 14th
When it comes to the sound of your home theater system you have several options that allow you to get perfect sound into any room and have sound that is as high of quality as your HD TV. We are going to go over the four main types of sound systems available right now and give you their strengths and weaknesses so you are able to decide which format best matches your room and sound preferences.
One option is a component surround sound system this type of system generally offers the best sound and give you the most flexibility as far as placement and other options go but is typically more expensive type. There are several options with these systems which can consist anywhere from 5-7 speakers that make it so versatile for speaker placement. Some of these options are stand alone speakers, in-wall speakers, or in-ceiling speaker. These are also the best option for larger room because they do the best job of filling the room with sound. It is also a little harder to set up this type of speakers to get optimal sound because you have so many options, no to say they will sound bad, they just won’t sound as good as they can.
Another good option is stereo speakers. A stereo set up works really well in smaller rooms and allows you to get left and right audio that sounds significantly better than your TV’s built in speakers. They also offer a much easier set up then a surround sound system. To set these speakers up all you need to do is connect the speakers to the left and right ports of your home receiver and connect your receiver to the television. You just set the speakers to the left and right of the TV so setting up is a piece of cake and you won’t have speaker wire running all across the room. This option is also really good because it allows for later expansion by adding a powered subwoofer or more speakers if money is running little tight.
One of the newer options is flat panel speakers or sound bars. This type of unit takes up almost no space and when pair with a single subwoofer can deliver fantastic sound and they can be wall mounted to work really well with flat screen TVs. The really cool feature available on these speakers is that they can give you the surround sound experience but you only need to set them up in one location by creating a three-dimensional sound field. Another feature that is really convenient is that for most units you do not need to purchase any extra cables because they generally come with all of the cables you will need. You can also get away with not getting a home theater receiver.
The final option that you have is to purchase a home theater package. These systems come pre-packaged together to give you optimal sound and are generally smaller than bulky component surround sound systems. They also offer a wide range of really neat features and capabilities ranging from built in blu-ray or DVD players to iPod docks to the ability to stream movies via Netflix. It is also the easiest and cheapest way to get true surround sound in your home. They won’t fill a room the same way that component speakers will but they do a great job in small to mid-sized room
Plasma vs LCD vs LED
Jul 13th
Each of these types of televisions offers a unique set of features that are optimal for different viewing situations but they all also have restrictions that make them a poor choice for certain situations.
Plasma televisions are often a great choice because they have a very wide viewing angle and show the least motion blur which makes them optimal for watching sports and playing video games with friends where you will be looking at the TV from different angles. They also offer the best contrast ratios with the darkest blacks as well as warmer colors in general. The issues with plasma are that it consumes more power than LCD or LED and they cannot be made as thin as them either. The biggest drawback with plasma is that it can be difficult to view in well lit areas or sunlight. People often shy away from plasma because they are afraid of a picture getting burned on to the screen if it is left on for an extended period of time and this was a legitimate problem in the past but with today’s plasma the picture will return to normal in a few days. Plasma is also only available in sizes larger than 42” so it usually isn’t a good choice for areas where space is limited such as kitchens.
LCD TVs are really good for bright rooms because they have a florescent back light. They are also thinner, lighter and more energy efficient than plasma TVs. There issues are that they do not offer as wide of viewing angle and they have worse contrast ratios. When playing quick moving videos they can also become slightly blurry. They also aren’t capable of producing as many colors as plasma televisions mainly because they lack in the contrast department and can’t differentiate between a lot of the darker colors.
LED TVs are really just LCD TVs that are backlit with LEDs and they offer a lot of the same features but in many ways they surpass standard LCD TVs. LED televisions are the thinnest, lightest and most energy efficient out of all the types of TVs in today’s market. Another way in which they are an improvement on standard LCDs is that they offer more contrast which allows them to portray nearly as many colors as plasmas but plasma still has the edge.
In the end plasmas offer the best picture for a theater like experience but if you have a very bright room or need a TV under 42” then you should go with LCD or LED. If price is a major factor in your choice plasma is generally more expensive.
Picking the Right Home Receiver
Jul 12th
A home receiver is a must for any surround sound system and it also adds a considerable amount of simplification, convenience and clarity to any home system.
One of the best things about a getting a home receiver is that it allows you to plug all of your other systems like a DVD/ Blu-ray player, speaker system, gaming console, satellite radio and cable/satellite box into it and then all you have to do is run a single HDMI cable to your television. Setting your system up this way makes it much easier to adjust your system, gives you’re the ability to hook up more systems at once and lets you easily switch between systems. With most new systems you can also tune your system for each individual system so that you always get optimum sound no matter what you are listening to.
Another cool feature is an Ethernet jack which can allow you to stream music and videos right to your television or even just surf the web.
When looking for a receiver there are a few important specifications that can have a big impact on sound quality. The first thing that you need to do is consider what kind of speakers you are going to use. If you are going to use surround sound make sure your receiver can handle your system for instance a 5.1 surround sound system receiver contains five speaker channels and has one dedicated subwoofer channel so make sure your choice has enough channels for your system. Most subwoofer are self powered and have a built in amp so you don’t need to worry too much about having enough power for it.
Besides speaker outputs you also need to make sure that the receiver has enough video connections to take in all for your different components as well as having room for any products that you might want to purchase in the future. you also need to make sure that they are the right types of ports (HDMI, RGB, Component, Coaxial, XLR, or fiber optic) and it is always better to have more ports then you need then not enough.
You also need to think about how much power you are going to need and there are two major factors that affect your power needs. A big factor is the size of the room, the larger the room the more ample power you will need and the other factor is the sensitivity of your speakers. Speakers with low sensitivity need more power to get to higher volumes even using high watt speakers. You also need to look at the level of distortion in the power of the receiver that you are looking at and you can do this by checking its total harmonic distortion (THD). Since most receivers have a THD below 1% it is easy to over look this spec but really clear systems have a THD below .1% and it makes a big difference in sound quality especially at higher volumes.
Luxury Additions to Your Car Security System
Jul 8th
When it comes to your convenience the possibilities are almost endless! Nearly every electrically powered devise in your car can become controlled wirelessly through your security remote or even your cell phone.
The most popular remote access feature on the market right now is a remote start and besides keeping you from ever having to get in a car that is too hot or too cold ever again using a remote start to warm up your car’s engine can reduce the wear and tear it gets from day to day use especially in extreme temperatures. Driving your car right after starting it in very hot or very cold weather can make your car run outside of operational temperatures and especially in cold weather your oil starts off thicker and wont lubricate your engine as well until it gets up to a certain temperature.
Other luxury features include trunk pop which allows you to open your trunk using only your cars remote and Remote Power Windows which lets you adjust your windows from your remote and can automatically rolls up your windows when you set your alarm.
Security Systems
Jul 8th
Car security systems provide you with the security that you need to have that extra factor of safety and defense.
There are several different types of security that these systems can provide and they all offer different levels of protection and help fit your security. The type of sensor that usually comes standard with all alarm systems is called a shock or impact sensor. These sensors are used to detect when someone opens a door or bumps or leans against your car. It is a good idea to look for a model that has a “dual stage” shock because sometimes you don’t need to unleash the full power of your sirens and this type of shock will discriminate between light and heavy impacts.
Another type of sensor is an audio sensor; these sensors detect the sound of your windows breaking and set of your alarm. Without one of these types of sensor it is possible for someone to break a window without setting off your alarm.
If you drive a convertible or pick-up truck then you should look into getting a radar or field disturbance sensor. This type of sensor detects when someone or something comes within a certain distance of your car or truck bed when the alarm is on. I would highly recommend this for anyone that carries equipment in the back of their truck.
You can also equip your car with a motion sensor. Motion sensors can detect if your car is being jacked or towed.
If you use your tow hitch a lot then I would recommend a closed loop sensor. These sensor can be set up to detect anything from car covers, to a trailer hitch being disconnected to a light being removed and can be connected to anything that you want to keep from being disconnected from your car or trailer vehicle.
What to Look for in a Radar Detector
Jul 7th
Radar detectors can come with a variety of features that are always evolving and make a big impact on your level of protection. One of the first upgraded features offered is Laser Protection.
Laser detectors sense Lidar which is the type of speed detection used by laser speed guns which are quicker and more accurate than radar guns. They come in two forms, single and double sensor. Single sensor provides front protection while double sensor is more expensive but it is more reliable and offers 360° detection.
An extra feature that you can look for is “instant on” Protection this type of protection means that the detector that you are looking at has high K-band sensitivity. With a high K-band sensitivity you can detect when the cars around you are being hit with instant-on radar because if the detector can only sense the radar after you’ve been hit with it then they already know how fast you were going.
Another nice feature is City Mode which turns down the range of your detector. At first this seem counterproductive but if you are driving through suburbs or heavily populated areas city mode can help limit the number of false alerts that are caused by garage door openers and other radar detectors.
Some detectors can give you Digital Voice Alerts which, unlike those that just beep and show you what type of radar is being detected, allows you to keep your eyes on the road the entire time.
Cops now have radar detector detectors (RDD) which comes in two forms VG-2 and Spectre. The later one is more advanced but is only in use in a few states (and Canada). Now we can fight back with radar detector detector detectors in the form of VG-2 and Spectre protection. This protection is available in two forms stealth protection and invisible protection. Stealth Protection warns you when it senses RDD and then powers down and Invisible Protection is shielded from one or both types of RDD and can continue operating without being detected by RDD.
The final type of protection is through Radar Jamming which scrambles the incoming radar and doesn’t just let you know when radar is present but rather it doesn’t allow you to be detected.
Satellite Radios
Jul 6th
With satellite radio you can listen to a massive amount of commercial free stations that are available nation-wide and now that Sirius and XM have joined forces for a little more you can have the best of both worlds.
Even though Sirius and XM radio have partnered up they still offer different sets of exclusive programs only available with a subscription to a certain provider. However, they do now offer a “best of” package where you can get a selection of the most popular stations on the other network. This is a big relief to any sports major sports fan because before XM had the rights to MLB, PGA, NHL, NCAA football and NCAA basketball and Sirius had the rights to NBA, NFL and English Premier League soccer but now, through the “best of’ packages you can get full coverage of all o f these sports networks.
(click here for a complete list of Sirius and XM stations)
There are a few ways to get satellite radio in your car. The most popular method is to get a plug-and play satellite radio. These units are completely portable and can connect to home theaters, docking stations as well as your car stereo. They also offer several different connection methods. You can transmit the satellite signal over an empty FM station and then just tune to that station or you can purchase a wired adapter that connects to your car or home receiver. The most reliable option available is to plug the unit into your stereo’s auxiliary jack but if your receiver doesn’t have one you will need an adapter.
Another really cool feature of satellite radio is the record and play back feature. This feature allows you to record songs onto your tuner and then play them back whenever you want much like you can do for television programs and movies with a DVR or TiVo.
HD vs Satellite Radio
Jul 6th
I think that the biggest difference between satellite and HD radio is that satellite radio requires a monthly subscription fee unlike HD radio which you just have to buy a tuner.
They also offer completely different services once you look past the more stations general service. Satellite give you all new stations that are based on different genres and HD radio makes all of the AM and FM stations that you already listen to much clearer by using digital signals instead of analog signals which allows for the station to send more data and has much less loss. HD radio also offers you hidden stations behind the regular AM/FM stations where rap stations might have rock on there HD2 channel and hip-hop on their HD3 channel or on a sports broadcast you might be able to switch between different teams by switching over to the stations HD2 or HD3 channels. The issue with these stations is that they are only made available by certain stations but the number of stations that offer these features is constantly growing.
(for more info on HD and Satellite Radios check out our knowledge center)
Why Buy New Car Speakers
Jul 6th
Buying new car speakers to replace your factory speakers is one of most efficient and cheapest way to dramatically improve the sound quality in your vehicle. With an upgraded speaker system you will enjoy more longevity as well as better sound all around with crisper brighter highs and cleaner bolder lows.
Upgrading your car speakers should be the first step you take when improving the sound in your car. This is because while adding subwoofers and amplifiers will make your system louder and drastically improves the depth and crispness of your lower frequencies, if you do not have good sounding mid and upper frequencies you still will not have great overall sound quality.
(for more info on this subject click here to check out our knowledge center)
