By Marc Deschamps
A car amplifier will give you a loud and clear sound on a consistent
basis. It will boost the power flowing from the receiver to the
speakers. In doing so, it will reduce the stress put on all the other
components of your car stereo system, including the receiver.
Choosing the right car amplifier is important. Your decision should
be based on five important features. Make sure you address them all !
The first item on the agenda is the number of channels. This will
depend on the number of speakers in your system. Two-channel amplifiers
will feed well two speakers or a single subwoofer. You will want to
consider a four-channel amplifier if you have any of the following
combinations :
¤ Four speakers
¤ Two subwoofers
¤ Two speakers and one subwoofer
Then you want to look at power. An amplifier with an output
two times the one of the reciever will give you enough added volume
with less distortion. Make sure the wattage of the amplifiers is
within the speaker's range. Also, make sure your electrical system can
support the additional wattage.
An important feature to consider for your car amplifier is the
connection structure. Many factory-installed receivers only come
with speaker-level inputs that will require special adaptors.
This will normally work very well. However, you may experience some
distortion through the speakers. In that event, you may want to
consider a new CD/MP3/AM/FM receiver, depending on your budget and
sound requirements.
An amplifier normally includes a device to filter different
frequencies and minimize distortion. This is called a crossover.
Your amplifier should have one crossover for high-frequency notes
and another for low-frequencies.
We should discuss one last feature. Most car amplifiers can combine
the power of two channels into a single one. This is called bridging
and is used to boost the power of the amplifier. The downside to
this technique is to create some distortion and limiting the number
of available channels. Since the cost of a an amplifier is more
and more reasonable it might be wiser to buy a more powerful one !
Here you go ! You are hopefully better "connected" to the important
features to consider for your car amplifier ..... and more knowledge
means ..... more power .... to make the right buying decision.
Marc Deschamps is the editor of CarAccessoriesMagazine, a free online publication dedicated to automotive accessories,
car care and related topics. Other articles on car audio can be found at
http://www.car-accessories-magazine.com/car-audio-review.html.
The above article is free to distribute by any media as long as links are maintained.
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