Fuses

Fuses, we all use them daily, from being in our computer and tv plugs to the circuit breakers found in the fuse boxes. Sure we know what they are, but I believe that we take fuses for granted. The idea of the fuse or circuit breaker is to be the weakest part of the circuit, therefore in the event of a surge for example, the fuse will blow therefore protecting whatever is part of that circuit. Fuses are therefore also used in car audio.

Regardless if you choose to install a budget amplifier and subwoofer or if you choose to have multiple amplifiers and a high end car audio set up, you’re going to want to protect your investment. That is why it is highly recommended that fuses are used. There are 3 main types of fuses available for you to choose from, Blade Fuses, AGU Fuses, AFS Fuses and ANL fuses.

Each of the different types of fuses all essentially do the same job of protecting whatever they are installed with, however due to their different sizes, each has a different maximum Amp rating. However, when choosing a fuse and fuse holder, it is important to ensure that you pick a fuse and holder appropriate for the demands of your equipment. Generally with most wiring kits, an AGU fuse and fuse holder is supplied. These are the glass tube fuses and are fairly decent, however, ask the opinion of anyone who is serious about their car audio and they will without a doubt recommend that you have installed an ANL fuse and fuse holder. However, the amplified subwoofer boxes from Pioneer for example, are supplied with a Blade Fuse and the appropriate holder. While you can choose to upgrade the fuse holder, this is the manufacturer recommending that blade fuses are used.

For my car, I had added to my list to upgrade my AGU fuse holder to an ANL fuse holder however I’d never really gotten around to it and it was one of those things, where I myself actually overestimated the durability of that fuse holder with regards to the kit I had in my car, however recently I blew the fuse. I thought it was a simple swap of my fuse until I saw the state of my fuse holder. It had completely melted through effectively insulating the gap between the holder and the fuse. This was something that was pretty concerning to say the least, especially with the location of my fuse holder, (as many of you know I drive a Smart, and the location of my fuse was in the passenger foot well) it was possible that there might have been an increased risk of fire. Now I’ve got two amplifiers totalling currently 700rms with a 80 amp fuse. To replace the fuse and holder, I opted to go for a ANL fuse holder with a 100 amp fuse. Out of the box, i noticed immediately that the ANL holder was of a higher build quality with much thicker plastic as well as the fuse itself being much larger and as a result,you'll find that ANL fuses can take a greater current that flows through them. From my research, the maximum size of fuse that is available is about 750 amps however it is recommended that wire is no thinner than 4 gauge and a maximum of 300 amp fuse is used. The larger the amp rating of the fuse means that the fuse can take a larger amount of current through it in the event of a surge for example. Below is a picture of my AGU fuse holder that had melted purely due to the heat generated by the current.



Fuses are usually installed in line with all your components that needs to be protected and are usually as close to the battery as possible. For cars with dual batteries usually a split charging relay is installed and that fuses are used in line. Some people opt to put a fuse from the alternator to the split charging relay when performing The Big Three upgrade and the logic behind this is due to the increased current flow and decreased voltage drop that is the benefit of using a thicker wire, the fuse will protect the battery as well as anything else connected to it in the event of any power surges that may arise from the alternator. However there are some people who will simply run dual batteries in their cars and simply wire them in parallel. They do this to increase the current while still maintaining a 12 volt system.

So overall, I personally would recommend the use of an ANL fuse and fuse holder. Their construction offers much more flexibility with what you can put into your system as well as offering you the highest level of protection for your equipment, but on a last note, make sure you have fuses installed to protect yourself and any passengers most importantly and to reduce any surges which could potentially result
in a fire! After all, no matter what fuse and fuse holder you decide to use, they're not relatively expensive to the rest of your components, so why risk them being damaged? I wouldn't take the risk myself so why should you?

Neil Patel

Bluetooth Car Kits

Car Kits

On the first of December 2003, a law came into effect stating that it would be illegal to use hand held mobile phone whilst driving. The law also extends to allowing a driver to use a phone, for example a passenger holding the phone for the driver, and also for someone accompanying a driver with a provisional licence, and this is why car kits become useful. Initially the penalty was £30 for anyone caught however from 27th February, the penalty has gone up to £60 and also 3 penalty points will be issued on the driver’s licence. The introduction of this law had caused many people to question the need to use a phone in a car whilst driving. Some people have opted not to use their mobile phone altogether while driving, others have chosen to ignore the law and continue to use a handheld phone while driving.

Enter Bluetooth... Initially created for business people to connect their phones to their computers the idea of the technology took off in a huge way and now as a result, the majority phones that are offered come with Bluetooth. This technological advancement has allowed people to use their mobile phone to communicate with a variety of accessories for example connecting to a computer or sending files to another Bluetooth enabled mobile phone.

Bluetooth car kits utilise the Bluetooth radio to transmit and receive audio as well as control certain parts of your phone should your phone support the features. This means that you can initiate conservation with your friends or family using your phone without even taking the phone out of your pocket!

From my research and experience with car kits, I’ve found that the quality of the components used in the Bluetooth Car Kits manufactured by Parrot come out on top purely for the features on offer. Unlike the other car kits on offer, the Parrot kits offer features such as USB flash drive support, direct control of your iPod or iPhone, some of the kits also allow you to utilise the 3.5mm headphone jack as another form of input.

There are a lot of other car kits, and recently, it has become much more affordable to get hold of head units with integrated Bluetooth. Most of these head units actually feature parrot’s wireless technologies and as a result, not only will you be able to enjoy high quality music but also be able to converse over the phone in a legal fashion all within one stereo unit. Such kits have other features such as direct iPod control, which means that you can actually control your iPod from the stereo (a must, as it is also against the law to use any hand held device that could be said to distract the driver). All of the Parrot kits also feature A2DP, which for you and I means that if you had a song on your phone, you (providing your phone supports streaming) would be able to play the song through your car’s speakers via the car kit, and all without any wires!

Whenever people ask me about installing anything in their car, the issue of security is a major factor. People want to have everything, but don’t want their cars to become a thieves’ pay day, and so I recommend that they keep everything simple, however those products often lack feature and are as a result don’t meet all of the requirements, however Parrot have released the state of the art Mki-9200. This unit offers all the features anyone could possibly want, with the benefit of a detachable screen for security, so to any preying eyes, they won’t see anything!

If you’re interested in replacing your whole head unit, there are a lot of solutions that you have to choose from. If you want the no expenses spared full works unit, I recommend the Pioneer DEH-P8100BT. This unit features all the latest technologies as well as that superb Pioneer sound processing sound qualities!

Whenever you’re purchasing these kind of items for your car, I highly recommend you get it installed by professionals, especially the parrot car kits. Although it might seem a fairly easy process, I know that personally, I’d rather have it installed by a Parrot certified installer. Parrot trained technicians would have benefited from all the knowledge passed on from the manufacturer and would have seen a wide range of cars as well as problems, so if there were to be a problem, you can be assured your car is in safe hands!

I hope this has given you a good insight into Bluetooth hands free kits , and remember, it’s good to talk...safely!

-Neil Patel-

Wires, Part 2 'THE BIG THREE'

Wires, A Part Two

Following our post on wires, it has come to my attention that a lot of you guys are running your systems with your stock batteries. Although these batteries may often somewhat restrict your system, to replace it with an aftermarket battery might be out of the question for some which is why I have an alternative solution for you! 'The Big Three'! You may recall that in the Wires Article, we touched upon the subject of 'The Big Three' and this resulted in us looking deeper into a car’s stock wiring and to put it simply, they are not up to scratch for handling the needs and demands of a decent car audio system.

All of us car audio guys (and girls!) need as much power as we can get and upgrading The Big Three will be your best bet at trying to get some good clean power to your amplifiers. As you may know, and hence the name, ‘The Big Three’ involves three wires. One from the battery’s negative terminal to your car’s chassis, one from your engine’s ground to the chassis and from the alternator positive to the battery’s positive terminal.

For the upgrade, I strongly recommend using the best quality wire you can afford. Essentially you want to have one piece of 1/0 gauge wire however if for whatever reason you choose against one wire, you can double up slightly thinner wire, maybe 2 gauge wire or 4 gauge wire. I know that after upgrading each wire, I did it in stages, and after the upgrade of the first wire, my voltage (using the built in volt meter on my power capacitor) went from fluctuating between 14.2v and 13.6v to a steady 14.7v while the system is playing. As a result I have noticed a significant increase in my system’s voltage and after seeing direct results for myself, I strongly recommend that everyone carries out the upgrade too as part of the installation of their system.

The actual upgrade process is pretty simple as a concept, I mean, how hard can it be to swap 3 wires? The answer is quite simple, however if done incorrectly, you potentially stand to run into some serious problems! It is advised that only qualified professional undertake the upgrade as there are multiple risks involved, such as the protective insulation becoming damaged and potentially coming to contact with some other part of the car which may result in the car’s electrical system shorting out!

The verdict?

If you are a skilled DIYer and know your way around electrics, then you may want to give this one a go, otherwise leave it to the pros. Either way ‘The Big Three’ upgrade is a very small but incredibly effective way of increasing the performance of your car audio system, if you didn’t know, now you do...

Neil

Wheels and Tyres

Wheels and Tyres.

At the end of the day wheels are a necessity. Some people prefer to use steel wheels due to their basic design however recently there has been an increased used of alloy wheels both from factory and also the aftermarket demand has picked up especially from the American Markets.. Many people are now choosing to install aftermarket wheels to enhance the look and performance of their vehicle and this is where this entry will come into the puzzle. I'm sure all of you who are reading this will have seen MTV's Pimp My Ride, and for them, the wheels and tyres department is a big part of their car transformation and I hope to help you on how to go about picking a set of wheels that will fit your car like a glove.

With regards to wheels, there is such a vast choice of wheels. They are based upon size of the actual wheel, the number of studs and the offset. The size of wheels varies greatly and is measured in inches. You can get wheels as small as 14 inch alloy wheels and smaller, and go in excess of 22 inch alloy wheels. The number of studs a wheel has is specific to each car. For example, I drive a Smart. These cars from factory come with 3-stud fitment, however is it possible to obtain hub-adaptors. These adaptors basically transform the 3-stud fitting to either 4 or 5 studs (from my research, this is what I have managed to find.) However, the use of adaptors it has been recommended that the adaptors be only used for show use. This more than a legal issue is based upon safety. I recommend that if you can find a set of wheels that have the correct number of studs that you choose these. Alloy wheels that are directly able to fit to your car are a lot safer for you and your vehicle. Aside from the width of the wheels it is vital that the offset be accurate for your car. If the correct offset isn’t used then you run the risk of wearing out your wheel bearings due to improper load of weight.

Wheel construction

There are many ways of constructing alloy wheels. The way that they wheels are constructed effect the weight and price of the overall wheel. It may seem like it’s an obvious concept that the wheels are all made the same but due to demands from the motorsport industry for example, there have been major enhancements in wheel manufacturing technology.

Casting

Casting alloy wheels will result in a one piece wheel. This involves the molten aluminium being poured into a mould. There are several ways of casting methods used; ranging from Gravity Casting and Low Pressure Casting to forged wheels. Gravity Casting involves filling a cast with molten aluminium and letting the force of gravity fill the mould. As a result, this method has the cheapest production cost of any method of alloy wheel and this saving is passed on to the buyer. Low pressure casting involves changing the pressure of the mould to move the molten aluminium into the cast. This method is commonly used with OEM alloy wheels and this method has started to become used more regularly with aftermarket manufactures due to this method being cost-effective as well as being lighter than using gravity casting. Rim rolling technology starts with a low pressure casting method but then the wheel is reheated and rollers are applied. This method has been used by manufactures in formula one wheels for several years. The last method of casting wheels is forging. Although there are various methods for casting wheels. Essentially, it is a solid billet of aluminium with pressure applied to form the shape of the wheel. As a result, the benefit of this is that the density will be higher than any of the other casting methods.

Multi-piece wheels are wheels that are made up of two or three components. Two piece wheels are made of the inner hub and spoke while three pieces consists of the centre part, the lip and the main body.

Car specific wheels

Most aftermarket wheels are classed upon wheel size/the number of bolts and the offset however it is usually the case that the wheels are categorised upon their actual size, measured in inches, and the finer details are listed beyond. For some cars such as my car, without the use of stud adaptors, I would require wheels specially designed for my car. This is because Smart features 3 stud wheels. Some aftermarket wheels are made specifically to fit certain cars. Wheels that are made specially for cars are a huge bonus, it makes your life easier as you know it’ll just work. No need for spacers or any messing about, however as a result, the choice is limited somewhat which can be a pain, but the peace of mind and ease maybe enough for some people to look specifically for aftermarket wheels made for their particular car.

Legalities

With any modifications it is essential to ensure that you’re staying legal. A lot of people modify their vehicles without realising the implications. Installing alloy wheels will make the car more liable to thieves so it is important to use wheel locking bolts so you don’t end up finding your car without their rims! With regards to the width of alloy wheels, the law states that the wheels cannot be protrude from the fender of the car. This more than anything is for safety. You don’t want to run the risk of your wheels potentially rubbing against any pedestrians and it is also classed as being ‘in a dangerous condition’. Also, make sure that your insurance company has been notified of any modifications, you don't want to find out that your insurance policy has become invalidated due to the fact that the insurance company are not aware of the increased risk, note that insurance prices are based upon postcode, gender, age, and any other factors that would result in the driver adapting their style of driving to match the visual look of their car.

Tyres

With tyres, there is little scope for a selection, usually wheel manufactures will recommend certain tyre sizes and it’s not recommended to run tyres that are different sizes to the manufactured recommended specification. You'll probably have a choice with regards to branding, the more expensive tyres will usually give you better grip but that is not to say that the cheaper tyres are useless. You also need to ensure that the tyre profile is sufficient so that the tyre will not rub or scrape on the wheel arches as this will pose the potential danger of blowing out.

The topic of wheels is so huge with a variety of wheels to choose from and I understand that it can be a confusing area to pick wheels for, some people will choose wheels on the basis of design while others will pick wheels after narrowing down the selection on the number of studs and the offset so if you have any questions or want any help, contact us via email at info@sound-evolution.co.uk or leave a message on our Facebook page.

https://www.sound-evolution.co.uk

Amplifiers

Amplifiers or Amps... We've all heard of them, but why are they so important? And do they really do?

Well they're one of the most important pieces of kit in a sound system. Not only used in car audio, or in home cinema, but also at concerts where you are not only able see your favourite artists but hear them with crystal clear sound quality! This is where amplifiers come into play. An amplifier in your car audio sytstem will enable to you to successfully reproduce music at higher volume levels without the distortion that would plague head units directly powering speakers. Ranging in power output and specifications, the main aim of any amp is to allow you to greatly increase the volume of the signal being sent to your speakers and try to minimise distortion or any kind of crackling. Amplifiers come in a variety of forms, from the mono block bass amps to the 5 channel amps that have the ability to create a cinema style set up in your car.

Amplifiers based upon their circuitry are put into different classes. These different classes enable you to pick an amp that would be best suited to your exact requirements. Usually amps are judged by their power output. Generally the less powerful amplifiers will only advertise the maximum power output that the amplifier is able to produce. However it must be noted that the maximum power output should not be your method of choosing an amplifier. You want to focus on the RMS power (or Root Means Squared). Through some research I have found that if an amplifier has stated that it is able to produce 350w MAX, the RMS power is usually about 70% of that so therefore the amp would be able to continuously produce 240w and at split seconds would be able to produce 350 watts.

For the protection of your subwoofer it is important to never try and push more than the manufacture's recommended power. Overpowering a subwoofer can burn out the voice coil and render the subwoofer useless, however on the other end of the scale, under powering a subwoofer can result in clipping, when the subwoofer will be playing a distorted signal due to the amplifier powering the signal beyond its recommended range.

Subwoofer amplifiers are specifically designed for bass amplification. Usually, the circuitry of subwoofer amplifiers is put into the ‘Class D’ mono block group. These amps are able to output a signal at high power levels and are used in bass conditions due to their ability to run much cooler than other amplifiers however their ability to amplify every detail of the signal is somewhat poor when compared to other classed amplifiers. This is why for my car audio system, I am running two amplifiers, one for the subwoofer and one for my speakers. This set up has enabled me to have a dedicated amplifier for my subwoofer, a Kicker L7 as well as a dedicated amplifier for my main speakers, a pair of coaxial and a pair of component JBL speakers, and anyone who has heard the system will agree with me when I say that factor in the total price of the system with all the components, this set up is one that will produce a loud, yet clear sound!

Amplifiers are not just used to drive sub woofers. There are numerous amplifiers that are suited to amplify the high and midrange sounds from your music ranging from two channel amplifiers as well as four channel amplifiers to five channel amplifiers, some of which can be used as part of a cinema style setup while others are able to output to six channels. These amplifiers are able to power multiple channels at a reduced power, for example my amplifier is able to produce 50w rms x 4 channels and all the amplifiers have the ability to be bridged(so a four channel amp will be powered in two channels). The benefit of this would be for someone who was interested in a system but due to a number of reasons, only wanted one amp. A system we had installed into a Vauxhall Corsa C comprised of a JVC head unit with the door speakers being replaced by a pair of JBL coaxial speakers, a custom rear install that utilised a pair of JBL 6x9’s, a four channel JBL GTO-504e amplifier with a JBL GTO-1202D subwoofer. Then end result with this car was a system able to play a full bodied sound with bass that did not overpower the system, but just result was an experience that’s sure to not disappoint!

So now we come to your car. You must be wondering what amplifier/s would be ideally suited for your needs. If you’re looking at just adding a little bit of bass then a small amp powering a subwoofer such as the MTX all in one series are able to warm your sound up without having window shaking bass levels. For those who want some more power I would recommend the amplifier in my car in a heartbeat. Although there is the Rockford Fosgate 500.2 which due to its Class A/B circuitry, will be able to power other speakers if needed. If budget is no issue, a Rockford Fosgate Power T1500-1bd powering two Kicker L7 subwoofers would be able to put out close to 148db, which believe me, is loud! If you decide that you want to run a separate amplifier then these will range in price and specification, but it is a known fact that due to their established name in the industry, Rockford Fosgate have built a reputation that people around the world respect and recognise and their Power Series amplifier range has continued to prove that they have worked hard for their reputation. The Power T600-4 amplifier is able to produce 100 watts continuously to 4 channels at 4 ohms enabling you to run your system cool and efficiently (for more information on how to wire your systems keep checking back).

I hope that this has given you an insight into car audio amplifiers and that you now have an idea on how to go about designing your car audio system. If however you require more help then there are a number of ways you can contact us. You can leave a message on out Facebook, send us an email, or visit our website at http://www.sound-evolution.co.uk.

SALE!!!

Hey everyone! We have a MASSIVE CLEARANCE THIS WEEKEND until Monday at 6pm. Be sure to come instore and check it out, or even buy online! This is a one off sale somake sure you come sooner or risk missing out! All brands available! Lifetime service guarantees! And a minimum £50 Deposit to reserve your sale price/product!!!

Subwoofers

So here it is everyone!

The definitive list of some of the best subwoofers around right now. As you may or may not know, subwoofers are in charge of playing the low frequencies of the sound spectrum. Therefore no matter what size subwoofer you have, it will fill that lower end that the midrange speakers can simply not produce. Due to their design and use, subwoofers are Omni-directional. This means that no matter which way they face you will still feel the force of the subwoofer, unlike midrange speakers for example, where you would not be able to gain benefit of all the detail and clarity they are able to produce if you are standing behind the actual speaker.

Through my experience with different subwoofers, I've found that subwoofers generally become more like tactile transducers as they get louder in essence, you end up feeling the bass more than being able to hear it. As a result, if you're someone that is going for sound quality over loudness, I would recommend using a smaller size subwoofer. Many audiophiles who concentrate on sound quality over sound pressure will choose a smaller size subwoofer as the cone area is much smaller, and as a result, a tighter bass is achieved and when married with a sealed enclosure, the end result will be a nice tight bass that will be precise and accurate while not attempting to crack your windows! However, those who prefer sound pressure will choose the biggest cone area they can fit in their car. Take for example Steve Meade; with regards to his subwoofer he was able to put 4 18 inch subwoofers. The result of these monster subs is that Steve is able to achieve a high SPL. It is apparent that Steve attempts to increase his sound quality by installing large midbass speakers as well as using high quality midrange and good quality tweeters, all manufactured by Rockford Fosgate.

For my system I was restricted for space, and that is what defined to an extent my choice of subwoofer. I needed to have amplifiers that would be as powerful as could be whilst being as small as possible while still trying to maintain a budget! As a result, I settled for the Alpine MRP-M500 and as you can probably tell from the name, the amp is capable of pushing out 500RMS at 2OHM. Sure you might be thinking there’s plenty of choice with regards to a subwoofer but after running a 400 RMS Pioneer subwoofer in my previous system, I quickly learnt that each sub sounds very different and although the Pioneer produce very good subwoofers, (my old Pioneer, now retired to my bedroom!) I found that they were not able to produce the sound I was after which is when I turned my eye to Kicker.

The Kicker L7, a subwoofer that has truly lived up to the reputation and hypes that goes along with it. Yes the first time someone told me they had an L7 as part of their setup I stared at them, blank faced and somewhat lost, but then they gave me a demo and WOW! Although it was not perfect for what I wanted it sounded great! Precise and Accurate as well and the best bit of it all, I found that if I gave it 500rms, although not reaching its potential, it would be more than happy.

For subwoofers, the enclosure is vital for the sub to perform to its best abilities. Although you’ll see many subwoofer packages come with generic subwoofer boxes. While this is not an issue, it does somewhat hinder the performance of your sub. This is why I would recommend a custom made box. By their nature, custom boxes are much larger in size giving the subwoofer the air they require and many people choose to have a ported box, usually tuned to between 30 and 34 hertz. The benefit of this range of frequencies is that you’re pretty much maximising the output of the subwoofer without it becoming solely a transducer. For me, my box was tuned to 32Hz and the result was a sound that is pleasurable to hear as well as giving you the physical experience of moving air and I love it!

So in conclusion, subwoofers are just as important as any other speaker you have in your car if you want to enjoy the full spectrum of your sound, and after having a subwoofer in my car I can guarantee you all that I will, no matter what size, always have a subwoofer in my future cars!