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Tips for a Relaxing Road Trip

With the economy being what it is today and airline prices sky-rocketing, it's no wonder that you've come to the decision of taking the family on a road trip this year for vacation. After you're all packed up and ready to leave, you start going through a final check of that list you prepared. 1)Clothes for the week 2)Road Snacks 3)Wife and kids (can't forget those) 4)Spare Tire 5)Directions/GPS info and lastly 6)Car keys But wait. Of all those things on that list, only one has to be constantly maintained. No, not the Road Snacks. The wife and kids. We all know that any trip lasting more than an hour is torture for those little tikes. Not just for them but for you as well. How can you remedy this? Well, I've done my fair share of traveling and this is a list that I've compiled in order to beat that cabin fever. 1)Have A Conversation It never ceases to amaze me how long some of these trips can go on without anyone talking to each other. No matter how tight knit of a family you may have, there are some things that you still may not know about the people you are riding with. Ask questions. This is the best way to start a conversation. This lets your family know that you are interested in their lives. They are always willing to open up to you no matter how old or young they are. 2)Plan Some Car Games Car games can be the simplest way to pass the time when on a long trip. For younger children, it's best to play games that focus on small tasks like counting and color recognition. A good example would be count the red cars. As they get older you can try to make it a little more difficult such as count the different state license plates. 3)Assign Jobs You are the captain of this vessel and have the authority to charge your shipmates with certain duties. So... Do that. Everyone likes to feel included and needed. Assign everyone in the car a specific task to do while the car is in motion e.g. Mom is the navigator, Little Billy can read the exit signs, and Sally can change the radio station. Then, after each pit stop, everyone can switch jobs. 4)Sing Alongs Yeah. It's lame. It's cheesy. It's dated. But it works. A good sing along can kill time like nobody's business. Pick a station or choose from your iPod and jam out. Let everyone have a turn. You can have your own mobile karaoke lounge. 5)Movies When all else fails, movies. Have a folder of favorite DVDs and some new movies that you haven't watched yet on hand. If a conversation goes stale, or the games get boring, a good ol' fashioned movie will quickly take the focus off of you and onto the small screens in front of them. Don't have monitors or a DVD player in the car. Well, you wouldn't be on this site if you weren't thinking about getting one. So hop to it and enjoy your hassle-free road trip to wherever it is you're going. Drive Safe.

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Too Much Boom Boom. Not Enough Ting-a-Ling

Ladies and Gentlemen, Summer has officially arrived. And with it comes the warm weather, vacations, and joyful sounds. But as your sitting there enjoying the breeze while waiting for a red light to change, you hear it. The noise we all know and hate. Someone pulls up next to you with their music blaring to the top level and all you hear is distorted bass and his license plate buzzing against his car. Well don't be too angry with the poor guy. He may just be one of the many people who don't know what you know about car audio maintenance. This poor guy simply forgot to adjust the gain on his amplifier to match the swing on his head unit. It's a common mistake among most car owners who hook up their rides with top notch sound systems. The get all the bells and whistles and have no idea how to use them. Think of your gain knob as a volume knob, because technically, that's what it is; a volume knob for your amplifier. Your amplifier and your head unit work together in order to give you more power and volume. But too much gain will give you a distorted sound that is not enjoyable for anyone. The higher the gain number, the less you will have to turn your volume knob on the head unit to get it louder. Setting your gain at the right level will assure that you will have a pure sound that the musician intended without making it sound like you have killer bees in your trunk trying to get out.

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Car Audio 101

Q: What do I need to hook up my amp? Do I need to buy anything? A: It depends on what you're hooking your amp to. If you're hooking it up to a factory car stereo, you either need a line-out converter to step down the output of the deck to a low-level signal or an amplifier with speaker-level inputs. If you are adding the amp to a system featuring a deck with RCA preouts, all you need for signal transfer is a run of shielded cable with RCA connections. Either way, you will need a heavy-duty power wire (with a fuse or circuit breaker) and a ground wire of the same size. The size of the wire you need depends on the size of the amp you're installing. A great option to simplify matters is to buy a prepackaged amp install kit designed for the size of the amp you want to install. You'll also need some heavy-duty speaker wire to pass the amplified signal to the speakers or subwoofer that you're powering with the amp. Finally, you'll also need a small gauge remote-turn-on wire that leads from your deck's turn-on lead to the amp's remote terminal. This wire will turn your amp on when your radio receives power.

Q: How much power does it take to get good bass from my sub? A: When matching up an amplifier to a subwoofer, it's important to look at continuous power. Many subwoofers and amplifiers are rated at both continuous and peak power; however, continuous power is the best indicator of what your gear can really handle. Try to match the continuous (or RMS) power rating of the sub to an amplifier with a similar continuous (or RMS) power rating. Err on the side of too much power. It is actually better (for the amp and the sub) to have too much amp and run it below its maximum output than to try and push a sub with an amp that is a little underpowered. Using an underpowered amp causes it to clip, which causes distortion that can damage your sub and amp.

Q: I like my factory stereo, but would like to add a CD changer; do I have to go to the dealership? A: Nope, it is fairly easy to add an aftermarket CD changer to any factory stereo (and it's a lot more economical than going to the dealership). Many of our CD changers and new MP3 hard drive devices (like the Kenwood Music Keg) can be hooked up to a simple RF modulator that will broadcast your music via a set FM station on your stereo (usually 89.1). Most of them come with the modulator that you need and a wired remote with display (or sometimes even a wireless remote). Those that do not can be used with an RF mod that you purchase separately. That way you can keep your factory stereo and get mass music storage without a trip to the dealership.

Q: I'm looking at speakers, and their efficiency ratings are only a little different. Does this rating even matter? A: Efficiency is one of the most important specs to look at when you buy a speaker or subwoofer. You want to get the sound that you can, right? Then you want an efficient speaker. For every 3dB of difference, the amount of wattage that you need to play at the same volume doubles. For example, if all other things are equal, a subwoofer with an 89dB efficiency rating needs 200 watts of power to play at the same volume that a subwoofer with an efficiency rating of 91dB with only 100 watts going to it. By choosing an efficient sub, you squeeze every bit of bass possible from your amplifier.

Q: How much power does a factory stereo produce? A: It varies from model to model and trim level to trim level. They are normally much less powerful than their aftermarket cousins, however. Recently, more and more car manufacturers are coming out with upgraded stereo options that make high-wattage claims. What is important to remember is that the ratings displayed are usually a bit... optimistic. The 100 watts that the window sticker brags about probably translates into something like 4 channels of power at 25 watts peak power per channel. This means that the factory system is actually supplying about 10 watts per channel of continuous power (a more usable measurement). That's not bad, but most aftermarket decks provide around 22 watts of continuous power per channel: that's more than twice as much clean power getting to your speakers — delivering improved sound and increased volume. Even if the power difference doesn't matter all that much to you, aftermarket stereos offer a wide variety of advantages also. These include compatibility with aftermarket upgrades like CD changers, amplifiers and high-tech toys like MP3 changers, or mobile video systems and nice features like detachable face security and enhanced displays. They also give you the reliability of a recognized audio brand, which gives you peace of mind.

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