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Tools of the Trade – The RTA

Real Time Analyzer

Our series on the tools that are important to test and configure car audio system upgrades moves to the topic of the real-time audio analyzer, also known as an RTA or spectrum analyzer. This important tool helps installers measure the acoustic response of your mobile audio system, and it can be a fundamental component in testing a complex factory sound system to ensure that the integration process goes smoothly.

What Is an RTA?

Real Time AnalyzerIn the simplest of descriptions, an RTA tells the technician how loud specific audio bands are relative to one another. Depending on the resolution of the RTA, the bands may be divided into full octaves, half-octaves, third-octaves (the most popular) or, on some computer-based analyzer solutions, as fine as 1/48th of an octave. For an audio system to sound realistic and believable, the transition from band-to-band (depending on the resolution) needs to be smooth and free of peaks or valleys that can detract from the listening experience.

RTAs can be used with a microphone for acoustic measurements of your system, or they can be used with an adapter to measure the output of a factory radio or amplifier, so your installer will know if an equalizer or interface is required to make your system sound its best.

Real Time AnalyzerIf you’re thinking to yourself that you’ve seen something like this before, some radios and under-dash equalizers had spectrum analyzers built into them many years ago.

Types of RTAs Found in Car Stereo Shops

When you’re shopping for a retailer to upgrade the audio system in your car or truck, one of the things we recommend is that you ask for a tour of their facility. During that tour, feel free to ask about the tools they use. When it comes to RTAs, they may use a classic stand-alone solution like the older AudioControl SA-3055 or a modern computer-based interface like the AudioControl DM-RTA or Audison bitTune.

Real Time Analyzer

Some computer-based solutions allow for more complex measurements than a stand-alone solution can produce, but at the very least, knowing that your technician has a way to look at the acoustic performance of your vehicle is paramount.

Tuning Digital Signal Processors

Real Time AnalyzerWe’ll make it abundantly clear: If you’re having a digital signal processor added to your vehicle, your technician needs to have an RTA. In the same way that you can’t look at a glass of water and tell what temperature it is, an installation technician can’t listen to an audio system and know which frequencies need to be adjusted and by exactly how much. The RTA is the car audio equivalent of a thermometer for that glass of water.

Before you commit to an audio system upgrade, make sure that your local mobile enhancement retailer has the tools required to complete the task efficiently and reliably and the training needed to ensure that the proposed benefits and improvement in performance will be delivered to you, the customer.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

Filed Under: ARTICLES, Car Audio, RESOURCE LIBRARY

How Does a Car Audio Amplifier Work? – The Class D Output Stage

Class D Amplifier

As we continue our look at how at how car audio amplifiers work, we need to discuss what has become the most popular design on the market today: amplifiers that use a Class D output stage. In audiophile realms, Class D designs often carry an unfavorable reputation. Do their drawbacks outweigh their benefits? Let’s have a look!

How Does a Class D Output Stage Work?

Class D AmplifierOnce the input stage has handled any signal processing needs, the audio signal is passed to the output stage so that it increases in voltage and the MOSFETs can provide adequate amounts of current to drive our relatively low impedance speakers. In a modern Class D amp, the MOSFET output devices are fed by a driver IC that handles the conversion of the analog signal into a pulse width modulated signal.

What is a Pulse Width Modulated Signal?

https://www.bestcaraudio.com/everything-youve-wanted-to-know-about-audio-distortion-part-2/Imagine, if you will, an incandescent lightbulb. We hook the bulb up to a power source and insert a computer-controlled switch in series with the circuit. If we leave the switch off, the light stays off. If we turn the switch on, the light illuminates to full brightness. However, if we turn the switch on and off very quickly, and the switch is on for as long as it’s off, the bulb will glow at half of its possible brightness. This variation of on-versus-off time is called duty cycle. When the on-vs.-off time is equal, that’s a 50% duty cycle. Using a square wave signal with different duty cycles is called pulse width modulation (or PWM for short).

The Class D driver analyzes the audio signal at extremely high speeds (some as fast as 800kHz) and creates a relatively low-voltage PWM signal that feeds the output devices. The output devices switch all the way on and all the way off very quickly. Because the devices spend very little time in a partially on state, they present very little resistance and, subsequently, consume very little energy. The best Class D amplifiers on the market offer overall efficiencies that exceed 92% at full power. This excellent efficiency is in contrast to Class AB amplifiers that turn between 35% to 50% of the energy fed into the amp into heat.

Class D AmplifierCompact discs use a version of PWM where the duty cycle of the output pulse is stored in a 16-bit digital word. This gives us 65,536 possible amplitude levels. Unlike modern Class D drivers, our audio is stored at 44,100 samples per second. This is still more than enough to reproduce the entire audio spectrum.

Class D Circuit Arrangement

Class D Amplifier
A theoretical example of how modulating the on-vs.-off time affects the output level. In reality, the better-quality Class D drivers output a square wave pulse 40 times for a 20kHz sine wave.

Lastly, Class D amplifiers typically have their output devices arranged in a Class AB configuration, where one device drives the negative part of the waveform and the other drives the positive. As such, Class D describes how the output devices are used, rather than their electrical orientation in the circuit.

Class D Amplifier
A simplified block diagram of how a Class D amplifier works.

Drawbacks of Class D Amplifier Designs

https://www.bestcaraudio.com/everything-youve-wanted-to-know-about-audio-distortion-part-2/If you have read the BestCarAudio.com articles on distortion, then you know that a square wave AC signal is made up of a large number of high-frequency harmonics. You’ve likely heard this phenomenon in your home if you have a dimmer on some of the lights. The filament in the lights will occasionally ring, depending on the level of the dimmer. Since we only want to pass an audio signal back to the speaker, amplifier designers add a passive filter network to the output of the MOSFETs. This network includes an inductor in series with the load as well as a capacitor and resistor in parallel and acts as a low-pass filter to remove this high-frequency switching noise.

One drawback of a Class D design is that these output filter components interact with the frequency-dependent variations in load impedance to alter the frequency response of the amplifier. While the effect is minute, it can give Class D amps a different overall tonal balance than you’d get from an AB design. Of course, a little manipulation with a digital signal processor (DSP) will get that back in check in a jiffy.

Class D AmplifierAnother issue with all this high-frequency energy is the potential for electrical interference with other systems in the vehicle. Most commonly, AM or FM radio reception can be washed out or dramatically reduced. While the better amplifier manufacturers do everything possible to mitigate radio-frequency interference, problems can still occur — the best plan to keep the amplifier as far away as possible from the radio antenna.

Why Would You Want a Class D Amplifier?

Class D AmplifierThe long and the short of it is that companies have invested in developing Class D amplifiers in an effort to shrink the physical size requirements of amplifiers, supposedly to make it easier for installation technicians to find mounting locations for them. The reality is, heatsinks for amplifiers are one of the more expensive single components in an amplifier. If the size of the heatsink can be reduced, so can the cost of the amplifier. The days of 40- and 50-watts-per-channel stereo amps with a footprint of more than a square foot are long gone, thanks to modern Class D designs. Now, you can get more than 1,000 watts of power from that same physical space.

Class D amplifiers are a good solution for subwoofer systems because they do offer increased efficiency over their Class AB counterparts, and almost all amplifier manufacturers have at least one series of Class D amplifier in their catalog. Your local specialist mobile enhancement retailer can help you choose a solution with the right power level, number of channels and features to make your car stereo sound great.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

Filed Under: ARTICLES, Car Audio, RESOURCE LIBRARY

Product Spotlight: KICKER MSC65

KICKER MSC65

There are dozens of companies manufacturing marine-grade speakers. That certainly doesn’t mean that all the speakers sound good and have equivalent performance. KICKER, a company known for developing car audio, powersports and marine audio solutions, recently launched their M-Class Premium Series of marine products. This spotlight will look at the MSC65 6.5-inch coaxial speaker from this high-end family. Let’s check it out!

MSC65 Specifications

The KICKER MSC65 speakers have a published frequency response of 55 Hz to 25 kHz with an efficiency of 89 dB at 1W/1M. Recommended amplifier power is 15 to 100 watts, while peak power handling is 200 watts. The mounting requirements are a 5-7/16” hole with 3-9/16” of depth behind them.

Features of the KICKER MSC65

The MSC65 is a 6.5-inch coaxial that’s designed around a glass-filled nylon chassis. The chassis provides a stable platform for the magnet and moving assembly. At the heart of the speaker is a carbon-fiber-infused polypropylene woofer cone. A Santoprene synthetic rubber surround provides a compliant connection at the top edge of the cone that will last for many years.

For a tweeter, each speaker uses a textile material called Teteron to provide smooth, audiophile-grade performance. The tweeters have a diameter of 28mm (1.1 inches), so they can play low enough to prevent the woofers from becoming directional. The speakers use an integrated -12 dB/octave passive crossover at 3.2 kHz, which helps to ensure smooth and natural sound.

A perforated metal mesh grille protects the tweeters. An eight-spoke grille above the woofer cone supports the whole assembly. This eliminates the need for a pole piece, thereby increasing the woofer’s cone area to improve efficiency and bass production. Each pair of speakers includes both the white and charcoal grilles.

Electrical connections for the speaker are made via two-position Deutsch-style connectors to ensure a reliable, water-resistant connection. The speakers feature RGBW LED illumination, which lights up the cone from an LED strip wrapped around the tweeter’s neodymium magnet. The optional KMLC LED Lighting Remote controller can control the five-wire lighting system. Alternatively, the lighting can be hard-wired to a specific color to match your boat.

KICKER MSC65
The MSC65 set includes both charcoal and white grilles along with RGBW lighting to add a little extra style.

Real Marine™ Products

KICKER has invested significant resources into ensuring the entire series of M-CLASS products is up to the toughest challenges Mother Nature can dish out. All the speakers and subwoofers are tested for resistance to corrosion from salt under the ASTM B117 standard. They are also tested for colorfastness and resistance to chalking or fading due to prolonged UV exposure under the ASTM G154 standard. Finally, they have an IPX66 water-resistance rating thanks to integrated mounting gaskets on the backs of all the speakers. You can be confident that your purchase from KICKER will last for many years.

KICKER MSC65
Speaker wire and illumination connections are handled by weather-resistant Deutsch-style connectors that are molded into the chassis.

Other KICKER M-Class Solutions

Aside from the MSC65 6.5-inch coaxial speakers, the M-Class line includes 8-inch coax speakers along with 6.5 and 8-inch component speaker sets. The series includes 10 and 12-inch subwoofers designed for compact enclosures or infinite baffle applications. There is also a compact marine-grade subwoofer enclosure with a 10-inch subwoofer and a matching 10-inch reFLEX passive radiator to improve low-frequency efficiency.

Upgrade Your Boat with KICKER M-Class Speakers and Subwoofers Today!

If the sound system on your boat doesn’t put a smile on your face when you turn up the volume, drop by an authorized KICKER retailer today and ask them about the amazing new M-Class marine audio products like the MSC65. You can find an authorized dealer using the locator tool on their website. For more information on KICKER marine, powersports and car audio products, be sure to follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and of course, their amazing YouTube channel.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

Filed Under: ARTICLES, Marine Audio, PRODUCTS, RESOURCE LIBRARY Tagged With: KICKER

Is Turning Up the Bass on Your Car Stereo a Good Idea?

More Bass

If there’s one thing that can add emotion and excitement to your music, it’s adding a little more bass. Bass frequencies, especially those below 80 Hz, can be felt as much as heard at a higher volume level. The tingling in your amps and vibration in your back make a night at a club, your favorite concert or a high-end car stereo system some of the most enjoyable musical experiences available. The problem is, adding bass isn’t always easy. Let’s look at how many people do it and offer a few suggestions for enhancing the low-frequency performance of your car stereo.

Making Bass Takes Power

More BassIf you are an avid reader of our articles, then you know that it takes significantly more power to drive a subwoofer to an output level of 90 dB than it does for a set of tweeters. You can find out more about the physics behind that phenomenon here.

Unless the stereo system in your car has a dedicated amplifier with a switching power supply, it’s likely with 6.5- or 6×9-inch speakers as the largest size, it takes a lot of power to move the speaker cone enough to produce the bottom few octaves of our music.

More BassImagine “Thunderstruck,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” or “Yeah!” by Usher comes on Pandora and you can barely hear the bass line. Instinctively, you look for a way to turn up the bass with the tone control or EQ built into your car radio. More often than not, you are rewarded with a garbled mess that sounds less like music and more like the performer is munching on a rubber floor mat.

As much as this isn’t any fun, it’s really no surprise. That tiny little amplifier built into your radio is designed for moderate listening levels with fairly neutral overall tonal balance. That means, not a lot of bass relative to the mids and highs.

Problem defined. How do we fix it?

Does Adding Power Make More Bass?

More BassWhat if we visited our local car stereo shop and asked to have a 75-watts-per-channel amplifier installed between the factory radio and the speakers? Now, any signal that comes out of the radio is amplified and we don’t run out of power when the bass line kicks in, right?

In the simplest of terms, sure, adding an amplifier to your factory speakers helps a lot. With that said, you are still limited by the small size of the speakers. Worse, you are asking those relatively tiny woofers to move really far to produce bass, as well as midrange information. Unless someone has come up with a way to defy the laws of physics, more excursion always results in more distortion.

Adding an amp added a little bass, but made the midrange sound worse.

Will Upgrading Speakers Add Bass?

More BassLet’s say you skipped the amplifier idea and decided that upgrading to high-quality speakers was a better bet. Do better or more expensive speakers produce more bass than less expensive offerings? There’s almost no definitive way to answer that question in a single paragraph. Some speakers produce less midrange relative to the amount of bass they produce. There are also speakers that play lower than factory speakers. In both cases, the new speakers are typically less sensitive (require more power) than what’s already in your car or truck. In short, you may get the perception of more bass, but more often than not, you’ve ended up with less midrange.

The good thing about upgrading your speakers is that they can likely handle the power from an amplifier with fewer complaints and stress. So, if you upgrade your speakers and add an amplifier, your system might sound pretty good.

The Best Way to Add Bass is to Add a Subwoofer System

More BassImagine if there were a way to add an amplifier and speaker to your car or truck that was dedicated to reproducing bass. I know, it sounds far-fetched, right? Sorry, just kidding.

Adding a subwoofer and driving it with a dedicated amplifier, even if the selection is modest, will offer an impressive improvement in the reproduction of bass in your music. A powered 8-inch subwoofer that fits under a pickup truck seat or in the corner of your truck is a perfect starting point. Best of all, you can turn the bass settings on the radio back down and let the small speakers in your car do their job of reproducing midrange and high-frequency information. The result is a car stereo system that plays louder and sounds amazing.

Of course, there are an unlimited number of options for generic, vehicle-specific and custom subwoofer systems to add more bass to your car stereo. Your local specialist mobile enhancement retailer can help you choose a solution that will meet your needs. Drop by today and have a listen to what they have to offer.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

Filed Under: ARTICLES, Car Audio, RESOURCE LIBRARY

Product Spotlight: Pioneer DMH-W3050NEX

Pioneer DMH-W3050NEX

Pioneer and car audio go together like coffee and cream or a hot dog with ketchup — classic pairings that make sense. On that note, we are going to take a look at one of their NEX-Series double-DIN multimedia receivers in this spotlight. Let’s check out the DMH-W3050NEX.

Pioneer DMH-W3050NEX Platform

For most of us, describing a multimedia receiver as a double-DIN solution would tell us all we need to know. The DMH-W3050NEX is somewhat unique in that the radio’s chassis is single-DIN, while only the front panel shares the standard 4-inch by 7-inch dimensions. This allows the radio to work with many dash kits that won’t accept a radio with a four-inch-tall chassis. Right out of the gate, you’ve got enhanced compatibility in terms of vehicles this works with.

The radio features a 6.8-inch (measured diagonally) capacitive touch front panel with a WVGA 800 x 480-pixel color display behind it. There are six capacitive-touch buttons on the left side of the screen, providing access to menus, voice recognition and volume control.

Communication and Entertainment Options

Every top-quality multimedia receiver, such as the DMH-W3050NEX, includes Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone connectivity. In this case, both platforms feature wireless connectivity, thanks to integrated Wi-Fi. There’s no better way to communicate with family, friends and co-workers; choose the entertainment you want, or get detailed turn-by-turn navigation instructions to almost any location in North America.

The radio includes an HD Radio receiver for FM radio. HD Radio not only improves audio quality on compatible stations, but provides access to additional programming on the digitally broadcast channels. For example, you might have a high-resolution music stream on 97.3, then a non-stop news broadcast on HD2 and sports on HD3, all transmitted on the single 97.3 carrier frequency. Best of all, HD Radio doesn’t require a subscription – it’s completely free. The FM tuner also includes RDS decoding.

The DMH-W3050NEX has a USB port on the rear of the chassis that will charge your phone with up to 1.5 amps of current. You can also connect a USB memory stick (or other Mass Storage Class device) to play WMA, MP3, WAV, AAC or FLAC audio files. When parked, you can also play AVI, DivX, MKV, H.264, H.265, MPG, and several other video file formats. Impressively, the deck supports full HD 1920×1080 resolution video files – something not all multimedia receivers can do.

The radio features a Bluetooth 5.3 transceiver, allowing you to stream audio from a portable media player and select tracks using the ACRVP profile. Speaking of connecting smart devices, the radio works with Pioneer’s Weblink app on your smartphone. You can stream video from a source like YouTube directly to the radio.

Your installer can upgrade the radio with a SiriusXM satellite radio receiver. With SiriusXM, you can enjoy genre-specific entertainment almost anywhere in North America.

Pioneer DMH-W3050NEX
The shallow L-shaped chassis simplifies the installation process and allows the DMH-W3050NEX to integrate into vehicles where a full double-DIN radio won’t fit.

Sound Quality and Signal Processing

The Pioneer DMH-W3050NEX is high-res audio certified, and it will decode digital audio files with sample rates up to 192 kHz. The deck includes a built-in amplifier rated to produce 14 watts of power in compliance with the ANSI/CTA-2006 standard. The front, rear and subwoofer preamp outputs will deliver up to four volts.

In terms of audio processing, the DMH-W3050NEX comes equipped with a 13-band graphic equalizer, adjustable slope and frequency crossovers and signal delays. In standard mode, the radio provides front, rear and subwoofer outputs. In Network mode, the outputs are configured for low, midrange and high-frequency output signals.

The radio is compatible with the iDatalink Maestro RR and RR2 radio integration module. Depending on your vehicle, this interface allows the radio to communicate with the CAN network in your car, truck or SUV. You can see climate controls, dashboard gauges, tire pressure, battery voltage, and even vehicle diagnostic code information. If your vehicle isn’t compatible with the Maestro RR or RR2, your installer can likely connect to the steering wheel buttons using an interface like the Maestro SW.

Pioneer DMH-W3050NEX
The Pioneer DMH-W3050NEX boasts wireless connectivity for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The Heart of a Premium Sound System

If you’re shopping for a well-equipped, high-performance multimedia receiver to upgrade your vehicle, visit a local authorized Pioneer dealer and ask about the DMH-W3050NEX. You can find an authorized retailer near you by clicking the “Find a Store” link from anywhere on the Pioneer website.

For more information on Pioneer source units, speakers, amplifiers, subwoofers and dashcams, follow them on Facebook, Instagram and, of course, YouTube.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

Filed Under: ARTICLES, Car Audio, PRODUCTS, RESOURCE LIBRARY Tagged With: Pioneer

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RTA measurements

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October 5, 2025 

Our series on the tools that are important to test and configure car audio system upgrades moves to the topic of the real-time audio analyzer, also known as an RTA or spectrum … [Read More...]

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September 21, 2025 

As we continue our look at how at how car audio amplifiers work, we need to discuss what has become the most popular design on the market today: amplifiers that use a Class D … [Read More...]

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September 7, 2025 

If there’s one thing that can add emotion and excitement to your music, it’s adding a little more bass. Bass frequencies, especially those below 80 Hz, can be felt as much as heard … [Read More...]

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