Ever wonder about jumping in with both feet and taking a whitewater rafting adventure? The beginner can have just as much fun and excitement as the seasoned expert. The following 7 tips will help get you safely prepared to take the ride of your life.

Tip 1. Make Reservations. There are whitewater-rafting sites that will take walk-ins but it is best to make a reservation, especially during peak season. Decide what river you would like to experience then go online and search the available Whitewater Rafting companies. I know firsthand that the rafting outfits near Blue Ridge, TN do a great job meandering down the Ocoee River. I highly recommend Ocoee Rafting, LLC at www.OcoeeRafting.com which is located about 2 ½ hours north of Atlanta.

Tip 2. Allow some extra time. If you are not familiar with the area you may want to allow some extra time before your appointed trip time. Make sure to get good directions before you leave home. We ended up at the wrong rafting company but had plenty of time to correct the error and arrive at the right location with time to spare. FYI: Be sure to take your reservation number and info with you.

Tip 3. Eat a light meal. With all of the waiting, preparation, mini-safety lessons and actual run down the river expect to be gone anywhere from 4 to 6 hours for a half day trip. Eat a small meal right before you go, normally food and drink are not allowed on the raft.

Tip 4. What to wear? Everyone in the raft will get wet! With that said make sure you wear clothing that dries quickly. For example: a bathing suit under surfing shorts for ladies, swim trunks and a t-shirt for men. For your feet water shoes work the best, no flip-flops in the raft. The rafting company will provide life jackets, helmets and an oar. River trips run rain or shine and you are guaranteed to get soaked either way.

Tip 5. What to take? Take a set of dry clothes and flip-flops to change into after your white water rafting run. Be sure to take a towel for each person. A waterproof disposable camera that can clip onto your shorts is a nice extra. Most rafting companies will have a photographer take pictures at some point on your run. These photos will be for sale when you return (Hey, they gotta make money somehow). The pictures come out pretty nice. Ask ahead of time if you don't want to fool around with your own waterproof camera.

Tip 6. What not to take? Do not take valuable items. Do not take sunglasses and if you really don't need your eyeglasses to make the run, leave them in your car or bring a head strap or buy a set of goggles that go over your glasses. If you sit at the front of the raft your glasses will get so wet that it is hard to see out of them. Do not wear your best sneakers. Lastly, leave your car keys at the whitewater rafting office.

Tip 7. Who should go? Anyone seeking something to do that is just a little out of the ordinary should definitely check it out. Children have to be at least 12 years old with most whitewater rafting companies. Those under 18 need their parents signed permission. Everyone in the raft needs to sign a liability waiver. If you are in reasonably good health then I say go, go, go. You will have the ride of your life and good memories to share with your family.

If you enjoy the ride with your guide, be sure to thank them and leave a good tip when you return to the white water rafting center.

Even though Bermuda is often considered part of ‘The Caribbean’, it is really farther north in the Atlantic Ocean. It is amazing to think of it not being as close to Miami as it is to Boston.

Because it is close to such cities as New York, Atlantic City and Philadelphia, it is as popular as a weekend getaway destination as it is for a full vacation of one or two weeks.

Bermuda has developed it own peculiar character because it is separated by hundreds of miles of ocean from the main portion of Caribbean islands. The neat and clean streets are not traffic congested and people are graciously polite. Once under the rule of Britain, the British qualities of order and efficiency are instilled in Bermuda. Traffic laws are very much enforced, so going over the speed limit is not a wise consideration.

Bermuda has a more conservative air than other islands. Sunbathing topless is prohibited and swim suits are considered only for the pool and the beach. Suits are often required attired for men at many restaurants, so be sure to include a few when you go.

Some of the world’s best diving can be found in Bermuda. A fantastic vacation is in store for divers because of Bermuda’s clear water, a great variety of fish, a multitude of sea life, pristine reefs and 400 plus shipwrecks to explore. Those without sea legs have many shops to amble through in downtown Hamilton and the history-rich St. George.

In wartime, Bermuda was an asset of great value due to its position being so strategic in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Defensive stone forts were built by the British to fend off the attacks of other empirical powers such as the Spanish and the French. These forts are now available for exploration to satisfy the curiosity of visitors.

If you prefer golf to sightseeing, you can tee off at one of the eight championship golf courses that Bermuda is renowned for. Every one of them offers a challenging game and magnificent views of the ocean. Other land-based sports you can partake of are walking tours, cricket and horseback riding.

For a back to nature tour, you can visit the Botanical Gardens, which sits on 36 acres, or the Crystal Caves for a tour 120 feet underground. The Bermuda Maritime Museum offers you the chance to swim with the dolphins while the Bermuda Aquarium, Natural History Museum and Zoo offers a close encounter with giant tortoises.

Once you have finished seeing all the sites and had enough adventure for awhile, it would be great to just relax on the beach. Just lean back in your beach lounge with an ice cold drink in hand and catch a few rays!

"Summertime and the living is easy" - so said George and Ira Gershwin. There's just something about the warm sun, blue skies and late evenings that makes us want to ease up, have a change of scenery and leave our day-to-day work world behind.

This summer, even with the high price of gas, Americans are taking to the roads, hopping planes, and boarding trains for family vacations. As a member of the Sandwich Generation, you may feel crushed by your responsibilities all year round and see this as your best chance to rejuvenate. But how can you, when the demands on your time and energy are still there? Here are five tips to help you plan and enjoy your summer vacation, wherever it may take you.

1. You know yourself and your family best. Do you like to create and maintain family rituals? If so, you may want to return to the same vacation spot year after year, enjoying the familiar surroundings and activities. Or, if you prefer to explore different places and learn new skills, you can consider all kinds of innovative vacations together. Does your family enjoy 'chilling out' and relaxing or staying busy and active? What is most gratifying - the excitement of the city, the expansiveness of the beach, the majesty of the mountains or the serenity of your own backyard? Taking your family's particular preferences into account will make your time together even more meaningful for everyone.

2. Remind yourself to be realistic about your expectations for the vacation and be willing to make compromises. Don't think that, all of a sudden, family togetherness will be a priority for everyone. You may find that each of you will enjoy spending some time alone, doing want ever you want. Just as your family celebrations and holidays often come with their own set of challenges, vacations will not magically solve long-standing problems in your close relationships. View your trip as one step in a series and accept that it will have difficult moments as well as good times.

3. Look at your individual situation and decide what will work for you. If you need some time by yourself, fit that into your plans right from the beginning. If you want to reconnect with your teenagers, design outings that will appeal to both of you. If your parents are up to it, plan an intergenerational vacation. Your children will benefit from spending quality time with their grandparents and it will also give you the opportunity for some free time for yourself.

4. With families spread across the nation, many find that a summer family reunion provides an opportunity to reconnect. It's a different experience than seeing each other briefly at weddings, holidays or funerals. Getting everyone together in a vacation setting gives you the chance to catch up without time distractions. It takes advance planning but the rewards can be great for the whole family. You may rediscover your cousin's keen sense of humor, appreciate your great aunt's wisdom or delight in your young nephew. Perhaps your brother has grown up and will pitch in to help you, now that he sees how hard it is to take care of your parents.

5. Going on vacation is like investing in your emotional bank account. You generate vivid and positive memories that you can draw on when you need them. "Whenever I feel stressed out, I take a deep breath and remember how relaxed I was when we spent time at the beach," Beth related. "The kids were free to run around in the sand, play in the water and make as much noise as they wanted without me having to shush them. And my parents were so content, just sitting in the sun and being a part of the family fun. It makes me smile just to visualize that scene in my head."

If you haven't already done so, now is the time to make plans for your own special family time - even if it's only a few days camping or some weekend activities at a local lake. Enjoy the summertime as you create memories to carry you and your family through the rest of the year.

Who doesn't just love getting into their car, cranking up the stereo, and screaming their favorite lyrics till their vocal chords bleed. We all do it. Doesn't matter, if it's a long or short drive. Even the most mild mannered of us enjoy the simple pleasure of a solo drive with your favorite tunes washing over you in your own car audio disco. In this world of constant and increasing responsibilities, information overload, bad news, and disappointment, we all need a place to escape for just a little bit. Even if I'm really just taking a mundane drive to pick up some groceries, I can be my favorite rock star till I get there. With the car stereo turned up nice and loud, I can sing at the top of my lungs, and don't actually have to hear my voice. Which of course is a good thing, as my voice isn't really meant for human consumption. Plus, it would just spoil the whole "suspension of disbelief" thing. Besides, some music just sounds better loud, through a great car audio stereo unit, backed up by great car audio speakers.

Steering Wheel By Buddy Rich

Of course, every good song blasting through the car speakers needs a good drummer. And hey I have some experience here. I was a bit of a rock star drummer during my formative years. And obviously, since I am responsible for driving the car while rocking out to the old car audio, I can't very well fit a drum kit between me and the steering wheel. Heaven forbid I get into an accident with the neighbors cat, and that crazy air bag goes off. Not a pretty picture in my brain. However, most steering wheels will substitute as a drum kit anyway. 10 and 2 o'clock on the steering wheel provide positions for both a ride and crash cymbal. The middle supporting piece makes for a great snare and tom-tom, while 4 thru 8 o'clock are my favorite position for roto-tom runs. And of course, in a pinch, the dashboard is close enough to substitute for a rockin' cowbell, or any other ancillary percussion instruments your favorite song may require.

Car Guitar Fools

While no good car audio band would be complete without some excellent guitar players, I must profess to having little talent in this area. This may be a time when it becomes necessary to have other passengers. Preferably very young or otherwise uninhibited passengers, as most reasonably minded adults look totally silly playing air guitar on their seat belt. In my mind air guitar makes anyone look like a damn fool, no matter how cool they really are. Seat belt air guitar, is even worse. I however am fortunate enough to have one such young passenger, who has no problem "air guitairing" her seat belt, with the car audio cranking. Her specialty is of course "We Are The Champions".

Taking It On The Road

And of course now our band is complete. What more do you need? A great car stereo, some thunder shaking speakers, the latest MP3 / CD / iPod plugged in, and obviously little fear of the volume switch. And yea, one more thing. An excuse to go for a drive. Any drive. After all, your screaming fans await your next performance. Don't forget the milk

The CD has become the format of choice for hard copy music distribution. The CD displaced the record, vinyl records and the audio cassette as the dominant form of listening to recorded music.

The CD Changer All you have to do is to load all the CD's you want to listen to. One after another it will play your CD's as many times as you want. The order of selection of CDs will be done randomly or automatically depending on which button you press.

CD changers are great for those long drives especially for those who insist on having music on the preferred format. That said, mp3 compatibility has taken CD changer functionality to another level.

If burning hundreds of mp3 files downloaded from the internet onto a disc is your thing, mp3 compatible changers will give you weeks of play time without repeating a song (A disc can hold up ten hours worth of music in mp3 format).

Note this, there are CD changers that are designed to work with your factory installed radios and there are those that are made for your aftermarket radio. So do check before you buy your next CD changer.

Factory fitted CD changers are Available for all models (Alfa Romeo to VW) and allows you to retain the integrated look and functionality of your dash and standard car radio.

Aftermarket CD Changers: All leading brands are available (Alpine to VDO Dayton) in good online stores. They are ideal if you have changed your car radio or have a branded or aftermarket radio fitted.

Following are a few the CD changers in the market...

1) Denon CD Changer

This is a CD player you really need to check out. This is Denon's latest generation. It is a 5-disc CD changer featuring Burr Brown 20-bit AD converters and HDCD decoding. Other features like MP3/CD and CD-R/RW compatibility, clockwise and counterclockwise tray rotation, and an incredible signal-to-noise make it a great changer.

2) Sony CD Changer with SACD

The five-disc CD - SACD changer supports features such as, SACD/CD/CDR/CDRW playback, SACD/CD Text compatibility, remote control, optical output for CD, and 5.1 channel analog output for multi-channel SACD.

3) JVC CD Changer

It is an excellent, but reasonably priced, 5-Disc Carousel CD changer from JVC. It uses unique 1-bit error correction technology; this changer not only sounds great, but overcomes scratches and minor CD defects that can plague other players. You can also change four CDs while one is playing.

4) Pioneer CD Changer

Pioneer is known for their "magazine" style car CD changers and has incorporated this design into the PD-M426 home 6-disc home CD changer. In fact, it enables you to buy the additional CD "magazine" cartridges to organize your CD library to play both in a Pioneer car CD changer or the M426 without taking the discs out of the magazine.

Subwoofers. The bass. The loudness. The glory. The most obnoxious component in your system, and also, one of the most necessary.

If you've read my article about speakers, you're up to speed. If you haven't (and don't know anything about speakers or subwoofers), read it here.

Subwoofers reproduce the lowest frequencies of the audio spectrum, AKA bass. They are essential to both SQ and SPL systems, but for different reasons. Let's take a look now...

For SQ systems: Effectively reproduce the lowest frequencies making the music sound full and powerful. Instruments that play lower frequencies such as organs, drums and synthesizers will sound more realistic and powerful with a subwoofer installed.

For SPL systems: Because subwoofers are loud, they are the preferred speaker to make a whole lotta noise.

Also, because our ears are less sensitive to lower frequencies we need the extra bass for the system to sound balanced.

So, what do I have to look for to find a great woofer? I'll tell you!

Power Handling:

Just like with every other part in a stereo system, power handling is important for subwoofers as well. Earlier, in my article about speakers, I talked about how you can send more power to them to increase their volume, but decrease the distortion. The same is true of subwoofers, but be careful! Since lower frequency distortion is harder to perceive, it's easy to overdo it, and blow your subwoofers. Anyway, with that said, it is smart to buy an amp that can put out exactly what your subwoofers are designed to take, but take it easy!

Size:

Subwoofers come in many sizes, but the most common are 8", 10", 12", and 15". This is probably also noted in metric for the european brands. As you can imagine, the bigger woofers are the ones that will play louder and play lower. Of course, the smaller ones are more musical, more precise, and sound "tighter". What size you decide on usually has to do with your own preferences, as well as installation considerations. Remember! 18" subwoofers don't just fit anywhere!

Voice coil info:

SVC: Single voice coil

This means that the speaker has only one voice coil. In other words, only one input.

DVC: Dual voice coil

This means that the speaker has two voice coils, or two inputs.

Ummmmmmm, ok. Why does it matter?

I could go into details here, but I know you don't really care. Basically, it boils down to this: With a DVC subwoofer, there are more installation options. Look at it this way, a DVC "looks" like two subwoofers to your amplifier. With some nifty wiring tricks (called series and parallel), you can hook up many subwoofers to a single amp--even if the amp is a "mono" or a two channel amp. In addition, you can manipulate how many ohms the amp has to push. If you have an amp that is stable to a half ohm (like some old school Orion HCCA amps), you could potentially hook up 4-8 woofers to a single channel! Imagine the noise you could make!

Some words about boxes:

Boxes are essential to most subwoofers. In other words, consider a subwoofer's box just as important as the subwoofer itself. Why? Because most subwoofers need a box to operate properly, sound good, and not damage themselves. Subwoofers that don't need a box are called "free air" or "infinite baffle" subwoofers.

Like I said, most subwoofers need a box. So, let's talk about boxes!

First, what types of boxes are there?

Sealed: The simplest kind. Essentially, a sealed box is a box where the inside and outside are not linked. There are no holes, and care is taken to ensure that the box is completely sealed.

Ported: A ported box is a subwoofer box with at least one hole, or "port" in it. The goal of the ported box is to emphasize a certain frequency. These boxes are used because they are often louder than sealed boxes.

Bandpass: A bandpass box is similar to a ported box because it has ports; however, the bandpass box tries to de-emphasize certain frequencies, while emphasizing others. In other words, it works like a bandpass crossover. The bandpass box emphasizes a frequency band while de-emphasizing frequencies lower than and higher than the band.

Isobarik: These boxes aim to fit more than one subwoofer into a small box. The subwoofers are set up to work in tandem. Sometimes both subs move in the same direction at the same time, sometimes one sub pulls while the other pushes. There are advantages to this type of setup, but box design is difficult.

OK, so now you know everything about SUBZ, but here are the specs that you'll need to know to choose your subwoofer:

Power Handling: Subs are speakers, and as such can only handle so much power (or distortion) before they blow! Power handling is measured in watts, and is often given in two specifications: RMS and Max (or peak). The RMS rating is the most important. If a sub says it can handle 200 watts RMS and 400 watts Max, be sure the amp will provide 200 watts RMS as well. Not 400 watts RMS. While it's true that the sub can handle 400 watts, it can only handle that kind of power for a short time. If you hook that sub up to an amp that puts out 400 watts RMS, you will ruin that speaker pretty quickly--because it is constantly being exposed to 400 watts, not short bursts of 400 watts. You dig? Good.

Sensitivity: This term means exactly what you think it means. In short, a subwoofer with higher sensitivty will be louder than a subwoofer with lower sensitivty when they are hooked up to the same amp. The spec is measured in db.

Frequency response: You obviously want a subwoofer than can handle a wide range of frequencies. However, the subwoofer does the most work under 100hz. If the subwoofer plays all the way down to 20hz, you know you've got a great sub. The good news is that even if it doesn't go that low, most music doesn't either. Sooooo, you'll still be fine. I would say the it's more important to have a low-playing sub in systems with DVD players and 5.1 sound. Also, frequency response varies depending on the box that the subwoofer is installed in. Ummmm, so with this in mind, just pick a subwoofer that will handle the power, and sound how you want it to.

Cone Material: When it comes to subwoofers, this is actually a pretty important thing to pay attention to. Because subwoofers are big and powerful, you need a cone material that can withstand lots and lots of abuse. I personally am a big fan of metals such as alluminum. This is because aluminum is light and stiff, and likewise, produces very tight and musical sounding bass. I know that many subwoofer manufacturers use exotic sounding materials for their subwoofers, which makes it difficult to determine which material is the best.

Surround material: Here's my advice: Always get a subwoofer with a rubber surround. Rubber holds up the best in the auto environment.

Impedence: Measured in Ohms, this spec tells you how much resistance the speaker presents to your amp. Too much, and you get no volume, too little, and your subwoofer will fry your amp! This spec will help you decide which amp to hook up to your subwoofer, whether you want to bridge your amp, and whether you want to wire multiple subs into parallel or series. Also, subwoofers sometimes have more than one voice coil (aka DVC). This means that the subwoofer will have two inputs, each with the same impedence. Subwoofers with dual voice coils are more versatile to install, especially in multiple woofer systems.

A basic subwoofer install is fairly easy. If you buy a pre-fab sub box, mount the subs and power them, you're going to get good bass. To install professionally, and achieve the best sound, much planning and work must go into the whole process. This is a situation where if you don't feel confident in your ability to build a box, tune it, and hook it up, you should visit a car audio shop, and have them do it for you. This can be relatively cheap, or quite expensive.

If you are planning on doing the install yourself, but lack the box building skills, you can buy a pre-fab box. I would also strongly recommend an EQ device to fine tune the bass. This will help you overcome road noise (which ruins bass), and also cut back on "boominess" and "muddiness". In the end, this route is the best compromise between a custom box and a pre-fab box. You'll get great sound, and save money!

Car Cover. This is one of the most popular auto accessories, especially for those who do not own a garage or carport. A car cover can protect an automobile from inclement weather and even from the occasional flyover of a bird. However, when purchasing a car cover, be sure to read the instructions carefully to avoid damaging the car or having the paint peel off from an improper application.

Seat Cover. One of the most popular auto accessories for your car’s interior is a seat cover. They can help to protect your car’s original seats from stains, cigarette burns, tears, etc.

Steering Wheel Cover. This product, which is designed to provide improved grip on your steering wheel, is created to help your interior in a number of ways. If you purchase a cloth steering wheel cover, it will protect your hands from grabbing an otherwise hot steering wheel after your car has been sitting in the sun. Additionally, a steering wheel cover is one of the more popular auto accessories because it helps to protect the steering wheel from scratches.

Floor Mats. Every automobile is susceptible to dirt, mud and anything else on the bottom of our shoes. In an effort to keep the floor clean, mats are ideal auto accessories.

Handheld Vacuum. Not commonly thought of as auto accessories, handheld vacuums are essential to keeping your interior clean. These handy little gadgets are ideal for cleaning seats and the floor of your car.

Hands-free Cell Phone Connector. Although it is not recommended that anyone drive while talking on the cell phone, there are often emergency situations or calls that need to be addressed and this is why a hands-free cell phone connector is one of the best auto accessories that you could have. Rather than shuffling for the phone, using a hands-free connector is much more convenient and will not distract you from driving.

Cell Phone Charger. This is one of the essential auto accessories if you own a cell phone. A cell phone charger connects to your phone and also to the cigarette lighter in order to recharge your cell phone’s battery. If you happen to encounter car trouble on the highway only to find that your cell phone battery is empty, you will be glad to have this handy little device to give you instant use of your cell phone.

Emergency Battery Charger. Owning one of these auto accessories could be one of the smartest purchases you make. They are charged at home using a regular outlet, then placed in your car. If your car’s battery runs down, you are out of luck unless you have an emergency charger. These will help get you back on the road quickly and without the help of a tow truck.

Child safety seat. If you have a child, the proper safety seat is a must-have for traveling. While you are on the go, you want the little one to be safe right along with you. A child safety seat is one of the best auto accessories in existence for both you and especially your child.

Harness seatbelt for your pet. If you have to take your pet to the veterinarian or on a road trip, but have difficulty finding a travel crate large enough to fit him/her, a harness-style seatbelt for your pet will be ideal for keeping your pet in the seat and will prevent it from wondering aimlessly throughout the automobile. This can be both distracting and dangerous to the driver and other pedestrians on the road.

Subwoofers. The bass. The loudness. The glory. The most obnoxious component in your system, and also, one of the most necessary.

If you've read my article about speakers, you're up to speed. If you haven't (and don't know anything about speakers or subwoofers), read it here.

Subwoofers reproduce the lowest frequencies of the audio spectrum, AKA bass. They are essential to both SQ and SPL systems, but for different reasons. Let's take a look now...

For SQ systems: Effectively reproduce the lowest frequencies making the music sound full and powerful. Instruments that play lower frequencies such as organs, drums and synthesizers will sound more realistic and powerful with a subwoofer installed.

For SPL systems: Because subwoofers are loud, they are the preferred speaker to make a whole lotta noise.

Also, because our ears are less sensitive to lower frequencies we need the extra bass for the system to sound balanced.

So, what do I have to look for to find a great woofer? I'll tell you!

Power Handling:

Just like with every other part in a stereo system, power handling is important for subwoofers as well. Earlier, in my article about speakers, I talked about how you can send more power to them to increase their volume, but decrease the distortion. The same is true of subwoofers, but be careful! Since lower frequency distortion is harder to perceive, it's easy to overdo it, and blow your subwoofers. Anyway, with that said, it is smart to buy an amp that can put out exactly what your subwoofers are designed to take, but take it easy!

Size:

Subwoofers come in many sizes, but the most common are 8", 10", 12", and 15". This is probably also noted in metric for the european brands. As you can imagine, the bigger woofers are the ones that will play louder and play lower. Of course, the smaller ones are more musical, more precise, and sound "tighter". What size you decide on usually has to do with your own preferences, as well as installation considerations. Remember! 18" subwoofers don't just fit anywhere!

Voice coil info:

SVC: Single voice coil

This means that the speaker has only one voice coil. In other words, only one input.

DVC: Dual voice coil

This means that the speaker has two voice coils, or two inputs.

Ummmmmmm, ok. Why does it matter?

I could go into details here, but I know you don't really care. Basically, it boils down to this: With a DVC subwoofer, there are more installation options. Look at it this way, a DVC "looks" like two subwoofers to your amplifier. With some nifty wiring tricks (called series and parallel), you can hook up many subwoofers to a single amp--even if the amp is a "mono" or a two channel amp. In addition, you can manipulate how many ohms the amp has to push. If you have an amp that is stable to a half ohm (like some old school Orion HCCA amps), you could potentially hook up 4-8 woofers to a single channel! Imagine the noise you could make!

Some words about boxes:

Boxes are essential to most subwoofers. In other words, consider a subwoofer's box just as important as the subwoofer itself. Why? Because most subwoofers need a box to operate properly, sound good, and not damage themselves. Subwoofers that don't need a box are called "free air" or "infinite baffle" subwoofers.

Like I said, most subwoofers need a box. So, let's talk about boxes!

First, what types of boxes are there?

Sealed: The simplest kind. Essentially, a sealed box is a box where the inside and outside are not linked. There are no holes, and care is taken to ensure that the box is completely sealed.

Ported: A ported box is a subwoofer box with at least one hole, or "port" in it. The goal of the ported box is to emphasize a certain frequency. These boxes are used because they are often louder than sealed boxes.

Bandpass: A bandpass box is similar to a ported box because it has ports; however, the bandpass box tries to de-emphasize certain frequencies, while emphasizing others. In other words, it works like a bandpass crossover. The bandpass box emphasizes a frequency band while de-emphasizing frequencies lower than and higher than the band.

Isobarik: These boxes aim to fit more than one subwoofer into a small box. The subwoofers are set up to work in tandem. Sometimes both subs move in the same direction at the same time, sometimes one sub pulls while the other pushes. There are advantages to this type of setup, but box design is difficult.

OK, so now you know everything about SUBZ, but here are the specs that you'll need to know to choose your subwoofer:

Power Handling: Subs are speakers, and as such can only handle so much power (or distortion) before they blow! Power handling is measured in watts, and is often given in two specifications: RMS and Max (or peak). The RMS rating is the most important. If a sub says it can handle 200 watts RMS and 400 watts Max, be sure the amp will provide 200 watts RMS as well. Not 400 watts RMS. While it's true that the sub can handle 400 watts, it can only handle that kind of power for a short time. If you hook that sub up to an amp that puts out 400 watts RMS, you will ruin that speaker pretty quickly--because it is constantly being exposed to 400 watts, not short bursts of 400 watts. You dig? Good.

Sensitivity: This term means exactly what you think it means. In short, a subwoofer with higher sensitivty will be louder than a subwoofer with lower sensitivty when they are hooked up to the same amp. The spec is measured in db.

Frequency response: You obviously want a subwoofer than can handle a wide range of frequencies. However, the subwoofer does the most work under 100hz. If the subwoofer plays all the way down to 20hz, you know you've got a great sub. The good news is that even if it doesn't go that low, most music doesn't either. Sooooo, you'll still be fine. I would say the it's more important to have a low-playing sub in systems with DVD players and 5.1 sound. Also, frequency response varies depending on the box that the subwoofer is installed in. Ummmm, so with this in mind, just pick a subwoofer that will handle the power, and sound how you want it to.

Cone Material: When it comes to subwoofers, this is actually a pretty important thing to pay attention to. Because subwoofers are big and powerful, you need a cone material that can withstand lots and lots of abuse. I personally am a big fan of metals such as alluminum. This is because aluminum is light and stiff, and likewise, produces very tight and musical sounding bass. I know that many subwoofer manufacturers use exotic sounding materials for their subwoofers, which makes it difficult to determine which material is the best.

Surround material: Here's my advice: Always get a subwoofer with a rubber surround. Rubber holds up the best in the auto environment.

Impedence: Measured in Ohms, this spec tells you how much resistance the speaker presents to your amp. Too much, and you get no volume, too little, and your subwoofer will fry your amp! This spec will help you decide which amp to hook up to your subwoofer, whether you want to bridge your amp, and whether you want to wire multiple subs into parallel or series. Also, subwoofers sometimes have more than one voice coil (aka DVC). This means that the subwoofer will have two inputs, each with the same impedence. Subwoofers with dual voice coils are more versatile to install, especially in multiple woofer systems.

A basic subwoofer install is fairly easy. If you buy a pre-fab sub box, mount the subs and power them, you're going to get good bass. To install professionally, and achieve the best sound, much planning and work must go into the whole process. This is a situation where if you don't feel confident in your ability to build a box, tune it, and hook it up, you should visit a car audio shop, and have them do it for you. This can be relatively cheap, or quite expensive.

If you are planning on doing the install yourself, but lack the box building skills, you can buy a pre-fab box. I would also strongly recommend an EQ device to fine tune the bass. This will help you overcome road noise (which ruins bass), and also cut back on "boominess" and "muddiness". In the end, this route is the best compromise between a custom box and a pre-fab box. You'll get great sound, and save money!

Entertainment is a good thing. It is great that technology has made it possible for us to have high quality entertainment on the go. However, I'm concerned with a certain lack of commonsense in this mobile entertainment.

Have you seen those folks who insist on giving us car audio enthusiasts a bad name? I mean those folks who drive in the neighborhood with their volumes all cranked up. And worse still, with music that contains a lot of words that we'd prefer our children never hear.

If you want to rumble in your car, I think it makes a lot of sense to go out on the highway or offraod in the countryside where you can have all the vibes you want and still not mar another person's day.

To say I love music is an understatement. However, I'd want to meditate, or take a nap, or just have some quiet in my house sometimes. We all do something else apart from play music. Let's give others some room to have a nice time doing other things other than music.

And how about DVD players and other display based incar entertainment units?

One would have thought that this does not require the law enforcement agencies for people to do what's best for them. But, painfully, it does. Is the price not too high for those who decide to use them contrary to all safety precautions?

Simple precautions like ensuring that such displays are positioned in such places where they cannot distract the driver are fair enough.

It's painful when a few bad eggs seem determined to compel lawmakers to place an outright ban on display units.

I know there are articles that show ways you can beat the law and do what you like. But if what you like makes you a nuisance or is hazardous, I guess commonsense dictates you have a rethink.

The CD has become the format of choice for hard copy music distribution. The CD displaced the record, vinyl records and the audio cassette as the dominant form of listening to recorded music.

The CD Changer All you have to do is to load all the CD's you want to listen to. One after another it will play your CD's as many times as you want. The order of selection of CDs will be done randomly or automatically depending on which button you press.

CD changers are great for those long drives especially for those who insist on having music on the preferred format. That said, mp3 compatibility has taken CD changer functionality to another level.

If burning hundreds of mp3 files downloaded from the internet onto a disc is your thing, mp3 compatible changers will give you weeks of play time without repeating a song (A disc can hold up ten hours worth of music in mp3 format).

Note this, there are CD changers that are designed to work with your factory installed radios and there are those that are made for your aftermarket radio. So do check before you buy your next CD changer.

Factory fitted CD changers are Available for all models (Alfa Romeo to VW) and allows you to retain the integrated look and functionality of your dash and standard car radio.

Aftermarket CD Changers: All leading brands are available (Alpine to VDO Dayton) in good online stores. They are ideal if you have changed your car radio or have a branded or aftermarket radio fitted.

Following are a few the CD changers in the market...

1) Denon CD Changer

This is a CD player you really need to check out. This is Denon's latest generation. It is a 5-disc CD changer featuring Burr Brown 20-bit AD converters and HDCD decoding. Other features like MP3/CD and CD-R/RW compatibility, clockwise and counterclockwise tray rotation, and an incredible signal-to-noise make it a great changer.

2) Sony CD Changer with SACD

The five-disc CD - SACD changer supports features such as, SACD/CD/CDR/CDRW playback, SACD/CD Text compatibility, remote control, optical output for CD, and 5.1 channel analog output for multi-channel SACD.

3) JVC CD Changer

It is an excellent, but reasonably priced, 5-Disc Carousel CD changer from JVC. It uses unique 1-bit error correction technology; this changer not only sounds great, but overcomes scratches and minor CD defects that can plague other players. You can also change four CDs while one is playing.

4) Pioneer CD Changer

Pioneer is known for their "magazine" style car CD changers and has incorporated this design into the PD-M426 home 6-disc home CD changer. In fact, it enables you to buy the additional CD "magazine" cartridges to organize your CD library to play both in a Pioneer car CD changer or the M426 without taking the discs out of the magazine.

There are other great brands. Just know what you're looking for and you can't go wrong.

Who doesn't just love getting into their car, cranking up the stereo, and screaming their favorite lyrics till their vocal chords bleed. We all do it. Doesn't matter, if it's a long or short drive. Even the most mild mannered of us enjoy the simple pleasure of a solo drive with your favorite tunes washing over you in your own car audio disco. In this world of constant and increasing responsibilities, information overload, bad news, and disappointment, we all need a place to escape for just a little bit. Even if I'm really just taking a mundane drive to pick up some groceries, I can be my favorite rock star till I get there. With the car stereo turned up nice and loud, I can sing at the top of my lungs, and don't actually have to hear my voice. Which of course is a good thing, as my voice isn't really meant for human consumption. Plus, it would just spoil the whole "suspension of disbelief" thing. Besides, some music just sounds better loud, through a great car audio stereo unit, backed up by great car audio speakers.

Steering Wheel By Buddy Rich

Of course, every good song blasting through the car speakers needs a good drummer. And hey I have some experience here. I was a bit of a rock star drummer during my formative years. And obviously, since I am responsible for driving the car while rocking out to the old car audio, I can't very well fit a drum kit between me and the steering wheel. Heaven forbid I get into an accident with the neighbors cat, and that crazy air bag goes off. Not a pretty picture in my brain. However, most steering wheels will substitute as a drum kit anyway. 10 and 2 o'clock on the steering wheel provide positions for both a ride and crash cymbal. The middle supporting piece makes for a great snare and tom-tom, while 4 thru 8 o'clock are my favorite position for roto-tom runs. And of course, in a pinch, the dashboard is close enough to substitute for a rockin' cowbell, or any other ancillary percussion instruments your favorite song may require.

Car Guitar Fools

While no good car audio band would be complete without some excellent guitar players, I must profess to having little talent in this area. This may be a time when it becomes necessary to have other passengers. Preferably very young or otherwise uninhibited passengers, as most reasonably minded adults look totally silly playing air guitar on their seat belt. In my mind air guitar makes anyone look like a damn fool, no matter how cool they really are. Seat belt air guitar, is even worse. I however am fortunate enough to have one such young passenger, who has no problem "air guitairing" her seat belt, with the car audio cranking. Her specialty is of course "We Are The Champions".

Taking It On The Road

And of course now our band is complete. What more do you need? A great car stereo, some thunder shaking speakers, the latest MP3 / CD / iPod plugged in, and obviously little fear of the volume switch. And yea, one more thing. An excuse to go for a drive. Any drive. After all, your screaming fans await your next performance. Don't forget the milk.

MP3 car stereos play audio CDs, CD-R/RW discs and MP3 files. MP3 car stereos can play long hours of digital music. The key features of these stereos include programmable track memory, digital anti-skip memory, and professional digital stereo headphones. These players allow you to skip, search, play, pause, and repeat. MP3 car stereos are provided with AM/FM tuners that can store a number of FM and AM stations.

The leader of in-car MP3 technology is Kenwood, so a product from this company is a safe buy. Kenwood's KRC-M4524 is a very cost-effective entry-level MP3 player. Blaupunkt and Sony are other well known manufacturers of quality MP3 car stereos. Other brands to choose from are Pioneer, JVC, Alpine, Panasonic, Philips and Sanyo.

MP3 car stereos have high quality audio and require very little space for installation. Today, MP3 car stereos have SD, USB and iPod connections to provide better services.

When buying an MP3 car stereo, there are a few points to bear in mind. The first and foremost feature one should look for is the power of the stereo. Another standard feature is a detachable front panel, which ensures the security of your stereo. Other important elements are the cost and brand. An MP3 car stereo with a high-level output and a fader is ideal. A stereo with a high-level output will allow you to adjust the relative volume of the front and rear speakers. MP3 car stereos with four channels can drive four speakers.

MP3 car stereo prices range from $120 to $750

We here at Sticky Pod want to convey our knowledge and experience of which camera makes and models work best with the Sticky Pod when attached to any car, truck, van, boat, motorcycle, airplane, RV, motorhome, trailer or any other vehicle. Some cameras work great and others, by design, will just not work very well. First let's look at cameras mounted to a vehicle.

Cameras Mounted To A Vehicle

Sticky Pod car cameras can be the smallest bullet (lipstick) cameras up to the largest Hollywood film cameras mounted to any vehicle on the planet. However, some cameras clearly perform much better than others. The first thing we want you to realize is the materials that the camera itself is made of. All cameras are made out of plastic with a metal subframe under the plastic to hold everything together. These metal subframes are the key to making a camera work well with a Sticky Pod. The first thing you should look for in any camera, is one that has a metal mounting socket. That's the screw hole that you use to attach the Sticky Pod to your camera. Almost all cameras use them, but some very small cameras do not have room for them, so please be careful what you buy. As you will see when you go out to buy a camera (or in your existing camera), many of them have a plastic mounting socket. These cameras still have a metal subframe, but the manufacturer chose to use the plastic housing to support your camera on a mount. This is the worst type of mount for use with a Sticky Pod. The plastic flexes and you cannot tighten the camera to the Sticky Pod as it will strip the threads inside the camera. Since the plastic on the camera will flex, this produces shaky, unstable video while driving, and is not the fault of the Sticky Pod, but of the camera itself. We do provide you with video instructions on how to use your Sticky Pod and we do provide some examples of what you can do to minimize the shake of a camera with a plastic mounting socket. On the other hand, there are many makes and models of cameras that use metal mounting sockets. These cameras have a mounting socket that is connected directly to the metal subframe of the camera itself. This is an excellent camera to choose for it's strength and stability when mounted to a Sticky Pod. Not only can you get a good tight fit to your Sticky Pod, but these cameras produce far more stable and usable video, photographs or film. So before you buy, be sure to compare cameras and their physical features.

What To Do Next?

If you already have a camera with a plastic mounting socket, you can still use it with a Sticky Pod, but you may find the videos or photographs to be undesirable when using your camera at high speeds on the inside or outside of any vehicle. That's not to say that you should not try or that you cannot use the camera somewhere else. Sometimes the road you're driving on is very smooth and the camera will not bounce or vibrate. Other times, you will use your Sticky Pod in a stationary environment, such as surveillance from a window in your home or office. Remember, the Sticky Pod can stay in place for several days on a window or any other smooth non-porous surface. We also provide a tether for added safety in the event something happens when you're not around, something our competitors don't even offer and they never have. That should tell you something about us. Any way you look at it, the Sticky Pod will hold your camera in more places, for a longer time, than any other camera mount on the market today. The secrets in the suction cups.

If you already have a camera with a metal mounting socket, congratulations, you have a perfect fit for any environment. This type of camera has the strength and durability for many years of use and it works great with any Sticky Pod model.

Selecting Your Car Camera

As you can see from above, the best choice is the one that meets your physical requirements. If you're never going to use a Sticky Pod in or on a car while driving, then any camera with any style of mounting socket will work. However, it's not always easy to predict the future, so we highly recommend you select a camera with a metal mounting socket. Other factors to consider relate to the environment you will be placing your camera into. For example, if you plan on capturing videos or pictures from the outside of your vehicle while racing, a very good idea, then we recommend a camera that has the following physical features:

Metal mounting socket

Small and lightweight (many cameras today can weigh less than 1 pound)

Small battery (not the extended run batteries)

Lens filter (ability to attach a lens filter to help protect the camera lens)

You should then look for the following electronic features:

Digital or electronic image stabilization (more on this below)

MiniDV video tape format (all MiniDV produce DVD quality video)

i.Link or IEEE 1394 Firewire Port (to transfer the videos or pictures to your computer)

You should avoid buying digital video cameras with hard drives or DVD recording because of their inability to record in such a hostile environment. Every time you hit a bump, the camera will likely stop recording because of the jarring motion. It's a feature that's built into the camera to protect the hard drive or DVD write head.

The short list above encompasses a vast majority of cameras on the market today. Any local store will have several choices for you to choose from. Just be sure to get a look at the bottom of the camera before you buy. Do NOT trust what the store associate tells you about your new camera. You should verify it's physical and electronic features for yourself by taking a new one out of the box and review it right there in the store.

If racing is not your style, but catching your neighbor, dead beat ex-husband (wife) or stupid criminals red handed, then the Sticky Pod is the best choice for your surveillance cameras. Let's face it, the Sticky Pod doesn't just give you a place to mount your camera, it holds your camera rock steady for crystal clear digital videos and photographs from any distance and in any lighting condition. If you happen to get caught in the act during a stake out in your car, you can take off with tires burning and never worry about your camera for even a moment. Now when it comes to surveillance, there are some great camera choices on the market today. Unlike the racing conditions above, you can use the hard drive and DVD recording cameras with excellent results. Some of these cameras can record DVD quality videos for up to 37 hours! We want you to recognize that this is a huge amount of power in your hands. The best part is, the Sticky Pod can endure for much longer than 37 hours. We have had Sticky Pods mounted to flat or curved glass for more than a week at a time. They are that good! Here are the physical features we recommend for surveillance:

Metal mounting socket (you never know when you might have to speed off, but it's not necessary)

Large camera with a high optical zoom (be sure it's an optical zoom and not a digital zoom)

Large battery or AC/DC adapter (so you can plug it in for extended record times)

You should then look for the following electronic features:

Optical, digital or electronic image stabilization (many times this is not needed, but it's nice to have)

Hard drive or DVD recording format (hard drives can record up to 37 hours!)

i.Link or IEEE 1394 Firewire Port (to transfer the videos or pictures to your computer)

Low light digital video recording (consider night vision since most crimes happen at night)

Interval recording (creates time lapse video over many hours)

In this case, you want to buy cameras with a hard drive or DVD for recording. That doesn't mean that a video tape is bad, you just want to be sure the surveillance camera fits into the scenario you're recording. For example, if you want to record your car overnight from a window in your home, then a video tape that only lasts an hour will not do you any good. However, a camera that uses video tape and has interval recording capabilities will work very well for just such a scenario. The best solution for your surveillance needs always includes a good high resolution result. After all, if the police or judge cannot see the perps face, then the video is worthless. That's why it's important to have a good optical zoom on the camera you buy. Try to zoom in on the area or person you want to catch so you can clearly make out their face in the video or pictures. This also makes for a good reason to buy a camera with night vision capabilities. Once you have the criminal on video, then you can take action by contacting the police or local law enforcement and they will have all the proof they need to bring charges. If the person committed a crime, such as urinating in public, you will not have to press any charges. Just give the police the tape and they will take it from there. Since it's a crime against the community, your job is all done after you tell them who it is and turn over the tape.

Distinguishing Camera Features

What's the difference between optical zoom and digial zoom?

Optical zoom allows the camera to capture zoom images without a loss of picture quality. Digital zoom degrades the quality of the picture the more you zoom in on the subject. It will get to the point where you cannot even see the subject. That's why digital zoom is a worthless feature on all cameras and optical zoom is what you want to focus on (excuse the pun). In night time situations, the optical zoom is the only way to capture crystal clear images from a distance. The optical zoom also works very well with the night vision.

Why is digital or electronic image stabilization better than optical for racing?

Optical image stabilization uses two lenses to stabilize a given scene you have in your viewfinder. There's a second lens behind the one you can see on the outside of the camera that moves in the opposite direction of the cameras movement. This helps maintain a clear image of the scene in your viewfinder. The problem is, the stabilizing lens floats inside the camera and cannot handle the bumps and jarring from racing or just normal driving. The digital or electronic image stabilization does degrade the picture quality, but it's so slight that it's impossible for the naked eye to see.

Why do I need an i.Link or IEEE 1394 Firewire Port (always referred to as a firewire port)?

These are all one in the same, they are just referred to by either term. Just look for either one on the camera's features. The reason you want a firewire port is because of it's ability to transfer large amounts of video in a short amount of time. Just a few minutes of video tape will take up many gigabytes of hard drive space and transferring all that video to your computer can take a long time. The firewire port can transfer up to 400 megabytes of video per second. That's faster than the tape itself can run. That's a good thing. Also be sure your computer has a firewire port to accept the video from your camera.

Which Camera Brands Make Good Sticky Pod Car Cameras?

When you're ready to buy a camera, remember your operating environment. Ask yourself a handful of questions such as; Will I be using my Sticky Pod camera for surveillance? Will I be racing my Sticky Pod car camera? Will I be driving around town stopping road rage or making an independent film? Here are some camera brands we have worked with during our video productions:

Sony PD-150 and PD-170

Sony F900

Sony HVR-Z1U

Canon XL-2

Canon Optura 50

Panasonic DVX-100B

Panasonic HVX-200

Panasonic PV-DV401

Panasonic PD-DV203

So which ones worked well and which ones failed. A failure in this case is unusable video. Our operating environment is that of mounting the camera to the outside of a vehicle and driving up to highway speeds. The optical image stabilized cameras by Canon did not perform well. If we had to give a rating, 10 being the best, we would give the Canon Optura 50 a rating of 3, and the Canon XL-2 would rate a 6. The Sony cameras listed above are also optical image stabilized and performed the best of all the cameras listed. We would rate the Sony HVR-Z1U a 7, the PD-150 and PD-170 an 8, with the Sony F900 getting a 9 out of 10! The Panasonic HVX-200 is also an OIS (Optical Image Stabilized), however we would rate it a 7 out of 10.

Sony appears to have a better grip on optical image stabilization (OIS), but all the camera manufacturers are getting better at producing cameras that handle tough environments. Don't shy away from any of them, just use them in a manner that will produce stable usable video for your video productions. All cameras have their limitations, with a minimal amount of practice, you'll be a pro in no time.

The remaining cameras in the list above all have Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS), and provide a great picture under all operating environments. We would rate them an 8 out of 10 for the smaller cameras and a 9 out of 10 for the Panasonic DVX-100B.

Car Camera Summary

The first thing to consider when buying your car camera is what you want to do with it. Of course, we want you to buy a Sticky Pod with it and we hope this page helps you discover what works best for you. We're asking you to buy the Sticky Pod model that fits your scenario. So who buys Sticky Pods anyway? To see the customers and testimonials, be sure to visit our customers page.

The following is a list of Sticky Pod owners:

Independent Film Makers

Video Production Companies (mostly for the car, truck and corporate commercials you see on TV)

Research Organizations

Corporate Video Trainers

SCCA Racers

Drifting Racers

Police Officers

Private Investigators

Insurance Fraud Investigators

Scorned Women

People tired of road rage (they stick it on their trunk and point backwards)

Amateur Video Hobbyists

People taking vacations in their favorite car, truck, van, boat, RV, motorhome or trailer

Students taking video courses in school

Kids that make videos instead of playing video games

Bird watchers (nature watching)

Helicopter pilots

Airplane pilots

Military combat photographers (let the Sticky Pod get the shot in a fire fight)

Military battle commanders (Sticky Pod's are all metal and bullet proof, better they get shot than you)

Law firms (recreate accident scenes and verify drive times on camera)

The list goes on and on, and we find out more and more every day about our customers. We always encourage you to tell us about yourself and your adventures. Just send us some pictures of your Sticky Pod in the manner you use it and we will create a link back to your website and post your comments. Of course, Sticky Pod owners get to use our video gallery to upload videos and pictures.

Many thanks for your time and we look forward to seeing you real soon.

Car Cover. This is one of the most popular auto accessories, especially for those who do not own a garage or carport. A car cover can protect an automobile from inclement weather and even from the occasional flyover of a bird. However, when purchasing a car cover, be sure to read the instructions carefully to avoid damaging the car or having the paint peel off from an improper application.

Seat Cover. One of the most popular auto accessories for your car’s interior is a seat cover. They can help to protect your car’s original seats from stains, cigarette burns, tears, etc.

Steering Wheel Cover. This product, which is designed to provide improved grip on your steering wheel, is created to help your interior in a number of ways. If you purchase a cloth steering wheel cover, it will protect your hands from grabbing an otherwise hot steering wheel after your car has been sitting in the sun. Additionally, a steering wheel cover is one of the more popular auto accessories because it helps to protect the steering wheel from scratches.

Floor Mats. Every automobile is susceptible to dirt, mud and anything else on the bottom of our shoes. In an effort to keep the floor clean, mats are ideal auto accessories.

Handheld Vacuum. Not commonly thought of as auto accessories, handheld vacuums are essential to keeping your interior clean. These handy little gadgets are ideal for cleaning seats and the floor of your car.

Hands-free Cell Phone Connector. Although it is not recommended that anyone drive while talking on the cell phone, there are often emergency situations or calls that need to be addressed and this is why a hands-free cell phone connector is one of the best auto accessories that you could have. Rather than shuffling for the phone, using a hands-free connector is much more convenient and will not distract you from driving.

Cell Phone Charger. This is one of the essential auto accessories if you own a cell phone. A cell phone charger connects to your phone and also to the cigarette lighter in order to recharge your cell phone’s battery. If you happen to encounter car trouble on the highway only to find that your cell phone battery is empty, you will be glad to have this handy little device to give you instant use of your cell phone.

Emergency Battery Charger. Owning one of these auto accessories could be one of the smartest purchases you make. They are charged at home using a regular outlet, then placed in your car. If your car’s battery runs down, you are out of luck unless you have an emergency charger. These will help get you back on the road quickly and without the help of a tow truck.

Child safety seat. If you have a child, the proper safety seat is a must-have for traveling. While you are on the go, you want the little one to be safe right along with you. A child safety seat is one of the best auto accessories in existence for both you and especially your child.

Harness seatbelt for your pet. If you have to take your pet to the veterinarian or on a road trip, but have difficulty finding a travel crate large enough to fit him/her, a harness-style seatbelt for your pet will be ideal for keeping your pet in the seat and will prevent it from wondering aimlessly throughout the automobile. This can be both distracting and dangerous to the driver and other pedestrians on the road.

Subwoofers. The bass. The loudness. The glory. The most obnoxious component in your system, and also, one of the most necessary.

If you've read my article about speakers, you're up to speed. If you haven't (and don't know anything about speakers or subwoofers), read it here.

Subwoofers reproduce the lowest frequencies of the audio spectrum, AKA bass. They are essential to both SQ and SPL systems, but for different reasons. Let's take a look now...

For SQ systems: Effectively reproduce the lowest frequencies making the music sound full and powerful. Instruments that play lower frequencies such as organs, drums and synthesizers will sound more realistic and powerful with a subwoofer installed.

For SPL systems: Because subwoofers are loud, they are the preferred speaker to make a whole lotta noise.

Also, because our ears are less sensitive to lower frequencies we need the extra bass for the system to sound balanced.

So, what do I have to look for to find a great woofer? I'll tell you!

Power Handling:

Just like with every other part in a stereo system, power handling is important for subwoofers as well. Earlier, in my article about speakers, I talked about how you can send more power to them to increase their volume, but decrease the distortion. The same is true of subwoofers, but be careful! Since lower frequency distortion is harder to perceive, it's easy to overdo it, and blow your subwoofers. Anyway, with that said, it is smart to buy an amp that can put out exactly what your subwoofers are designed to take, but take it easy!

Size:

Subwoofers come in many sizes, but the most common are 8", 10", 12", and 15". This is probably also noted in metric for the european brands. As you can imagine, the bigger woofers are the ones that will play louder and play lower. Of course, the smaller ones are more musical, more precise, and sound "tighter". What size you decide on usually has to do with your own preferences, as well as installation considerations. Remember! 18" subwoofers don't just fit anywhere!

Voice coil info:

SVC: Single voice coil

This means that the speaker has only one voice coil. In other words, only one input.

DVC: Dual voice coil

This means that the speaker has two voice coils, or two inputs.

Ummmmmmm, ok. Why does it matter?

I could go into details here, but I know you don't really care. Basically, it boils down to this: With a DVC subwoofer, there are more installation options. Look at it this way, a DVC "looks" like two subwoofers to your amplifier. With some nifty wiring tricks (called series and parallel), you can hook up many subwoofers to a single amp--even if the amp is a "mono" or a two channel amp. In addition, you can manipulate how many ohms the amp has to push. If you have an amp that is stable to a half ohm (like some old school Orion HCCA amps), you could potentially hook up 4-8 woofers to a single channel! Imagine the noise you could make!

Some words about boxes:

Boxes are essential to most subwoofers. In other words, consider a subwoofer's box just as important as the subwoofer itself. Why? Because most subwoofers need a box to operate properly, sound good, and not damage themselves. Subwoofers that don't need a box are called "free air" or "infinite baffle" subwoofers.

Like I said, most subwoofers need a box. So, let's talk about boxes!

First, what types of boxes are there?

Sealed: The simplest kind. Essentially, a sealed box is a box where the inside and outside are not linked. There are no holes, and care is taken to ensure that the box is completely sealed.

Ported: A ported box is a subwoofer box with at least one hole, or "port" in it. The goal of the ported box is to emphasize a certain frequency. These boxes are used because they are often louder than sealed boxes.

Bandpass: A bandpass box is similar to a ported box because it has ports; however, the bandpass box tries to de-emphasize certain frequencies, while emphasizing others. In other words, it works like a bandpass crossover. The bandpass box emphasizes a frequency band while de-emphasizing frequencies lower than and higher than the band.

Isobarik: These boxes aim to fit more than one subwoofer into a small box. The subwoofers are set up to work in tandem. Sometimes both subs move in the same direction at the same time, sometimes one sub pulls while the other pushes. There are advantages to this type of setup, but box design is difficult.

OK, so now you know everything about SUBZ, but here are the specs that you'll need to know to choose your subwoofer:

Power Handling: Subs are speakers, and as such can only handle so much power (or distortion) before they blow! Power handling is measured in watts, and is often given in two specifications: RMS and Max (or peak). The RMS rating is the most important. If a sub says it can handle 200 watts RMS and 400 watts Max, be sure the amp will provide 200 watts RMS as well. Not 400 watts RMS. While it's true that the sub can handle 400 watts, it can only handle that kind of power for a short time. If you hook that sub up to an amp that puts out 400 watts RMS, you will ruin that speaker pretty quickly--because it is constantly being exposed to 400 watts, not short bursts of 400 watts. You dig? Good.

Sensitivity: This term means exactly what you think it means. In short, a subwoofer with higher sensitivty will be louder than a subwoofer with lower sensitivty when they are hooked up to the same amp. The spec is measured in db.

Frequency response: You obviously want a subwoofer than can handle a wide range of frequencies. However, the subwoofer does the most work under 100hz. If the subwoofer plays all the way down to 20hz, you know you've got a great sub. The good news is that even if it doesn't go that low, most music doesn't either. Sooooo, you'll still be fine. I would say the it's more important to have a low-playing sub in systems with DVD players and 5.1 sound. Also, frequency response varies depending on the box that the subwoofer is installed in. Ummmm, so with this in mind, just pick a subwoofer that will handle the power, and sound how you want it to.

Cone Material: When it comes to subwoofers, this is actually a pretty important thing to pay attention to. Because subwoofers are big and powerful, you need a cone material that can withstand lots and lots of abuse. I personally am a big fan of metals such as alluminum. This is because aluminum is light and stiff, and likewise, produces very tight and musical sounding bass. I know that many subwoofer manufacturers use exotic sounding materials for their subwoofers, which makes it difficult to determine which material is the best.

Surround material: Here's my advice: Always get a subwoofer with a rubber surround. Rubber holds up the best in the auto environment.

Impedence: Measured in Ohms, this spec tells you how much resistance the speaker presents to your amp. Too much, and you get no volume, too little, and your subwoofer will fry your amp! This spec will help you decide which amp to hook up to your subwoofer, whether you want to bridge your amp, and whether you want to wire multiple subs into parallel or series. Also, subwoofers sometimes have more than one voice coil (aka DVC). This means that the subwoofer will have two inputs, each with the same impedence. Subwoofers with dual voice coils are more versatile to install, especially in multiple woofer systems.

A basic subwoofer install is fairly easy. If you buy a pre-fab sub box, mount the subs and power them, you're going to get good bass. To install professionally, and achieve the best sound, much planning and work must go into the whole process. This is a situation where if you don't feel confident in your ability to build a box, tune it, and hook it up, you should visit a car audio shop, and have them do it for you. This can be relatively cheap, or quite expensive.

If you are planning on doing the install yourself, but lack the box building skills, you can buy a pre-fab box. I would also strongly recommend an EQ device to fine tune the bass. This will help you overcome road noise (which ruins bass), and also cut back on "boominess" and "muddiness". In the end, this route is the best compromise between a custom box and a pre-fab box. You'll get great sound, and save money!

Entertainment is a good thing. It is great that technology has made it possible for us to have high quality entertainment on the go. However, I'm concerned with a certain lack of commonsense in this mobile entertainment.

Have you seen those folks who insist on giving us car audio enthusiasts a bad name? I mean those folks who drive in the neighborhood with their volumes all cranked up. And worse still, with music that contains a lot of words that we'd prefer our children never hear.

If you want to rumble in your car, I think it makes a lot of sense to go out on the highway or offraod in the countryside where you can have all the vibes you want and still not mar another person's day.

To say I love music is an understatement. However, I'd want to meditate, or take a nap, or just have some quiet in my house sometimes. We all do something else apart from play music. Let's give others some room to have a nice time doing other things other than music.

And how about DVD players and other display based incar entertainment units?

One would have thought that this does not require the law enforcement agencies for people to do what's best for them. But, painfully, it does. Is the price not too high for those who decide to use them contrary to all safety precautions?

Simple precautions like ensuring that such displays are positioned in such places where they cannot distract the driver are fair enough.

It's painful when a few bad eggs seem determined to compel lawmakers to place an outright ban on display units.

I know there are articles that show ways you can beat the law and do what you like. But if what you like makes you a nuisance or is hazardous, I guess commonsense dictates you have a rethink.