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Car Audio

Product Spotlight: Rockford Fosgate P1-1X12

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Rockford Fosgate P1-1X12

Picking a subwoofer system for your car or SUV should be easy, right? If you’re looking at products from Rockford Fosgate, the answer is yes. With three series of amplifiers, subwoofers and enclosures to choose from, they have a solution for every budget and performance level. In this spotlight, we check out the Punch Series P1-1X12 12-inch single-voice-coil vented enclosure.

Design Elements of the Rockford Fosgate P1-1X12

The P1-1X12 is a bass reflex (vented) subwoofer enclosure loaded with a single 12-inch P1S4-12 four-ohm subwoofer. The woofer and rectangular vent face forward on the enclosure, so you don’t have to worry about the proximity of vehicle trim panels changing the tuning frequency. This is an issue that enclosures with vents on the sides can suffer from.

Rockford Fosgate P1-1X12
The wedge design of the P1-1X12 makes the best use of the available space in your car or SUV.

Rockford Fosgate includes a trim panel for the enclosure’s front panel that serves three purposes. First, it features a mesh grille over the vent, which prevents your friends from putting candy wrappers in there. In our experience, it also keeps kids from putting their Hot Wheels cars in. Second, the trim piece’s tapered shape works as a radius at the vent opening to reduce wind chuffing and distortion. Finally, the trim piece’s matte finish and Diamond-R logo look cool.

The enclosure is finished in a durable, high-density black “trunk liner”-style carpet that blends with most vehicle interiors.

Rockford Fosgate offers the P1G-12 mesh grille as an upgrade. Adding the grille is a wise choice if you carry cargo in the trunk. The woofer cone slapping into your groceries or sports equipment is a surefire way to cause damage.

P1-1X12 Subwoofer Enclosure Specifications

The Rockford Fosgate P1-1X12 enclosure measures 19.125 inches wide, 15.125 inches tall and 15.75 inches deep at the bottom. Its angled back panel fits tight against the seatbacks in your car or SUV. Wedge-style enclosures can save you several inches of storage space compared to enclosures with vertical back panels. This type of enclosure is more complicated to design and manufacture, but it’s a worthwhile investment in maximizing the usable space in your vehicle.

Rockford Fosgate P1-1X12
Rockford Fosgate P1-1X12 Dimensions.

The enclosure is constructed from 5/8-inch MDF to balance weight and panel rigidity. Speaking of weight, the enclosure comes in at just under 40 pounds.

The P1S4-12 subwoofer has a single four-ohm voice coil rated for 250 watts continuous or 500 watts maximum. This makes the enclosure ideal for use with two- and four-channel amps in a bridged configuration. A solution like the P400X4 would be perfect, as it produces up to 200 watts from a pair of bridged channels. You can use the other pair of channels to power a set of component speakers in the front of the vehicle.

Electrical connections are handled by a custom-tooled terminal cup on the left side of the enclosure. The cup accepts 10-AWG speaker wire and features spring-loaded terminals to ensure a solid connection.

Rockford Fosgate P1-1X12
The design of the P1-1X12 balances extension and output to deliver great bass.

Punch Loaded Subwoofer Enclosure Family

Rockford Fosgate offers a complete line of subwoofer enclosures in the Punch family. There’s a single 10-inch version of this enclosure called the P1-1X10 and larger models with dual 12- and 10-inch subwoofers called the P1-2X12 and P1-2X10. If you want a solution that will play louder, then the P3-1X12 with a Punch P3 subwoofer rated at 600 watts continuous is an option. There are also P2- and P3-level dual subwoofer enclosures available. Your dealer can help you choose a model that fits your vehicle, performance goals and budget.

Upgrade Your Car Audio System with Rockford Fosgate Today!

We’ve said it dozens of times, but it bears repeating. The first and best upgrade you can make to your car stereo system is to add an aftermarket subwoofer. This applies even to higher-end factory-installed systems, as few will dedicate enough space to getting that deep, impactful bass that car audio fanatics expect.

When it’s time to bring your car audio system to life, visit a local authorized Rockford Fosgate retailer and ask about Punch Series loaded subwoofer enclosure solutions like this P1-1X12 and its counterparts. You can find an authorized retailer by visiting their website and using the locator tool. Be sure to check out Rockford Fosgate on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to stay up to date with their latest product releases and the events they attend.

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.

Product Spotlight: Rockford Fosgate R165X3

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Rockford Fosgate R165X3

Whether you enjoy background music while commuting to work or are serious about your car audio system offering studio-quality or concert-level performance, Rockford Fosgate has speakers, amplifiers, and subwoofer solutions for every application. The Prime series products are the most affordable offerings and include trickle-down tech from their industry-leading Punch and Power series. In this spotlight, we are going to look at the Prime Series replacement speakers, particularly the R165X3 6.5-inch set.

Rockford Fosgate R165X3 Design

The R165X3 is a three-way coaxial speaker with a vacuum-formed polypropylene woofer cone and a rubber surround. Rubber surrounds last much longer than foam and are usually not found on speakers at this price point, so you can expect many years of enjoyment from the set. Each driver features a silk-dome midrange and a silk-dome tweeter, whereas most speakers use polyetherimide (PEI) plastic dome tweeters at this price point. The mass of the textile domes typically allows the drivers to play lower, so the R165X3 will be less directional in the upper midrange while still offering excellent coverage thanks to the compact tweeter.

The drivers feature Rockford Fosgate’s Integrated Concealed Crossover (ICC) design. This design choice mounts the crossover parts to the stamped steel basket to save time during installation.

The R165X3 set includes a set of metal mesh grilles for applications where you are surface-mounting the speakers.

Rockford Fosgate R165X3
The R165X3 set includes a pair of 6.5-inch speakers, grilles and mounting hardware.

Mounting Options

One of the challenges of upgrading speakers is finding a driver that fits your application. The R165X3 speakers require only 2.15 inches of mounting depth. The tweeter post protrudes from the driver’s front side, but this keeps the factory grille away from the woofer surround. The total protrusion from the mounting surface is 0.44 inches.

Rockford Fosgate also provided every common screw pattern in the mounting flange. There are 22 holes, which sets a record for any 6.5-inch speaker we’ve come across.

Rockford Fosgate R165X3
Each R165X3 speaker includes 22 mounting holes to ensure installation in your vehicle is efficient and reliable.

Driver Specifications

The R165X3 set is rated to handle 45 watts of power continuously with a maximum power rating of 90 watts. Sensitivity is rated at an impressive 91 dB when measured with one watt of power at a distance of one meter. The frequency response is 52 hertz to 20 kHz. All the driver specifications comply with the ANSI/CTA-2031 standard for car audio speakers. The woofer Xmax is 1.9 millimeters in each direction. Rockford Fosgate typically uses an Xmax specification where the driver reaches 10% total harmonic distortion. So, while the number might seem lower than competing products, these are raw laboratory measurements that reflect real-world performance.

The woofer features a one-inch diameter voice coil and a winding with a nominal impedance of four ohms. Regarding Thiele and Small electromechanical parameters, the woofer has a resonant frequency (Fs) of 69 Hz, an equivalent compliance of 12.9 liters, and a Qts of 0.75. These numbers indicate the driver is designed for an infinite baffle application like you’d find in a typical car door or the rear parcel shelf of a sedan.

Rockford Fosgate R165X3
Rockford Fosgate R165X3 dimensions.

Prime Series Speaker Family

The R165X3 is just one of seven speakers in the Prime coaxial family. The solutions include 4-inch, 5.25-inch, and 6.75-inch two-way coaxial speakers, two-way 5×7 and 6×9 speakers, and a three-way 6×9 speaker.

All are designed to offer great efficiency and power handling. This makes them ideal for use with aftermarket radios or basic factory-installed units that produce roughly 20 watts per channel. You can also extract even more performance and enjoyment by using the drivers with an external power amplifier.

Upgrade Your Speakers Today!

If you want an affordable 6.5-inch car audio speaker with great efficiency and clarity, drop into a local authorized Rockford Fosgate retailer and ask to audition the R165X3 set. We think you’ll be impressed. You can find an authorized retailer by visiting their website and using the locator tool.

Be sure to check out their Facebook, Instagram and YouTube feeds and channel to stay up to date with their latest product releases.

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.

Is Replacing My Radio the Best Way to Increase Sound Quality?

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Increase Sound QualitySince the late ’80s, the car audio industry has experienced incredible levels of growth. New technology and features have expanded our opportunities to increase sound quality and enhance entertainment. What hasn’t changed are the core building blocks of how sound systems are designed.

Every system starts with a source. We call this the head unit, source unit or radio. In more than 99.9% of vehicles, the source unit includes an AM/FM receiver, along with a CD player or USB port to play digital media files like MP3, WMA, AAC and FLAC files. The source unit also typically contains the volume control for the system.

It used to be that a new source unit was the first component that would be upgraded on the path to improving the sound system in a vehicle. From the perspective of a quality improvement, this is becoming less and less common. Read on to find out about the benefits and limitations of replacing the factory radio in your vehicle.

Can I Make the Switch?

Increase Sound QualityLook at a vehicle like a BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz or even a Mazda. Their radios are not stand-alone units at all. The Mazda 3 is an excellent example of a modern distributed source unit. There is a screen on the dash, a CD mechanism below the climate controls and a control panel in the center console. None of these components matches any size standard for an aftermarket radio. If you want to upgrade the sound system in this vehicle, you will not be buying a new radio.

Thankfully, this radio has most of the features that people want. CD, MP3, SiriusXM, an auxiliary input and Bluetooth audio streaming are readily available signal sources. The system includes hands-free calling and a built-in GPS-based navigation system.

Sadly, though, the system does not include Apple CarPlay or Android Auto smartphone integration.

Can We Integrate?

Increase Sound Quality
Processors like the Audison BitOne allow for tuning flexibility.

If we want to upgrade the sound system, a mobile enhancement retailer can connect an amplifier and new speakers to the signal coming out of the radio. With some fine-tuning and a well-executed speaker installation, the quality of the system will improve. You will also be able to turn your music up louder.

If you want to take things to the next step, then add a digital signal processor (DSP) to give your installer all the tools required to flatten any peaks or dips in the system’s frequency response and adjust for different path lengths between the listening position and your speakers.

The Sound Quality Upgrade Path

Let’s look at another popular compact car: the Subaru Impreza. Subaru manufactures durable, reliable vehicles, but their sound systems are not at the forefront of technology. In fact, several models of the Impreza are begging for sound system upgrades. Luckily, improving the sound systems in these vehicles is easy. Let’s look at what’s lacking and how to fix it.

Add Bass, More Power and New Speakers

The recipe for improving the performance of an audio system does not vary much from vehicle to vehicle. The first step most retailers will recommend is to add an amplifier and a subwoofer. Adding a subwoofer will not only bring more bass to the system to make it sound more lifelike, but alleviates the need for the smaller speakers and factory amplifier to try to reproduce those frequencies. The result: Everything sounds better.

Increase Sound Quality
The JL Audio RD 5-channel amplifier can power an entire system.

The next step is to add more power to the factory speakers with an amplifier. Many people will combine the addition of a subwoofer with a multichannel amplifier that can power the factory speakers at the same time. Five-channel amplifiers are an excellent choice for a single, easy-to-install upgrade. Multichannel amplifiers have built-in crossovers that will eliminate bass information from the smaller speakers, so they sound better.

The last step in upgrading the sound system is to replace the factory speakers. Now, if you have listened to a factory Subaru stereo, this might be your first step. There is no right or wrong when it comes to the upgrade path you take. Keep reading to find out why we often leave this step to the end.

We often suggest upgrading the speakers last because high-end speakers aren’t typically as efficient as the cheap speakers that come from the factory. New speakers provide smoother frequency response and much less distortion, and can handle a lot more power and play louder. When connected to a factory radio, there isn’t have enough power to experience all of the benefits of the new speakers. A speaker will only play loud when it is driven with adequate power.

Wait – What about the Radio?

You will notice that nowhere in the upgrade path did we suggest replacing the radio. The factory Impreza radio has a reasonable feature set and provides perfectly flat frequency response that we can use to improve your system. When looking at the goal of improving the sound quality of the system, the source unit is the last thing to change (unless you want to add high-resolution audio playback).

I Want More Features!

Increase Sound QualityWe touched on Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. These technologies, along with Siri Eyes Free, FLAC file playback, Pandora and much more, are great reasons to upgrade a factory radio. However, these are not specifically performance improvements – they are feature enhancements. We could nit-pick about FLAC files sounding better (in a future article, we will analyze high-resolution audio in great detail.) If you want better sound, all the other upgrades offer a larger increase in performance for your investment than an aftermarket source unit.

Experience Better Sound

When it comes time to upgrade the sound system in your vehicle, visit your local specialty mobile electronics retailer. Let them know what your goals are for the system and work with them to design something that meets your expectations and your budget. Following our suggested upgrade process can yield impressive improvements with a reasonable investment at each step. Each upgrade will produce immediately audible benefits.

Have fun improving your mobile sound system!

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.

Product Spotlight: Rockford Fosgate PP4-NT

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Rockford Fosgate PP4-NT

Not long ago, we took a look at the impressive PPS4-10 10-inch Punch Pro midrange drivers from Rockford Fosgate. While they are great for keeping up with a trunk full of subwoofers, what works in terms of reproducing those high frequencies? This spotlight focuses on the Rockford Fosgate PP4-NT Punch Pro tweeter. Let’s check it out!

Rockford Fosgate PP4-NT Specifications

The PP4-NT is a one-inch diameter aluminum dome horn tweeter designed for SPL systems. The tweeter is rated to handle 50 watts of power continuously and 100 watts maximum. The driver has a nominal impedance of four ohms and has an incredible efficiency rating of 105 dB SPL when powered with one watt and measured at a distance of one meter.

The Rockford Fosgate PP4-NT tweeters are sold individually. So, if you need a pair, then you have to buy two of them.

Rockford Fosgate PP4-NT
The raw PP4-NT Tweeter (left), with the mounting flange (center) and with the through-panel clamp (right).

Punch Pro Tweeter Features

As mentioned, the PP4-NT is based around an aluminum diaphragm and is powered by a compact neodymium magnet. The voice coil is formed from high-temperature Nomex to help ensure reliability. This is all housed in an aluminum chassis that improves heat extraction from the voice coil assembly. To increase efficiency, the tweeter uses a horn design with a pointed phase plug.

Electrical connections are handled by a pair of spring-loaded chrome terminals on the bottom of the housing. The terminals are designed to allow wires to be inserted from underneath the tweeter, preventing wires from protruding and increasing the overall size.

Rockford Fosgate PP4-NT
Electrical connections are made using a pair of spring-loaded terminals on the bottom cap.

SPL Tweeter Mounting Options

Rockford Fosgate includes two mounting solutions for the PP4-NT. If space is at a premium, then the compact outer trim ring will screw down into the body and clamp over materials up to 0.35 inches thick. Your installation technician will need access to the back of the mounting location to complete this installation.

Alternatively, the tweeter can be flush mounted through a 2.52-inch hole using the provided removable mounting flange.

With the compact mounting ring, the tweeter body is 2.52 inches in diameter and the ring is 2.09 inches across. The surface mounting ring measures 3.64 inches across.

Rockford Fosgate PP4-NT
The included mounting flange allows the tweeter to be surface-mounted.
Rockford Fosgate PP4-NT
Mounting dimensions for the two installation options.

Crossover Options

The PP4-NT includes a built-in 6dB/octave 4kHz crossover. This is equivalent to using a four-microfarad capacitor wired in series with the voice coil. You can also use the tweeter with the PP4-X Punch Pro passive crossovers. The crossovers are designed to apply a 3 kHz low-pass filter to whatever four-ohm Punch Pro midrange you choose. They also add 0, -3 and -6 dB output attenuation options for the tweeters. If you don’t have a DSP and amplifier channels dedicated to the tweeters, then the PPS-X crossovers are a wise investment.

Rockford Fosgate PP4-NT
The optional Punch Pro passive crossover networks add output attenuation options to the PP4-NT installation.

Louder Than Loud for Music Fanatics

If you are working on building a car audio system designed to play music at rock concert levels, visit a local authorized Rockford Fosgate retailer and ask about the PP4-NT tweeters and the rest of the Punch Pro line.

You can find a local authorized Rockford Fosgate retailer at their Dealer Locator. Be sure to follow Rockford Fosgate on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to learn about their new products and the amazing events they attend each year.

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.

Car Audio System Setup

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System SetupIt may seem as if they should be similar processes, but installing a new source unit, amplifiers and speakers in a car is unlike installing most home audio systems. It is not as simple as plugging things in and hoping they work. Proper integration of your new electronics into modern vehicles and their wiring is getting more and more complicated as complex factory sound systems become more involved. One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the need to configure the equipment you have selected. Your installer will include this setup time in the cost to install your system. What does system setup and configuration involve? Read on to find out.

Signal-level Adjustments

System SetupWhen it comes to adding an amplifier to your vehicle, the most significant adjustment your installer will make is to adjust the amplifier’s sensitivity or gain control. Amplifiers have these controls so they can be compatible with a variety of different source units with different maximum output voltages.

Amplifiers are relatively simple devices in concept. They take an audio signal from your source unit and increase its voltage so it can drive a speaker. A 100 watt amplifier has to be able to increase a 1 volt signal more than a 4 volt signal to reach the 20 volts required to produce 100 watts into a 4 ohm speaker. The gain or sensitivity control lets us adjust for almost any source unit voltage.

Why Sensitivity Adjustments are Important

If the sensitivity of the amplifier is set too low, you will not be able to get the full power of your amplifier. If it is set too high, then you can drive the amplifier into distortion quite quickly. Too much “gain” can also add noise to the system in the form of hiss. A little extra is OK to allow quiet recordings to be played loudly, but too much is a surefire sign that whoever set up the system did not fully understand gain structure.

System Setup Tools

System Setup
The SMD DD1+ allows for precision gain structure setup.

Different shops use different techniques to set gains on amplifiers. Some use an oscilloscope along with a set of test tones. Others use distortion detection devices like the SMD DD-1 or DD-1+. Finally, some installers are quite adept at setting up systems by ear, but that comes with years and years of experience.

As long as the system plays loudly without significant noise or distortion, the settings can be considered correct. If the system runs out of power at half-volume, then it needs some more adjustments.

Crossover Adjustments

There are two main advantages of adding a subwoofer to an audio system. A subwoofer provides more bass output than a typical set of door speakers could ever hope to produce. The secondary benefit is to relieve the small speakers of their requirement to try to produce bass. This reduction in bass reduces the distance the speaker cones have to move and directly reduces the potential for distortion. Midrange frequencies can be reproduced with improved clarity and at higher levels.

Tying this back to system tuning, how we set the crossovers built into your amplifier is crucial to ensuring that the output of your system blends perfectly between the midrange speakers and the subwoofer. If the crossover points overlap, there can be too much midbass, and the system will sound boomy or “honky.” If the crossover points underlap, the system probably won’t have enough midbass and will sound very dry and flat; the subwoofer can also sound “separated” from the system, reducing the coherence and realism of your music.

Speaker Polarity Adjustments

System Setup
A dip in response at the crossover point can indicate a polarity problem.

Because each vehicle is different, sometimes the direction a speaker faces requires that we wire it in reverse polarity for the output to combine properly from an acoustical standpoint. This requirement is very common with subwoofers, since they are often pointed in the opposite direction from the smaller interior speakers. Properly trained and equipped installers know how to measure the frequency response of a system and correct for that. In most cases, an audio analyzer is the best choice for setting up a system. These can be stand-alone units from companies like AudioControl and NTI or software-based solutions that work with a laptop, netbook or tablet.

Left-to-right speaker polarity, and the polarity between midrange drivers and tweeters, depends on placement and crossover slopes. These regions deserve analysis before a car leaves the install bay.

Leave It to the Experts

A properly tuned sound system will play louder, last longer and be much more enjoyable to listen to. As you can see from even from this overview, the tools and training required to maximize the performance of even a simple mobile sound system can be expensive and complicated. The staff at your local mobile enhancement retailer should be familiar with these processes and employ them on each installation they perform. Confirming this is part of your process in selecting a retailer that is qualified to work on your vehicle.

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.