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Building Your First Car Audio System? Watch This Before You Buy Anything

Breakers Stereo & Performance

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Building your first car audio system can get confusing fast. One person tells you that you need two 12s, someone else says one good 12 is better, and before long you’re trying to figure out amplifiers, RMS power, impedance, wiring, boxes, and a bunch of other stuff you’ve never dealt with before.

In Episode 1 of our **Car Audio Beginner Series**, we’re breaking it down and showing you the **3 things you need to understand before buying anything**.

We’ll cover:

How to figure out what you actually want to improve
Why your subwoofer, enclosure, and amplifier need to be matched together
Why RMS power and impedance matter more than the big wattage number on the box
Sealed vs. ported enclosures
Why proper wiring and installation matter
Why your amplifier gain is NOT a volume knob
What we would recommend for a simple first car audio system

If you’re completely new to aftermarket car audio, this series is designed to help you understand the basics without making it overly complicated — and hopefully keep you from wasting money on equipment that doesn’t work well together.

*Next episode:* How to choose your first subwoofer — 10" vs. 12", one sub vs. two, sealed vs. ported, and how much power you actually need.

Subscribe to follow the **Car Audio Beginner Series**, and leave your biggest car audio question in the comments. We may answer it in an upcoming episode.

#CarAudio #CarAudioForBeginners #CarStereo #Subwoofer #CarAudioSystem #Amplifier #CarAudioInstallation #BreakersStereo

11 Comments

@gregblau8082 1 month ago

Great advice for a beginner. It's easy for someone to watch a few reviews and start buying stuff without understanding these things

@TonyHookedonVanlife 1 month ago

I am happy to hear you say the one sentence that is sooooo important & you almost NEVER hear when discussing upgrading/building a car audio system, and it is THE most overlooked, as a result - "what kind of music do you listen to?" Most car audio build videos are geared toward maximum bass, rap, hip-hop, sheer loudness, etc... but what if you primarily listen to heavy metal, like me? Those type systems will be very disappointing. The big flubby bass suited for hip-hop can't keep up with the super-tight double-kick drum of an Exodus or Kreator song. You need that mid-range clarity where the guitar lives in the sonic spectrum. YOUR tyoe of music is, in my opinion, THE starting point from which all other product decisions are to be made.

@rickhoneycutt6010 1 month ago

I think it would be a good series to do under the seat truck enclosures and 8 inch woofers

@JamesHaumate-Mika-r6d 1 day ago (edited)

I have a 2014 Toyotahighlander looking for a 10 inch subwoofer to pair with my kicker cxa 800.1 looking for sound quality i have sealed box

@wheelstandr 1 month ago

Putting a head unit in today and was looking for sub options for an 8th gen Honda Accord. I don’t have a clue.

@john-paulhuber4892 1 month ago

I have no idea what I want. I do want… something that sounds better than what I have… something that doesn’t break the bank… compact for ‘68 corvette convertible…

@brentmorgan6756 1 month ago

My first system was in the early 90's. It was an audiovox pullout cassette deck, Kenwood 622 with a 10" bazooka tube, and pioneer speakers. It sounded pretty damn good for my first system.

@EdsonBarron 1 month ago

I love my model 3 kit from you guys, once you release a Cybertruck kit I’ll be first in line

@nickcruzking3574 1 month ago

I bought a 2023 Frontier with the fender audio system and it was amazing just the right amount of bass not too overwhelming the other speakers can feel it but don’t have the truck rattling and I lost it in an accident damn deer (still salty), and have been trying to replicate ever since that’s what I want lol it’s been a year of trying I’m about to call Panasonic have them install it in my vehicle.