Upgrading your radio is one of the best ways to modernize your interior. Features such as Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and improved audio fidelity are just a few of the many reasons to upgrade.
Think of the alternator like the heart of your electrical system. The alternator is responsible for charging your vehicles batteries and supplies current to power vital factory electronics and aftermarket components such as amplifiers.
The battery is responsible for powering your electrical system when the vehicle isn’t running and acts as a power reserve allowing for near immediate current discharge when a large electrical draw is demanded.
A speaker’s job is to truly reproduce the source audio signal (your music). Upgrading these is essential for listening to your favorite music the way it was intended.
Digital Signal Processors (DSP) allow for advanced equalization tuning, time alignment, and many other features to optimize the frequency response, imaging and staging of your sound system.
Sound deadening can drastically improve the comfort of your ride by reducing road noise. Additionally, sound treatment will reduce vibrations and reflections to maximize the sound quality of your audio system.
Subwoofers play a vital role in reproducing the lowest octaves present in recordings. These low frequencies can add a sense of depth and emotion that needs to be experienced to truly comprehend.
Upgrading your radio is one of the best ways to modernize your interior. Features such as Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and improved audio fidelity are just a few of the many reasons to upgrade.
Think of the alternator like the heart of your electrical system. The alternator is responsible for charging your vehicles batteries and supplies current to power vital factory electronics and aftermarket components such as amplifiers.
The battery is responsible for powering your electrical system when the vehicle isn’t running and acts as a power reserve allowing for near immediate current discharge when a large electrical draw is demanded.
A speaker’s job is to truly reproduce the source audio signal (your music). Upgrading these is essential for listening to your favorite music the way it was intended.
Digital Signal Processors (DSP) allow for advanced equalization tuning, time alignment, and many other features to optimize the frequency response, imaging and staging of your sound system.
Sound deadening can drastically improve the comfort of your ride by reducing road noise. Additionally, sound treatment will reduce vibrations and reflections to maximize the sound quality of your audio system.
Subwoofers play a vital role in reproducing the lowest octaves present in recordings. These low frequencies can add a sense of depth and emotion that needs to be experienced to truly comprehend.
Upgrading your vehicle’s battery can have many benefits including improved starting in inclement weather conditions and additional power reserve for high current draw electrical accessories such as audio amplifiers.
Factory batteries are typically either flooded or AGM and range in size and specification based on what the manufacturer deems adequate for your stock vehicle’s electrical needs.
Once you start modifying your electrical system, however, is when you may want to consider an upgraded battery… or multiple batteries if you’re searching for the ultimate in power reserve. In addition to the traditional flooded and AGM battery types mentioned above, there is also a newer technology that is steadily increasing in popularity – Lithium.
Lithium batteries are significantly lighter weight and more compact than a comparably specced AGM or flooded battery. This means you can either save space and weight or fit a much more powerful battery in your vehicle without significant modifications by choosing a Lithium battery. If you’re interested in upgrading, please speak with our sales team to help decide what your best options are!
An alternator is responsible for recharging the batteries of your vehicle while the engine is running. Additionally, when the vehicle is running, the alternator supplies the current needed to run all of your electrical components, utilizing the battery for distribution and as a power reserve.
High powered car stereo builds are often accompanied by a high output alternator (or several) in order to effectively supply the massive current draw such accessories demand. We work with several reputable alternator manufacturers, and are able to source upgraded units for the majority of gas/diesel vehicles on the road. Unsure if your system would benefit from a high output alternator? Reach out and we can discuss your build!
The source is one of the most vital components of a high-end audio system. Your source can vary in style, whether it be an aftermarket radio, your factory infotainment screen, or even an external device such as a Digital Audio Player (DAP).
Regardless of which type you choose, your source unit will be responsible for playing back your music and transmitting it via analog or digital interconnects to your DSP (if equipped) or amplifier. Simply put, even the best audio system can be crippled by a poor source. Many factory radios (or poor quality aftermarket replacements) introduce audible distortion to your recordings and prevent you from effectively recreating the source material – even when paired with the best speakers.
Whenever possible, we suggest replacing your factory head unit to eliminate this concern. As a bonus, many aftermarket radios can help modernize your vehicle’s interior by adding features such as Apple Carplay / Android Auto and larger, high-resolution touch screens.
What if the infotainment system your vehicle came with from the factory isn’t replaceable? No worries, even in this case we can still turn your factory radio into an excellent source by integrating it with a DSP. The advanced tuning suite a DSP provides allows us to remove factory equalization and utilize signal summing to reconstruct a full range signal even from complex actively wired factory setups as found on many modern luxury vehicles. Unsure of what options are available for your ride? Give us a call or stop by the showroom sometime so our sales team can assist you.
Sound deadening can make a massive improvement in the comfort and perceived quality of your vehicle’s interior. If you’ve ever been inside a luxury car and noticed just how solid something as simple as closing a door feels, this can be largely attributed to the sound treatment applied by the manufacturer. There are numerous types of sound deadening that can be applied to a vehicle, each with unique benefits.
A Constrained Layer Damper (CLD) material, such as Dynamat Xtreme, is typically composed of aluminum and butyl rubber. CLD sound deadening is designed to minimize resonance of panels and is frequently used in vehicles with aftermarket audio systems in order to reduce rattles and panel flex. While full coverage is ideal for the best results, you can still notice impressive gains by using partial coverage with CLD since its primary purpose is resonance damping; CLD on its own will do very little for road noise. If a quieter interior is your goal, you may want to consider products containing
CCF (Closed Cell Foam) or MLV (Mass Loaded Vinyl). These materials work by absorbing/reflecting noise to create a quieter interior with optimal acoustics to hear every last detail of your favorite music. For the ultimate results and streamlined installation, consider a product such as Soundshield which combines properties of both CLD and CCF for a true all-in-one solution.
A speaker’s purpose, regardless of size or intended frequency response, is to faithfully reproduce the source signal with minimal added distortion.
High-end speakers use advanced materials and tight quality control to ensure this. The speakers you choose for your vehicle can come in many different shapes and sizes. Tweeters are responsible for reproducing the highest octaves of music and are typically the smallest speakers you will see, often 1 ½” or smaller. Moving up in size, midrange speakers play a wide range of frequencies to fill the void between a dedicated midbass speaker (if equipped) or subwoofer and a tweeter.
Midrange speakers can range in size from 3” to 6 ½”. If you’re running a 3-way component set, you will also have a midbass driver which reinforces the band of frequencies just above what a subwoofer is responsible for up to the lower midrange frequencies. Midbass speakers often fall between 5 ¼” and 8”. Those with limited space (as is often the case in classic cars or rear deck mounting) may consider a coaxial speaker which combines a midrange/midbass and tweeter into a single speaker.
Digital Signal Processors, often referred to as DSPs play an incredibly crucial role in a modern vehicle’s audio system. DSPs can accept either an analog or digital audio signal from your source and offer a plethora of tuning options to perfect your system’s operation. Time alignment allows for the speakers closer to you to be delayed such that the sound produced by speakers further away will hit your ears at the same time.
DSPs contain very advanced equalizers and are often fully adjustable by frequency, unlike those found in a head unit which utilize fixed frequency points for tuning. If you’ve chosen to bypass the passive crossovers included with your component speakers and run active, a DSP allows you to set crossovers digitally. Doing so means that your tuner can intricately choose crossover frequencies and slopes to perfectly match your amplifier, speaker positions, and your personal acoustic goals.
Amplifiers receive an analog audio signal from your headunit or DSP (if equipped). An amplifier’s job is simple: it boosts the low voltage signal it receives to a higher voltage output.
This is actually the function of the gain control knob found on virtually every amplifier – lower voltage input necessitates a higher gain setting to produce the desired output voltage. Correctly setting gains on an amplifier cannot be done by ear, since this either results in overdriving the signal, causing clipping, or missing out on potential power.
We suggest and personally use oscilloscopes to maximize the undistorted power output of your amplifier. Beyond making your music louder, amplifiers can also drastically improve the audio quality of your music through the usage of high end electrical components inside the amplifiers. Factory radios (and aftermarket alike, to a lesser extent) are not able to match the sound quality of a high-end amplifier due to heat, size, and cost restrictions. We offer amplifiers ranging from 1-channel (mono, typically for subwoofers) all the way up to 16-channels, meaning we have a solution for any build you can dream up.
Subwoofers are one of the most well known components of an audio system, yet also one of the most misunderstood. While many are familiar with the “loud” aspect of subwoofers (that car rattling itself to death next to you at a stop light), we find that a lot of people have yet to experience the incredible sound quality benefits subwoofers can provide.
By the way, the sound deadening mentioned above does wonders for reducing the rattles powerful subwoofers are known to cause. Subwoofers typically play the bottom two octaves of a recording, and, when properly paired with full range speakers, can add an incredible sense of depth and emotion you didn’t know you were missing.
Subwoofers vary wildly in size; we offer options as small as 5 ¼” all the way up to 19”. Box design also plays a large role in the sound a subwoofer produces, please consult our sales team with help designing the best subwoofer enclosure for your goals.
A DSP (Digital Signal Processor) is a powerful device that allows us to finely tune your vehicle’s audio signals. Boasting features such as time alignment and advanced equalizers, a DSP can make a massive difference in sound quality and we strongly recommend them for anyone looking to improve their system.
In many cases, yes! The above mentioned DSP can be a very useful tool here allowing us to de-equalize the factory radios signal, providing us with a flat, full range signal to feed into aftermarket amplifiers.
Yes! We offer many products from leading sound deadening brands such as Dynamat, Blackhole, and Soundshield which, when applied properly, can provide a significant reduction in cabin noise.
We can help with that too! We suggest stopping by the shop so one of our employees can discuss solutions with you.
We offer a large variety of audio brands for you to choose from. Some examples include Alpine, Focal, Kenwood, Rockford Fosgate, Mosconi, JL Audio, Stinger, and many others. If you’re interested in a specific brand of equipment, give us a call and we can explore availability!
Absolutely! We can source upgraded electrical components such as high output alternators, and larger AGM or lithium batteries for many different applications. Please call us to see what options are available for your vehicle.
Regardless of what you drive, we have a solution for you! Modern amplifier design allows for very efficient and compact designs. Pair that with a shallow mount subwoofer (or 3) and we can improve your sound without taking up much space.
Yes we can! We have done numerous builds in fully electric and hybrid vehicles with excellent results. Stop by our shop to get your new build started!
We offer dash cameras from Alpine, Momento, and Drone. Additional options include interior and rear facing cameras to maximize your protection.
We do! We sell and install radar detectors from K40 and Escort. Please stop by the shop with questions about specific models and options.
We are the Twin Cities premier shop to customize your preferred mode of transportation. From cars to trucks, motorcycles to ATV’s, gas, diesel, or even EV. Contact us to discuss your project.
3262 County Rd 42 W, Burnsville, MN 55337
@tmautosports
@tmautosports
Did you know? We also specialize in SunTek window tinting, paint protection film, residential/commercial tint, and Rhino spray-in bedliners.