This site will help you to understand basic electronics and the basic function of some electronic devices. It will, of course, also touch on car audio acoustics and car audio equipment. To make the lessons as painless as possible, you'll find hundreds of diagrams and images, .wav files, demos and more than 50 javascript calculators on the 125+ individual web pages. If you take the time to read all of the pages in the order that they're presented in the directory, you'll learn more about car audio electronics than you ever thought possible.

• If you email me for more specific information, please do the following:
• Do a search to see if your question is answered on the site. I've included a search box at the top of virtually every page to make this easier. It's better if you get answers from the site because the information on the site will generally have graphics to make it easier to understand the subject matter. If you email me, I'll generally answer your questions but I won't be able to include the required graphic files. The exceptions where I won't answer your questions are those regarding speaker enclosure design (don't email me and ask me to send you the dimensions for an enclosure for your vehicle) and speaker impedance for series/parallel speaker connections. Those topics are covered in great detail on the site.
• Use proper grammar and punctuation (question marks are the most important). If you'd also like to check your spelling, download one of the spell-check add-ons for your browser. If you expect me to take time to answer your questions, the least you can do is make an effort to make the questions clear. Of course, if you're not from a native English speaking country, just do your best. It's a shame that the email I get from outside the US has better grammar and sentence structure than the email I get from US residents. :- (
• Leave a blank line between the end of one question/statement and the beginning of the next question/statement. It makes it easier to read. It also helps ensure that I see all of the questions. If I have trouble reading the email, it's likely to get a delayed reply and if I get too many emails, I may forget to reply.
• For those who insist on using truncated/abbreviated words (u for you, etc.) don't expect a reply. The email will go directly into the trash folder. If you're too lazy to spell out the words, I'm too lazy to reply. This has nothing to do with someone's ability to write and is nothing more than laziness. It seems that some people insist on lowering the standards as far as possible and I have no desire to be part of that group. This isn't a skateboard or video game forum. This is a technical site and precise language is important.
• I get more than 100 emails a week asking for help repairing amplifiers. There's no way to remember the details of every repair. If you email me multiple times, keep the email thread intact. If you break the thread, I'll tell you to copy and paste the previous emails onto the last email you sent and won't answer your questions until you get all emails inline. Keeping ALL previous emails inline will allow me to scan back through them to see what was done or suggested previously so I don't repeat questions and so I don't repeatedly suggest that you perform various tests. If you need help repairing an amplifier, read the ENTIRE Basic Amplifier Repair page (item #20 in the directory). You need to read 100% of it, even the parts that you feel are boring or unimportant.

If you want to send someone a link to one of the pages in the directory, there are various ways to do it. The simplest is probably right-clicking on the desired link and then left-clicking on 'copy link location' or 'copy shortcut' in the drop down menu. This will copy the link to the Windows clipboard. You can use the 'paste' command or 'ctrl V' to paste the link into your outgoing message. This will provide a direct link to the appropriate page. You can also drag the link to the address bar at the top of your browser. Then, you'll copy and paste the link as previously suggested.

In most browsers, you can use ctrl-f to bring up a search field. If you want search for a topic that you know is in the directory, begin typing the word you need and the browser will highlight it. For example, if you want to search for head unit begin typing head unit in the search field. In Firefox (and in other browsers) as soon as you type a few letters, the text will be highlighted and brought up to where you can see it in the browser window. If you know the number of the page that you're interested in, you can now type the number. If you're looking for text in the directory and the page that you're currently viewing has the same word in it, go to another page (this home page is a good option) so that the word you're searching for is only found in the directory. Clicking the long arrow at the top of the page will bring you back to this page. In some browsers, you can click on the directory frame to set focus on that frame so that the search will be performed there first but it doesn't always work.

To print pages of this site with Internet Explorer go to the toolbar (at the top of the page) and select... TOOLS, INTERNET OPTIONS, ADVANCED TAB, PRINTING and de-select the print backgrounds option. Then click inside the window with the content that you want to print to make the browser focus on the proper frame. The page should print with dark gray text and no background color. If you're using Netscape... Good luck. I use Netscape for browsing, but for some reason, I can't make it print right so I use IE for printing.

Flash graphics have a few additional options when compared to static graphics (jpg, gif, png... files). If you right-click on any item in the graphic (not the transparent background), you will see a special menu. If you un-check the 'play' command, the motion will stop. If you select 'zoom', you can zoom in on the image. When zoomed in, the standard cursor will change to a hand cursor when over the graphic. The hand (left-click and drag) allows you move the graphic around in the window. For those using devices that don't support Flash graphics, you will see either a gray box or a large blank area for most of the Flash graphics. If you're interested in getting the most from this site and want to see all of the images and the interactive demos, you will have to view it on a device that supports Flash graphics (home computer, laptop computer, etc...).

There are quite a few images that are important but not important enough to include inline on the various pages. When you click on a link that opens a pop-up window, don't forget to close the window that popped up. Many people simply click on the page they were reading to bring it back to the top. This leaves the pop-up in the background. If you click on another link that is supposed to bring up a pop-up window, it will remain behind the main window. To see it, you will have to click on the corresponding browser tab to bring it to the top. It makes the site much easier to view if you simply close the pop-up when you're done viewing it.

If you don't fully understand something, reread it. I don't believe that anyone (especially those who are new to car audio) will be able to fully understand everything here without having to reread more than a few pages. This site should NOT be your only source of information. As a matter of fact, you should read everything that you can find on as many different sites as you can find. We all have slightly different perspectives and will explain things in different ways.

After reading this, it does NOT qualify you to install any audio or electronic equipment. This is only a VERY basic introduction into car audio electronics. I make every effort to ensure that the information contained herein is accurate but I cannot be held responsible for any errors in text, calculators or graphics. Use the information provided at your own risk.

Try to follow the tutorial in order from top to bottom, I have tried to put everything in the most efficient order possible.

Legend for Directory:
	Page contains graphics
	Page contains a javascript program
	Page contains a search engine
	Page contains test questions
	CD ROM version contains additional material. A few simply contain added text but the majority of the pages with the PLUS sign contain new, interactive Flash demos. Many of the new Flash files that are on pages that deal with capacitors, inductors and passive crossovers are graphing applets. They will graph a curve based on the input values.
	CD ROM version contains additional test questions on this page.
	Page contains electronics schematics
	Page contains .wav files
	Page contains a Flash demo
•	Importance: 1 dot... Important 5 dots... Extreeeeemely Important Notice that the FUSES page has 6 dots.

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