Adding amps and subs to your factory system
You're a hard-core car stereo fanatic who likes it loud. The factory system in your new car sounds great, but it dies when you turn it up to eleven. And you just found out that the sophisticated wiring that connects the head unit to the amplified speaker system in your car makes it next to impossible to add an amplifier and subs.

Products like the Rockford Fosgate 3SIXTY.2 and others allow you to build and tune a sophisticated audio system around your factory stereo.

Rockford Fosgate made the 3Sixty processor for you. This magic box can tap into virtually any factory system, giving you extensive equalization capabilities and allowing you to add amplifiers and subwoofers. In addition, many factory systems use a preset EQ curve that makes the factory speakers sound good, but creates a horrible sonic mess when you try to add an amplifier and/or new speakers. The 3Sixty flattens out this factory curve, so you can install an amplified system and enjoy superb sound quality. Two 3Sixty models are available — the 3SIXTY.1 for basic systems and the even more sophisticated 3SIXTY.2 for competition-level setups — and similar products, like JL Audio's CleanSweep™ and others are available as well.

Plug-and-play amplifiers
Blaupunkt now offers a car audio first: the PnP, Plug N Play amplifiers. Car-specific harnesses will allow you to plug one of these amplifiers into a wide variety of vehicles. Just pop out the factory radio, remove the connector plug from its back panel, and insert the Blaupunkt harness between the connector plug and the radio. Connect the extra cables from the Blaupunkt harness into the amp, and boom, you're done. The amp gets power, and its signal is sent to your vehicle's speakers. You've upgraded your sound in a matter of minutes.

Born for bad sound
Some cars are doomed to poor sound by virtue of their design. The Jeep Wrangler, for example, can ford mighty rivers and climb tall mountains, but its combination of small speakers and a noisy environment makes for a less than ideal listening experience. Now, you can buy heavy-duty plastic speaker pods that install in various spots in the Wrangler interior, housing a set of your favorite speakers or a small sub.

These Quad-Pod enclosures allow you to mount two 8" subs and two 6-1/2" speakers in a Jeep Wrangler.

Sub-compact vehicles or small sports cars are also notorious for bad stereo setups, with tiny speakers stuck in the doors or dash as an afterthought. Replacing your stereo only goes so far when the music's broadcast through a set of 4" speakers. The solution? A compact powered sub, like this model from Kenwood can fit in your trunk or under a seat without too much trouble, adding serious impact and punch to your system.