Crutchfield: The Podcast Ep 64

[Speaker 1]

And can you give me kind of a check check just to see what you're like your podcast voice is for levels sure check check check No, yeah, Matthew Here on 105.3 smooth jazz Sunday Sunday Sunday. I was a wedding DJ for like 10 years a wedding DJ Well, I did school dances and stuff, too.

[Speaker 2]

Uh-huh.

[Speaker 1]

Yeah a lot of weddings.

[Speaker 2]

I've done some sock hops the hell's a sock hop They play lots of doo-wop Is that would like what they went to in Greece the movie Grease like was that a cop they have to yeah, okay Yeah, so far before my time Hello and welcome to Crutchfield the podcast I'm JR and I'm hubby welcome back We we did an episode last month in June here of 2025 where we focused on the future of car stereo That's right. And we have kind of a follow-up part to similar situation going on here in our July episode

[Speaker 3]

Yeah, I don't think the future only had Kenwood's great But they're not the only one with an eye on the future

[Speaker 2]

the reason we called that episode the future of car stereo is because JVC Kenwood along with ADS is taking an entirely new approach to replacing the radio in the dash of modern cars Stinger is another company doing that and yeah We have a special guest coming into the studio today. His name is Matt Palumbo. He works for Stinger Stinger makes radios like the high 10 and the horizon 10.

Yes there will be links in the show notes if you're looking for this to they make these radios and Because Stinger is multiple companies in one right they have pack which is you know OEM integration stuff. They have audio control amplifiers and things they can leverage that to put packages together and make like very vehicle specific radio replacement Options, right? Yeah, it sounds similar to what we talked about before with Kenwood, but they're kind of doing it their own way Yeah, they're not partnering with ADS they're doing it themselves they already have a company that does OEM integration So they kind of know a thing or two about that already.

That's right And so we brought Matt in he was here to do training for all of our advisors to explain and show off all of these products especially the new Stinger horizon 10 radio and Jeep specific packages that it can come with and We thought we'd bring him From the vendor training room over here to our underground bunker studio and and and pick his brain and and Make it so that you guys can hear all of the same stuff. We just heard in vendor training Yep, it's kind of like insider info.

So how cool is that? Super cool. Jr. Super cool. And if you're enjoying our show, please don't hesitate to you know Follow us on your podcast player like us subscribe to us. Maybe write a review And and you know what? We would love to solve your Consumer electronics mysteries if you're wondering how best to do anything audio or video related in your home or your car Send us a note Podcast at crutchfield.com is the easiest way to do that You can also post comments on our socials And and I think Spotify even lets you add comments to the podcast episodes in the Spotify podcast player. So So we would love to hear from you our listeners and interact with you as much as possible for now though Sit back relax and listen to our interview with Matt Palumbo from stinger Hey, could you start by telling us your name who you work for what you do?

[Speaker 1]

Sure. I'm Matthew Palumbo I'm currently the director of training for stinger I'm originally an audio control employee. So I came from audio control When amp global or now known as stinger acquired audio control and Prior to that I was In retail for about 15 years who gotcha.

So you sold car stereos for 15 years I did I worked for a Mesa retailer in the northwest called mobile music unlimited. I started there in high school and Started out as an entry-level tech and worked my way up to managing the shop and then Did sales and managed the store for the other half of that time and was there for 15 years total and then Moved on to working for audio control Wow

[Speaker 2]

So maybe my first question might be different than I thought I didn't know you had all the retail experience How how has car stereo just in general changed since you were in the thick of you know? Dealing with the public selling car stereos.

[Speaker 1]

Sure I feel like a couple things have changed our best customers at my store. Anyway, where I was located were What I would describe maybe as tradesmen or like blue-collar workers where you know, they're they're on average Guys that have good jobs and they work in the trade so they make good money, but they like toys, right? They like to have a new truck.

They like to have a new boat. They have a Harley They have a you know, and they don't just buy a new truck they lift their truck and then they want the stereo to go with it and They work hard. They make good money and they like to spend it And those are some of my best customers where when I first started there It was more like, you know The the guy with the beat-up Honda Civic and wanting big bass and all that sort of thing and you know when I first started there we had a Like a company shop truck and somebody every day would run out and go get everybody lunch, right?

so you go to McDonald's and you get lunch for you and the crew and It used to be that you'd go through that drive-thru and whoever's working the drive-thru would be like, oh wow mobile music that's that's such a cool job, you know, how do I work there and Towards the end of my 15 years there that just didn't really happen anymore You know, it was like the the I'm gonna sound really old but the youth of today Was more interested in like their cell phone and what model of phone they had and what set of beats headphones?

They had then they were in their car if they even had one I feel like there's a lot of younger people that don't even get their license that early anymore, you know I mean, I I got my license on my 16th birthday Yeah, you know my nephew is like 20 and just got his license just recently and I'm just my mind is blown by that

[Speaker 2]

So you were in the thick of it like when the smartphones became and a thing and took over the world So, you know car stereo before that time. Absolutely, you know, it changed everything it did Yeah, not just car stereo, but literally everything.

[Speaker 1]

Yeah. Yeah, and we got little injections of you know Customers and and business through some of those evolutions I feel like to you know as smartphones progressed and everybody had an iPod or an iPhone or Android phone You know for a while there was like everybody came in looking for a radio with an aux in that was just a thing Right, that was you know, I'm sure that it's a little before my time But I'm sure that when the big change from cassette to CD happened every stereo shop is busy upgrading everyone from cassette players to CD players

[Speaker 3]

Yeah, that was huge. Yeah, that's a long time That's way better than you know, taking your Discman and hooking it into, you know, go mini jack out into the little cassette So many cassette, oh man, we still carried those for a long time too.

[Speaker 1]

Yeah anytime somebody to ask for one I'm like, oh really? Are you sure?

[Speaker 3]

Well, you know when they didn't like the price of the CD player, you know, it was gonna be a hundred bucks, right? Like well, let me sell you this thing for 15 or whatever.

[Speaker 1]

Yeah, right. I do recall But yeah, there was that for a long time, you know We're like everybody was coming in looking for an aux and then, you know, eventually it moved on to I want iPod controller Bluetooth I think was the next big Injection of customers and I think then carplay was after that and I'm getting ahead of myself But I think every so often we have these like cyclical, you know Major reasons for everybody to upgrade their stereo.

[Speaker 3]

Yeah driven by source. Yeah. I mean all those things are mostly sources.

[Speaker 1]

Yeah Was stinger even a brand back when you were doing this it was stinger was known as a You know wiring and accessories brand mostly like high-end RCA cables and power wire and that sort of thing capacitors, etc How long has stinger been a brand of head unit?

[Speaker 2]

Hmm, I went looking I was looking at the high ten which we've been selling for a number of years now Yeah, it looks to me based on my cursory Research that that was introduced into our system around 2021 That sounds about right sounds about so four or five years now. You guys have been designing and producing At least the high ten. Is that the only head unit you had there for a while or so?

[Speaker 1]

There's been a few of them. So 2020 it appears with my quick research here was when the high ten was introduced There was a couple of units prior to that. The one I can recall off the top.

My head was called the elevate Which was as the name would imply an 8-inch display that was actually kind of a cool unit that the Main, you know fascia of the unit was like a trapezoid shape and it could actually be put Upside right or upside down depending on the shape of your dash and then you could configure it in the display settings And I you know, it's kind of cool it it blended into a lot of dashes really well that way but anyhow, yeah, then the the high ten came along and that kind of replaced the elevate and Yeah, then we we march forward with new models and new introductions of new product and lots of upgrades

[Speaker 2]

so the reason you're at Crutchfield today is to train all of our call center staff on Mainly the new radio right the horizon, correct?

[Speaker 1]

Yeah the horizon 10 was a big focus of our training as well as some New amplifiers from audio control and is the high 10 and the horizon 10 going to both?

[Speaker 2]

You know plow on into the future or is the horizon replacing the high 10 the horizon will eventually replace it

[Speaker 1]

The high 10 continues on right now as a kind of lower cost alternative for those that maybe don't care about Wireless carplay or some of the other cool features that are horizon has it's a great alternative It's still, you know a big screen and easy to use and has some cool features So right now it continues on I can't say officially that it will you know be discontinued and replaced But I I have a feeling that's kind of the way we're we're headed

[Speaker 2]

So what changes did you make from the high 10 to the horizon 10?

[Speaker 1]

Oh, that's a that's a long list The best way that I describe this when I do the training is my favorite question to ask people is you know Do you have any experience with the high 10 and usually get a handful of? Hands go up and so, you know I'll show them a picture of a high 10 and then a horizon 10 and say, you know so what's changed and the answer is everything the only thing that basically stayed the same was the external shape of the screen and that was just so that it still fit in a lot of the dash kits and integration kits that we offer so Really basically everything changed and when I say everything changed it got a ton of upgrades I won't bore you with too much, but I can give you a quick rundown of what those changes are

[Speaker 2]

Yeah Maybe like a top three or something because I mean all of these details are easily found on crutchfield.com Search for horizon 10.

It'll come right up and there is a long list of features on this radio And I'm impressed by it, but what are your three favorite things about it sure

[Speaker 1]

I think the the first is just the screen itself and the way that it works So when I say the screen itself, I mean it is now a higher resolution higher brightness fingerprint resistant optically bonded Waterproof display Wow, it's a mouthful We that this is why we said only three things. Yeah, that feels like you're cheating.

No, that's just one thing No, no, no, no and what the word waterproof is a bold word it is It is actually waterproof now to be cleared and to be fair. The hideaway chassis is not waterproof just the actual display portion is because it's one of the things that makes the Horizon and the high 10 units unique is that they're not a typical Singled in chassis with a big screen plastered on the plastered on the front of it They are, you know modular so you can mount it that way if you need to or want to But in a lot of install instances, it makes sense to you know, kind of hide the brain portion of it away Maybe you know in in in the dash and to the right or something or even sometimes under a seat or something if need be With just the display being you know, actually in the dash And so it it really alleviates a lot of the install concerns that come up sometimes in some of these more challenging vehicles So I think that's one of my favorite things is the form factor and and that updated screen that optically bonded display makes a huge difference when we're talking about being able to see this thing in direct sunlight and

[Speaker 2]

Yeah, these are getting installed in like Jeeps and stuff like that

[Speaker 1]

Yeah, very popular for Jeeps because you know, a lot of Jeeps come with such small screens and such poor quality infotainment systems to begin with So this is a massive upgrade over that Of course, you know, the units are universal as well So they can be used in just about anything But we also do have vehicle specific kits to make them fit and work

[Speaker 2]

Beautifully and if you're gonna leave the top off that Jeep, right you're dealing with the Sun you're dealing with the rain Hence the optically bonded waterproof screen and make it makes a lot of sense

[Speaker 1]

It makes a huge difference so you can see it so much better in the Sun The fingerprint resistant display is a big deal I like that it has the you know, even down to the volume knob is metal now instead of plastic So that's that's one of the things we got to stop at volume.

[Speaker 2]

Sure.

[Speaker 1]

Yeah, we all love a good volume No, we do right.

[Speaker 2]

Mm-hmm. It comes up every single day. People are asking for it.

I literally wrote a script for a video We're gonna do soon called how to choose a car stereo in which I'm trying to temper Expectations for people that are shopping for a stereo. They want a screen most likely the stereo They want's not gonna have a knob right? Most of them don't And you guys felt that that was important enough not only to do it, but to upgrade it.

[Speaker 1]

Yes Yeah, now it has these really nice capacitive touch buttons on the sides. They they can some people love them Some people hate them You know They can be polarizing is the word I was looking for got it, but ours are very responsive and the biggest thing is that it makes it really easy to clean because you can wipe the Whole thing off because it's all one surface But that knob itself in the middle being aluminum and having a really nice tactile feel I know it's a small thing, but it's a it's a big deal for user experience, right?

I mean you're gonna probably touch that thing every day. Yeah, we want that to be a premium feel So I think we definitely accomplish that.

[Speaker 2]

Yeah, and it's not just a cheap piece of plastic knob, right? It's like what is it aluminum?

[Speaker 1]

Yeah, it's like milled aluminum. I mean the whole thing is it's like aluminum through and through it's it's very nice I think I think we had a lot of people right there, right?

[Speaker 2]

I think they're sold they're in just for the knob I'm one of them. I I love a good volume knob huffy. I love a volume knob All right, Matthew.

What's your next favorite thing?

[Speaker 1]

Yes. So my next favorite thing is The fact that you know, this again is not just your average big-screen, you know CarPlay Android Auto radio I try to talk about it as this is your like central control center for the vehicle You know when you when you get in a new car and it's got a big screen in the dash Is it just a radio? No, is it just a backup camera?

Is it just your CarPlay? No, it's it's everything.

[Speaker 2]

It's everything. It's HVAC.

[Speaker 1]

It's vehicle performance stuff It's tire pressure all that stuff and that's where we're headed is is depending on your vehicle We can accomplish a lot of those same things and even if you don't have one of these newer vehicles that we fully support Maybe you have a classic car. Maybe you have a restomod or whatever We can still accomplish a lot of that through the aftermarket so, you know, you can control lighting you can control external accessories like maybe aftermarket heated seats or LED light bars or train horn or whatever accessories you've got installed and then, you know, I think the The other side of that one of my my biggest parts because I'm an audio guy at heart is the audio performance of these units Is is next level and has some really cool features that I don't believe anyone else has no I can confirm

[Speaker 2]

I'm gonna jump ahead to that question. Yeah, so I wrote down at least three things that I picked up on that. I I think are Rare if not completely unique to this new Stinger radio One of them is just simply having eight preamp outputs Mm-hmm I mean if you look through the head units on our website the overwhelming majority have six Right, which is what we kind of recommend as the go-to sure if you're planning to install amps, you should have six outputs Yeah, why is eight better than six?

[Speaker 1]

Yeah, I mean, it's not just that, you know more is better When you have eight like that it allows us to do something very specific which is do an active front stage So front speakers you can go active which means we have an independent amplifier channel for each speaker So now with those eight channels of RCA we can independently cross over each speaker You know equalize each speaker time correct each speaker You can do a lot of what you would normally do with an external DSP But you can do it in the head unit

[Speaker 2]

I would think a lot of people would use that to have two dedicated amp channels for Tweeters up on the dash or a pillars or upper doors. Yep that they can customize with the crossover and right there and Then two separate channels for the woofers that are lower in your doors and then two separate channels for your back speakers

[Speaker 1]

And then of course subs absolutely and and why I think that becomes Particularly important is if you were to go Look at Modern vehicles in the last let's just say the last 10 years late model vehicles let's call it how many of them have a six and a half or six by nine in the front doors and Have a what I'm gonna call a middler in the top dash, right? So they have a two and three quarter or a three and a half in the dash. Yep That has become practically I mean almost industry standard like All the GM vehicles for the most part all of the you know Chrysler vehicles or Rams Toyota Subarus like Everybody's kind of gone to that and and for good reason I mean you get you know Some good bass response out of the six by nines and having a middler up there does a lot more than if it were just a Tweeter it's a new term to me middler. Yeah, I like that.

[Speaker 2]

Yeah.

[Speaker 1]

Yeah, I mean, I think it's better than twiddler I think middler is better. I'm gonna agree with you. Yeah, I like it.

[Speaker 2]

I've heard both. Yeah, I'm gonna go with middler Yeah, I prefer middler. Yeah Drives home the point that it's more than just a tweeter.

[Speaker 1]

Exactly Yeah, and so I think with that being able to independently not only amplify but also, you know Control and tune those separate channels because they're in such different locations You know If you just have a radio that has only a set of front RCA outputs even if you had an amp that had separate channels for all those speakers like There's just only so you're gonna be very limited in what you can do with that, right and being able to you know Independently control and tune those channels is gonna make a world of difference Especially when we get into you know time correction and things like that

[Speaker 2]

Yeah, absolutely. I think a lot of people would just use a set of components So they're filling that tweeter hole with a new tweeter and the woofer with a woofer But you don't get independent control from anywhere that way other than the passive crossover that comes with your component system Which is basically no control at all So no, this is this is a much better way to get, you know, pristine high fidelity localized Good sound staging in your car.

[Speaker 1]

Yeah, and I think that's the big thing is so many people are focused on well The car had you know, let's say, you know six by nines in the doors and and middlers in the top dash Okay Well when I upgrade I have to replace those so I want every spot that used to have a speaker to have a speaker Okay, great. But like you said if all you have is a passive crossover driving those off of a couple amplifier channels What you'll end up with is basically pretty close to what you had before You know, you have middlers that are on the top dash firing off the glass. They're right in your face They're probably too loud if anything and then you have these six by nines down in the doors that you can't hear as well because of their location and it's it's really hard to correct that unless you have Separate channels to do it and and have an active system.

So it's a huge benefit.

[Speaker 2]

It's a huge step up So as long as we're talking outputs from a head unit to an amplifier the horizon 10 has an optical digital output does I've seen more stereos these days have Optical outputs this term is coming up a lot who's using an optical output Matthew.

[Speaker 1]

Yeah, I think with optical I mean it used to be more geared towards the you know, sound quality purists the the the audio enthusiasts that maybe had a High-end home system as well and was interested in just getting the the best audio reproduction possible. And I think these days You know Premium audio has become more mainstream I think more people today know what a high-res file is a lossless file that sort of thing than ever before And and maybe I'm wrong, but I think that that's the case and I think that's why we're seeing more Optical and why it's popular. I think the biggest part of it though is that it's the it's the evolution of the audio system and it's the necessity of DSP, you know for for a long time car audio guys have been saying you know every system should have a DSP and I finally feel like we're getting to the point where that's starting to be more commonplace than than ever

[Speaker 2]

Are you limited at all if you go optical out or is it just two channels? And how does that complicate or simplify?

[Speaker 1]

Yeah Traditionally, yes, it is just two channels with the horizon units. That's the case as well You know, it really has With with most systems that use optical there is a challenge there or a con to it Which is usually that there's no volume control. So with most units it is a fixed audio out Which to me is a huge detriment, you know, you have An end-user who hey, I want the best audio But now to get that they are no longer allowed to use that beautiful You know volume knob that I spoke of or those steering wheel controls that they've become so used to and now you're gonna try to totally relearn this person's Mindset of how they use their system and tell them that they have to use some little, you know dash mounted knob That's their DSP volume control. It just it seems very I don't know kind of kind of tacky kind of amateur janky Yeah, very janky. Yeah, very kludgy, right?

and so What's nice on the stinger units is that it is a volume variable optical out so they can still use their steering wheel controls They can use that beautiful aluminum volume knob And they can control it the way that they always have without sacrificing audio quality And I think one of the big things with optical too that maybe some people don't think about is That there's no noise, right? So forever car audio has fought the battle against engine whine alternator whine system hiss pop click buzz Whatever and with with an optical signal like that, there is none It's you know, it's it's it's light traveling down a little fiber optic tube So there is no noise and I think that's one of the huge benefits to it I I do also feel you know slight sidebar here, but I do also feel like System noise has become less of an issue than it was in the past. Like I remember as an installer We were constantly fighting engine noise and alternator whine And like I said pops and clicks and buzzes and and you know turn on thump and turn off thump And I don't know if it's that the vehicles have changed or that the installers have gotten better or the wires gotten better The product has gotten better or something happened though where it seems like and this is totally anecdotal But it seems like that has become less of an issue in the last Let's say five to ten years than it used to be and you know

[Speaker 2]

We do installations as part of our training process. I mean, I can't remember the last time we had to battle noise And we always of course try to you know, prevent it. Of course, and we just never end up with it, right?

[Speaker 1]

Yeah, and like I said, I'm not sure exactly what the answer is or why it's not as big of a deal as it used to Be but I mean, yeah I feel like you know we were constantly trying to battle it and you know, everybody knew the rules of don't run power and RCAs down the same side and this that and the other and Make sure you have a good ground

[Speaker 3]

Yeah

[Speaker 1]

good ground and and you know all those tricks that that everybody started to learn of you know grounding the shield of the RCAs to the chassis of the radio and all these things like I Feel like that used to be a daily battle and and eventually if you gave up you grabbed yourself a ground loop isolator Threw that in there and and prayed and hoped for the best But I just don't feel like that's as big of a deal anymore, which is a very welcome statement But you know if you were someone that was battling some sort of noise Optical could be a a godsend that could be a solution to their problem that variable

[Speaker 2]

Optical output is that only compatible with audio control DSP's or any brand of DSP

[Speaker 1]

Any brand of DSP any product that has say, you know toss link optical input Would receive the output from this radio.

So not just audio control But there are some other cool things built into that radio that are that specifically for audio control exactly what's next on my list Yeah, so the idea of adding a separate DSP We train all of our advisors on it.

[Speaker 2]

It's Definitely one of the toughest things to grasp What why you would want it what you can do with it how you control it and that is you know? It's either an app on your phone or it's your laptop. And is it wired or is it wireless?

Can you control it from the head unit? A lot of head units have built-in DSP which one's better and you guys Have probably what I think is the cleanest and best answer to all of those questions So let me summarize and then you can clarify anything.

[Speaker 3]

I messed up.

[Speaker 2]

Yeah, you have Audio control and stinger same same company. Mm-hmm Yeah, so you have a third USB port on the horizon 10. Mm-hmm that can connect directly to audio control DSP's DSP amps separate DSP and Instead of having to get a laptop out You can control the exact same software on the screen of the horizon 10.

[Speaker 1]

Do I have that right you do so The horizon radios come pre-loaded with the DM smart DSP app, which is our DSP software It comes pre-loaded on all the horizon radios. It's native on the unit and Exactly, like you said it alleviates the need for any sort of extra product So there is no laptop needed. No desktop.

No tablet. You don't even need a smartphone You could literally have nothing but a audio control DM 810 which is the standalone DSP or one of the d-series amps which have DSP built-in and With that and a stinger horizon 10 you would need nothing else.

[Speaker 3]

I think that's huge It is huge. I had a chance to see a demo of this just earlier today and I honestly before the demo. I didn't know that was baked in there and you know after the demo.

I'm like, whoa Whoa, whoa, whoa timeout. I mean I like the knob don't get me wrong But this seems this seems maybe more important and that's that's hard for me to say. So Really?

[Speaker 2]

It's more important if you know how to use it, right? I just because you have all this software you do know you do kind of have to know what you

[Speaker 3]

Parametric EQ versus a graphic show, but you can just jump in there and actually learn because it's so much so much more accessible Instead of having to pull out a laptop and go through all that You don't have to feel like a like an audiophile scientist to get in there and learn and play and dabble I mean, it's it's just all right there

[Speaker 2]

I mean, it's huge and if you finish your initial setup in a system that uses a laptop or your phone You put your phone or your laptop away It's no longer connected to your DSP and then you go drive and you're like, I want to change something But you're 50 miles from home Well, just change it on the horizon 10 because it's right there in the head unit Probably not something you should do while you're driving, right?

But park and then go change something tweak it and then drive some more and see how great it sounds I mean the ultimate inflexibility and tweak ability built into the head unit, but it's not just the head unit It's an actual separate box performing all of the functions performing better than any DSP that is built into a head unit It's just it seems like a very elegant solution.

[Speaker 1]

I agree I think one of the cool things is is that it's a it's a built-in upgrade path So let's say you're planning on maybe adding a DSP, but your budget doesn't allow it up front You could start with the horizon 10 with its eight channels of RCA output that are like 4.5 volt out So they're a nice hot clean signal 0.5 better than a lot of the competition.

[Speaker 3]

I'll throw that out there for you. Congratulations

[Speaker 1]

So, you know you have that to start with and you can do your active front stage and then when you are ready to you Know graduate to a full DSP You can just add an audio control DM 810 or DSP amplifier one of the d-series amps and now you have true full DSP capabilities And you know you mentioned you can do it from the source unit I think one of my favorite parts of the about death though is that it's not I Think most people would expect that it would be like a watered-down version because it's on the radio It's the full software like it's the if I open it on my MacBook It's the exact same software that you'll see on the horizon 10.

You can do all of the same stuff you can You know do everything that you mentioned with crossovers and EQs and time correction and AccuBase and all that stuff And I think you know, what's what's really pretty sweet. There is not only do you have all that capability, but I Truly feel not just because I work for audio control I swear that we have one of the easiest DSP softwares to learn and use and coming from the guy that has to teach people how to use it all the time I can truly say, you know Once you get the hang of it, and it's very simple to get the hang of it's a very, you know Easy learning curve if you can't Set up and tune and get the car out of the install bay in like less than an hour You're doing something wrong, right or your DSP is just needlessly complicated

[Speaker 2]

You can certainly get 80% of the way there and from there on now, you're just fine tuning it

[Speaker 1]

You were gonna do any absolutely and it's like I tell people all the time look most of these installs most people You're not winning. I ask a world finals, right?

Like you're you're just trying to make the car sound really really good and and make you or your customer or whoever Happy right and and that's what that's what matters It doesn't matter what a judge with a score sheet says it matters if you think your car sounds great and you enjoy it That's what counts So if if you can't set up and tune your DSP and get it Like you said, you know say 80 or 90 percent of the way there in like 45 minutes to an hour then in my opinion It's too complicated. Like it should be fairly simple and straightforward and that's something we prided ourselves on is that that software is simple and sometimes simple gets mistaken for basic and Like oh, it doesn't have all the functionality or it doesn't do this or that and usually that's someone who's never used it And that's kind of one of the cool things about it Is that even if you don't have the DSP you could still open that software and just check it out and kind of take it For a test drive.

[Speaker 2]

Oh, you got like demo mode built in.

[Speaker 1]

Yeah, exactly. Like it's already there I mean, obviously it won't do anything, but you could at least you know Poke through it a little bit and see what it looks like and go. Oh, wow.

Okay. This is pretty easy I think I understand what this does. Let me go ahead and go to crutchfield.com and buy that DSP And it would be a really easy upgrade for someone that's looking to go down that path All right.

[Speaker 2]

Let's switch gears a little bit and talk about the custom vehicle solutions, right? So the high 10 and the horizon 10 there are Jeep packages available, right? Which is the exact same radio with all the features we just talked about Except it comes with all of the stuff you would need to make it work with a Jeep And I think we had a Toyota kit for the high for the high 10 as well So my first question obviously we let's talk Jeeps for a minute.

But what other vehicles are you? Picturing or planning on attacking with this type of approach going forward sure

[Speaker 1]

So, you know right now we have support for a lot of the popular vehicles and by popular I'm talking, you know, Chevy Silverado GMC Sierra Jeep both JK JL JT your Chrysler 300 Charger Challenger Toyota Tacoma Toyota 4Runner Toyota Tundra Ford F-150 there's a lot of applications right now and we cover, you know a majority I would say of late-model Popular vehicles.

We are always looking to expand that So right now, you know, we're working on development on some Toyota Tacoma kits that have some cool new features That won't be out for a little while. So I won't talk too much about those but You know, there's there's always something in the works We're always trying to cover more vehicles and these vehicle specific kits I think give that like premium experience without all the footwork Like we've done all the homework for you or supplying everything in the kit that you could need you know down to Antenna adapters and USB adapters so that the factory USB ports still work You know and we're tying into some major systems in the vehicle so that you're you're getting more than just a radio and that experience I think the thing to be aware of with those is is if someone's shopping for one is just looking at is it a There's two kind of categories there and there that's SR and SRK And the SR kits are going to give you all the plastics all the modules all the harnesses to make it work and it's gonna you know maintain the steering wheel controls and maintain the factory backup camera and all the all the kind of usual stuff That you would expect from say pack one of our brands And then the SRK kits are what we call fully integrated and that's where it takes it to the next level That's where you get all the like dynamic vehicle gauges Off-road pages, you know tire pressure door open status You know that that sort of thing climate controls and a lot of vehicles will populate on the screen So that's something to just be aware of is like in a Jeep For example, the customer can choose whether that's important to them Then they can buy the SRK if they don't care about that stuff they just want the big screen and all the other features and they can just get an SR kit and some for some vehicles we Only offer an SR. So for some vehicles, you know all that other data just isn't on the vehicle's Network like the CAN bus network and so we can only do an SR in some vehicles But we try to have both options whenever possible and there's really nothing like a fully integrated Horizon 10 in you know, say a Jeep and Having all those cool features that it has and having, you know Multiple cameras and lighting control and all this cool stuff plus having all that vehicle info on the screen It's it's there's just nothing else like it

[Speaker 2]

This this idea of doing vehicle specific Stuff right. I mean we've been selling stereos that are basically universal with a vehicle specific kit but this is not that like this is a from the From the design up of the everything that's included in the box It is only for a certain you're making model of vehicle and it kind of seems like that is like the way of the future of car stereo with as Integrated as everything is in cars these days.

Is that your outlook on things?

[Speaker 1]

I think so I mean, I think you know like with a lot of these kits One of the big benefits is that we've done all of the programming as well So in the past, you know, like you mentioned so you you've got a universal radio and then you get your vehicle specific, you know Plastics, let's call them the dash kit if you want to call it that but then when it came to steering wheel controls or other Features in the car you had to sit there and flip-dip switches or do a programming sequence and all that and by having vehicle Specific kits already bundled and in a box ready to go Pretty much all that's been done for you.

[Speaker 3]

So I mean you're literally plug-and-play and and we mean whoa No, no, no, no No that we need that sound effect. We talked about that in the last podcast that maybe they'll come in later yet We can't say that.

[Speaker 2]

I don't know if Matthew's aware, but you know, that's bad. We train our advisors bad words and We tell them basically don't don't describe anything we sell In any case ever as plug-and-play because it sets an expectation that is really hard to me It's hard to exceed Plug-and-play, that's fair. Yeah, that's fair.

And now I get why you would use it No, yeah makes sense because we're not cutting any wires. We're not modifying anything You don't have to crimp anything don't even have to crimp anything you guys even include zip ties and trim panel tools We sell those. Wait a second That's It's a little free gift that's all I mean this Certainly, we'd like to say it's everything you need I like if you want to put this horizon 10 in your Jeep or whatever other compatible vehicle Yeah, you could just buy that and be confident that everything you need is in there, correct?

And you're not gonna need a set of wire strippers. You're not gonna need a lot of the stuff.

[Speaker 1]

Yeah Yeah, no, I mean it basically makes it so that you could do it with just common like household tools, you know maybe a socket set and a screwdriver and Basically pretty much everything else we've given you, you know, like you said a panel tools in there a couple of zip ties I guess you'd need you know something to cut those zip ties with but other than that like you don't need a soldering iron You don't need wire strippers and crimpers.

You don't need butt connectors or heat shrink or any of that stuff It's it's basically all done for you Which is a much better way of saying plug-and-play, yeah, you can't say that.

[Speaker 2]

Yeah, I'll never say it again Never ever again. I might have to come up with a good sound effect.

[Speaker 3]

Yeah buzz that out Yeah, I just need one of those boards over here.

[Speaker 2]

So every time we say That's pretty great So with the with the SRK versions with the full integration, are there any features lost or do you retain like everything?

[Speaker 1]

You mean like features from the factory OEM features, yeah Trying to think of anything. That's really lost. I mean every vehicle is different and we try to You know really be pretty Pretty upfront about you know, what's going to work and what isn't you know with with every vehicle?

I think there's some things that are maybe a little bit Mmm, you know maybe gray area and and what I mean by that is like for example on some of the new Jeeps like the the four by e the hybrid models. Oh, yeah are not compatible so if you have a Jeep JL and it happens to be the electric or the hybrid our system will not work in that one because there is a bunch of Electric info I think for the hybrid powertrain that comes up on that screen and we don't have compatibility with that yet But as long as someone, you know checks out the website and and looks at the compatibility notes, there's there's really not much to it Yeah, I can't think of anything off the top of my head Actually, I can give you an example though. Just being transparent here if we were looking at say excuse me like the Charger Challenger 300 Okay, you know vehicles there is some of those vehicles the the higher trim level Performance ones like I think the you know, the Hellcats and those sorts of things.

They have like the The the track pack or something like that and we do not have compatibility for that So it doesn't mean that you couldn't do it It just means they would lose that feature if they want the you know, the quarter-mile lap timer built into the screen Yes, they would lose that so it's just little things like that that they should you know, the the end-user should be aware of but Mostly we try to retain everything we can and add So many new features and so much value that for most folks.

[Speaker 2]

I think it would be worth it Anyway, so like factory backup camera on a Jeep.

[Speaker 1]

We're keeping that absolutely and we do that one pretty unique that's always a a sticking point for a lot of Jeep owners is You know Jeep kind of got their stuff together and and really put a nice quality camera on on a lot of those late-model Jeeps where it's actually a digital signal It's not a traditional analog, you know signal composite video exactly And so that's a challenge for most head unit manufacturers and what we've done is come up with an interface which is of course included in the kit and what it does is it takes that digital signal from those Jeeps and it actually converts it to an HDMI and then we utilize the HDMI input on the Horizon to show that camera now the cool part is My first question because I'm a pain was I'm asking our tech team. I'm like, okay cool, but what about the HDMI inputs now? I lost that they said no.

No, it actually has a pass-through and you still get to keep your HDMI input.

[Speaker 2]

Oh, that's pretty sweet Okay, I think I only have one final question and well too But this one first Who is responsible for? Making audio control owners manuals the best owners manuals to actually read I'm gonna it's gonna read the first paragraph of chapter 1 of the DM 810, please do Congratulations on your purchase of a fine audio control product you have chosen wisely We hope that it will give you many years of super audio enjoyment and larks That's not language I'm accustomed to seeing in any other owners manual who does that

[Speaker 1]

so these days it's a collaborative effort a Lot of it comes from myself and a gentleman named Dan spore Dan and I are Kind of the stewards of keeping audio control audio control is how I look at it We've been tasked with hey, make sure that this sounds like audio control we need you guys to write the flowery language We need you guys to write the the parts that make it, you know, make it fun. Make it funny make it Audio control esque.

I really enjoy that part of it you know some of our other products have some some funny stuff on the box to you you read the part from the DM 810 and So what we decided to do was just call features what they are called, you know specs and things what they really are Which which you know side note really kind of blends well with our theory of we don't do peak power We only do RMS. We don't do max. We don't do peak any of those kind of BS marketing numbers It's refreshing to see that it is. It's I can't stand those numbers, but so we just stick to RMS but then my favorite part and and I'll read this one to you is from our Spike series subwoofers, which are kind of our like daily driver sub All right.

So what we did is we decided to have a pairings section So just like when you go to a steakhouse and they offer a wine pairing this is written as pairings. So it says pairings our sonic Somalias recommend the following a single spike series 2 ohm subwoofer pairs attractively with the ACM 1.300 or ACX 300.1 for the conservative to moderate listener for more beefy bass seek out the ACX 600.1 Planning to enjoy the exuberant audio from one of our LC 5.13 hundred or D 5.13 hundred amplifiers The outstanding output delivered from channel 5 is a perfect pairing bon appétit

[Speaker 2]

Your subwoofer Somalia is that's right. I love it sonic Somalia sonic Somalia. Yes, that's great I have two more.

I want to read. Can we just do the rest of the podcast reading bits from your owners, man?

[Speaker 3]

I'm not prepared for this.

[Speaker 2]

I'm on the same page. I was on and here's more Please visit our find and new bold and lovely knowledge base at audio control comm Knowledge dash base for all manner of helpful tips and wisdom gathered from the collective noodles of our fine technical support engineers and audio chaps

[Speaker 1]

Right the best place to look is if people want to check some of these out is if you go to audio control comm and you Look at the owners manuals, which on every product page if you scroll all the way to the bottom There'll be a link to the owners manual when you go to the owners manual if you just want a quick little taste the very front page of every owners manual has a bullet point list of some features and Usually towards the bottom of that list. There's some fun stuff.

[Speaker 2]

That's what I was about to read.

[Speaker 3]

Yeah It's non-stop though. Like now you got me now you got me looking at them like even this one on the recycle notice It's like do not throw it out in the trash. It has to be carefully recycled for the good of mankind Right, like it didn't need to say that but it did and I like it for it the last feature on the DMA 10

[Speaker 2]

engineered designed and manufactured in our leafy shaded and secluded audio goodness Technodrome in beautiful Mountlake Terrace, Washington Are there any questions I should have asked you that I have not asked you Matthew

[Speaker 1]

Hmm, I don't know we covered a lot. I mean, I feel like we covered the horizon pretty well I guess the one question that I usually get asked is So like what's next? Like where's the bigger one?

You know Everybody wants a bigger screen with Tesla's having these massive touch screens And I think the question I would I would answer that I wasn't asked was what about bigger screens, right? So, hey Matthew, are you guys gonna make like radios with bigger screen, you know, I was just wondering the question I was wondering the same thing stole my question. Yeah, that's a great question.

So we actually already offer Recently released is the horizon 12, which as the name implies is a actually it's a 12.8 inch screen so it's it's rather large it's a Rectangular widescreen so it's it's more of a like a tablet style form factor Whereas the horizon has a very, you know kind of unique unique shape to it But what's cool about the horizon 12 is that it actually can be positioned vertical or horizontal which is really neat I've seen that in some installs that that look really cool some custom center consoles that looked great but then we are also working on a Larger horizon as well.

I won't give away too much just know that we are looking at the Ford Broncos and Those new Broncos already come with a 12 In the dash and a lot of the models, so we're looking at something bigger than that. I'm not gonna say what But you know to make somebody upgrade from their already 12 inch screen it's gonna have to be significant right and and also add of course a bunch of functionality, but That 12 inch right now Is a really cool product the only you know caveat to that is that currently it's it's pretty much Just designed for the Jeep JL's and JT's. So that's the the newest Wranglers and Gladiators But it does look amazing in that dash and and that one to you know a quick call back to our earlier conversation is Truly.

I know I knew you're gonna it is no, but I'm I can I can defend this Well, it says it on your website. Well, here's the deal So most of the time you get a you know when you order these kits you get a Horizon 10 which is an ix 210 is the model number for the radio and then you get a a pack or stinger Kit for your vehicle that's specific to your car and then you kind of assemble the two together to make this kit With the horizon 12 for those Jeeps. It comes in one big huge box And the screen is already assembled into the plastic kit.

The microphone is mounted. The harness is wired zip-tied Ready to go. You literally pull it out of the box and plug it in.

I mean that one is truly You don't even have to cut the ends off the zip tie. Nope. It's already done for you.

I believe that one is even Ooh, I don't want to be told I'm wrong. I think it's tessa taped So it's all pretty and got the cloth tape on there like factory.

[Speaker 2]

I don't know like a professional.

[Speaker 1]

Yeah I know I could be wrong on that But that screen is so big that it it actually takes over part of the dash vents Because those Jeeps vents are right on the left and right side of the screen So we actually had to recreate the vents as vertical like slatted vents instead that go over those old round vent openings and then it has a funneling system that diverts the air properly and all that but It's a lot cooler in my opinion than just putting a big old screen in there that blocks part of your vents and sticks out From the dash and you know, I think the best compliment we got on that 12 was at SEMA We had it in a Jeep in our booth and so many people walked by and are like, oh, is that the new factory Jeep radio? That's a huge comment. That's that's big.

That's massive.

[Speaker 2]

So Do you happen to know if Crutchfield is picking up the horizon 12.8?

[Speaker 3]

I believe you are I that will help depend whether or not this makes it to the actual episode, right?

[Speaker 1]

And that's a question that's above my pay grade, but I do believe that is happening So I know we're adding more applications to that and I think once we add some more applications It'll it'll make sense for you guys to have it sweet.

[Speaker 2]

So Matthew thank you so much for taking extra time out of your visit to Charlottesville, Virginia and Your training time today. Your time is valuable and we really appreciate you joining us here in the podcast studio Yeah, absolutely.

[Speaker 1]

This was a lot of fun. Thanks for having me Thanks again. Appreciate it.

[Speaker 2]

That's it Well, we are just about at the end of this show here. I do want to point out that Crutchfield the podcast We are sponsored by the one and only Bill Crutchfield. He's the one that pays for all of this Big thanks to him for letting us continue to get paid to talk about the coolest stuff on the planet.

There you go We also we also like to do a not a sponsor each episode and today's not a sponsor seems really appropriate What do you have JR? Today's not a sponsor is stinger Speaker wire, you know as you heard from Matt, they make a lot more than just the horizon 10 and 12 and these radios They've got a lot of wiring options as well and stinger speaker wire is a we sell a lot of that stuff we do It's available in 18 16 14 and 12 gauge It's black one of the sides is square one of the sides is round so you can easily tell positive from negative I'm pointing out all the things that I read in customer reviews customers seem to really really like this speaker wire I have an example for you.

[Speaker 3]

Yeah, I love that. We sell it by the foot

[Speaker 2]

That's actually one of the things people called out that they love that you can buy the exact amount of speaker wire exactly but

[Speaker 3]

The insider tip always get a few extra feet because it's rather it's much better to have a little extra than not enough

[Speaker 2]

Yeah measure twice cut once and then overestimate and add some fudge factor in there so that ideally you do end up with a few feet of extra speaker wire that you can Have do whatever you want.

Well, that's right Jeremy is a verified customer from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and here's his review of stinger Pro Series speaker wire Stinger has always provided high quality flexible wire and this is no different easy to strip twist and bend around my truck nice You like that?

[Speaker 3]

I can just picture him bending that wire around his all the way around his truck.

[Speaker 2]

Yep gets the job done Yeah, so and a lot of the reviews there's a bunch of them people use this for car stereo for home speakers It's it's just good high quality speaker wire. So there you go. Today's not a sponsor stinger Pro Series speaker wire This episode of Crutchfield the podcast was hosted by Huffy and JR recorded at Crutchfield headquarters in beautiful Charlottesville, Virginia Big thanks to our guests this week Matt from stinger We would like to solve your consumer electronics mysteries on this show want to know what kind of stereo we'd recommend for you your house your car your truck your whatever send us an email podcast at crutchfield.com and Lastly, thank you. Once again to Bill Crutchfield for continuing to pay us to talk about the coolest tech on the planet Thanks, Bill.

[Speaker 1]

I Do have some audio tattoos.

[Speaker 3]

Yeah. Yeah, I see that. I mean, it's a really cool tattoo.

[Speaker 1]

There's a ruffer. There's a Rockford amp There is a pioneer. Yeah, that's a punch right and that uh, it's an 800 a2.

Yeah, there is a premier Oh, I had a pioneer. Yep. It's a premier 940 MP, which I bought from Crutchfield This doesn't have dolphins though, right?

[Speaker 3]

It did have dolphins. I didn't do that in the tattoo That was gonna become such a thing of legend after it's like an iconic thing Why is it so I mean, I wouldn't have picked that is huge Yeah, there's a lightning audio cap and some lightning audio RCA's the strike series Power hx2 woofer now, I see which way that power wires run. Is that implying that you bring the power?

Correct?

[Speaker 1]

And if you'll notice the ground is even grounded with a nut and bolt. Oh, it's not self-tappered No, no, no star washer. There is not in bowl.

[Speaker 3]

Yeah, should be did you have to scrape away any?

[Speaker 1]

Oh, they scraped away Okay, all right, yeah And it'll distribution block and then yeah, I actually bought this radio from Crutchfield. Nice I was 15 and I came back from Alaska I went up to Alaska for the summer and worked my tail off Seven days a week 12 hours a day from the day. I got there till the day I left Yeah, and aren't those dolphins I did when I came back with a bunch of money and I was 16 and I blew 95% of it on car audio I am a sucker for like some some throwback like vintage gear.

There's something about nostalgia. That's just very 90s stuff.

[Speaker 3]

Yeah, pretty hot, right?

[Speaker 1]

And that's what this is Like people ask me like, oh, did you ever work for Rockford?

[Speaker 2]

It's like no, it's it's all the gear that like got me into hooked on car audio I feel like Matthew I want you to expressly give me permission to talk about your tattoos at the end of this Oh, yeah, I did record all that.

[Speaker 1]

Yeah. Yeah, I have no problem with that.

[Speaker 2]

Yeah. Yeah, cool. Thank you.

[Speaker 1]

Absolutely You