by Stan Horaczek / photograph by Sam Kaplan POPSCI.COM•SPRING 2019 35PR
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1
Subwoofer
To push out
bone-rattling bass,
the cone on the
front of the 12-inch
Alpine X-W12D4
subwoofer moves
as much as 2 inches
back and forth, dis-
placing enough air to
blow out a candle.
4
Speakers
Handmade in France,
the Focal Utopia M
6.5-inch woofers
and 1-inch tweeters
handle the mids and
highs. Weighted rings
around each speaker
hold edges fi rmly
in place and fi ght
buzzing distortion.
OVERKILL AN AGGRESSIVELY POWERFUL CAR STEREO CAN LITERALLY
blow your hair back if you feed it a tune with enough thumping bass. But cranking the
volume on a cheap set of Craigslist subwoofers risks eardrum- assaulting distortion.
A custom setup based on these components will shake the ground under your tires
while preserving the essence of the new Post Malone (or the old Public Enemy).
TEMPLE
OF BOOM
5
23
4
2
Receiver
Audio from MP3s
will never sound
incredible because
compression sacri-
fi ces some data to
keep fi les small. The
Kenwood DNX695S
receiver supports
high- res formats
such as DSD.
5
Amplifier
Subwoofers need
more oomph than
the receiver can
produce solo, so in-
stall an amp. The
Rockford Fosgate
Power T2500 unit
can pump thousands
of watts to a pair of
synchronized subs.
3
Absorption
Apply some thin
Dynamat Xtreme
matting in key places
in your ride, like under
the door panels. Its
aluminum- alloy skin
and rubber base will
reduce noises from
the road and tamp
down vibrations.
1
GOODS