If you don't know your woofers from your tweeters or your dB from your bass, then we are here to help! All is explained below, but if you are still puzzled as to some other terms used on our website, don't hesitate to contact us!

HEAD UNITS

AUTOMATIC VOLUME CONTROL - Head unit's volume automatically increases along with car's speed e.g. JVC's Cruise Control.

FADER - Control which balances sound from front to rear in a four speaker set-up.

LOUDNESS - Boosts low frequencies. Useful at low volumes but most loudness circuits can cut off an unacceptable amount of treble.

MASH - Panasonic's Multi Stage Noise Shaping - Latest Digital/Analogue technology.

POWER FADER - Controls volume relation between front and rear speakers connected to built-in amplifier.

PRE-AMP - Holds controls for volume, bass and treble but has no on-board amplification.

QRB - Quick Release Bracket, denotes extractable unit.

SYSTEM E’s & E’s+ - A Kenwood designed electronic crossover management IC (integrated circuit). This system gives less distortion, much clearer sound and adds subwoofer level, phase and frequency control to give complete system set up via head unit control for quick adjustment for different types of music.

SYSTEM Q - Kenwood system which allows you to control bass, midrange and treble sounds and select preset curves: Flat, Rock, Top40, Pops, Jazz or Easy.

UNILINK - Sony bi-directional 8-pin BUS connector for centralised multi-media control from a master unit.

RADIO TUNERS

AUTOSTORE - Benefits the long distance driver by scanning the waveband in the area of travel and automatically storing five or six strongest stations in order of signal strength.

DAB - Digital Audio Broadcasting. A new technology set to replace current analogue radio using a revolutionary system that allows CD-quality sound to be transmitted digitally along with text and other data.

CT - Clock Time. See RDS.

DYNAS - New technology to guarantee perfect FM reception due to much higher selectivity plus improved sensitivity.

EON - Enhanced Other Networks. Allows interruption of RDS bulletins from other local stations. (See RDS below).

K₃I TUNER - Tuner designed by Kenwood which offers improved performance in difficult reception areas. In this tuner 3 different filters are automatically switched depending on the severity of the interference.

LOCAL/DX - Two levels of sensitivity for tuner searching, local and distant.

MULTIPATHING - Annoying 'chopping' interference on FM caused by reception of a signal that's been reflected (i.e. off tall buildings).

PI - Programme Identification.

PLL - Phase Locked Loop - Keeps FM signals locked on station.

PRESETS - Stations, which can be held in a tuners memory for instant recall.

PS - Programme Service.

PTY - Programme Type e.g. Classics, Light Music, Others.

RDS - RADIO DATA SYSTEM - Traffic information system on FM. RDS shows station name display (PI/PS) and delivers traffic bulletins (TP/TA) Also locks onto best possible frequency for a station in a particular part of the country (AF) Can display time and date on the receiver (CT) Sets with PTY (Programme Type) will automatically tune into a station broadcasting Pop, Classical, News etc.

SDK - German traffic information system.

TP/TA - Traffic Programme/Traffic Announcement. See RDS.

CD PLAYERS

AAC - Advanced Audio Coding. An audio codec developed by the organisation that is responsible for the MPEG standards, it can achieve audio encoding with a much higher compression efficiency than previous formats such as MP3.

CD-R COMPATIBLE - Plays CD’s which were recorded using a CD-R recorder.

CD-RW COMPATIBLE - Plays CD’s which were recorded using a CD-RW recorder. These CD’s can be erased and re-recorded.

CD TEXT - Displays text from encoded CDs on the unit's display. Text can include disc/song title and artist information, as well as disc genre (for example, 'Jazz', 'Classical', etc).

DAC - Digital-to-Analogue Converter.

INTRO SCAN - Plays approximately the first 10 seconds of every track on a tape/CD.

MP3 - MPEG Audio Layer 3. A data format for compressing and storing data. Using MP3 format, the equivalent of 10 normal CD’s can be stored on a single CD-R disc.

OVERSAMPLING - Method used in a CD player to reproduce digital information as faithfully as possible in analogue form, a part of the digital to analogue conversion process.

POWER LOADING - System loads and ejects CD or tape automatically.

WMA - Windows Media Audio. An audio encoding/decoding system enabling compression of data on a CD to up to 1/20 its original volume. Using WMA format, the equivalent of 20 normal CD’s can be stored on a single CD-R disc - double that of MP3 format.

ZERO-BIT MUTE - A zero-bit muting detector monitors the CD signal for zero-bits which represents an absence of music. By shutting down the final output stage at these times, the detector helps to provide a superior signal to noise ratio.

CASSETTE PLAYERS

AUTO BLANK SKIP - Usually accompanies track search and allows the user to skip from the end of one track to the beginning of the next missing out any blank or unrecorded passages on the tape.

AZIMUTH - The angle of contact between head and tape during recording and playback. Should be as similar as possible for the most faithful reproduction and the best quality.

DNR - Dynamic Noise Reduction. Similar to Dolby but not as effective.

FULL LOGIC - A mechanism which lets you control cassette operation with just a light touch on control keys.

INTRO SCAN - Plays approximately the first 10 seconds of every track on a tape/CD.

KEY-OFF - Pinch roller release when cassette is not in use to prevent tape damage.

MSS - (Denon, Philips, Radiomobile) Music search system. See TRACK SEARCH.

POWER LOADING - System loads and ejects CD or tape automatically.

PROGRAMME SELECTOR - Cassette function, which allows user to switch from one side to the other.

RADIO MONITOR - Radio reception when tape is set for fast-forward or rewind.

WOW AND FLUTTER - Caused by any variation in the speed of the tape transport. The lower the figure the better and hence the lower the level of variation through the speakers.

TRACK SEARCH - Tape facility, which means you can rewind or forward to the next track and in some cases to any selected track.

AMPLIFIERS & CROSSOVERS

BANDPASS FILTER - A combination of high and low pass filters connected in series with an overlap between the lower and upper frequencies, usually used for the mid-range in a 3-way component system.

BRIDGEABLE TO MONO - Where the two separate outputs of some stereo amplifiers can be combined to give a mono signal.

CROSSOVER - A selective filter, which splits signals into different frequency bands that can be fed independently to separate speakers. A passive crossover filters signals after they have been amplified. An active crossover (more effective and flexible) filters signals before amplification, sending different signals to different amps.

CROSSTALK - The level of stereo separation i.e. the isolation of the two channels of a system.

GAIN - Degree of signal amplification, achieved by an amp, tuner or pre-amp circuit. Expressed in decibels (dB).

MOSFET - Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor. Amplifier power supply switching device designed for optimum performance. MOSFET’s have a significantly higher switching speed than bipolar transistors. They generate almost no loss (little heat generation), which lends the power supply fast response, excellent linearity and high efficiency.

PRE-AMP FADER - Adjusts front/rear balance at pre-amp level, used in combination with pre-outs and external amplifiers.

PRE-AMP OUTPUT - A pre-amp output (pre-out) on a head unit allows the addition of an amp or other peripherals when system building.

RMS - Root Mean Square, a realistic measurement of the maximum output of an amplifier. The higher the figure the more powerful the unit.

SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO - Indicates how much irritating background hiss is produced as a proportion of the full output power. Numbers higher than 90dB are acceptable. A good indicator of the quality of the amp.

THD - Total Harmonic Distortion. The measure of closeness in shape between a waveform and its fundamental component.

SPEAKERS

2-WAY - A speaker system with two types of drivers.

3-WAY - A speaker system made up of three different types of drivers.

BASS - The lower end of the frequency spectrum, sometimes also known as mid-bass.

BASS REFLEX - Speakers, which have two separate drive units (normally a small woofer and tweeter) moving independently. Essentially this gives better high frequency response and hence greater range and clarity.

COMPONENTS - Separate speakers, usually a tweeter and mid-range with appropriate crossover.

DUAL CONE - Speakers which have two cones; the second cone is usually much smaller and glued directly to the centre of the main cone although it has just one voice coil.

FREE-AIR - Term relating to subwoofers which are designed to work most efficiently in free air using the boot for example, as an enclosure. Also known as 'infinite baffle'.

FULL RANGE - Speakers designed to give a wide frequency response.

HIGH PASS FILTER - (Capacitor) Essentially allows more signal to pass through the higher the signal gets, typically used and supplied with tweeters.

INFINITE BAFFLE - See FREE-AIR

LOW PASS FILTER - (Inductor or Choke) Allows more signal to pass through the lower the signal gets - ideal for a sub.

MDF - Medium Density Fibreboard. Used for building bass enclosures, door panels etc.

MIDRANGE - As the name suggests, frequencies in the middle of the frequency range.

PORTED - If the port length and diameter is correctly matched to the box volume and subwoofer's characteristics it will greatly increase efficiency and a good ported box offers lower distortion.

ROLL OFF - The point at which the frequency level/performance of a speaker decreases.

TWEETERS - Reproduce the higher frequencies (treble), they are generally fairly small.

SUB BASS - The 'thumping rumble' in a system.

SUBWOOFERS - Large speakers designed to produce the low frequencies, designed to be used in a cabinet, tube or free-air application.

MISCELLANEOUS

DAT - Digital Audio Tape. Medium used in the pro sector for reproducing pre-recorded material in digital format on tape - not to be confused with DCC.

DCC - Philips Digital Compact Cassette, a medium of digital cassette designed to replace the familiar analogue cassette.

DIN - DIN E is the German standard of measurement for most in-dash players to enable sets to be fitted in standard slots.

DSP - Digital Sound (Signal) Processor. Lets you programme a listening environment pattern and change the sound to suit the music. A type of super equaliser.

HERTZ - Unit of measurement for frequency, often written as Hz.

OHM - A measurement used of how much the flow of electricity is restricted or impeded. The higher the measurement the higher the resistance, often written as Ω.

RTA - Real Time Analyser. Piece of equipment, which measures frequency response and SPL level.

SPL - Sound Pressure Level. Monitored using pro kit and measured in decibels - basically the amount of volume produced.

STAGING - Where the listening perceives the origin of the music to be coming from.