The companies that will survive and do really well are those who ignore
the 'audiophiles' and instead work to make their product user friendly
and understandable to the average consumer. Also, those companies that
operate with some honesty will do better than those with trumped up
specs. Right now even if a newbie learns what all the specs mean they
almost instantly learn that the specs are highly manipulated and not to
be trusted.

Anyway, that's the way I see it.

Pious

I agree with many things you said. It made me think about how I learned
about car audio and how my first system was built. I had my first system
built in 1990 by Magnolia Hi-Fi in Portland, OR and I knew ABSOLUTELY
NOTHING about car audio (though I did know a lot about home stereo systems).
I was lucky to have a VERY patient salesman who explained MANY things to me
and steered me into a Kenwood CD HU (I had gone in thinking I wanted
cassette, dumb, dumb, dumb), a Rockford Fosgate Punch 75 amp driving a 12"
RF sub, and Boston Acoustics speakers. I was VERY pleased with my first
system and glad he guided me towards good brands (I had never even HEARD of
Rockford Fosgate before going to that store).

This was before the days of the internet and after I bought that first
system (and had caught the car audio bug) I actually learned TONS from car
audio magazines, in fact, most of the basics that I know today I learned
from magazines. But one thing I've noticed is that the car audio magazines
like CA&E, CSR, and AS&S were VERY different back then. They were filled
with information for the DIY, explanations of basic electrical principles,
how to remove door panels, how to swap out a HU, and on and on. They were
full of info for the newbie. When I flip through TODAY'S car audio
magazines there is none of this. They are just filled with fancy imports
full of fiberglass and expensive products that VERY FEW could afford and
CERTAINLY does not represent anything like a "starter system". I also
notice that these magazines are MUCH thinner (fewer pages) than they used to
be. Anyway, I agree that for a person looking to learn about car audio,
these days car audio magazines ARE NOT the way to go.

I think there are some EXCELLENT resources on the internet where a person
can learn about car audio. This group's own FAQ makes an EXCELLENT tutorial
for the newbie. And what you don't learn from the FAQ, this group can
answer ALMOST ANY question one might have (I can't count how many times the
guys on this group have answered important questions I have had).

Yes, sometimes there seems like there is too much information and
conflicting information everywhere you look, but frankly I think THERE HAS
NEVER BEEN A BETTER time to learn about and build your first system. Prices
have never been lower and like I said, the internet makes a great source of
information, you just have to slowly sift through it.

MOSFET