[Android Software Development] phamous42:
Since cars run off 12 volt DC, you have to run some pretty beefy 0 gauge wire from the battery to the trunk of the car to adequately power the amps. You also need to do what's called "the big three" and beef up your car's charging system with additional 0 gauge wiring. You will have zero gauge runs from your alternator positive to battery positive for increased power draw and charging of the battery, a zero gauge run from your car's chassis (negative) to your battery negative to complete the circuit from all electronics on your car, and a final run from your alternator negative (engine block) to chassis negative. This is assuming that your car's alternator is able to generate an adequate amount of amperage. Any deficiencies in your charging system can affect your amplifier's ability to consistently and fully amplify your speakers at desired volumes.

Aftermarket car audio speakers are almost always less sensitive than stock speakers. Speaker sensitivity is measured as 1 watt per meter. The decreased sensitivity can be attributed to stiffer spiders attached to the woofer cone which require stronger magnets to drive them. Larger magnets require more power. Stiffer woofer cones usually lead to much more accurate sound reproduction since the movement of the cone is much more controlled. The more a cone is able to travel at a given frequency, the louder the sound output at that frequency. It's about finding that balance between sound pressure level and sound quality that suits you most. At best, stock systems go for increased sound quality while sacrificing sound pressure level. By having better equipment you can attain both sound quality and sound pressure.

Stock systems typically have high sensitivity speakers that don't require much power to drive them. Since higher frequencies require exponentially less power to reproduce, most of human hearing can be produced at reasonably high volumes on even the most average sound systems.

So what advantages does one get when upgrading to aftermarket audio? Bass!! Much smoother fuller sub bass that makes your hair stand up and smash you in the chest mid bass. Lower frequencies require exponentially more power to reproduce compared to higher frequencies at the same volume. The volume isn't necessarily louder, it's fuller. There's no volume roll off at lower frequencies. These low frequencies give your music a physical sensation that would otherwise be unavailable in most stock systems.

Also to add a note on wattage, a lot of audio equipment is marketed with peak wattage figures since the numbers are always higher. However peak wattage doesn't really tell you much about a piece of equipment because music is dynamic. Enthusiasts are concerned with watts RMS. Watts RMS is able to paint a much better picture of a speaker's power handling in real world situations. Most stock speakers are around 15-20 watts RMS at most. A doubling of power gives about 3db increase of volume. Human perception of volume doubled is around +10db, so to double volume you have to quadruple your power in watts RMS. Having the right amplification not only let's you play louder, the increased power allows you to play better as well.

[MENTION=6301651]ephexxis[/MENTION] The deh-80prs can process mp3/aac/wav/flac without issue when reading off a flash drive/sdcard/cd but it doesn't have android auto so there's no way for me to output USB audio digitally from my phone. I think at best the headunit will detect my phone and mount the file system as it would any other flash drive but of course then my songs wouldn't be processed through Arise right? I'll look into using a USB 3 pass through! I drive a 2015 Nissan Altima (upgraded from a 1997 Lexus es300)