AMPLIFIERS
Amplifiers not only make a system sound louder they also make it sound better. The size and the weight of the amplifier are important. Amplifiers are available in class A, B, C, D of which the class B amplifiers are the most common. The greater the power supplied by the amp to the speakers, the cleaner the speakers sound. It is good to get an amp with built-in crossover and equalizer.

Crossovers split the frequencies among all the speakers. If a high frequency is sent to a low frequency speaker then there are chances of speaker damage that crossovers help to avoid. There are three types of crossovers:
• High pass (it allows all high frequencies to pass and blocks low frequencies)
• Low pass (it allows all low frequencies to pass and blocks high frequencies)
• Band pass (this will block low and high frequencies, which are below or above the preset measure in the crossover.

If you are a serious audiophile you can always go for standalone amplifiers, crossovers and equalizers to get that perfect setup for sound output. Equalizers are valuable instruments to flatten a system's frequency response (making the levels the same at all frequencies). In a system, a flat frequency response is a starting point, but does not ultimately mean perfect sound since human ears are not sensitive at the same level to all frequencies.

Some of the high-end amplifier brands are – Soundstream, Kicker and JBL whereas the mid-range to affordable ones are available with Sony, Blaupunkt, Kenwood, Alpine, etc.

Note: Look out for a low THD (total harmonic distortion) rating while deciding on the ramp. A high power amplifier allows the volume in the system to be higher. A speaker requires a minimum of 30 to 50 watts. Contrary to popular belief, a high-powered amp does not damage the speakers. Speakers are damaged because of distortion and a bigger amplifier enables higher volumes without distortion.