While I know enough to get me by, I still don't know a lot.
Is there any online source that explains car audio simply? The few things I have read start simple, but get complicated.
Maybe car Audio math? Like for hooking up speakers with amps and such?
Crutchfield? They might have some good info.
Here's one:
http://bcae1.com/
Another vote for BCAE1.com
Thanks, that site looks like what I'm looking for.
The difference between Parallel vs. Series, Ohm ratings, and RMS wattage ratings are all that matter in terms of simple amplified sound. Wired one way, 2 individual 4ohm speakers will either have a 2ohm or 8 ohm impedance. Max wattage on speakers/amplifiers means nothing, etc.....
Never seen that stereo info site before, it's very informative! More geared toward the 'decibel drag race' type thing but the information is very good.
When picking stereo parts, the basic rule of thumb is: peak power ratings mean nothing, always look for RMS. You want the RMS output of the amp to be roughly between 1/2-2/3 of the speaker RMS rating; for instance an amp with 75 watts per channel RMS output is best paired with speakers of around 125-150 watts RMS power handling.
Having said that, cheap amps tend to have corners cut on the RMS being 'clean' (non distorted) RMS power. Distortion and 'clipping' are what kill speakers no matter what the speakers are rated at. For that reason I avoid the cheapo amps and stay with name brands. Same with speakers. FWIW, I have had excellent results with Alpine, Polk and Kicker.
Match speaker impedance to amp impedance specs, i.e. don't try to run 2 ohm speakers on an amp designed for 4 ohm speakers or vice versa.
The above will get you very far with buying stuff.
In reply to Curmudgeon:
You mean you're not supposed to keep adding subwoofers to an old Memphis ARHC-100 to make more power than it claims it can??? Wait, I learned that lesson, along with another of don't buy pioneer speakers unless you like molten voice coils that catch the whole thing on fire. 
www.the12volt.com
All kinds of wiring diagrams, series parallel calculators, etc
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