We all love to have our own cars. But we never think how difficult it is when we have to deal with each and every aspect for better maintenance. In this regard, if you desire ask the owners of cars about their experiences regarding the car audio installation. Now, car audio installation happens to be a specialized job in the practical sense, requiring at least some knowledge about the basics of car designs and electronics. The final audio output depends to a large extent on good installation. You may buy the best equipment, but if it is not properly installed, then the result will be poor. The entire set up consisting of wires, amplifiers, alternators, and speakers would have to be perfectly set up for that great audio effect.

Now to begin with the speaker location is perchance the most important part of setting up or installing your car audio. In this regard, you shall have to be determined regarding the very location where you are going to place your speakers and that is the very first step or decision you shall have to take. The designs of cars are such that the listener isn’t placed perfectly in middle of the two speakers. What we mean to say is that the distance between the left speaker and the left ear is not the same as the right ear and the right speaker, which is a traditional audio setup. You can easily avoid this problem by making the distance between the left and right as little as possible. Some people try to place an extra speaker on the dashboard. The problem with this is that this speaker on the dashboard rips the sound into two, making for unpleasant hearing. You can try placing the audio in different locations around the car and arrive at the proper configuration for your speakers. Be aware that at this juncture there happen to be several mistakes. In this regard, another mistake which commonly occurs is that people tend to go for looks rather than the sound, when it comes to car audio. Try to listen, rather than look. Some unlikely places inside your car may be the best for placing speakers. It shall be better if you can consult with your family members. Since the car shall be used by everyone it is wise to take the opinion of all, even of your kid, if there is any.

(more…)

Car audio system may be one the most expensive hobbies one can have. But what are you going to do when an amazing car audio gear is available with great features. Well the first option that comes to mind is to bargain on that particular gadget which is not a bad idea. However make sure you bargain wisely while presenting a price that is between the wholesale and the retail price as the seller will definitely not agree on a wholesale price for the reason that most of these dealers earn their commission through the profit they get in what they sell.

The craze of jazzing up your car from inside and outside with the available stuff these days has taken over the entire globe. The thing that people love to do is to have electronic gadgets installed in their cars to feel at home yet keep it fresh. Drive while watching a movie, have an iPod with FM transmission, watching a movie, have DJ equipment installed in the trunk of your car or analog and digital mixers. You can completely change the look of your car’s interior with audio and video gears within good range of price if bargained wisely. Dealers get a pretty good deal from the wholesalers but the reason for increasing the retail price is dealer’s personal commission. Bargaining is also an art that has to be learned to save your money. When it comes to saving money on car audio gears, you need to be smart about it. Some of the tips that might help you in saving some cash on expensive car audio gear are given below.

(more…)

One of the biggest things that you can do to show how much money you have is to have a great car stereo system. Now the only problem with this is the fact that your car audio system may cost a lot of money, but if you do not tune it right then you are just wasting your time. Tuning your car stereo is just as important as the car stereo you choose to buy. To make sure you have the best sound you are going to have to spend some time adjusting it to the right tone that you want. There are a lot of things you have to look out for, but with a little bit of help you are going to have the best car stereo on the block!

When you are trying to tune your car stereo you want to get the max amount volume without making it sound distorted. To do this you are going to have to mess with some of your settings, this is called tuning. Some people thing that you should tune your car audio system with your subs off, however, that is wrong. To make sure you are hitting the right pitch that you want with your subs, and still be able to make out the music can be hard. However, it would be impossible to do with your subs turned off. Now with your subs turned on you need to see how hard you want your subs to hit. By doing this you are going to choose how loud you want your bass to be. Remember the louder your bass is the more distorted your music could sound. Of course, most people do not care nowadays, they just want to make sure you can here them coming down the road.

(more…)

Modifying your car is a trend that will never go out of fashion. The reason to this is the electronic gadgets, stereo system and many other fine piece of art available to dazzle up your car. Usually what guys prefer installing in their car as a first priority is custom car audio system with a woofer in your trunk and an awesome display to change your CD’s from one to another. Many shops can be found to provide this kind of services for you to pimp your car and give it a complete different look from the inside as well as outside.

The accessories available for cars are so many that it might be hard for one to make a decision as you do not want too much stuff in your car otherwise it will just overdo it. Starting from remote car starters, window tinting, keyless entry, security system, multimedia, shinny rims and tires with an awesome grip etc. There is so much choice to choose from but it is advisable to keep it simple and classy installing things that you really want in your car rather than dumping everything, stuff that you might not even use. So you want to pimp your ride, you can start off with black or silver rims with tires that compliment the shinny metal in between with jet black tinted windows. Tints in different colors are also available but I never found any color more eye-catching than black.

(more…)

Lack of specific plans, result in car audio mistakes. Car audio mistakes can be avoided by examining various issues and devising a plan that suits the one, who owns a car. At the outset, to stay away from car audio mistakes, it is imperative to chart out a budget and to adhere to it. Prioritizing various issues is quite significant, before one decides to buy a new audio system. Evaluation of various aspects, before modifying the car, can avoid regretting the decisions, later. The choice of high-end and low-end models of audio system requires examining the time spend in the car and its utility. A bit of discretion can save one from the embarrassment of having made car audio mistakes.

Choosing car audio can be a tough job, with a wide variety of products that allure you with unique features, readily available at your doorstep. In such a scenario, car audio mistakes are common occurrences. Exercising discretion and caution, while buying them, can avoid the embarrassment of spending too much on an unworthy buy. Being debt ridden after making several car audio mistakes is quite natural, if no prior planning goes into buying car audio systems.

Since, many brands and a variety of products are available in the market; few things have to be examined before plunging into a shopping spree for a new car audio. Primarily, the budget for buying car audio, can avoid the foremost among car audio mistakes, that of overshooting the budget. One has to decide on the money to be spent on the car audio, depending on the savings at hand. Depending on the budget, one has to decide, if the entire system has to be replaced or just parts of it. Identification of the parts to be replaced and finding components that suit the budget planned can save one from running into debt.

(more…)

One of the best things you can do for your car audio system is to properly tune it. There are several variables to consider when doing this, and I am going to walk to through the most important ones so you will have a good understanding of how to get the most “bang” for the buck from you system.

Assuming you have an amplified system with one or more subwoofers, you can dial in your system to give you the best sound and have the durability you want from it. It starts at the head unit. You want a head unit with a good, strong output signal, between 4 and 5 volts on its pre-outs. Audiophiles tell us that 2-3 volts of good clean signal is good too, but that will require a little more amplifier power to get the decibels we’re looking for.

You also want a head unit with an adjustable subwoofer level. Start by tuning the stereo without the subs on. Add your bass and treble until you get the desired sound with minimal distortion at the loudest volume setting you will listen to it at. This is generally about 2/3 max volume…

(more…)

Car audio has moved a long way from the old standard AM/FM Radio/Tape Deck combo. Today, in-vehicle multimedia systems include DVD video, television and navigation systems with local hotspot news. Common to all systems is the sound quality.

The quality of sound in a car audio system depends upon a number of factors - the type and quality of the media player system, the type of speakers used, the acoustics of the vehicle and interference from other devices.

Type and Quality of Media Player System

Before we look at the different types of in-vehicle media players it pays to have a basic understanding of audio quality. When deciding what type of audio system to install, and also when comparing one make and model to another, there are two key specifications to consider:

Signal-to-noise ratio [SNR] - a measure of signal strength compared to background noise in the signal or equipment. Measured in decibels. The higher the dB, the better. A car CD player has an SNR of 90 or 100 dB.

Frequency response [FR] - a measure of how much of the audio spectrum, from bass to treble, gets reproduced. It’s measured as a range in Hertz, and the wider the range, the better. Look for a CD player with a range of at least 10-20k Hz.

An FM radio, cassette player, and CD player all have different measurements for these specs. To help understand these two specifications, let’s compare a car tape cassette player and a car CD player.

Cassette player has an SNR of 50-70 dB. This is much lower than a CD player, so the sound quality degrades at each end of the spectrum. The FR is around 30-18k Hz for a cassette player, so does not contribute as much to sound quality as the SNR.

That’s why overall, a car CD player gives a much better sound than a cassette tape player.

Media players in vehicles today are either radio tuner, CD player/changer, or Digital Audio player.

Car CD Players & CD Changers

There are a number of options when it comes to playing CD’s in a vehicle:

• An in-dash CD Player - often combined with radio tuner, WMA/MP3 player
• An in-dash CD Receiver - with a multiple CD cassette / changer located elsewhere in the vehicle
• Connect a portable CD player to an existing in-dash audio unit using either a cable and adapter or a bluetooth wireless connection.

When choosing a car CD player the first two things to consider are:

1. Will it physically fit into the vehicle?
2. Will it integrate cosmetically with the dash and other electronics?

Most decks have standardized form factors; so fit most cars, but there are exceptions, so make sure that the deck is suited for your car…

(more…)