Car Audio FAQ - Article

Well, today is your lucky day, buddy, because you just found the place to find tons of hints about how to get the best out of your car audio system. Though my true installing experience in a shop is limited, my knowledge of both acoustics and electronics is far reaching, and I'll do my best to give you the best information I can. Hey, I know that different things work, and I know that I am not perfect (ask my car!), but I want to have this be as somewhat of a sounding board for all you car audio nuts. Hey, if you wanna send questions, email me at sonicivic@usa.net and I'll get back to ya! At some point I want this to become a mirror for the Car Audio FAQ and be a great resource to both employed and shadetree installers alike! The first installment here will be 5 tips on how to (somewhat cheaply) drastically improve the sound of your system. So if you're ready, sit back get ready to watch your mirrors shake! And now installment two is a few more tips to help you go further!

First and foremost, let's get this one thing straight. A car audio system is only as strong as it's weakest link. And unfortunately, I have actually seen many a system whose weakest link was its head unit. For those of you who aren't up on the terminology of car audio yet, the head unit (AKA source unit) is the thing that sits in your dash (usually) that is what you control (i.e. Radio/Cassette/CD Players). As it stands right now, the #1 best thing you can do for your ears, and the ears of those you love is to get a CD player! Wonder why? Let me answer that.No matter how high of a quality amps, speakers or signal processors you have, you cannot overcome 20 dB of dynamic range, 15 dB of signal to noise ratio at the very least, or the 20-50 Hz and 18-20 kHz octaves (or frequency ranges to be technical) that is lost by having a cassette source unit. In my experience in professional recording, one of the first things we did was throw the cassette tape out as one of the worst quality recording mediums available. Compact Discs offer you a much higher quality, longer lasting sound than tapes. And come on, the large majority of you probably have your music collections on CD anyway, and have to make tapes to listen to in the car. Why bother? It used to be that CD Players (and I don't want to forget changers, but ignore the FM Modulated type if at all possible) were so expensive that only the Lexus drivers of the world could afford them. Not so now! Today, you can get quite adequate CD Players in the $199-$249 price range. If you think about how many times you take a date to a movie and the cost of that, it is not expensive to upgrade to CD, and it is the one largest difference that you can make in the sound of your system. You can get good, low priced, CD Players from brand name companies like Sony, Alpine, Clarion, Kenwood and Pioneer in that price range, and you will be happy you did. But always remember that you get what you pay for, and if you want more, you have to pay more!

Simple question here. When was the last time you went to a concert and faced backwards? Why should you have to in your car? Think about where the majority of the music in your car comes from. Does come from the front or the rear? Chances are, it's the rear! Why? It's pretty simple. You have a lot more room in the back of your car, than you do in the front. So the factory engineers put honkin' 6x9's in the rear, and puny little 4"s in the front. Can you still get good sound without replacing everything? Definitely. Give this a shot as a temporary fix until you can replace your speakers. Go to a reputable car audio shop in your area (go to the Mobile Audio home page for a directory) and ask them make you a low pass crossover for your rear speakers at about 2000 Hz (or 2 kHz). With a couple of capacitors and inductors, you will move the sound of your music up front, while you still get bass from the back! Great fix, huh? Give it a shot, and let me know how it goes for ya!If that doesn't do it, put some good high quality speakers up front, and disconnect your rears (or cross them over at about 500 Hz) and see how much better it sounds to you. It's amazing that something this small can do so much for your system, but it works.

OK, for those of you who have already advanced to the level of a subwoofer, here is one of the easiest, cheapest, and most helpful things you can do for your sub. Once again, go to your local car audio shop and request that they build you a Zobel crossover network. The crossover in the title is somewhat deceiving as it doesn't actually cross anything over, it's just an impedance matching network (not quite like the Veritas AccuMatch , it is considerably different in architecture and purpose, but I'll talk more about this later, or if you want info now, email William Bibb at billbibb@cfw.com.) If you really think you can build it yourself, go to the Car Audio FAQ for instructions, and follow them to the T. BTW, total cost should be somewhere between $5-10 for the whole thing, and let me tell you what it does. Though your sub is rated at 4W or 8W impedance, that is not a universal rating. Depending on what frequency your sub is playing, you could have anywhere from 1W to 200W impedance. That causes you to get less power than you should to your sub, and so you aren't getting what you paid for. Instead, the Zobel smoothes the impedance out so it is a smoother! Hope it helps!

Now, if you have progressed to the level of having a component speaker set (also called separates) here is a pointer that you really should think about. First, mounting location advice! Put those puppies in kickpanels. Whether it be the prefabricated kind from Q-Forms, or a custom-made set, do it now! If you don't understand why, I am gonna tell you, so pay attention. The reason you went out and plopped down however much dinero you did for your separates was to be able to mount your speakers for the best sound. The strangest thing about physics still applies though, and that is what I call point-source timing. In layman's terms, it means that your ears hear the music and your brain can be fooled to think that your speakers don't exist. Or, in an ultimate front stage set-up, in order to have the most accurate reproduction available, your tweeter and midrange need to be equally far from you ears. What's the best way to do this? Have them in approximately the same location. In other words, mount the mid and tweet as close to each other as possible. Having your tweeters up in the A-pillar, while your mid is in the door causes your ear to receive the sounds from the tweeters sooner than the sounds from the mids, and your brain gets really confused! So why the kicks? IMHO, there are two basic reasons for this. One, you can't put them directly facing you in your dash (without some serious modifications). Second is more of the technical aspect of it and that is, that when you have your speakers in the kicks, they are closer to being equidistant from your ears. That means less work in having to correct for balancing problems between left and right channel. (That is the whole premise behind horns (HLCDs) under your dash.) Also, by putting them further forward, you will end up with your image and soundstage being much farther forward in your car, and if you compete (and even if you don't) it will help the sound of your car be more realistic. So how do you make your own kicks? I don't even think so. Sorry, but this really is best left to the experts. They aren't a ton of work, and I have put MB Quart 160 Comp (6 1/2" mid woofer) in the kick panel of an Acura Integra, so you can pretty much put any sized speaker there, though I would recommend that you use either a 4" or a 5 1/4". Try it and you will be happy you did.

When I was installing, one of the strangest phenomenon I ever saw was how a kid could come in and lay down $4000 for an incredible system in his ride, and then protect it with The Club. Of course, about 2 weeks later he came back crying for receipts because he got his system ripped off. If you fall in that category, LISTEN UP! You can now get a basic security to system to protect both your car and your belongings installed for about $200. The other thing that cracked us up in the install bay was a guy who just bought a brand new Ford Mustang Cobra R (that's the racing version, about $25K if not more) and we were putting a basic 2 wire $99 alarm system in it. We could never figure out some peoples' thinking when it came to security. Unfortunately the world is full of thieves right now, and you have to protect against them. My basic rule is to spend at least 10% of your system investment on a system up to $600. Above that you can get really fun things, like power windows, remote start, sunroof control, and other things like that. Also, if you are going to spend that much money for security, why not have it lock your doors? It may cost an additional $90-100 to have them added to a car that doesn't have them already, but it makes so much sense. So, in other words, do it! Please! I have had my system ripped off by an acquaintance and it really sucks. If you are going to make an investment, spend a little less on your system and put that aside for security. If you have only a stock system, but a nice (read expensive) car, then protect it. In case you haven't figured it out, if you really like your car, chances are someone else will too! Get it? Got it? GOOD! Go get some security, please! BTW, I now have a very good alarm, I learned my lesson!

OK, after a hiatus of updating this page, I've had some time to do some more installing and getting more things that you should try! I have now put my MB Quart tweeters back in my car, and while doing so I experimented with a couple of locations. I will tell you the pros and cons of each location so you can get an idea. I started out with them mounted in my doors, directly about my mid/woofer, and while they sound good, the imaging and staging sucked! The image was shifted to the left of my steering wheel (WAY WRONG!), and they were way too bright for me. BTW, go read Tip #4 again if you haven't done so yet. OK, so next location was on the dash, facing the back of the car and angle at about 60 degrees to the dash. Believe it or not, the imaging was wonderful, but the time-alignment didn't exist. The tweets were even brighter in this location, so much so that I had to use the pad on the crossovers. Try again, huh? I stayed on the dash, but made a compromise between the door position and the dash position, and put them on the dash facing opposite sides. This was getting really good. But, they were really ugly up there, and still too bright. So, I finally followed my own suggestion (Tip #4) and put them in the kicks. The Quart 19.03 that I have comes with an angle mount, and I used that to angle the tweeters toward me in the kicks. Right now the image is still a little low and a little too much in front of me (in other words, it's shifted to the left). But, it is the best sound I have gotten yet. I still have a little tweaking to do, but this just further proves my point. If you have components, even if you don't feel like putting the mids in the kicks, try at least putting the tweets there, and play with the phasing a little bit. I found that my tweets sound considerably better out of phase with the woofers, don't ask me to explain why, just believe me. The difference is not huge, but enough to notice in the imaging. And, if you have outboard dual mono eq's, roll some of the high end off of the driver's side (left) tweeter to make it a little less bright, and thus improve the image.

Recently I have seen a trend of a huge waste of money concerning capacitors. Let me give you an example. Today I saw a Honda Accord with a PPI 250x2 amp bridged at 4 ohms, thus producing about 700 watts or so (I don't know specifics, so forgive me, but that should be close!) going on 3 JL Audio 12W6's. No problem, it shouldn't have caused a lot of problems as it was. But apparently, whoever sold this guy his system did a great job on selling him on the idea of capacitors! He had 2 1-farad capacitors in parallel on that one amp. To say this is overkill would be an understatement. (This same guy was using light bulbs as fuses (of a sort) on his speaker leads. ie. Before he blows his tweets, he blows his lights. Not a bad idea, but resistance is a different thing from impedance!) First I feel like I should refer to the Car Audio FAQ here for the definition of a capacitor: Stiffening Capacitor (note capitals) is a trademark of Autosound 2000. However, "stiffening capacitor" (note lowercase), as a generic term, refers to a large capacitor (several thousand microfarads or greater) placed in parallel with an amplifier. The purpose of doing so is to provide a sort of reserve power source from which the amplifier can rapidly draw power when it needs it (such as during a deep bass note). Get it? A capacitor is nothing more than a power silo that holds power until it's needed and then releases it and recharges. Your battery is one big capacitor network. Got it? So will you see a huge increase in performance if you add a monstrous cap? Most likely not. Caps are there to make sure that you always have enough power on hand to handle transients. This is one of the things that sets $1000 amps apart from $100 amps. The $1000 amps have large capacitor banks made of high quality caps which provide for better transients, the $100 amps don't! So the formula is basically this, for every 1000 watts of power your amp uses, get a farad worth of capacitance. If you have 2000 watts, get either a 2 farad cap (they are huge, and are rare) or two 1 farad caps wired in parallel. OK? Good! Let's move on!

How many times have I heard someone brag about how their Rockwood Amp (BTW, someone actually once tried to sell me Rockwood as a joint venture between Rockford Fosgate and Kenwood) puts out 1000W and it was only $200. Come on people! Think a little will ya? Do you really think that's gonna happen? Realistically that rating is what I would call the ILS rating. (ILS=If Lightning Strikes) Ain't gonna do it! If you really want an amp that is going to produce 1000 watts RMS (or continuously (RMS=Root Mean Squared, and if you want to know what that means go to my professor of audio's home page!)) expect to pay about $1000. Generally, that won't even do it, but it will at least get you started. This goes across the board for equipment. Occasionally you may find an exceptional deal on a piece of equipment, but generally that will happen as often as the aforementioned amp will do 1000W. Stick with what is known to work. Don't expect Pyramid, Profile or Rockwood to sound like PPI, Phoenix Gold or Rockford Fosgate. It's not going to. You always get what you pay for. Remember that. There is even a difference between a $249 CD Player and a $849 CD Player. While the $249 will probably serve your needs just fine, realize that it will not be the same as the $849 one. One reason I own the CD Player that I do is that it is the former top of the the line piece (for you who care, it's an Alpine CDA-7842 CD Player and Changer controller, and it is the best sounding new Alpine there is (yes, even better than the 7949)) and thus is going to sound better. I paid more for it, but I have had it for 1 year now, and have been as pleased as I can be. Great sound, great performance. Just remember that you get what you pay for!

This may seem a little trivial, but I just moved and I'm actually still looking for a good shop in my area, so I thought I would give some suggestions to novices in what to look for in a Car Audio Shop. First, talk to other people in your area that you know have custom systems, and get their opinion. As you visit different stores, ask to see pictures of their installs. If they have none, they probably don't have anything to show off, and unless they have a demo car, you should probably go elsewhere. Next, look at the lines that they carry. They should carry at least three of the following lines (FYI, this is not intended as an endorsement, just a list of high-end companies): Alpine, Boston Acoustics, Eclipse, Clarion, Kenwood Excelon, Sony Mobile ES, Pioneer Premier, PPI, Phoenix Gold, JL Audio, MB Quart, Diamond Technologies, OZ Audio, and maybe Soundstream, though to me that's debatable. Just my opinion, that's all! If they don't carry some of these brands, there is a reason for it. Alpine, Quart, Eclipse, Rockford, Phoenix, PPI, Mobile ES, Premier and Diamond all require their retailers to be certified to sell their product, thus they have to meet a certain standard to sell it (with the exception of Circuit City (I used to work there, so I can rip on them!)). They should also carry lower end products as well, because they know that not every one can afford the best, but stay away from Profile, Pyramid, Kraco, Sparkomatic, Rockwood and the like. They are too low end, and will give you nothing but problems. Next, ask about competitions. If they are involved that is generally a good sign. Ask what kind of custom work they do. And finally ask if you can see their install bay. If they won't let you, walk! You have the right to see where you will have your work done. If it's clean and tidy, good, but be wary if it's overly clean. That may mean very little business, and thus a bad reputation. Finally, though it's not that big of a deal to me, ask if their installers are MECP (MECP=Mobile Electronics Certification Program) Certified, and if they sell Rockford, if they are RTTI (Rockford Technical Training Institute) certified as well. If so, great! If not, it's not a big deal, but if it comes down to that between two shops, you get the idea! Finally, see if they are cool people or not. After all, you may have a long and lasting relationship with these people, you don't need to have them be idiots now do you. So there you are!

No, I don't mean in drinking, though that applies as well, but know when to stop. This applies in a couple of different areas. First, when you are plotting out your system, be reasonable. If you don't need the absolute best in the world, don't buy it. Get the best you can afford, but don't overdo it. Save a little money and get what you really want later on. Second, when you look at what you have, look at how good you are with electrical stuff, and cars, and if you're not, have the shop install it. It's not that much more, and the installation should come with a guarantee. If you do it and it's wrong, you're screwed! Sorry, too bad! So, get my drift? Third, you can only go so deaf! You don't need 8 15" subs in the back of a Honda Civic Hatchback. You don't need 12000W of power in your car, and you certainly don't need tube amps in your car, so don't get 'em. Get it as loud as you can stand it in your own car, not everyone elses. Who is going to be listening to it most anyway? You, or your neighbors. Get it to sound good. And finally, realize that you will never have your car sound like a recording studio. It may sound really good, but it will never sound like a recording studio. You are in too cramped of conditions to achieve that, so don't worry if it's not perfect, and realize that there are limitations. (I will let you know that I still don't follow advice on that one. I'm gonna try suspended speakers in my doors next. That should take care of that coupling problem!) Know when to give it up and have a life! Enjoy your system, don't just have it to compete with!

Well, that's all for now, but I hope you enjoy and come back often! Once again, please sign my guest book, and put all of your pertinent information!

Add your comment:

On 2008 January 27 04:06 Mike Sartor wrote:

Very Cool, Dude!!! I appreciate all your work. Now if I could just find a free Pioneer DEH16 owners manual, I could spend less time doing this and more time in the Cherokee!!!!!

Cyborg