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italianrt2000
Dodge Dakota
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11/29/2003
01:35:14
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 Subject: Car Audio 101
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Message:
I'm new to these forums, and I see alot of post about whats the best (insert audio equipment here). This is really geared towards beginners but can apply to anyone looking for some good information. There are sooo many of these posts that I thought I could help with some of the best advice you'll ever get.
Head Units and Processing: In my experience, Brand really doesn't matter as much as where it's made. The best headunits are made in Japan. So look for the company or design that best fits your tastes for features and ease of use. As long as it's made in Japan your good to go. Beware, the entry level decks of most companies are made somewhere other that Japan. So Quality comes at a price. The top of the line Deck by say Alpine for example is made in Japan, but it's lower priced Entry level conterpart is not. It also good to look for a Head unit that only has RCA outputs with not internal Amp in it. These internal amps are crap and you should never use them.
Amplifiers: In my opinion this is the most important part of your system. A great amp can make your system, and a bad amp can break it(literally). In my experience, good old USA is the place that makes the best amps. I'm not saying foreign amps are bad, just that the majority of the systems I have installed, the loudest and clearest systems have had amps made in the USA. But this is not the factor you realy want to pay attention too. The most impportant factor to concider when buying an amp is the cost. Buy the biggest most powerful amp you can afford. You can always turn the gain down, but the more you turn it up, the more clipping/DC Voltage you will send to your speakers. 90% of speakers that are blown are from under powering them...not overpowering. To put it simpler, Sound is an AC wave, keeping the voice coil cool is most important. DC voltage(is a straight line not a wave) causes the speaker to temperally stop, causing the voice coil the heat up. Everyone knows that when you heat and then cool thin metal, it will break. OK I hope you have gotten the point. To sum up, Bigger is better. Unfortunately it dents the wallet pretty hard.
Speakers: I've found that you classify speakers if two catagories, subs and front stage/Rear fill. Your front stage is the most important. just look at the human hearing spectrum. A human can hear from around 20Hz to around 20,000Hz. Bass, what subwoofers play is only the frequencies between 20Hz and 300Hz. That's about 1% of 20,000Hz. So there are many more frequencies for the front stage and rear fill to play than the Subs. Agian(unfortunatly) The top of the line of any respected name in car audio is the way to go. But if your looking for a particular area of the world. Europe makes the best speakers that play from 300Hz and up, In my opinion. When your shopping, make sure you can fit the speakers in your ride, and if they are components keep them as close to each other as possible and as far away from you as you can. this will give you better imaging and less separation.
Now on to the subs: What I am going to write is probabally going to ruffle alot of feathers around here, but it's my opinion and good advice. A subwoofer is just a motor, no more no less. If you want the sub to play louder, You want a speaker with higher sensitivity. Sensitivity is rated in Db and is is the measurement of the speaker with one watt of power going to it, with the microphone one meter away from the speaker. Alot of SQ systems choose this type of speaker. They tend to have less distortion then other speakers but can't handle as much power. 75% of the bass that most people have heard is distortion. The human ears cannot tell the difference between right and left from 300hz and below. Subwoofers are designed to play very low frequencies. The lower the frequency is, the harder it is to tell what direction it is coming from. But when you listen to an average car stereo you can tell the bass is coming from the back of the car(or where-ever the subs are), this is becuase most of what you hear is distortion. Try it sometime. The more you turn your stereo up, the more distortion is produced and in turn, the more directional the speaker becomes. Thats why the bass sounds sooooo good when it's at really low volume settings. Now if you want high SPL, you want a speaker with a long voice coil and low sensitivity. Most of the time the lower the sensitivty the more power the speaker can handle, and in turn the more air it can move.
So there you have it. I hope that this helps you in choosing your system. Just remember simpler is better. I learned the hard way :)
http://www.sounddomain.com/memberpage/431337
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