…What do I buy?
I don't want to spend a TON of money, but enough to make listening to my ipod enjoyable. I don't care about pumping out a ton of bass and blowing people's hats off so much as having a good, crisp, balanced sound while I drive, even at higher volumes.
I know there's a lot of things you can buy- Amp, speakers, sub, and car stereo. What things will make the biggest difference and what should I look for? I probably won't spend more than 2-3 hundred in all.
Right now I run my ipod through a cassette adapter and some songs have clear deep bass while most buzz the speakers and sound bad- I have to turn the bass a little lower than normal to keep it under control.
I know switching to a stereo cable may make a big difference but speakers might as well. I may not even need an amp, but I've never dealt with car audio before so if you can share any insight with me or help me know what to put my money towards, I would be especially grateful!
Answer:Ok, so you want some quality tunes? Fair enough and this is really easy. If you have already gone to a local car audio store they probably told you that you need a whole bunch of things you don't understand. (Not trying in insult your intelligence) They are salesman too… I have owned a $2000.00 sound system and only later realized that i can get the same at only a fraction of the cost and get the same great sound. DO NOT be afraid of doing car audio yourself, it's not at all complicated. Everything comes with directions and with the internet your resources are limitless.
Your head unit( cd player) is where all the magic begins. The better the head unit the better the signal is going to your speakers, now with that let me say this, no head unit can do great things with factory speakers.
You need to upgrade your head unit first. I have used several different brands and can advise you that they ARE NOT all the same. The three best brands that i have personally used are: 1. Kenwood 2. Pioneer 3. Alpine
KENWOOD: Has many great options and is moderately priced. This brand was very user friendly and received many compliments on it's apperance. PIONEER: Very user friendly and very well priced (low). They are the most stylish out of the three. Most have a great equalizer that can be custom tuned. ALPINE: They are kinda plain but they will rock FOREVER! They are simple to operate as they don't have much to them ( without advanced audio equipment). They are a little higher in price, which is truly their only downfall. Your head unit is like your PC, it controls everything. It doesn't matter if you have the best monitor in the world, if your PC tower is junk then the rest is no better. Installing a head unit takes nothing more than attention and patience, If you decide to save yourself $75.00 and install it yourself then here are some pointers: Your going to need an adapter so that you can wire your new head unit in your factory stereo system. You can get the complete kit at Walmart.com and they have these kits for almost all makes and models. this will run you about $25.00. Now your going to have to take your dash apart…sounds scary huh? it's not that bad for most cars and your can find instructions for that on the internet.
Now for the bass issue in your factory speakers… Factory speakers are made with a high quality cardboard( thats what i call it) and they are very easy to make distort and possibly pop. Now if your wanting a good crisp sound then your speakers are an issue. Replacing your speakers is very affordable. Once again i have used several different brand and there are two that i recommend highly.
PIONEER AND VISONIK
Now with replacing your head unit and speakers there are some other things you should put your attention to, like the watts.
When you purchase your head unit look at how many watts/channels it has. This is important because you will not have an amplifier to push your speakers so you want a head unit that will be able to do it by itself. A good general watts/channels is 50w/4, this equals up to a total of 200 watts put to the speakers or 50 watts to each speaker(four speakers). Something else to watch out for is something like 50w/2, this means that you only have 100 watts, which again is only 25w to each speaker(four speakers). See how this works? You want your head unit to push your replacement speakers correctly so when you purchase speakers look at their total watts. You want your watts to be as equal as possible without overloading your speakers. (Yes you can do this with only a head unit) Speaker size is important because you will have to find out what size are currently installed.
EXAMPLE: You find a head unit that reads 60w/4 (240w), then you find speakers that come in pairs(2) that are 150w total output, and you need four so now you have 300w total output. This is a good find cause now you can push your speakers properly without overloading them.
Now where to go to purchase these… Believe it or not Walmart.com is a great place to start. There is nothing wrong with purchasing their equipment, it is just as good as everyone else's. Plus their prices are very competitive and you can get your adapter, head unit, and speakers there. You should go by there and maybe a local car audio dealer and try some of the head units out and see what you like best.
This whole project can be as cheap as $177.00, and can run up to and even beyond $378.00.
Good luck and short of knowing what the make and model of your car is this is as far as i can advise you. Please feel free to ask me any clarification questions….
Answer:Amps, subs, ect, make alot of difference. But the best place to start, is replacing your stock speakers (Unless you have a newer car with decent ones)
Kenwood speakers are damned good speakers for not too much money (In relation to other car speakers).
Also, when getting an amp and subs, expensive doesn't always mean good quality. Shop around.
And when getting an amp and sub, make sure the wattage and RMS are the same on both the amp and the sub. Too little or too much power going from the amp to the sub ban be damaging to the subs.
Answer:I've always found Crutchfield to be full of good background information. I have bought replacement speakers for my last two cars from them. The speakers I bought were at least twice as heavy as those they replaced. This additional weight is the magnet which has a huge impact on the sound. They include detailed installation information geared to your make, model, and year car.
Answer:The car stereo has now become an integral part of the decoration of the car. Car manufacturers today have recognized the fact that in-car entertainment constitutes an integral part of a modern car. So, from the time of a simple radio being fitted into the car until now, technology has taken a revolutionary step towards the advancement of the car audio system. Many brands have started manufacturing various components of the car stereo system.
Since there are so many choices and most of them depend soley on your budget, I sugest you call or visit http://www.hifisoundconnection.com/ and get their advice.
Answer:JVC Mp3/iPod-Ready CD Deck- KDG320
http://www.amazon.com/JVC-Mp3%2fiPod%2…
Technical Details
* RMS (Continuous) Power: Power Output: 200W Max. (50W x 4), 18W X 4 (RMS)
* D/A Converter: 24-bit Resolution 1-bit DAC
* Ready For Ipod*
* Satellite Radio Controls: Sat Radio Ready
* MP3 Playback: MP3/WMA Compatible with ID3/WMA Tag
Answer:See my answer and discusion post here!!!
Your Ipod could use a wireless adapter.
