Car Stereo Basics
Most, if not all people enjoy listening to music in their vehicles. Unfortunately, more than three quarters of the same people are absolutely clueless as to how exactly a car stereo system functions. While many of us are able to blare out the latest trends in car audio systems, this does anything but add to the knowledge which every car owner needs to have. Unless you are stuck in the eighties era where outfitting your car with a boom box was considered the norm, you need to begin learning some of the ins and outs of car stereos. Below we have provided some information which we feel is must-have knowledge for any vehicle owner. If you’re looking to find more information on your specific car stereo, or more complex information on car stereos in general, we suggest consulting you vehicle’s owner manual or other sites on the internet.
As crazy as it may sound, cars that were manufactured during and prior to the eighties were originally outfitted with head units and speakers that were comparable to those from a home entertainment system. The manufacturer would simply install the parts in a specific car and the car would be set to go. However, automobile manufacturers soon discovered that it wasn’t smooth sailing from there. Car manufacturers learned that the parts were unsuitable for an automobile environment – where vibration and high temperatures were, and still are, common. Car enthusiasts began to voice their concerns and thus stereo manufacturers began tweaking the inner workings of the stereos. The process of adapting the home theater parts for automobile use was catalyzed when the CD player began to make its way into the market.
Now, it’s time we fast-forward to present day. If you own a car that you yourself purchased, chances are good that it is equipped with a factory stereo system. Factory stereo systems are installed by your car’s manufacturer to give you the ability to listen to music without purchasing any additional components. Many car manufacturers include their proprietary stereos in their vehicles. Such a manufacturer is BMW. The majority of automobile manufacturers, however, use car stereo systems that are manufactured by a third party.
The stereo located in your car is referred to as a head unit. Standard head-units include a CD player, tape deck, and possibly a CD changer. A CD changer is located in the trunk of a car and allows the owner to rotate between several CDs without physically swapping each one out. Current automobiles feature more advanced features such as the ability to play digital audio formats – among these MP3s, WMAs, and AAC files. Some cars can even read audio files from untraditional mediums (such as memory cards).
Your car’s head unit delivers music to speakers distributed throughout the interior of your car. Older model cars featured a uni-speaker system which delivered music through a grill located at the top of the dashboard. Since those times, it has become a common practice to place several speakers inside a car. Cars out of the factory typically utilize tweeters under both the driver side and passenger side dashboard. Tweeters accept high frequency signals from your car’s head unit and thus deliver a treble. The door panels inside current cars feature mid-range speakers. These speakers deliver the instrumental and vocal parts of songs. Most cars are feature mid-range speakers on all four doors. However, smaller cars may feature only two.
The majority of car manufacturers equip their cars with decent stereo systems. If you feel the need to take your vehicle’s music experience to the next level, you always have the option of upgrading your audio setup.
