Do I have to change the factory-installed stereo system in my car?”
“Why don’t I get the same high-quality sound that my friend gets in his car?”
Oh, boy! Traffic can virtually kill, and day-trippers (well, there are occasions when traffic is heavy during nighttime, too) are now turning to their car’s stereo system for some comfort. Proof is the heavy load of email I receive from harried readers asking how they can make their car stereo system sound better.
It’s not really a question of which gadget to use, but rather how far one can go in modifying their cars to accommodate a better-sounding system. In fact, getting the most out of a factory-installed car stereo system is a problem that not only day trippers face. Even car audiophiles go to great lengths just to make their mobile audio system sound good. A car offers probably one of the worst listening environments to enjoy great music from. Customization — drastically modifying your car interiors — to achieve the desired effect is one option, if you have the money to burn. But if you’re one of those who have to scrape for funds to get through the day without hassles on the road, listen up.
Invest in a moderately priced head unit. This is the equipment in which you insert your CD in and which controls the sounds coming out of your speakers. You can change your speakers later if you have extra cash. But what is a good sound system, really? Define or look for a reference. Audiophiles usually have their individual references, a beacon to guide them on what their stereo system should sound like. For some, their reference is their home audio system. Given the less-than-optimum acoustic conditions in cars, however, a car stereo coming close to a home audio system is really a bit much to wish for.
Mobile stereo loses to home audio in terms of acoustics, but not in accuracy, sound staging and ambience. Many sound gadgets such as digital sound processors can help you achieve these for your cars. Your system is accurate if it can precisely reproduce sounds so that a particular sound instrument will sound as it should.
Soundstaging can be achieved with the right speaker placement, which a professional car audio installer can easily do for you. In home audio, the ideal location for the two speakers is at two center points of an ellipsoid near the room walls. The best listening position is for you to sit exactly between the two speakers, at a distance of about one to three feet away from the rear wall, creating an imaginary triangle. Your position in the triangle is called the “sweet spot” or where the music is harmonized and sounds the best. This position allows the sound from the speakers to reach your ears before it is reflected off the surrounding walls. What you achieve is better sound staging and an unadulterated tonal balance of the speakers. In cars, several options to recreate soundstage conditions are available, such as placing your speakers on kick pods, or lining them up on the dashboard. The key is to get involved in every step of the installation and to patiently and clearly specify to the installer how you want your system to sound.
Ambience is a factor, not only for the speakers, but for the room or car in which the speakers are located. Ambience is essentially made up of reflections or aftershocks. It creates a feeling that “you are there.” In a live concert, ambience is the outcome of the instruments’ sounds reflected off of the ceiling, walls, floors, people and anything else inside the hall. In cars, several damping and reflecting materials are available to get closer to a suitable ambiance.
In reality, there are really excellent-sounding car systems that can rival those of home audio systems. It can be done, but the price tag may not be for everyone. What really matters is you get to play your favorite music from a decent car stereo system. Maybe someday we won’t even need to resort to good car music, and day-tripping will become a breeze. Mere wishful thinking, you say? You never know. Maybe someday, our country will finally have a primary road network of world-class standards, and traffic laws will be strictly enforced and obeyed. Oh, well, I guess it doesn’t hurt to daydream, while we’re at it.
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For comments or questions, please e-mail me at audioglow@yahoo.com or at vphl@hotmail.com. You can also visit www.wiredstate.com or http://bikini-bottom.proboards80.com/index.cgi for quick answers to your audio concerns.