Audio and Alarms Car Stereo Installation Primer

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Car Stereo Installation Primer
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This page is simply a very basic primer on what's required for basic installations. It will not be a step by step installation manual. It will describe some basic upgrades and tell you basically what's involved with equipment and labor. Since this is at the beginning of the directory and some of the terms have not yet been covered, there will be links to pages with more detail about each new term. Hopefully, this page will help you to make more educated decisions when you buy and install your equipment.

Making Good Decisions:
Before you can choose the right audio components, you need to decide on what you want from your audio system. Some just want to upgrade from an old stock stereo cassette deck to a CD player head unit. Others will want a full blown competition system. Some want quality. Others want quantity. If you only want to buy your equipment once and be done with it, think about what you want. A lot of people buy equipment without any forethought and are dissatisfied with the results.

Many people are on a budget but still want to upgrade their sound system. By_far, the speakers are the most critical, variable component. For the most part, amplifiers and head units sound relatively similar among the better brands (Pioneer, Alpine and Kenwood...). Speakers, on the other hand, are very different from brand to brand (or even between the different product lines from the same manufacturer). There are a lot of cheap/inexpensive speakers out there. Many sound really bad (note: if you're looking for quality sound, the 'loudest' speaker isn't necessarily the 'best' speaker). Some are pretty decent. If you're on a budget (it's less critical if you're spending $300-$400 on a pair of high end component speakers like those from Quart, Morel or Focal), the trick is to go listen to the speakers with a well recorded CD (preferably one that you like). Visit as many stores as possible. In each store, find a low end (inexpensive) high quality deck (Alpine, Pioneer, Kenwood...) and set all of the tone controls to flat (zero). Turn off any DSP such (ambience, theater, hall effect...). Also turn off any other equalization (BBE, parametrics...). This will give you a chance to listen to all of the speakers with essentially the same signal. If possible, listen to all of the speakers using the head unit's internal amplifier (this will assure you that you're listening to the same power output in all cases - ~20 watts per channel no matter the power rating on the deck). Listen to the speakers to see if there are any peaks in the frequency response (the peaks will cause certain parts of the audio spectrum to be annoying). If there are, go to the next set of speakers (peaks that are easily noticed will be hard to get rid of - even with a good equalizer). Find a set of speakers that have good full range sound without any annoying peaks and no significant dips in their frequency response. If you need to, bring a note pad to write down the model number and brand of speakers and any likes or dislikes.

If you've never heard good frequency response, find a high end home stereo demo room (there may be one in the same store). They will be able to play your CD through home speakers. Good quality home speakers will have a good flat frequency response. Look for brands like Polk, Infinity, Paradigm. Listen to speakers 'without' internal amplification (such as those with built-in powered subwoofers) and with woofers no larger than ~8". Speakers with dual 6" woofers are often a good choice. Again, tell them to set all of the equalization/tone/processing to flat or off (using an amplifier that doesn't have any digital processing and actual knobs for bass and treble will help assure that you're listening to a 'clean' signal). Listen to your favorite song on the CD a few times to help you remember what it sounds like. Notice the relative level of individual instruments (compared to the other instruments and the vocals).

Oh, yeah... Don't forget to take your CD when you leave each store. :)