Many cars, especially those made more than 10 years ago, have a raw and really annoying sound system to hear, paired with audio cassette players. By investing some time and a little money you can have a real mobile entertainment center in your car.
Steps
Step 1. Head unit = brain of your implant
There are many brands and options out there. Kenwood, Pioneer and Sony are at the top of the charts in this category.
Step 2. Purchase the harnesses (cost around 15 euros) for the head unit and the vehicle
Match the colors on the harness or follow the included chart. This will make it much easier to install and later remove the head unit if you decide to transfer it to another car.
Step 3. Buy the best quality speakers you can afford
It doesn't matter how much you can spend on the amplifier or head unit; if you have low quality speakers, you will get low quality sound. Speakers range from 1-inch tweeters to 15-inch or larger subwoofers. Generally, a smaller speaker produces a louder and clearer sound, and a larger speaker a lower and deeper one. Midrange speakers produce sound in two ways (bass and treble play) and three ways (treble, midrange and bass). Obviously, the more sound a speaker can generate, the better it will sound.
Step 4. 6x9 speakers, usually located on the back, will give your car the bass, but only a subwoofer can make it jump
The 8-inch doesn't make you jump, the 10's a little scary, but the 12 to 15-inch subwoofers shake you right.
Step 5. Amplifiers should be paired with speakers of the same RMS power, an amplifier can complete or break a system
A low quality or low power amplifier, paired with high quality speakers, will not do them justice. An amp that is too powerful will blow up the speakers in a couple of months.
Step 6. Purchase a hood
Capacitors, batteries and alternators may need to be replaced. If you are seriously upgrading your entire sound system, you will most likely need a hood for more than just an amplifier. A hood holds a charge from your car's electrical system, so your amplifier can push subwoofers or play with less interference. A high quality battery maintains (from charge) a greater amount of amperes, so that it will drain less often. Upgraded alternators are useful if you are practicing highway driving, but an OEM alternator usually yields more power in normal city driving. Make your purchases carefully and don't waste your money.
Advice
- Upgrade your front speakers and get voice-only tweeters. You will start putting together a professional rig once you have the tweeters.
- Before getting a head unit, many have 50x4 amps that allow you to get the best sound quality.
- Get an amplifier and a subwoofer. A 10-inch subwoofer can be good for most music. 200 watts will make your seat vibrate a little. 600 watts will shake your rearview mirror so much that you can't see out the rear window.
- Upgrade the rear 6x9 speakers. Whatever type of speakers your car may have on the back they will be 5 1/4 to 6 1/2 or 4x6 to 6x9. Updating them will correspond to an improvement in all the highs and lows, so that you will notice the greatest increase in performance.
- Get a CD for tuning, on eBay or at a store near you. It will help you adjust the mids, highs and lows in the best way.
- Upgrade your system in these steps. You can stop following this method at any time if you feel that the system is already sounding good enough.
- Enter a competition between audio systems.
Warnings
- Make sure you use properly insulated and calibrated cables for the amplifiers. Refer to the standard AWG guide for which wire gauge you should use. Using a smaller cord than necessary can cause an electric fire.
- The size of the cable also depends on the quality of the wiring used, the type of conductor and the amount of wires. Many audio companies make high-quality cable kits specifically for amplification.
- On the head unit, turn the volume down before turning the car off so that your ears won't pop after turning it back on.
- Grounding is perhaps the most critical connection in the entire installation. Make sure the ground wire is properly secured and use bare metal.
- Ground the power cable of the amplifier and fuse. The fuse should never be more than 30 cm away from the battery. You should ALWAYS use the same ground wire of a certain gauge as the power cord. Never use cables of different sizes.
- Usually: up to 500W = 8 gauge, up to 1000W = 4 gauge, up to 3400W = 0 gauge.
