How is your current car audio system performing? Chances are, you’re not completely satisfied with the sound quality in your daily commute, and frankly, that’s not surprising. For most car manufacturers, premium audio isn’t a top priority, meaning the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) system often leaves much to be desired.
While your vehicle’s factory stereo might be decent, it has incredible untapped potential. At Jazz Hipster, we help you unlock the ultimate listening experience and create the sound of your dreams with our straightforward car audio guide. If you’re ready to transform your regular drives into immersive sonic journeys, read on to explore how simple it is to elevate your car audio.
Assess Your Current Car Audio System
A speaker is an electronic device designed to turn electromagnetic waves into sound waves, thereby creating and projecting an audible noise. They are usually used for entertainment purposes, such as listening to music, watching television, or playing video games. The sound is created by running an electric current through an electromagnetic coil, causing it to magnetize and demagnetize rapidly, creating vibrations and subsequently sound. The exact nature of the sound depends on the frequency and amplitude of the sound waves. The frequency determines how high pitched or low pitch a sound will be, while the amplitude denotes the volume.
What To Know About OEM Car Audio Systems
First of all, let’s clarify one crucial point. OEM sound systems are not necessarily poor quality. But from the perspective of a listener and music enthusiast, the experience of listening to your favorite song in the car could differ significantly from listening to it on your home stereo system. So here, we’re focusing on ensuring you can get the same joy from your car audio as your other audio systems.
4 Simple Steps to Test Your Current Car Audio Sound System
Before investing in an upgrade, it’s crucial to evaluate your current setup. Here’s a simple, effortless test to diagnose your car audio system’s weaknesses:
#1. Create a Closed Environment: Close all your car doors and windows tightly while you’re inside to block out exterior noise.
#2. Test the Volume Safely: Pick your favorite track with a good mix of bass, vocals, and treble. Don’t be afraid to turn up the volume, but avoid going to the absolute maximum immediately. For safety, use a free sound monitoring app like Decibel X or Sound Meter. Listening up to 85-90 decibels is generally safe for short periods and will give you a good sense of the system’s power limits.
#3. Analyze the Sound Quality: With the volume elevated, pay close attention to the details. Does the music sound distorted or fuzzy at higher volumes? Do you constantly need to adjust the treble just to hear vocals clearly? Does the bass sound empty, muddy, or hollow instead of punchy and deep?
#4. Evaluate Your Audio Source: Consider how you are transmitting audio to the head unit. Are you using a wireless Bluetooth connection, Apple CarPlay, or Android Auto? Do you rely on standard radio or CDs? If your current head unit doesn’t support modern streaming or lacks customization options, it might be the bottleneck of your entire audio experience.
The Result:
If you answer one or more of these questions with a positive, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get to work.
What to Consider Before Upgrading Your Car Audio System
Not every music enthusiast has the same expectations from their car audio system. Therefore, you want to determine precisely what you expect from your car audio, depending on your priorities.
Volume
First, the real question is: How often do you listen to loud music? If the answer is almost never, you might be satisfied with the output quality you receive for your typical listening volume. In this case, even if you know that your sound system is not optimal, you could still find that it doesn’t impact your enjoyment.
Budget
Your budget is the second most important point to determine. How much are you willing to invest to improve your car audio quality? Again, depending on your budget, this will help define which route to take for your sound upgrades.
Keep The Factory Setup Or Change It All
When it comes to upgrading the car audio, you also need to decide whether you are comfortable changing the factory stereo or whether you want to upgrade within the pre-fitted system.
Bass
Finally, does bass feature heavily in your music experience? If the bass is an important part of listening to your favorite music, consider additional features for your car audio system.
Don’t Forget Sound Deadening (Soundproofing)
One of the most overlooked steps in improving car audio is sound deadening. Even the most expensive, high-quality aftermarket speakers will sound mediocre if your car doors rattle or let in excessive road noise. Applying sound-deadening mats inside the door panels reduces vibrations, blocks out engine and road noise, and essentially turns your car door into a solid speaker enclosure. This highly cost-effective step can drastically enhance bass response, remove resonance, and improve overall sound clarity, ensuring your new audio components perform at their absolute best.
The Components of Your Car Audio System
There is more than one way to upgrade your car audio system, so your first step should be to figure out which way is right for you. It is worth noting that any replaced component will considerably improve your sound. In other words, you may only need to change part of the system.
Your car audio consists of 3 main components:
The Head Unit
The head unit acts as the point of control. In old vehicles, the head unit combines a radio tuner with a CD or cassette tape player. Nowadays, modern cars have an infotainment system integrated into the dashboard, which provides sounds, navigation, and a control panel for temperatures and other aspects of the vehicle. In addition, modern head units have added features, including Bluetooth connectivity, USB ports, Internet and satellite capabilities, smartphone compatibility, etc.
The Speakers
The second component is your speakers. The quality of the speakers can affect your experience, leading to distortion, loss of clarity in high-frequency notes, and hollow bass. Most car audio systems have either 2 or 4 speaker slots, typically coaxial speakers. Coaxial speakers house both the treble (tweeter) and the bass notes (woofer). A speaker upgrade could introduce better quality coaxial speakers or bring a new set to separate the tweeter from the woofer (component speakers). You can also add a subwoofer speaker, which deals only with the lower range of bass frequencies.
The Amplifier
Lastly, the amplifier preserves sound quality when you turn up the volume. There is no mystery; your amplifier needs to be as good as your speaker to guarantee the best sound experience.
Why Adding an Amplifier Can Make a Difference
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Improved Sound Quality at Higher Volumes: An amplifier helps maintain clarity when the volume is turned up, eliminating the distortion that often happens with factory-installed systems.
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Enhanced Control Over Audio Output: With a dedicated amplifier, you can better control your audio settings, allowing more precise tuning of bass, treble, and mid-range frequencies.
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Supports Higher-Powered Speakers: Adding an amplifier allows you to use more powerful aftermarket speakers, which can handle more sound power and provide richer audio experiences.
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Reduces Strain on the Head Unit: By offloading the amplification tasks, the head unit can focus on processing audio, reducing the likelihood of overheating or signal degradation.
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Versatility for Customization: Amplifiers provide flexibility for adding subwoofers, component speakers, or additional features to create a fully customized car audio system.
6 Steps to Improve your Car Audio System
Step 1: Upgrading Your Options With a New Head Unit
A head unit upgrade can make sense if your car audio system limits your choice to listen to your favorite music. Indeed, modern head units can introduce new features, such as Bluetooth connectivity, allowing you to tune in to your Spotify playlist on your phone, for example.
When looking for the perfect stereo, consider models that fit your car and bring the music and non-music functions you need. A new head unit will also provide a more granular control on your speakers, ensuring you can significantly improve the sound output.
Bear in mind that replacing your head unit for your car audio system will not fix issues with low quality speakers and amplifiers. But it can significantly improve your experience selecting music for your car drive.
Step 2: Upgrading the Amplifier to Remove Sound Distortion
The amplifier is a crucial component of your car audio system when it comes to high volume quality. If the sound gets distorted when you turn the volume up, this has to do with the amplifier.
However, you need to consider that the amplifier works hand-in-hand with the speaker. It transmits the audio signal to the speakers. So, when the sound gets distorted, this could be either of two things:
Firstly, the OEM fitted amplifier is not powerful enough.
Secondly, the amplifier is too powerful compared to the factory speakers.
Bear in mind that if you choose to change your amplifier, you may also need to consider changing your speakers. Similarly, if you change your speakers, you will likely need to upgrade your amplifier too.
Step 3: Upgrading your Speakers For Quality Tweeter & Woofer
For memory, the treble refers to high-frequency sounds, in other words, high notes. The woofer focuses on mid-range to low frequencies, including bass elements. High-frequency notes lose clarity and bass sounds are hollow due to the factory coaxial speakers.
Coaxial speakers, as mentioned, produce both treble and woofer elements. Factory-fitted coaxial speakers don’t meet the level of quality you need for the best sound experience in your car. As explained, the car audio system is not a profit priority for manufacturers, so your factory-fitted car stereo system is lacking.
Step 4: Upgrading Coaxial Speakers
A simple way to improve the sound inside your car is to consider replacing your existing speakers with superior quality coaxial speakers. We recommend switching to speakers that are made of quality materials. This will ensure you receive a higher sound quality, reducing treble and bass issues. However, the speakers will still host both the treble and woofer elements, limiting the improvement you get from a new set of speakers.
Step 5: Separating Tweeters & Woofers through Component Speakers
Component speakers can address the high and low frequency issues by operating the tweeters and woofers separately. This will ensure that the sound remains clear even at a high volume.
It is essential to understand that adding component speakers requires professional fitting. Indeed, you will need additional speaker mounts and complex wiring to upgrade your car sound system.
Step 6: Upgrading your Speakers for Enhanced Bass Sounds
If the bass is essential to your music experience, an additional bass-focused upgrade with a subwoofer is worth considering. The subwoofer deals with bass and sub-bass frequencies and can reproduce a lower range of sounds than a woofer.
When adding a subwoofer to your audio system, either add a powered subwoofer for simplicity or an extra amplifier connected to the subwoofer.
Best Components for Car Audio Systems
Ultimately, your speakers are central to a car audio system upgrade. Choosing the right speaker can elevate sound quality significantly. With Jazz Hipster, it doesn’t have to be complicated. We design speakers with the highest quality materials.
Jazz Hipster Speaker Driver
Adding a speaker driver, like woofer to your car audio will bring the bass to life. The Woofer Neodymium is designed in a range of sizes, 8 inches, 6.5 inches, and 5.25 inches, ideal for all types of vehicles and settings.
Jazz Hipster Full Range Ferrite & Coaxial Neodymium Speakers
You can use our full range and coaxial speakers to create a high-quality sound without complex rewiring. In sizes from 4 to 2 inches, our speakers can be fitted into all types of car audio systems.
These few tips can help you get started with your car audio improvements.
