What you need to know about Car Audio Installation

Car audio installation can be fairly overwhelming to anyone who is new to the audio system installation process. While it might be overwhelming it is certainly achievable even for a beginner. Installation of a car audio system begins with planning, is depended on patience, and hopefully ends with a solid well put together car audio system that produces quality sound for years of future entertainment.

Many consumers make the mistake of assuming that car audio components are the same and therefore are installed the same way that home audio equipment is installed. This is simply not true. The major difference occurs in terms of connection standard, in put levels, and out put levels. For example for a stereo at home you do not have to connect the amplifier and then tinker with the adjustments to make it work. However, in the case of a car audio installation you will have. Time and patience are extremely important if you want to get the best quality of music from your system.

The head unit is the receiver and what people usually call the radio. Possible features include a CD player, and cassette player. The back of the head unit will have one or more RCA inputs. However, if you find yourself with a head unit that does not, you can buy a RCA converter at your local electronic store (like radio shack). Car audio parts are for the most part the same and will use the same cables. Low level sounds are transmitted through the RCA plugs into the RCA cable to the next part of the audio system. This could be the equalizer, cross over, or amplifier. Head units differ from each other based on the output voltage. The more volts the better quality of sound. However, the average consumer really can not tell the difference between high end or low in voltages so always make sure you buy within your budget.

Most professional believe that setting the levels during a car audio installation is art and can not be broken down into steps. However we are going to try! The first place to start when adjusting level settings is the head unit, once those levels are done, then proceed to the next component. Start by making sure all the setting knobs are all the way counter clock wise or off. Make sure the tone controls are to no boost. The fader and balance settings should be in the middle position. Set all your equalizer settings to the center position. By making all the settings neutral we will be able to hear the true signal and adjust from there.

The next step is to put in the type of music that gives a very clean out put. Try classical music as opposed to hard rock music. Turn the volume up until you hear distortion. A quality head unit will allow the volume to be turned all the way up without any distortion at all. Follow the same steps with all controls. Once all controls are set for the highest level without distortion. That’s it! However it may take several hours to tinker with the settings. Take a break, walk away, and give your ears rest when adjusting the settings to your new car audio installation.