Ten Steps to Great Sound

In This Chapter

► Doing your homework

► Using your ears

► Trusting your instincts

► Planning ahead

It takes a lot to create a good car audio system a lot of planning, time, and money and it’s never easy. But the reward is a system that brings out the best in your music and really enhances your vehicle and the driving experience.

Here are ten basic steps every car audio enthusiast should take on the path to great sound.

Making Up If our Mind

One of the first things you need to do is decide what type of system you want. Do you want one that can reproduce your music so that it sounds like you’re at a live concert? Or do you want a system that can simply blast out a bunch of bass? Maybe you want a system that can do both. By starting with a goal in mind, you can save yourself from potentially wasting money on components or wasting time on designs and installations that don’t fit your overall objectives.

want to focus on amplifiers and subwoofers capable of producing the highest amount of sound-pressure level (SPL) — and not spend money on high-end component speakers or “audiophile” amplifiers. On the other hand, if it’s sound quality you’re after, you’ll want to devote more resources to high- quality speakers.

Planning a car audio system reminds me of the saying, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” If you don’t know what kind of car audio system you want, you may take many different routes — and hit some dead ends — before you get something you like