7 Tips for Getting the Best Sound Quality in Your Car

We all want to enjoy the best sound quality when driving especially when the trip is expected to take long hours.  A car just like home can be a good place to enjoy your music but most of these cars offer substandard sound quality to the commuters.

While this gap in sound quality may be as a result of factory sound systems, in some cars it may be as a result of poorly assembled sound systems which hinder the system from reaching their potential.

The good thing is that you don’t have to put up with bad sound as there are countless ways that you can improve sound quality in your car regardless of whether you are using a factory stereo system or a custom stereo system. You will be surprised to realize that even a simple improvement to your sound system can yield unimaginable results.

That said! These 7 essential tips will help you enhance the sound quality in your car and set it apart from the rest.

1. Replace Your Factory Installed Speakers

Replacing your factory speakers with a customized stereo system serves as one of the most effective ways of achieving quality sound in your car. Most of these factory speakers although not all of them are not designed to deliver superior sound; leaving a lot to be desired. 

As such, installing a pair of aftermarkets speakers can help fill this gap in sound quality. A good set of speakers will ensure that the bass is tighter and overall sound clarity, paying attention to every detail thus bringing your music to life.

So before you think of anything else, whether it is adding a subwoofer or an amplifier, start off by replacing your set of speakers.

• Get High-quality Cables for Your Amplifiers

Speaker cables affect the efficiency of your speakers and that of your amplifiers. Low-quality cables result into sound distortion leading to very poor sound quality. These cables interfere with the signal limiting your chances of getting the best from the sound system.

When it comes to the amplifiers, it is highly recommended that you get only the best cables out there to enable your amplifiers get maximum power especially during high demands. In addition to this, these cables promote good signal flow between the receiver and the amps enabling you hear every detail from your favorite tunes.

• Consider Using a Sound Deadening Material

Sound deadening materials help in reducing vibrations and cutting down on road noise and other distractions. The result is of this is quiet and peaceful listening experience in your vehicle. A good example of a sound deadening material is Dynamat and it work in two ways to improve sound quality in your car.

First, most speakers are mounted in metal enclosures which aren’t by any means acoustically friendly making the speakers susceptible to mechanical vibrations. Applying Dynamat to your vehicle door panels or in any other place helps to deaden the vibrations and creates an acoustically friendly environment for your sound system.

Second, using Dynamat or any other sound deadening material helps to reduce both interior and exterior noise that may compromise the sound quality and this way you can enjoy your favorite tunes even on a busy highway without necessarily having to crank up the volume.

• Add an Amplifier/a Subwoofer

All factory or even aftermarket stereos systems comes with an inbuilt amplifier. However, these amplifiers do not deliver enough power as most audiophiles would have desired. In such a case, an extra amplifier is a necessity.  A separate amp will provide enough power needed to deliver clean performance that is going to bring the difference in sound quality.

In addition to this, you can also fit your car with a subwoofer which is an essential component of any sound system. The main role of a sub is to deliver rich and fuller bass that may be missing in most stereo setups. It also relieves your speakers off a huge load and the good thing is that you can customize it to fit your musical tastes.

• Add an Equalizer

Adding an equalizer to your full range speakers gives you several options of adjusting frequency response enabling you to set your sound system to match your taste. An equalizer will get rid of the treble and low peaks and the result is improved bass response. The equalizer can be mounted on a processor or near the amp or it can just be integrated into the receiver. 

• Get  a Quality Sub Box

Building a sub box should not be a hard task as you will only require few material and the basic tools. You can also opt to buy a pre-built to save you the hustle. You can choose either a sealed subwoofer box whereby it should be completely sealed to prevent air leaks that are likely to compromise subwoofer performance. The other option is the ported box but you have to make sure that your subwoofer can work with this type of box.

When building or choosing a subwoofer box, make sure that it has the correct dimensions and the interior volume should accommodate your subwoofer without straining as mismatch can lead to poor performance or damage your sub.

• Select Hi-Res Audio and Avoid Compression of Sound Files

The quality of you audio files can make a huge difference in terms of sound quality regardless of whether you have a great sound system or not. Using low-quality music files can limit your musical experience; you can get high-quality Hi-Res and FLAC files which are readily available at music download services such as Tidal. On the same note, using music with high compression rates has negative effects on listening experience as this compression makes you miss on some low and high-frequency details and as such you won’t get the best quality sound.

Conclusion

Building and maintaining a car audio system may be a daunting task at first but it all narrows down to the right gear and a little know how. You need to put several factors into consideration and with the above tips, we have broken down the task into a comprehensible concept. It is now up to you to make it happen and if you follow these tips to the letter, you don’t have to put up with poor sound quality anymore.