We love our car audio, but sometimes we have to work for it. Car manufacturers have all but dared us to look for an aftermarket solution to cure our factory model car audio systems woes.

With so many the high-tech advances in safety cameras, driver warning systems, and onboard computing, the value auto makers once placed on sound systems for cars has plummeted. Some new car models don’t even offer premium audio options, and those that do generally fall way short of the best car audio.

They’re counting on the notion their customers don’t know enough about car audio systems to demand better. And though it’s true manufacturers in both the car and audio industries would have you believe sound systems for cars are very complicated, they’re not really. Get to know a couple of car audio system basics, and you can accomplish great car audio with a few simple upgrades.

Step 1: Speakers

It’s an old rule of thumb but it remains true: even the best car stereo won’t sound great on lousy speakers. If your car’s stock car audio system shows distortion, lack of clarity in high frequency ranges, and hollow bass notes, you may improve sound system in your car with a worthwhile speaker upgrade.

If your car only had two or four speaker slots, they are probably coaxial speakers, meaning a single speaker head features both a woofer and a tweeter. The easiest way to replace them is with better coaxial speakers, meaning made with finer materials.

Cheap speakers made with foam and paper sound terrible and don’t last. Great upgrades range from cloth and foam construction, to rubber, metal, silk, and synthetic materials in the best car audio.

Discrete speaker components sound even better, because the woofers and tweeters operate separately, thereby producing greater clarity. But often requires cutting new speaker mounts, detailed rewiring, and other actions best performed by an experienced installer of sound systems for cars. They may also require a new amplifier.

Step 2: Amplifier

Despite what we said above about great speakers, it’s also true that great speakers only sound as good as their amplifier. You may get an uptick in quality with new speakers alone, but discrete car audio systems in particular require more sophisticated amps that can output to multiple, distinct speaker channels. A good amp can output to tweeters and woofers, for example, and even subwoofers.

Step 3: Subwoofer

It’s not the most crucial component, but a subwoofer arguably makes the difference between a good and the best car audio. If you can establish powerful bass presence without a lot of volume, you’ll know you’re on the right track in getting a balanced, low distortion car audio system.

If you have a good amplifier, it will provide a channel to output to a dedicated subwoofer, and even power it without taking too much potency away from the tweeters and woofers. If you don’t, a self-powered subwoofer may usually be connected by a qualified professional.

Step 4: Contact Car Audio City

While it’s true that the above upgrades may be accomplished one at a time, the path towards the best audio system for your car is to upgrade everything at once, so you can match the quality of your speakers and subwoofer to the quality and outputs of your amp.

Quality car audio systems are easier to understand than they are to install properly, so for car audio in San Diego, we suggest giving Car Audio City a call at (619) 474-8551.