There are several upgrades that will improve the sound quality of a car stereo, but one of the most important is a component that operates behind the scenes. While speakers and receivers get most of the glory, a car amplifier affects sound quality in several ways, without ever being seen by the car’s passengers. Here are some of the ways a car amplifier can affect sound quality and equip your ride for a more premium audio experience.

A car amplifier can overcome road noise

Whatever car stereo configuration you have, your music and podcasts will be in constant competition with road noise. Lousy car speakers will struggle to be heard over the sound of the engine, bumps on the road, and just the rubber rolling over asphalt. Even quality after-market speakers will sound thin inside a loud vehicle — unless they have enough power to produce optimal output.

Good aftermarket speakers with greater sensitivity can produce enough volume and clarity to stand out, despite highway noise. However, they may only do so with the right amount of amplifier power. Even a single channel amplifier can improve output over the built-in amplification of a factory stock receiver. But to truly make your speakers sing, opt for two or more channels to provide dedicated power to speaker components. It’s the best way to achieve sufficient volume, without the distortion of low power systems.

A car amplifier can increase headroom

A volume knob can make speakers louder, but if they don’t have enough headroom to handle the natural rise and fall of volume in audio recordings, they will distort and limit the output of what should be the most exciting parts of a piece of music.

Headroom basically refers to the amount of buffer a speaker has before this happens. With the power of a dedicated amplifier, a good speaker will produce a strong audio signal at a recording’s average volume but will have plenty more decibel range to draw upon when volume levels within the recording increase. What this ultimately means, is that with the right amount of headroom, you should clearly be able to hear the quiet parts of a recording, but also enjoy clarity in the loud parts, without distorting or overwhelming you.

Power subwoofers

Where a car amplifier can really affect sound quality the most is by creating more bass. The longer waves of low frequencies require a lot more energy input than higher pitches, which is why low-quality stereos rarely offer bass response below 40 or 50Hz. Meanwhile, humans can hear and feel bass response down to 20Hz.

Hearing lower frequencies doesn’t always require a dedicated subwoofer, but it usually requires a dedicated amplifier channel that reserves energy for bass. Otherwise, all the power is used up by mid and high level frequencies, and there’s not enough juice left over to give low frequencies the volume they deserve. To properly operate a dedicated sub channel, you need a dedicated amp channel, and that’s something you’ll rarely find in an in-dash receiver, especially one that comes standard with a vehicle.

Contact Car Audio City in San Diego to discuss amplifier options

There are several ways a car amplifier can affect sound quality, and depending on your car’s audio system, there are several amplifier options that will help. Contact Car Audio City in National City, San Diego at (619) 474-8551 to pick out the right car amplifier for your ride.