Things to know…

The year is 1985 and the stereo system in your new vehicle is just not good. It doesn’t sound good, it doesn’t look good and it didn’t have a CD player. Fast forward to the year 2006 and the stereo system in your new vehicle is pretty darn good, or is it?

Factory stereos overall quality in vehicle are at an all time high. With features like a CD player (not even a tape deck anymore), MP3, iPod ready, steering wheel controls, rear mounted controls, satellite ready, navigation and Bluetooth cellular hands free they have all the bells and whistles. Some cars manufacturers have even gone to the aftermarket companies to help them with their factory stereos by even badging them with names like Rockford Fosgate, Alpine, Pioneer, Dynaudio, Infinity and Boston Acoustics. Can you get any better then this? Sure you can, but you have to know a thing or two or three or maybe four for it to sound better then what the factory has provided for you.

Head Units

The first thing you need to know is about head units, decks, source units. They are all the same thing just pick your terminology. In the modern car, is it worth replacing the factory CD player with an aftermarket one? For 75% of the people that want to improve their sound quality it is not worth replacing their CD player. The stock radios of today’s vehicles are integrated into the dash board more than ever. So why do people do it, well it’s because the general public has been conditioned to think that if it’s stock then it must be no good (remember our step back to 1985). The simple fact is that in more and more cars the radios simply can not be removed from the vehicle. Auto manufacturers are running more and more vehicle functions through the radio then they ever have. Yes you can buy modules to take care of this but is it really worth it?

These days everything is done with a module. If you remove your factory radio you can get a module to retain your steering wheel controls, retain your Onstar system, retain your Bluetooth cellular system, and retain almost anything or add anything.

We asked if it was going to sound better. The simple answer is that the CD player provided in a KIA sounds no better or worse then the CD player found in a Lexus. Most aftermarket decks are not going to sound any better either. And with the crazy flashy cosmetics of most aftermarket decks is it even going to look good in the dash board of your car. If you fall into that 25% that really want that higher sound quality, your going to have to be prepared to spend some good money on a higher end unit.

People will say “well the stock deck doesn’t have RCA’s on it, how do I plug my amplifiers into it. We have a module, several in fact to take care of that.

Basically, if you want better sound spend your money on speakers, amplifiers and subwoofers.

Speakers

The second thing you need to know about is speakers. A speaker is the most important part of a stereo system. After all, it is where the music comes from. If you have good speakers you will have good sound, bad speakers and you will have bad sound (back to 1985 again). Well what is a good speaker you ask? Ask 10 salesmen and you will get 12 opinions. Go online and ask 10 people on a forum and you will get 30 people responding with just as many opinions. The best sounding speaker is, are you ready for it? It’s the one that sounds the best. Brands, models, wattage, color, looks and opinions aside the only speaker worth buying is the one your ears like and the only way to tell this is to listen to them. Go into a store, tell the sales people to stop talking and listen to the speakers. The best sounding ones that you can afford are the ones you should leave with.

Not every speaker will fit into every car so you want to make sure you are listening to the type of speaker that may be installed in your vehicle. Any reputable shop will be able to custom mount most speakers into any car but you want to make sure they have the capabilities.

Amplifiers

The third thing that you need to know about is amplifiers. Amplifiers do just that, they amplify the music coming out of your radio. Just like speakers, people ask “well what is a good amplifier”. This is a little trickier to explain than speakers because if a cheap pair of speakers sounds good to a person then that is ok. With amps there are as many cheap ones as there are good ones, and by cheap we mean poor quality. The market is flooded with cheap crap in every corner of the world. To sort this out you need to do a little research and find a good reputable shop or person to help you thru this mass confusion that can and will be brought on by the hundreds of options out there. Matching up the power ratings of the amp with the speaker is a good thing but it not written in stone. For the most part you can never have too much power when it comes to speakers. You will always do more damage to a speaker by under powering it then you will over powering it. It’s like having a 4 cylinder motor or an 8 cylinder motor. When you’re driving fast the four cylinders simply has no more and tops out, well when a speaker “tops” out it will keep trying to play louder and that is when distortion happens and that kills more speaker than anything else. With the 8 cylinder you can just keep going and going (yes you will also run out of power at some point, but not as quick).

Subwoofers

The fourth thing that you need to know about is subwoofers. Most people think that if they add a subwoofer they are now one of those annoying “ground pounders” that drive around and piss everyone off. Adding a subwoofer means nothing of the sort, in fact it simply means that you want to have a complete and enjoyable sound in your car. Subwoofers come in all sizes and even shapes and finding one to suit your car and your needs is as simple as talking to your qualified shop about what you need.

Installation

The last thing and the most important things is installation. This is an area where everyone says they can do what you want and how you want it but few are actually capable of doing a quality and professional job. Some things to look for and know when it comes to who you are going to get to work on your vehicle and what to expect when having a installation done:

1. Do they have examples of the type of work you want to have done? Everyone can talk the talk, but can they walk the walk.
2. Do they have a car in the shop at the time that shows the quality of work they do?
3. What does their shop look like? Is it a mess, as in a bomb went off or is it a working mess but in general is a clean shop. This can tell a lot about a shop.
4. What does their showroom look like? The pride and detail a person or business takes in their showroom and shop can tell you a lot about the type of work they turn out.
5. Do some prior research regarding potential issues with your vehicle and or type of install and test their knowledge. No person will know everything about every car or product but how they answer will tell you a lot about them. Maybe your research was off and they will correct you.
6. Ask them if you can see the work as they are working on the car. Most shops won’t let you hang out in the bay for safety and security reasons but most good shops shouldn’t object to you coming into the shop, with permission and escorted just to see what things look like when it’s all apart. If they don’t want to do that then I would question having them work on your car.
7. You are going to need parts no matter how big or small the job is and knowing what all of these parts are before you start is sometimes hard. Make sure you ask what the parts are and what they do if you don’t understand them. Don’t just pay for it and be uncomfortable about it after the fact.
8. Plan on the job taking longer than expected so it is usually good to just make plans to drop the car off in the morning and pick it up at the end of the day. This way you’re not rushing around if there was a delay during the installation, and the installer won’t rush to get the job done in the expected time frame. Not to say that every job is that way but there can be unforeseen circumstances that are out of our control. Ever wonder why it takes the dealership 4 hours to do a oil change? It’s better to under promise and over deliver then over promise and under deliver.
9. If you drive a new car or even a car that is a few years old there is always the chance that there may be an unforeseen complication. These days it is really hard to have all the information about every vehicle ahead of time. A lot of information and knowledge an installer has is actually from working on the actual cars. Things like wrong speaker size, factory amp or no factory amp, antenna adapter or no antenna adapter are just a few examples of unforeseen complications we run into all the time. The hardest part is, there are so many different options and sub models of every model car that it is impossible to know everything. A good example is the Ford Aerostar from several years ago. To put a aftermarket radio into one requires rewiring the speakers because of a headphone module in the rear side panel. I personally know of 6 different ways that Ford wired these vans, and I don’t think the Aerostar was on the market much more then 6 years. These different wiring configurations were different based on trim levels, options and even which plant it was built in.
10. Ask about the warranty. A vehicles environment is one of the roughest out there. It’s hot, cold, damp, dusty and then there is coke and kids. Know how long your product is covered and what it is covered for. Some extended warranties are great, some are a cash cow for companies.
11. Is Sirius better than XM Radio or is XM better then Sirius. I have heard them both with excellent sound quality and poor sound quality. I have seen excellent reception from both and poor reception from both. Just like everything, ask 10 people get 10 opinions. Most aftermarket and OEM radio companies allow you to use either on their radio’s now. The difference in my opinion is the content. You have to decide what you want to listen to. The 60 odd music channels are all going to be the same, it’s the other 40 or channels that sets each one apart from one another. The only thing that is a sure thing, is a direct plug in option is always going to sound better then one that plays through the FM modulator.
12. Radio Pricing. Is a $399.99 radio that much better then a $199.99 one? Not generally, as the price goes up, quality of parts goes up a bit but it’s mostly just features and cosmetics.
13. If you buy a radio for $399.99, by the time you pay for all the parts and labor needed you may be well over $500 and it isn’t going to actually physically sound better. Spend that $500 on 2 or 4 new speakers and a amplifier, maybe at a small subwoofer. All of these kinds of options is guaranteed to improve your listening experience.

Is this all of it ? Not even close, it would take a few dozen of these posts to even come close. It really comes down to finding the right person and shop to deal with. Service is everything. Everyone will give you the “lowest price guarantee” but can they give you service over and over again. There is never a dumb question so if you ever have a question please email us at info@hzemall.com

Remember, “a fool and his money will soon be parted” so do some research and ask some questions.

Written by Tim Baillie
Owner of HzEmall, The Custom Connection in Surrey, BC, Canada
HzEmall is a full blown custom car shop that believes attention to detail, quality and integrity are the key ingredients to success and happy customers. With specialties like Mobile Electronics, Auto Trim and Upholstery, Automotive Electrical Wiring and Performance, they are a true one stop shop.