What to look for in a car audio system

Car Audio: Head Unit

The Head Unit is the brains of the operation, and without it, your car audio system can't and won't work. The head unit controls the functions of your car audio such as volume, bass or bandwidth.

Car Audio: Amplifier

All car audio systems have an amplifier, even if it's a small one. Whilst the amplifier can be attached to the back of the head unit, in most systems it is hidden elsewhere in the car to better dissipate heat. Signal amplification a two-stage process using seperate components; the preamplifier (a very tiny signal coming directly from the head unit). This reproduces CD signals or FM broadcast, and the power amplifier puts out a signal that the amplifier can use, and boosts it into the audible range, and because of heat, most amplifiers are situated away from the head unit.

Car Audio: Speakers

The speakers take the boosted signal from the power amp and create sound waves. All sound is, is vibration in a chain of frequencies which vibrate the membranes in your eardrums, which is measured in wavelengths, known as hertz, with the audible range falling between 20 to 20,000 cycles. There are three types of speakers producing sound across the audible spectrum: woofers (reproduce the lower frequencies), tweeters (replicates the highest register) and midrange drivers (they handle the frequencies in between).

Car Audio: Auxiliary Input Devices

Components such as CD changers and equalizers, phone holders, sat nav's and MP3 players intergrate with the head unit for amplification and signal processing.

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