I need help with car audio?

[Tony]

Hi. I have 2 questions hopefully you guys can help me with. Thanks.

1. What is the best speaker setup I can get for a decent price? I don't want a "booming system". I just want something that will produce awesome sound for the driver (me). Do I also need amps and things? If so, which is best?

2. I have a car with a tape player. If I use one of those iphone to tape adapters, will I get the same quality as buying a new CD player with one of those AUX ports for my iphone when playing 320k+ music?

 

[AeNestoiterlGravity]

Since I don't know what car you have, I will give you just general tips.

1. I like to mix bright speakers in the front with more spacious, deeper speakers in the back. Deeper does not mean booming, overpowering bass. Nothing there is exaggerated. So, for the back, look for Pioneer series D. Pioneer makes a lot of different speakers. They are ok. But only this model is above all else. I'm using them in my car and at home (I made custom boxes for them and get my TV to sound through them, without amplifier. They sound better than some $400 speakers.

For the front I like speakers made by Polk Audio. Their db Series is very good. MM series is more powerful, but I have their db in my car after many trials of different speakers, and I like them a lot.

Infinity for the front is also good. They are loud and very bright. But, I still prefer Polk Audio, because they are well balanced and you get to hear notes as they were recorded. Nothing is artificially exaggerated or downplayed.

With Polk Audio, you get very close to the original recording. That's why Polk Audio has been making speakers for professional recording studios worldwide. They test, and test, and test the speakers until a professional musician cannot tell the difference between the sound coming from their speakers and sound produced by natural instruments (guitar, cello, saxophone, trumpet, violin, human voice, crush cymbals, etc.) These speakers are used in monitor rooms inside the recording studios (only the best of the best has a chance at playing in the monitor rooms.)

Extra tweeters can be added to either side mirror panels, facing each other, or on top of the dash, in the bottom corners of the windshield, facing up. Keep in mind, there are many tweeters with Titanium, other metal, or hard plastic cones. They play the same frequencies as other tweeters, but because the cone, the material that moves and produces the sound waves, is hard, these tweeters add sharp shrill to the sound, and can make your ears hurt. Better tweeters have either silk, textile, or soft synthetic cone, that play high notes without any unpleasant shrill.

Polk Audio makes very nice tweeters, Polk Audio DB1001 DB Series 1" Diameter/25mm Silk/Polymer Composite Dome Tweeters

High end of Alpine Alpine SPR-10TW 1" 100W RMS Silk Ring-Dome Component Tweeter has silk done and it has a 4 level sound adjustment which (YOU WILL NEED),

Infinity Reference 1031T 1" Textile Dome Car Tweeters

These from JL Audio also have 4-level volume adjustment
JL Audio C5-075CT 0.75" (19mm) Evolution C5 Series Silk Soft-Dome Tweeters

Why do you need so many tweeters?
Both Pioneer Series D and Polk Audio Series db come with co-axial tweeters. Even so, I believe a pair of quality tweeters add a certain level of brilliance to the sound and adds the separation between the left and right channels.

Even though you might get 4 speakers in your car and each speaker will come with it's own tweeter, you will be pleasantly surprised how much sound clarity and definition component tweeters, mounted on the level with your chest, can provide.


2. About your other question, regarding iPod to tape sound quality. Decent tape players produce very good sound. The cassette itself may or may not align properly with the head inside the tape player. If it does get good alignment, you are lucky. It will play as good as your iPone is playing. Keep in mind, that if you use lower settings for MP3 recording, it will cut all frequencies under 50 hz, so you will be missing the lows, and cuts out some other frequencies. Lower bit rates of MP3 or other sound recording program, also make holes in the sound. Instead of preserving the integrity of all the sound frequencies, these programs leave the sound resembling Swiss cheese, with holes in it. The program decides on it’s own what you will need and what it can cut out. That’s how they reduce the size of song files.

Some current head units make automatic adjustments and improvements to sound quality to poor quality recordings. Poor recordings will sound better when played through such head units.

And back to your question, if your music was recorded with CD-quality on iPod, it will play through the AUX with the same quality. With the tape, (even if the tape insert is perfectly aligned with the head of the tape player) it will play close to CD quality.

3. I would like to tell you about one more thing, without which music will remain flat as a wall. There is no room here to add a few more paragraphs. Write my name in the next question and I will answer with that section, section 3. Or, you can email me.