Ninety percent of car-owners in India have some kind of audio-system installed in their cars. Many new cars now a days come with OEM(company fitted) audio systems as part of the deal. The price for the head-unit(the source player) of car-audio in India ranges from Rs.1500/- for the el-cheapo cassette player, to over Rs.1 lakh for a high-end CD-changer. Speakers too can cost from Rs.200/- a pair to Rs.50, 000/- for a component-set. So how to choose, and how much to spend?
May be the views presented by me here are a bit radical, and may be my age is telling. The younger lot who like to pump up the volume while driving may not agree with them. But then, my views are my views.
A car is the best place to install a high-end audio system.
The fact is it is not. Given that you have the money to buy the costliest head-unit and costliest speakers, there are only three to four standard positions in most cars to mount the speakers. First is on the front dash-board facing the windshield, second is on the door panels(front & rear), third is in the boot mounted either upwards(infinite baffle arrangement) or facing each other, and the fourth is facing down from the ceiling. None of these arrangements are ideal for audio. In any of these arrangements, reflected sounds overwhelm the passengers because of the confined space within a car, making it impossible to achieve things such as time-alignment and phase-coherence. Also, there is seldom any stereo imaging in a car environment, but for the ping-ponging effects. Added to this are the hum of your engine and other mechanical sounds. Would you still call it a place for high-end audio?
Opting for the highest PMPO system available will make my driving exciting.
How much power is enough for in-car use? For the less than 300 cubic feet space inside your car, you don't really need that 6000 watts PMPO(if you believe this figure to be true) head-unit or amplifier. Considering that pleasurable driving is about keeping your head cool and alert, driving with insanely high volume creates stress, and disturbs your road-sense. Besides, your car-audio, like the rest of the electrical systems in your car, has to run on a 12 volt battery. You can not really use a lot of power from the battery without impairing the basic electrical functions of the car. In any case, irrespective of what they state on the box, head-units seldom put out more than 11 watts average RMS per channel. *
Adding a subwoofer will enrich the audio experience in my car.
*My views on car-subwoofers are very different from many others, including some connoisseurs of good music. First of all, you can not hear a 30 Hz soundwave(which is 11.5 meters long) inside your car, though you will sure feel the vibrations of metal and air-pressure generated by the subwoofer. Adding to the noise of your engine, this high decibel, distorted, bass thingy is not going to do any good to your musical appreciation, hearing, or driving. From the view point of practicality too, it is not wise to sacrifice the limited boot space of your car for this volume thing. A subwoofer also needs a powerful amplifier and a crossover circuit, which means further drain of power from your car-battery, drilling holes, running wires, and nullifying the car's warranty if there is one. Today's MPFI engines are entirely chip(sensor) based. So one wrong connection, and you will comprehensively mess up your car!
*So what do I conclude?
*1.) Tapes are messy and their quality of recording is often poor. Considering a CD-tuner is always a wise move.
2.) Four quality speakers, a good head-unit, and a collection of your kind of music in a CD-case are usually enough to give you good musical experience inside your car.
3.) While I am personally not a great fan of the MP3 format, I can not ignore the convenience offered by it. Therefore I rate MP3 playability as a necessity in a CD-tuner. Also ensure that your CD-tuner will allow you to plug in an external MP3 device.
4.) If you are into MP3, you do not require a CD-changer. Else, depending upon your budget, you can add a CD-changer to your head-unit later, in which case it is apt to opt for an upgradable CD-tuner. Your player should also be able to play home-burnt CD-Rs & CD-RWs without fuss.
5.) Since FM stations are mushrooming in our country after a Government of India's decision to encourage them, your tuner should have FM-band. On the other hand, Worldspace satellite radio, which requires its antenna to be directional, becomes irrelevant in a car.
6.) It makes sense to consider certain additional features. For example, if you have a chauffer-driven car(with you in the back-seat), a remote-control would be apt. Similarly, anti-theft provision for the CD-tuner is necessary from security point of view. A built-in dust-filtering mechanism, such as the one present in some Sony CD-tuners, would ensure trouble free operation. ID3 tag-capability means artist & song names can be shown on the display. Company's warranty on the CD-lens and transport mechanism will give you an additional assurance. Amongst CD-tuners, Pioneer DEH series and Sony CDX series are value for money. But watch out for duplicate speakers and refurbished head-units sold in the name of Pioneer & Sony.
7.) Get the system installed by an authorized dealer. He would install it in a manner that does not nullify the warranty, or damage the MPFI sensors.
When it comes to speakers, besides the routinely installed Sony X-plod, Pioneer, Kenwood, Blaupunkt and Alpine, you have options like Soomoku( http://www.palesha.com) and Yamato( http://www.yamatoaudio.com), which are good value for money.
Since car-speakers are continuously subjected to shock and mechanical vibration, they need to be of rigid construction. Many cars do not offer deeper mounting depths, i.e., if the magnet of the speaker is too thick, it poses a problem in mounting. But slimming down the magnet would mean less magnetic flux, and a poorer sounding speaker. The traditional ferro-magnet speakers do not answer these trade-offs satisfactorily. Consequently, choose car-speakers with Strontium-Ferrite, Neodymium, or Samarium magnets that offer high magnetic flux while being slim.
The last thing you would want while driving is distortion from your car-speakers adding to the road din. Therefore, pick up speakers which have the least distortion at higher power. My preference is for co-axial speakers(woofer & tweeter in one unit) because of the simplicity of installation. But tastes differ, and many prefer component speakers(separate woofers & tweeters), wherein tweeters are installed directly infront of the driver for the'effect'. Please match the speakers carefully with your head-unit interms of impedence and power. Car-speaker manufacturers do release exact-fits for popular car models in the market which do not require drilling of additional holes into car's mounting baffle. Find out whether there is one for your car.
