What you need to know when choosing car acoustics
Content
The choice of acoustics for a car is far from an easy task, since this requires at least fundamental knowledge of the theory of car audio. In addition, in any case, you need experience in installing and configuring equipment, because after a careless installation, the owner of acoustics may encounter backgrounds, poor sound quality and other problems.
Buying expensive acoustics is not yet a panacea for future sound problems. The full functioning of acoustic systems is possible only if they were installed professionally. Thus, we can conclude that the correct setup and installation of the speaker is more important than its cost. In this article, we will answer which acoustics to choose, and what to look for when buying acoustic components.
Speaker types
When thinking about which audio system to choose for a car, you first need to figure out the types of speakers. All speakers for audio systems are usually divided into two categories - coaxial and component.
What is coaxial acoustics
Coaxial speakers are a speaker, which is a design of several speakers reproducing different frequencies. Depending on the crossover built into the design of this type of speakers, they are usually divided into two-way three-way, 4..5..6..etc. To find out how many bands there are in coaxial speakers, you just need to count the speakers. We want to pay attention to the fact that three bands are enough to reproduce all sound frequencies.
Acoustics that has 4 or more bands sounds very squeaky and it is not very pleasant to listen to it. The advantages of coaxial acoustics include ease of fastening and low cost.
What is component acoustics for?
Component acoustics are speakers of different frequency ranges, which are located separately. These professional speakers are of high quality sound. This is due to the fact that speakers with different frequencies are not in the same place.
Thus, you can get full enjoyment from listening to music, as the sound is disassembled into separate components. However, you have to pay for any pleasure: such speakers are much more expensive than coaxial ones, and installing component acoustics requires much more effort.
Comparison of component and coaxial acoustics
The quality of sound reproduction, price and ease of installation are not all that distinguishes coaxial acoustics from component ones. Another fundamental difference between these two types of speakers is the location of the sound in the car. The disadvantages of coaxial speakers include the fact that they make the sound narrowly focused. The front door speakers are component speakers. High frequencies, if they are directed at the legs, are very hard to hear, thanks to the separated components, the tweeters are installed higher, for example, on the dashboard of a car and directed to the listener. Thus, the detail of the sound increases many times over; the music begins to play not from below, but from the front, the so-called stage effect appears.
Diffuser and suspension material
Any professional description of loudspeakers must contain information about what material they were made from. The following materials can be used for the manufacture of diffusers: paper, polypropylene, backstren, titanium, magnesium, aluminum, and so on.
The most common are paper diffusers. In the process of their manufacture, sheets of paper are pressed together, after which they are given a conical shape. But it is worth saying that, in fact, almost all paper diffusers can be attributed to the composite type, since other synthetic materials are used in the process of their production. Eminent manufacturers never disclose which materials are used, because each of them has its own proprietary recipe.
- The advantages of paper cones include detailed sound, which is created due to high-quality internal damping. The main disadvantage of paper cones is considered to be their low strength, as a result of which the sound power in the audio system is limited.
- Diffusers made of polypropylene have a more complex design. They are characterized by a neutral sound, as well as excellent impulsive characteristics. At the same time, such diffusers are more resistant to mechanical and atmospheric influences than paper diffusers.
- Diffusers made of titanium and aluminum began to be made in Germany in the 80s. Their production is based on vacuum deposition technology. Domes made of these materials are distinguished by the best sound quality: the sound is transparent and clear.
In conclusion, on this section, I would like to say that manufacturers have learned how to make good acoustics from almost any material, there are even speakers made of noble metals, but they cost a lot of money. We advise you to pay attention to the speakers with a paper cone, it has a very decent sound, and has been tested by more than one generation.
And also it is necessary to pay attention to what material the external suspension of the diffuser is made of. The suspension can be made of the same material as the diffuser, or it can also be a separate element in the form of a ring made of rubber, polyurethane or other material. One of the highest quality and most common suspensions is rubber. It must remain linear over the range of movement of the loudspeaker system, and be flexible as this affects the resonant frequency.
A subwoofer is the same speaker that is capable of reproducing only low frequencies "What is the difference between a passive subwoofer and an active one."
Power and sensitivity of acoustics
Many are interested in how to choose speakers for a car radio, but they do not understand what is meant by such a parameter as power. There is an erroneous assumption that the more power, the louder the speaker will play. However, in practice, it turns out that a speaker with a power of 100 W will play quieter than a speaker with half the power. Thus, we can conclude that power is not an indicator of sound volume, but of the mechanical reliability of the system.
The volume of the speakers to some extent depends on their power, however, is not directly related to this parameter. It makes sense to pay attention to the power of the audio system only when it comes to buying acoustics for an amplifier. In this case, only the rated power (RMS) is important, since other figures will not provide any useful information to the buyer and will only mislead him. But even RMS sometimes has little to do with reality, so it's fair to say that the power figure is extremely uninformative for potential speaker buyers.
The size of the speaker magnets is also deceptive, because expensive audio systems have neodymium magnets. Despite the fact that they are rather unremarkable in appearance, their magnetic properties are somewhat higher than those of ferrite magnets. In practice, this means that the sound of the former is much stronger. Due to their miniature size, neodymium magnet systems also have a shallow seating depth, which simplifies their installation in a car.
Sensitivity is a parameter of audio systems that indicates the intensity of sound pressure. The higher the sensitivity, the louder the sound, but only if the speakers are supplied with the specified power. For example, a low power speaker paired with a powerful amplifier can produce a louder sound than a high sensitivity speaker. The unit for measuring sensitivity is decibel divided by the threshold of hearing (dB/W*m). Sensitivity is affected by parameters such as sound pressure, distance from the source, and signal strength. However, it is worth noting that it is not always necessary to rely on this parameter, because some speaker manufacturers measure sensitivity in non-standard conditions. Ideally, sensitivity should be measured at a distance of no more than one meter with a signal of one watt.
When choosing speakers in your car, ask the seller what sensitivity this speaker has? Low sensitivity is 87-88 db, we advise you to choose acoustics that have a sensitivity of 90-93db.
Also read the article, "how to choose the right amplifier for your audio system."
Brand name
Another recommendation that can be given to those who are considering choosing a particular manufacturer is not to chase a low price and be careful when buying speakers from non-famous manufacturers. No matter how tempting the words of the sellers are, you should not pay attention to these tempting offers, since it is always better to turn to manufacturers that have long established themselves on the market.
They have decades of experience in manufacturing speakers, value their reputation, and therefore produce only high-quality goods.
The answer to the question of how to choose acoustics for a car is no longer as simple as, for example, ten years ago, because there are a large number of manufacturers on the market (more than 200). The dominance of Chinese acoustic systems significantly complicated the task. Do not completely neglect Chinese products, because with a tight budget, buying a speaker system from China will not be such a bad decision. But the problem is that there are a large number of unscrupulous sellers on the market who present audio systems made in China as a branded product from American or European manufacturers. In this case, the buyer, who has decided a couple of hundred rubles, will buy "branded" acoustics for $100, when its real price does not exceed $30.
If we consider such a criterion as the specificity of sound, then for a more natural sound it is recommended to buy European audio systems (Morel, Magnat, Focal, Hertz, LightningAudio, JBL, DLS, BostonAcoustic, this is not the whole list). We also recommend that you refrain from buying such companies as (Mystery, supra, Fusion, Sound max, calcel) These manufacturers have a very ridiculous price, but the sound quality of these speakers is appropriate. Speaker systems from Sony, Pioneer, Panasonic, JVS, Kenwood are also very good options, but some of their owners complain about the average sound quality. If you are looking for the perfect combination of such parameters as price and quality, then it is best to contact the manufacturers that were mentioned above.
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Conclusion
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