Not happy with the sound quality of your car stereo speakers? No worries; you don’t need to start spending a ton of money. You can often improve the sound quality of your car stereo system just by doing some basic tweaking. So how to improve your car stereo system to sound better without spending too much money. We hope this guide can help you answer that question.
The best car stereo system will make your car richer and your long rides smooth with rocking music in your ears. So don’t settle for low quality stuff, below we have given some tips to choose the best car stereo system for your car.
How To Improve Your Car Stereo System?
1. Install New Car Stereo System
You might have the most rad ride on your block, with gold custom rims and a spoiler a Boeing 747 would be proud of, but if you’re still using the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) car stereo system, the power of your tunes is never going to match up to the rest of your carefully curated image.
OEM car stereos are always “just good enough” because manufacturers know that when people buy cars, they’re more likely to hum and haw over gas mileage than how Taylor Swift sounds blasting out of the car’s speakers at full volume.
It’s for this reason that if you listen to music at all in your car, you owe it to yourself and your passengers to get an aftermarket car audio installation
What’s Good Audio Worth to You?
This doesn’t mean you have to rush out and buy a top-of-the-line audio system with seven subwoofers and tweeters peeking out of every corner. Evaluate your car audio system for yourself. There are escalating steps you can take to improve your car audio system without breaking the bank.
As everyone’s ears and tastes are different, it’s up to you to decide what you want from your system. Sit in your car with your favorite tunes playing and really listen to what you think might be wrong with the sound.
- Is the music distorted when you turn it up loud? New amps and speakers can fix that.
- Is the bass hard to make out when you turn it up? A subwoofer and EQ can help.
- Do you find it hard to hear higher treble pitches like singing and guitars in the mix? Speakers and EQ can all help.
- Would you like to be able to stream music from an online provider and your current system doesn’t support it? A new head unit will be just the ticket.
Professional car audio installation will be the way to go in most cases, but you don’t always need to replace everything about your system. As long as you understand what you want to achieve from your new car installation (e.g., more bass, crisper trebles, increased functionality) the car audio installer will be able to advise further.
2. Upgrading a Car Stereo System
One of the easiest ways to upgrade an existing car stereo system is to replace the speakers. Premium speakers sound way better than all OEM speakers, with better frequency responses and a wider range. It’s a pretty easy upgrade, too, as you’re just changing one part of the system for another.
Your next option is to add an amplifier. Now, all car stereo systems already have an amplifier, but factory stereo systems usually have it built-in to the head unit, limiting what can be done. Adding an amp between the head unit and your speakers opens up a world of possibilities, including the ability to add a subwoofer or two. This can make the bass notes in your vehicle sound 10 times better.
The icing on the cake in this scenario is adding a digital sound processor (DSP). It basically works like a better version of the graphical equalizer in your factory head unit and allows you to tweak the sound to your heart’s content.
3. Replacing a Car Stereo System
If you’re not married to the look and feel of your OEM head unit, you can replace it entirely with a better system. Start by finding a head unit that will fit your dashboard (there are just a few standard sizes). You can consider any interesting features an upgraded head unit can offer you, too, like a large screen for navigation, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support, and Bluetooth.
You can either choose a complete system that comes together with a head unit, speakers, amp, and subwoofer, or take a more modular approach and choose each of these elements from different manufacturers, ensuring they complement each other. Yes, this is more complex and prone to error, but it’s also more fun!
Either way, you’ll be upgrading your car stereo to the point you’ll never want to leave your car. When you get the perfect sound from your car stereo system, it’s hard to leave your vehicle when your favorite track comes on. You’ll notice parts of the track you’ve never been able to hear before on lesser audio systems, and every trip with your family or friends will feel livelier and more fun. Upgrading or replacing your car stereo is definitely one of the best things you can do if you spend any amount of time in your car at all.
Senior Writer, has been with Rottenpanda.com since 2017. With a bachelor’s degree in communications, Nick specializes in finding interesting topics, gathering details, checking facts, and making complex subjects easy to understand. In addition to writing articles, Nick loves traveling, pets and happily married to Lucy.
