Je li zamjena radija najbolji način za poboljšanje kvalitete zvuka?

Od kasnih 80-ih, industrija zvuka za automobile doživjela je nevjerojatne razine rasta. Nova tehnologija i značajke proširile su naše mogućnosti povećanja kvalitete zvuka i poboljšanja zabave. Ono što se nije promijenilo jesu temeljni elementi dizajna zvučnih sustava.

Svaki sustav počinje s izvorom. To zovemo glavna jedinica, izvorna jedinica ili radio. U više od 99,9% vozila izvorna jedinica uključuje AM/FM prijemnik, zajedno s CD playerom ili USB priključkom za reprodukciju digitalnih medijskih datoteka kao što su MP3, WMA, AAC i FLAC datoteke. Izvorna jedinica također obično sadrži kontrolu glasnoće za sustav.

Prije je nova izvorna jedinica bila prva komponenta koja bi se nadograđivala na putu poboljšanja zvučnog sustava u vozilu. Iz perspektive poboljšanja kvalitete, to je sve rjeđe. Čitajte dalje kako biste saznali o prednostima i ograničenjima zamjene tvorničkog radija u vašem vozilu.

Mogu li se prebaciti?

Pogledajte vozilo poput BMW-a, Audija, Mercedes-Benza ili čak Mazde. Njihovi radiji uopće nisu samostalne jedinice. Mazda 3 izvrstan je primjer moderne jedinice s distribuiranim izvorom. Na kontrolnoj ploči nalazi se zaslon, CD mehanizam ispod kontrola klime i upravljačka ploča na središnjoj konzoli. Niti jedna od ovih komponenti ne odgovara standardu veličine za naknadni radio. Ako želite nadograditi zvučni sustav u ovom vozilu, nećete kupiti novi radio.

Srećom, ovaj radio ima većinu značajki koje ljudi žele. CD, MP3, SiriusXM, pomoćni ulaz i Bluetooth audio streaming lako su dostupni izvori signala. Sustav uključuje telefoniranje bez ruku i ugrađeni navigacijski sustav temeljen na GPS-u.

Međutim, nažalost, sustav ne uključuje integraciju pametnog telefona Apple CarPlay ili Android Auto.

Možemo li se integrirati?

Ako želimo nadograditi zvučni sustav, trgovac mobilnom opremom može spojiti pojačalo i nove zvučnike na signal koji dolazi iz radija. Uz malo finog podešavanja i dobro izvedenu instalaciju zvučnika, kvaliteta sustava će se poboljšati. You will also be able to turn your music up louder.

If you want to take things to the next step, then add a digital signal processor (DSP) to give your installer all the tools required to flatten any peaks or dips in the system’s frequency response and adjust for different path lengths between the listening position and your speakers.

The Sound Quality Upgrade Path

Let’s look at another popular compact car:the Subaru Impreza. Subaru manufactures durable, reliable vehicles, but their sound systems are not at the forefront of technology. In fact, several models of the Impreza are begging for sound system upgrades. Luckily, improving the sound systems in these vehicles is easy. Let’s look at what’s lacking and how to fix it.

Add Bass, More Power and New Speakers

The recipe for improving the performance of an audio system does not vary much from vehicle to vehicle. The first step most retailers will recommend is to add an amplifier and a subwoofer. Adding a subwoofer will not only bring more bass to the system to make it sound more lifelike, but alleviates the need for the smaller speakers and factory amplifier to try to reproduce those frequencies. The result:Everything sounds better.

The next step is to add more power to the factory speakers with an amplifier. Many people will combine the addition of a subwoofer with a multichannel amplifier that can power the factory speakers at the same time. Five-channel amplifiers are an excellent choice for a single, easy-to-install upgrade. Multichannel amplifiers have built-in crossovers that will eliminate bass information from the smaller speakers, so they sound better.

The last step in upgrading the sound system is to replace the factory speakers. Now, if you have listened to a factory Subaru stereo, this might be your first step. There is no right or wrong when it comes to the upgrade path you take. Keep reading to find out why we often leave this step to the end.

We often suggest upgrading the speakers last because high-end speakers aren’t typically as efficient as the cheap speakers that come from the factory. New speakers provide smoother frequency response and much less distortion, and can handle a lot more power and play louder. When connected to a factory radio, there isn’t have enough power to experience all of the benefits of the new speakers. A speaker will only play loud when it is driven with adequate power.

Wait – What about the Radio?

You will notice that nowhere in the upgrade path did we suggest replacing the radio. The factory Impreza radio has a reasonable feature set and provides perfectly flat frequency response that we can use to improve your system. When looking at the goal of improving the sound quality of the system, the source unit is the last thing to change (unless you want to add high-resolution audio playback).

I Want More Features!

We touched on Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. These technologies, along with Siri Eyes Free, FLAC file playback, Pandora and much more, are great reasons to upgrade a factory radio. However, these are not specifically performance improvements – they are feature enhancements. We could nit-pick about FLAC files sounding better (in a future article, we will analyze high-resolution audio in great detail.) If you want better sound, all the other upgrades offer a larger increase in performance for your investment than an aftermarket source unit.

Experience Better Sound

When it comes time to upgrade the sound system in your vehicle, visit your local specialty mobile electronics retailer. Let them know what your goals are for the system and work with them to design something that meets your expectations and your budget. Following our suggested upgrade process can yield impressive improvements with a reasonable investment at each step. Each upgrade will produce immediately audible benefits.

Have fun improving your mobile sound system!