Among car enthusiasts there are also music lovers who cannot imagine life without music. Therefore, they try to surround themselves with it everywhere, even in the car. They are not limited to just installing acoustic speakers, placing a subwoofer in the cabin. This low-frequency emitter improves sound quality. Just imagine how different songs can be played in such a small space. None of them thinks about the harm to themselves, but also to the car. Could the device really be causing problems with the vehicle?
How will hearing change after installing a subwoofer in the cabin?
First of all, you should think about your health. If anyone doesn’t know, low frequencies, or more simply put, bass, affect the brain and hit the eardrums hard. As a result, frequent headaches begin, hearing decreases, and mental disorders occur.
Your car also has to suffer from low-frequency sound. If you constantly listen to music in your car in this way, there is a possibility of rapid corrosion of the body. By the way, experts have proven that a month of intensive operation of a subwoofer in a car provokes corrosion comparable to that after three to five years of operation of the vehicle. This only applies to the case when music is listened to at high volume.
Should you listen to music too loud?
Let's assume everything is adjusted correctly, try to ask yourself, why listen to songs at full power? Most likely, most motorists do this because they do not hear music due to the engine running, and various noises from the instrument panel can also interfere. The latter seems to be manageable, but the engine is a bit difficult. After all, its noisy operation may be caused by some kind of malfunction or its long-term operation. If desired, you can eliminate this problem by replacing it with a new power unit. If this is not possible, there is an effective way to seal a car.
The procedure is performed either by service station specialists or by yourself. For this, a special material is used that suppresses all extraneous sounds of the engine and more. Since there will be no noise in the car, listening to music at full volume is not necessary. Having solved this point, there will be no need to install a subwoofer.
Good speakers are sufficient for high-quality sound. Try to choose branded music accessories for your car. Then there will be no problems with sound.
Although there are no fines for listening loudly, the traffic police can stop someone screaming loudly. It is generally not recommended to listen to music on the road, except in a calm tone. On the other hand, it’s great to be alone with your favorite music on a boring trip. In any case, do it correctly, without harming yourself or your car.
Way out of the situation and solution to the problem
What about those who are used to listening to their favorite music while driving? At the same time, you also want the sound at full power. A prerequisite for placing a subwoofer inside the cabin is the correct connection. After checking everything carefully, you find that all the wires are connected, everything is connected correctly. In this case, it is necessary to configure the equipment. If you do not do this, incorrect settings lead to the fact that you may not hear the bass at all, or, on the contrary, only it will be present.
Setting manipulations should include the following sequence of actions:
- First you need to set all device settings to “0”. “LPF” is then selected on the filter amplifier channel;
- set the frequency, the optimal range of which should be fifty to seventy Hz;
- Now find the front switch on the amplifier panel, adjust it to the “HPF” position. Do not forget about the frequency, we define it within seventy to ninety Hz. In principle, you can complete the settings here.
You may also need to adjust the sensitivity. Again we find the corresponding relay on the subwoofer and set it to zero. You also need to set the volume to the maximum level on the head unit. Next, we turn the sensitive lever slowly and without jerking towards amplification and listen to the sound distortion. At what frequency such distortions will not be heard, this will be the correct setting of the device.
Important point! Setting the subwoofer correctly will mean the sound comes out straight from the middle of the cabin. When the bass is clearly pronounced at the back, this indicates that the settings were made incorrectly and mistakes were made. To get rid of this “effect”, try turning the device to the reverse phase of the amplifier. Simply turn the dial one hundred and eighty degrees. If such a relay is missing, you can swap the positive and negative cables.
Rules for good car audio
Many car owners are quite satisfied with the sound of their car's standard audio system. But a true music lover will certainly want something more. Let's figure out how to turn your car into a concert hall on wheels, and how much money it will take.
Rostislav Chebykin
As a rule, in the mass market, automakers select audio systems focusing on the average consumer: the main thing is that you can listen to the radio, sometimes connect a phone via Bluetooth or a flash drive via USB. Engineers don't expect you to listen to music at maximum volume or that you have an exceptional ear for music.
Even if the manufacturer installs a couple of additional speakers, this does not lead to a significant improvement in sound quality. And installing a subwoofer purchased at the nearest supermarket by the owner will not solve the problem either. Driving with the trunk rattling and headlights blinking due to voltage drops in the on-board network is not at all cool. Audio preparation in a car is a sequential process. First, vibration isolation is done, then the speakers are changed, and then a subwoofer is added. If the stages are swapped, for example, installing good acoustics but not preparing the doors, the effect will only worsen.
VIBRATION INSULATION
The first thing to start with is damping and vibration isolation of the doors, as well as installing standard speakers on rigid rings made of plywood or MDF. In this case, the standard speakers and head unit remain. These simple manipulations allow you to add “depth” to the sound. On average, such work in a workshop will cost 15,000 rubles, but you can save money by doing everything yourself. After spending a couple more thousand, you can add sound insulation: the cabin will become noticeably quieter.
If you plan to replace the speakers and install a subwoofer, then you won’t be able to get away with vibration isolation of just the doors; you’ll have to “roll” the entire car. For doors, vibration isolation with a thickness of 2 mm will be sufficient, and for the ceiling, floor and trunk lid, preferably 4 mm. Such a layer will increase the rigidity of surfaces and get rid of rattling of metal, plastic and casings.
Loud music broke the mirrors.
REPLACING THE AUDIO SYSTEM
To achieve improved sound quality and volume while ensuring safe operation of the entire system, a minimum set of components is required. It includes good speakers, an amplifier and three types of wiring - power, speaker and interconnect cables. Of course, it would be better to also change the “head” - the transmitted signal will become cleaner, and a more advanced device will help you more accurately customize the system for yourself.
It seems that the speakers are easy to replace - unscrew the old ones and install new ones. However, not all so simple. To replace the speakers, a whole range of work is required: run power cables (“+” and “–”) from the battery to the amplifier, which will most likely be installed in the trunk. If you plan to install a subwoofer in the future, then it is better to take wires with a cross-section of at least 35 mm2, and preferably with a margin of 50 mm2, and definitely copper wires - they conduct current better. You need to run interconnect cables from the radio to it and acoustic wires from the amplifier to the speakers. Power and speaker wires can be laid side by side, but interconnect cables are laid separately - either on the other side of the car or along the central tunnel. You can also do it through the ceiling. This is done to avoid “noise”—when the generator’s operation is heard through the speakers. The farther the interconnect cables are from power and acoustics, the better.
Niche for spare wheel.
To protect yourself from a possible short circuit, place a fuse on the positive wire no further than 40 cm from the battery. On the reverse side, the amplifier already has its own fuse.
It is better to choose pop speakers. They have a large volume reserve, while playing quite well. The diameter of the speakers will depend on the possibility of installation in your car: 16 or 20 cm. It costs from 20,000 rubles, and this does not take into account the cost of installation.
Stage speakers are acoustics in which everything is aimed at maximum sensitivity and, therefore, volume. “Estrada” requires relatively little power, but you will achieve decibels that are absolutely unattainable for conventional acoustics. Properly configured pop speakers play clearly and richly; you will not notice any difference in quality with coaxial acoustics.
CHOOSE A SUBWOOFER
Subwoofers come for different purposes and tasks. But you should never buy ready-made options with a built-in amplifier. You will be upset, to put it mildly. If you want more low frequencies, you can pay attention to budget models measuring 12 inches and rated power up to 1000 watts. The amplifier for the sub must be selected with a 1.5-fold power reserve, which will help avoid “clip” - a distorted signal that is obtained when the device is operating at maximum. A specialized workshop will make you a subwoofer enclosure based on your musical preferences. “Turnkey” with installation will cost another 30,000 rubles.
In the budget and mid-price segment (when, for example, the cost of a subwoofer is no more than 20,000 rubles), you should not pay attention to the specified maximum power of the speaker - this is a marketing ploy to attract buyers. With such power, it can only work for a couple of seconds.
We highly recommend installing a voltmeter in a visible place inside the car - this will allow you to monitor voltage drops in the network. It is necessary to connect to the largest consumer - the amplifier for the subwoofer. Amplifiers only operate correctly when the voltage is at least 12 volts. If the standard battery is not enough, it is better to replace it with an AGM one. This type of battery is capable of delivering more current, and, accordingly, there will be less sag under load.
AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat) is a lead-acid battery technology. The difference between AGM batteries and classic ones is that they contain absorbed electrolyte rather than liquid, which provides a number of advantages in their operation. The disadvantages of this type of battery are the price and heavy weight. But there are more advantages: high output, very fast charging (to fully recharge, the on-board network output voltage of 13.8–14.5 V is enough), endurance, ability to work normally down to -30 degrees, sealing (you can put it on its side and not worry about harmful acid vapors, which is important when installing the battery in the trunk).
The total budget for alterations at the moment will be about 80,000 rubles. For the money you get very good, detailed sound. Doors will no longer play along with the music. There will be two amplifiers installed in the trunk - one for acoustics, the other for a subwoofer. The volume reserve will allow you to sound a small beach in the summer, and in the cabin the rear view mirror will shake from the low frequencies. But if this is not enough, look at how far you can go in search of the ideal car audio using the example of my personal car.
OPEL ASTRA: THERE IS NO LIMIT TO PERFECTION, OR SOUND AT THE PRICE OF A CAR
The basis of everything in car audio is proper nutrition. Large power consumption (about 7 kW in total in this machine) requires special operating conditions. An increased-performance generator of 270 A is installed under the hood (the standard one produced only 120 A). It charges three AGM batteries with a total capacity of 250 Ah, one under the hood and two instead of a spare wheel. Connecting the batteries, generator and amplifier took about 40 meters of 50 mm2 wire - each about the thickness of a thumb.
We had to sacrifice not only the spare tire, but also the entire trunk. A double floor was installed in it. Amplifiers were located on the first “floor”. There are three jokes about them, like batteries - each for its own type of speakers. Subwoofers are already installed on top. There are two of them, 15 inches each.
Initially, there were other subwoofers, less powerful, and a weaker amplifier. Later I replaced the subwoofers, and already changed three amplifiers. The first one had a power of 2 kW, now it is 5.5 kW. Now the sound pressure in the cabin of my car reaches 151 dB. With such figures, the increase in each decibel in hearing is a doubling of the volume, and in terms of money the amount increases exponentially. For example, changing the amplifier to a more powerful one with an improvement in the result by 1.5 dB cost me 70,000 rubles.
The doors are equipped with pop-up acoustics: two mid-frequency speakers and one horn that plays the high frequencies. To accommodate the installation of such a number of speakers, door cards were hand-made and covered with leatherette.
The standard head unit definitely wouldn’t have been able to cope, so it was replaced with a radio with a processor: it allows you to send to each speaker the frequency range for which they are designed. The system is balanced the way I like it. But there is a special regulator at hand that allows you to add low frequencies when there are not enough of them.
The budget for this configuration is not low at all. Lots of hand work, professional components installed. The cost of modifications at this time was already about 270,000 rubles, actually equaling the price of the car itself. But this amount does not bother me; I have already ordered other batteries to add a couple of tenths of decibels. And by the time you read, the amount may have already changed a lot.
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