ADDING BASS TO MY CAR STEREO!
Last month I explained why most car stereo systems are not capable of producing the bass performance most people want. The best way to improve the bass in your car stereo is by using a subwoofer system. A subwoofer system consists of several different components. The four main parts are the woofer, enclosure, amplifier and low pass crossover.
The part that most people know and love is the actual woofer. A woofer is a speaker that is designed to play lower frequencies. When used as part of a subwoofer system, a woofer is usually at least 8” in diameter. In general, the larger the woofer, the more bass it is capable of producing. Different woofers have different types of sounds and do certain things better than others. We can use one, or a thousand woofers, it doesn’t matter. Picking the right woofer can be very tricky and talking with an expert is very important. At Sound Waves, woofers start as little as $49 and can go into the thousands of dollars.
The next part in a subwoofer system is the actual speaker enclosure. This is the “box” that will house the woofer. There are some keys to picking the right enclosure. First of all, the enclosure must be the right amount of airspace for the woofer. If it doesn’t have the correct amount of air, it will perform poorly and probably wear out or become damaged quickly. Secondly, it must be very strong and rigid. Woofers producing bass can vibrate the box to pieces. Finally, it must fit in your car and work with the acoustics of your car. A large minivan will have totally different requirements than a small 2-seat sports car. Again, an expert is needed. A really good car stereo store can build you an exact custom enclosure for your car and budget.
The next part in a subwoofer system is a low pass crossover. This device is designed to make sure only the bass frequencies go to the woofer. This way the woofer, which is only really good at producing bass, is not trying to play frequencies it isn’t capable of reproducing. Those higher frequencies will cause the woofer to be overworked and in turn sound distorted. How do you find a low pass crossover? Well, luckily for us they are built into our final piece of the subwoofer puzzle called the amplifier.
The amplifier is designed to make the power that will drive the woofer(s). There are many different types of amplifiers with many different types of features. Amplifiers vary in price depending on the amount of power they have, the cleanliness of the power, and by the amount of features they have. Here’s where you have to be careful. The companies who make these amplifiers often mislead us about how much power the amp has. In the world of car stereo, there is no Car Audio Police.