Sound Quality

Sound quality and Car audio

If you like sound quality like most of us you may judge sound quality by how loud the music plays without distorting.
While this is important it shouldn’t really be how sound quality is judged.
Real sound quality is when music is reproduced exactly like it would sound as if you where listening live.
So if there was a group on a stage and there was a singer in the centre of the stage that singer should sound central in the car almost as if they where on your bonnet or centre of the windscreen.
Should there be a guitarist to the left of the vocalist and say 5 meters further back, they should clearly be heard to the left of the vocalist but also further away not just quieter.
The correct word for this is “staging” if you talk to us about sound quality we will often mention “stereo image” and “depth of image” too.

Stereo Image
This is the imaginary audio point of origin that appears in-between the main stereo speakers and is a result of your brains complex aural ability.
This is very noticeable with a good audio set up where the vocalist will appear right in front of you when they sing and the instruments are placed proportionally to each other.

Depth of image
This is the perceived depth to the sound stage, projecting sound at greater distance than the speakers are actually placed. Instruments and vocalists should sound further away not just quieter and nearer not just louder.
Great sound quality in a vehicle is possible without spending a fortune, it’s just a case of buying the correct equipment that works with your type of music and the car you drive. The same equipment will sound different in different vehicles especially the amount of bass the speakers or subwoofer produce. It’s important to speak to a specialist who knows your vehicle well, what will work best for you and the music you enjoy listening to.