All About Car Audio Thread

Well I'm thinking about gettin into car audio abit but my problem is i dont know ANYTHING about how our stock system works, how car systems work or anything like that.

Was hoping some of you Audio experts out there would be willing to share your knowledge on all this kinda stuff.

After reading some threads and doing some searches it was a bit too technical for me so far, whats a head unit? Hows our cars wired? What devices do what? The most i know about speakers is that they have a + and - connector and you can get smaller and bigger speakers that do well at different ranges. But other than that I have no idea how these guys are wired or controlled or anything.

Thanks in advance to any replys ;) Sorry for the silly generic question lol.

whats a head unit?

The HU (Head Unit) is another name for the CD player.

Hows our cars wired?

I have no idea what you are asking here.

What devices do what?

HU = CD player/ tuner/volume & tone controls

Amp = amplifies the line level (RCA) signal to a speaker level signal for driving the speakers.

Subwoofer = A dedicated speaker that only produces the low frequencies.

If you want to upgrade the stereo you need to decide what you want from it to determine what you need to do.

* How much do you have to spend?
* What features do you need your HU to have? CD/AM/FM only? MP3 capability? CD changer controls?
* Do you want a subwoofer? Do you want more than one subwoofer?
* Do you want to use more powerful external amplifiers to drive your main speakers rather than just whats available from the HU?
* Do you want rear speakers? (Not needed IMO)

Click on the link below to see my setup. Maybe it will give you some ideas of what you can do with yours.

www.installdr.com

Originally posted by LS1 RULZ
Hows our cars wired?

I have no idea what you are asking here.
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What I meant was hows the wiring in a stock car work? Whats connected to what? Is it just the HU -> to all the speakers?

Thanks for all the great Info, i'm going to checkout the links right now!

Originally posted by toby360
What I meant was hows the wiring in a stock car work? Whats connected to what? Is it just the HU -> to all the speakers?

Thanks for all the great Info, i'm going to checkout the links right now!

there was a couple different systems in the 4thgen f-body's. some are just wired through the head unit out to the 4 speakers the mosoon is wired with an amp going to the six speakers. and then the bose system i believe had 5 speakers.