There are often budget constraints on people who wish to create a car audio system that will impress friends and perform to the level that the owner expects. As a result, many people tend to settle for a somewhat lesser system or no system at all. It doesn't have to be that way. You can create a sound system over time. And, if you have the skill to install the equipment yourself, you can have a whole lot of fun with the project and save a whole lot of money, too, by doing the "grunt" work yourself. The key is to select products in stages and choose products that will be beneficial in the performance of the final system. In short, you don't want products to serve as a temporary fix only to discard them later for something else as your project progresses.

In this article, we will be discussing the first stage of a multi-stage project that will result in a great-performing aftermarket sound system for your car We will discuss how you should go about selecting products and how those products are to be installed.

We are calling the first stage "A Deck and Four" That simply means a radio/cassette player or CD player and four speakers. Helping us in the creation of the system is Isaac Goren, owner of Sounds Good Stereo in Woodland Hills, California. Goren has been involved in the car stereo business for more than 20 years. He was also a pioneer in the development of sound-off contests, which are now common in all regions of the country and the world.

Selecting Products

Again, the key here is to choose products that you need now and will need later. What better place to start than the head unit? Goren commented that you can choose an AM/FM radio/cassette player or CD player as the base unit. The choice can be dictated by your preference. But the radio you choose needs to include certain features so that you can expand your system later.

First, you probably will want the unit to have the capability to command a CD changer which can be added later. Second, since in this first stage we will not be including an amplifier, you will want a head unit that has its own built-in power source. Moreover, it should have four channels so that it can push four speakers. Goren suggested that the power source in the radio can be rated at 25 to 35 watts per channel. "Twentyfive to 35 watts will be cleaner and play louder," he said. You also want to make certain that the head unit has a high-level output. This feature shows that the radio has the power to drive four speakers and control the speakers independently.

Third, you want the head unit to have a fader so that you can fade from front to rear. Goren pointed out that in some cars you may be stuck with, say, 4-inch speakers in the front and 6x9 speakers in the rear. You may find that you will want to give more power to the rear speakers. You can do this with the fader. Fourth, choose a head unit with a low-level output. This feature ensures that an amplifier can be added later.

Goren pointed out that most radios are DIN size. They measure 7 inches by 2 inches. Most of the new cars can accommodate this in the dash. But some of the older cars may have a shaft opening. In this case, you will have to do some modifications. We will get into that later.

To make sure that you are getting a product that will perform up to your standards, you should select a radio manufactured by a company that you are familiar with. Make sure that you purchase the radio from an authorized dealer. This ensures that the warranty is valid. Goren also cautioned that you should not purchase a demonstration shops have software that gives information about specific radio. Such a radio will most likely be missing parts. model cars which assist installers in installing car audio

When you purchase the unit, don't be bashful. Open the products. The information includes color codes of wires and box at the shop to make sure that everything that is supposed to come with the radio is present. The radio should include a faceplate, carrying case, sleeve, main plug(s) (some have one plug, some have two), one or two metal keys (you will need the keys to remove the radio), owner's manual and installation instructions (this is important because it will provide you with color code information on the wiring).

As for the speakers, what you choose will depend a lot on what your car will allow. If you don't want to perform a lot of modifications to your car, you will want to select speakers that will fit in the factory speaker openings. You will have to remove the factory speakers and measure them. Better yet, suggested Goren, bring the speakers with you when you go to the shop to purchase the equipment. There may be a depth problem to go along with the regular measurements of the speakers. If you have the factory speakers in hand when you visit the shop, you can be certain to select the proper size speakers with the proper depth.

Goren revealed that speakers that commonly appear in the rear deck of cars are 6x9, 6/2-inch or 54-inch. Front speakers commonly measure 4 inches, 5 inches or 6 inches. He also noted that the speakers should be 4-ohm. "You don't want 8-ohm speakers because they won't be efficient and the sound will not be clean," he said. Actually, the efficiency of the speakers is a very important issue far Goren. He counseled that you should ask the salesperson to show you only efficient speakers.

Don't buy speakers with the heavier magnet. You may think that the heavier the magnet, the better the speaker. Actually, these speakers are not efficient enough and cannot be powered by the 8 or 35 watts that is coming from the radio. Goren recommended that you purchase coaxial speakers for the front doors. The coaxial speaker is actually an assembly of two speakers-one plays the midrange/midbass frequencies and one plays the highs. A passive crossover is built in.

To be certain that you are selecting the speakers that sound good to you, listen to them in the shop before the purchase. Use your own cassette or CD and make certain that the salesperson plugs the speakers into the radio you intend to buy. Doril run the speakers through an amplifier in the demonstration.

Again, as in the case of the head unit, open the boxes that contain your choice of speakers at the shop and make sure that they contain everything that you are supposed to get-the speaker, screws, grille, speaker wire, owners manual, installation instructions and warranty.

Finally, before you leave the shop with your goodies, ask the salesperson if the shop has your car in its computer. Most where certain wires you will need are located. Ask the salesperson for a printout of this information for your car.

Installing the Radio

Let's install the radio first. As mentioned, most radios today are DIN size. And most new cars have a DIN-size opening in the dash. In some cases, however, the opening may be larger. Also in the older cars the opening may be for a shaft-size radio. In this case you will have to either purchase an installation kit or construct a trim or do some other modification so that the radio will fit.

To make the trim, remove the old radio. Use it to trace out its dimensions on plastic or wood and cut out the block. Take the sleeve off the new radio and place it in the center of the block and draw out its dimensions. Cut out the hole. Install the trim in the dash opening. The sleeve of the new radio should fit in and the radio fits into the sleeve. You can paint the trim to match the color of the dash so that the installation looks factory.

If you are doing the installation in an older car that has a shaft opening, you will see a radio with a knob on the left and a knob on the right. When you remove the radio, there will be one rectangular opening in the center and two circular openings-one on the left and one on the right. Take the sleeve of the new radio and place it above this opening. Mark the dimensions of the sleeve with a pencil and cut the dash carefully within those dimensions. Put masking tape on the dash before you cut to avoid chipping the dash.

When you remove the old radio you will notice it has a ground wire, a 12-volt power wire, and four positive and negative wire openings. This means that two wires would be coming from each speaker-a positive and a negative. This means that each speaker is ground at the radio. However, in some of the older cars, the speakers were ground to the chassis at the speaker's location. So only one wire (the positive wire) would go to the radio. If this is the case with your car, you will have to run new positive and negative wires to each speaker. On the other hand, if you find that there are two wires coming from each speaker, you can use the old wire. Goren advised, however, that you use new wire in this case, as well. Connect the ground wire of the radio to a screw and bolt where the radio is mounted in the dash.

Goren pointed out that older radios had one power unit. The new radios have two-one is for a constant 12-volt source and the other is for an ignition source. The constant source supplies constant power to the radio even when the ignition is off. This ensures that the built-in clock on the radio as well as the radio's memory features are always getting power. The ignition source, on the other hand, feeds power to the radio only when the ignition is on. The installation manual that comes with the radio will indicate what color wire is the constant and what color wire is the ignition.

You can pull 12-volt constant from under the dash. Goren suggested that the cigarette lighter would be a good source. He cautioned that you use the test light to be certain that you are selecting the right wire. To use the test light you need to ground one end and use the other end to tap the wire in question. The light on the tester will go on if you have tapped into a constant 12-volt source.

To select the ignition source, turn on the ignition and select a wire from under the dash. Tap the light tester into the wire. If the light shines you have the source. To further test your selection, turn on the headlights. The light on the light tester should remain shining with the same intensity.

Goren noted that you can feed constant power to the radio if you wish to work the radio when the ignition of your car is off. He warned, however, that your battery could be drained. In any case, if this is what you want, take the constant wire and the ignition wire and connect them together to a constant 12-volt source.

Now ground, constant and ignition leads of the radio are connected. You will see another lead coming from the radio. Goren explained that this is the power antenna lead. It can be used to work a power antenna or to turn on an amplifier. We will be using it to turn on an amp later. For now, take a piece of black electrical tape and put it around the wire. When you turn the radio on, that lead will have 12 volts going through it. The tape ensures that it won't short on a metal surface. The female plug that is left is for the antenna. Plug it into the car's antenna plug. Finally, you should have a piece of metal with holes in it remaining from the radio's box. This is a brace. Refer to the installation instructions which will tell you what particular screws to use to mount the brace to the back of the radio and to a secure surface behind the radio.

Installing the Speakers

Remove the door panel and then remove the old speaker from the door. Back up the area where the speaker is mounted with Dynamat or Accumat. They are sound-deadening materials which can minimize the resonance of the metal door. As a result, the midbass sound coming from the coaxial speaker will sound better, not tinny. Drop the speaker into the location and screw it securely through the Dynamat to the metal of the door.

As mentioned earlier, each speaker will have two wires-a positive and negative. One wire will probably have a stripe on it. You can make this wire either the negative or positive, but whatever you use it for be certain that you stay consistent with all of the speakers. Plug the positive wire into the positive opening on the back of the speaker and plug the negative wire to the negative wire opening on the back of the speaker. The installation instructions that come with the speaker will indicate which opening is for positive and which is for negative. Plug the other side of the positive wire into the positive input on the back of the radio and plug the other side of the negative wire into the negative input on the back of the radio. Remove the speakers from the rear deck and drop the new speakers into the openings and wire up like the door speakers.

If you have an older car, you may find that there is only one 6x9 or 4x10 speaker in the center of the rear deck. You can cut separate holes in the corners of the rear deck to accommodate new 6x9s or other size speakers or you can put two new 4-inch speakers in the one 6x9 or 4x10 location. To do this, remove the old speaker. Lay the speaker on masonite or plastic and draw out its dimensions using a pencil. Cut out the pattern. Cut two 4-inch holes in the plate and mount the speakers into the holes and place the assembly in the original opening.

Older cars may also have a 4x10, 6x9, or some other awkward-size speaker in the center of the dash. You can put two 4-inch speakers here, too. Just follow the instructions in the previous paragraph.

If you choose to wire all of the speakers to the radio at the same time but you don't know what wire goes to what speaker, Goren suggested that you take a 9-volt battery and touch the positive terminal to positive lead of the speaker and touch the negative terminal to the negative lead of the speaker. You will hear a pop from one speaker. Now you know where these wires are routed from.

To help the rear deck speakers sound better, you can include a baffle board or an XTC foam cup to isolate the speakers from the trunk. The cup goes into the speaker opening first and the speaker drops into it. The cup can also be used to protect the door speakers from moisture.