I am wondering how an audio system works. I want to know why i am getting what i get in a system. So my question is what does each component of a system do. The amp., head unit, speakers, etc.? Also how do you read the capacity and capability of them. Like a 400 watt amp does what in relation to the rest of a system? That is just an example. Thank you

Also any websites you canm send me to would help greatly. thanks again


-Cameron

 

bcae1.com

OK, our ears hear changes in air pressure. The slowest change we can hear is 20 changes per second. The fastest change we can hear is around 20,000 changes per second (if you're lucky) A change back and forth in one second is called a hertz. So the audible range is called 20-20,000 Hz (also called 20 kiloHz, or khz). (We tend to hear ddifferences in ratios, NOT absolute notes. The diff between 20 Hz and 40 Hz sounds the same to us as the diff between 10K and 20K, because they are both 2x, or one octave, above the other).

When you want to reproduce music, you want to play each sound at the same loudness as it was originally played, and for the same amount of time as it was originally played. Any change to the sound from the original is called distortion.

If a system plays a bass note too quietly, that's distortion. If it plays a bass note too loud, that's distortion. If it adds different to the signal when it tries to play a difficult note, that's distortion. If it plays a sound LONGER in time than it should, that's distortion.

There are many kinds of distortion. THD stands for total harmonic distortion. This is a terrible way to judge between decent gear, because harmonics are normal parts of music and are not that objectionable compared to other kinds of distortion like intermodulation distortion, etc, but the bottom line is, distortion is inaccurate changes to the sound.

So when music is played, the vibrating air pushes on a diaphragm inside a microphone. That microphone generates a low level electrical field.

If you are recording on vinyl records, you carve a shape in the vinyl that corresponds to the changing electicity coming out of the microphone. This is an analogy - the shape of the vinyl is an analogy for the changing air pressure - and that's where "analog" comes from.

Digital works differently. With digital, you can think of this changing electricity being drawn on a piece of graph paper, and the co-ordinates on the graph paper being written down as numbers. Then you can re-draw the graph later, you just have to know the kind of pape that wa used and the system used for numbering.

With analog, you can have the energy be so great, the signal so loud, that the needle jumps out of the groove of the record.

But with analog, you're just writing down a number. There is a limit to how big a number you can write down, but you can still handle much bigger signals than with analog.

When you go to play a recorded sound, you have a CD player that is reading the numbers stored on the CD, "re-drawing" the graph, and then generating a matching electrical signal. If the sound is the lowest note a bass guitar can play (42 cycles), that's the electrical output in alternating current (AC).

It goes out to an amplifier. The amp makes the signal bigger - ideally while not changing it in time.

The amplifer is connected to a speaker.

Think of a speaker cone as being a pie plate with a toilet paper roll tube glued to the bottom center, like a handle. Push on the tube, pie plate moves out. Pull on the tube, pie plate goes in.

The tube lives in the hole of a big magnetic doughnut. That's the magnet. You can't see the hole in the middle of the magnet, but it's there.

A speaker has a (+) and a (-) terminal. These are connected to each other by a coil of wire. This coil of wire is wrapped around the tube.

This coil of wire lives in the magnetic field of the magnetic doughnut.

If the amplifer sends (+) electricity through the coil, you have two positives, which repel, and the speaker moves out.

If you send (-) electricity from the amp to the speaker voice coil, (+) and (-) atract, andthe cone is pulled in.

If you change from (+) to (-) 42 times a second, you play the lowest note a bass guitar can play.

And now you know more than all the salesmen at Tweeter.

A speaker blows usually fro the wire melting, or the glue that holds the wire to the tube melting, or tearing itself apart from moving too far.

An amp blows sometimes if it sees the (+) and (-) wires seem to be connected directly together.



Now, you want to look at their specs and tell if products are any good. Sorry. Car audio specs are not regulated in any way, and they can tell you any lies they want, and on top off that, two speakers can spec identically and sound very different. You can't predict sound from specs unless you know a LOT of specs, they are VERY accurate, and you know a LOT. I don't even try.

So what you will get in a system is probably a CD player (you might use the OEM factory one), an amp or two to push the speakers around, a pair of tweeters (small and light to move very fast), a pair of midrange speakers (6.5" that move slower but farther) and a woofer or two (move very slow, but farthest of all).

Spend some time on bcae1.com, on caraudio.com, and reading magazines, but if you REALLY want to know something, it will take you a few months to know what you're doing.

 

Dude, nice post. Shouldn't you be packing for CES?

 

Thanks!

Cancelled my trip. Moving the store to bigger quarters and we're behind. (Arg!)

 

wow....that was an awesome post...noone ever tries to help that much...i'll have to read through it more times to completely uderstand, but man did it help alot....another quick question....with the stock 225 watt Bose system....what is the best way to upgrade so you can listen to music louder without making it sound crappier like there is distortion? do you know what i mean? like it seems the louder i turn it up the crappier it seems to sound....what is the best fix with out replacing the whole system....a new amp? thanks so much


-cameron

 

el duderino

man i know im a pain, but i really do appreciate the help....so with the speaker upgrade how many speakers in the g35 are there and what are they? and if i upgrade like the 6x9's to another set of 6x9's that may be of higher quality, does that work or do i have to make them bigger. again i appreciate all the help and i hope in the future i can repay it somehow. thank you

-Cameron

 

OK, now, if you know how speakers work and you know how amps work, start searching through all the threads in this forum and read what others have done.

I only wanted to teach you HOW to fish...

 

haha fair enough man...you make a great point...thanks for all the help...now im off...to fish ...later

-Cameron