The owner is faced with almost one question: what to choose as a source of musical signal, a CD (CD) Or a tape cassette? After comparing the main parameters of the tape recorder and the CD player (the reproducible frequency band for a tape recorder is 40-16,000 Hz, for a player - 20-20,000 Hz, the noise figure is -40 and -90 dB, respectively) it becomes clear that CD players provide a qualitatively new level of playback of musical compositions.
If a couple of years ago a car CD player (CD receiver) cost about 500 dollars, but now a good device can be bought for 300 and even 150 dollars. Moreover, the reliability and vibration resistance of products has increased. It is safe to say that if you do not use unbalanced discs with mechanical damage, in the winter season let the air in the cabin warm up before listening, do wet cleaning more often, there will be no problems with the CD receiver.
If you have a certain margin on the budget (dollars 250), the best would be to buy a changer, a multi-disc CD player. This is a separate unit larger than the radio, which is connected to it with a special cable through which the music signal and control commands are transmitted. Changers are 6-, 10- and 12-disc. Six-disc changers fit perfectly in the glove box «dozens», Moreover, this place is optimal for them in terms of security and proximity to the car stove. By purchasing a changer, not two are killed, but. several hares. Firstly, there is no need to refuse to listen to cassettes, it is enough to take a radio tape recorder capable of controlling the changer (with rare exceptions, these must be products of the same company). Secondly, you will not need to be distracted from driving to replace the disc. Thirdly, changers provide better playback. And finally, they are more reliable in operation.
Which company's products to give preference to when buying? Now a huge number of new firms have appeared, striving to conquer the domestic market. These are NRG, UDO, Prology, not without pride we note our Urals, etc. The devices of these manufacturers are very affordable, and if you want to stop at a conventional radio, of course, you should pay attention to them, but as for laser players, then it would be more correct to choose more proven brands. Among Europeans, these are Philips, Blaupunkt, Grundig. Well, Japanese companies are known to everyone. The most common and deservedly loved products are JVS, Kenwood, Pioneer, Klarion, and for lovers of advanced things - Alpme, Nakamichi.
Front (frontal) acoustics
The front speakers have a very important task in creating the right sound field in the car. They are responsible for tonal accuracy and spectral balance, form the sound stage. Experience shows that, in relation to the VAZ-2110 car, two-component acoustics with a low-frequency diameter (LF) heads (woofer) 16 cm. We have already noted that the doors provide a seat for a 13 cm speaker. But these speakers do not provide the necessary depth and relief of the bass. The way out of this situation is simple - you need to increase the mounting hole and calmly put the necessary speaker under the standard plastic grille. At the same time, in order to achieve really high-quality sound, the door is carefully processed with soundproofing materials or our (visa office), or imported (VB-5) production.
High-frequency speaker of two-component acoustics (tweeter, tweeter) it is fixed with the help of inclined adapters, which should be included in the delivery set, on the party prize or on the side pillars of the windshield. There can be two options for orientation: the focus is on the listener or on the windshield, in this case the reflected signal reaches the listener's ears. In the first case, a soundstage that is correct from a tonal point of view, but somewhat narrowed, is achieved, in the second case, an extended and deep soundstage is achieved, but with somewhat impaired tonal accuracy and spectral balance. Which option to prefer is ultimately the owner of the car, so ask the installers not to fix the tweeters hard, listen to both options and decide which one to give preference to.
With the installation of crossover filters that separate the complete audio signal into high-frequency and low-frequency components, problems usually do not arise.
Practice has shown that the required sound quality in «top ten» can provide speakers in the $130-$180 price range. These are products of such companies as MB Quart, Morel, Infmiri, Hertz, JBL, DLS. If you need more specific advice, please take the Phoenix Gold QX6.
In the end, it must be said that in a reputable company that installs audio equipment, you will definitely be offered to make beautiful adapters and pockets, similar to those shown in fig. 4. In this case, the speakers work in the best conditions for themselves, and the acoustic design pleases the eye and ennobles the interior of the cabin.
Receivers
Since the widespread dissemination of digital technologies, automotive electronics manufacturers have developed a certain gentleman's set of service functions and technical parameters of the car receiver, and now they change little. The following features are considered standard: long and medium wave bands (they are of little interest now), the presence of two FM bands, the panel should have six buttons that correspond to the selected stations, in each of the bands the possibility of automatic and manual settings.
In the equipment of noteworthy companies, the receiving part differs slightly and does not serve as a criterion for choosing products. The only thing to be afraid of is the opportunity to take a radio tape recorder with the American FM broadcasting standard. But the general rule here is that we should take electronics released for Europe.
The RDS system in our country has not received any significant distribution, but again, it is always present in European technology.
Antennas
The absence of any places for attaching whip antennas on the body of the VAZ-2110 car, as well as the fact that any outgoing structures did not justify themselves due to unreliability, made the active antenna of the German company Bosh, glued to the windshield, out of competition. It costs 15-17 dollars, is installed elementarily, has an excellent reception, its only drawback is that it will have to be changed if for some reason you need to replace the windshield; So, we considered the possibility of installing an inexpensive, but good-sounding audio system in a VAZ-2110 car. For many people, this will be enough for many years, some will want to upgrade it, add, for example, a video part, increase power by installing separate amplifiers, young people will certainly want to have an acoustically designed subwoofer in their car, designed to reproduce the lowest frequency audio range area. But these questions require a separate discussion.
Rear acoustics
If the front speakers in a car are responsible for creating a sound stage, localizing musical images, the tonal accuracy and spectral balance of the system are on their conscience, then the rear acoustics play a seemingly modest role, expressed in a contemptuous word - subsound. But if you dig deeper, things are not so simple.
Suppose you are listening to a violin concerto while sitting in the hall of the conservatory, most of the sound waves come to you from the front, without any distortion, but some are reflected from the walls, ceiling, chandeliers and other objects, and although the intensity of the reflected sounds is much inferior to the intensity of the direct ones, it is the echoes create the feeling of a rich sound space or environment in which musical waves propagate. Without a reverberation picture, the natural perception of music is disturbed, and the rear speakers are responsible for it.
Since they are designed to simulate a reflected signal, their performance should be an order of magnitude worse than the front speakers. Since the dawn of Caraudio, 6x9 inch oval speakers have been installed in the rear shelf of cars, so far they have not yet been found a worthy replacement. There is one more point here. The cone area of the ovals is 25% larger than the area of centimeter midbasses, so they provide good bass support.
For the system we are creating, coaxial speakers in the price range of $50-80 are optimal. It makes no sense to buy more expensive ones, and cheap ones may turn out to be that fly in the ointment that will spoil our barrel of honey. The products of Pioneer and Kenwood and at the same time Boston and Alpine fit into this price category, so the choice is very diverse.