Posts Categorized: Car Audio

Guide to the Best Speakers for Ford Ranger

Guide to the Best Speakers for Ford Ranger

The Ford Ranger was one of the best selling small pickups in it’s category. Although great styling and excellent quality made this truck stand out from the rest the small cab size can produce challenges for people looking for great sound quality. To help these owners with their decisions we have compiled a short buyers guide and a selection of our three favourite speakers for Ford Rangers.

 

Speaker Buyers Guide

Replacing the speakers in your vehicle is one of the simplest ways to improve the sound quality in your vehicle. Due to the small cab size, proper selection is even more important with Ford Ranger owners. There are two major specifications when it comes to selecting the proper speaker for your vehicle. Sensitivity, this is a measure of the amount of sound a speaker produces when power is applied to it. If you have a factory installed stereo you are most likely looking for speakers with high sensitivity ratings, but if you have replaced your stereo with an aftermarket system with an amplifier you will need to consider lower sensitivity aftermarket speakers.

Power handling is the other specification, this is a rating measured in Watts that determines how much power a speaker can handle. Low watts= Low power, such as a factory stereo system. High Watts=High Power, such as an aftermarket system. Proper selection is just as important as choosing the right specifications. There are a variety of door speakers available from full-range speakers, to component speakers. Full-range speakers consist of all the speaker elements, the woofer and the tweeter that are mounted into one speaker basket. These speakers generally come in 6”x8” sizes or are commonly known as door speakers. Component speakers consist of individual speaker components like the tweeter and the subwoofer. They work together and generally produce better sound quality than a full range speaker. Think of a full range speaker as your TV and a set of components speakers as your Surround Sound. There are different speaker systems available such as the swiveling tweeter. This speaker has a tweeter that can be aimed at the listener to provide the highest sound quality.

These are some of the aspects you will need to look at when looking to purchase your new aftermarket speakers for you Ford Ranger. Take a look below at the three speakers that we have chosen to highlight.

 

Pyle PL684BL 6×8 Speaker

This Pyle speaker comes with some amazing features such as a woofer cone that is coated in Poly-Mica, and a 3/4” Piezo tweeter. These speakers are rated to handle 360 watts of power all while providing amazing sound to its listeners.

We really like the improved sound quality of these speakers over factory units. They provide a much more defined clear sound for listening to a a large range of music. These speakers perform great at low volumes, however do not turn them up too loud or you may experience some crackling. Some customers have even noted crackle at low volumes as well. We really like the low price of these units as well. If you are looking for an aftermarket speaker to replace your factory units and your not an audiophile these speakers will be a great fit for you.

 

Rockford Fosgate Punch 6×8 Speaker

Rockford Fosgate is one of the leading aftermarket speaker producers in the world with over 30 years of excellence. This speaker features a PEI dome tweeter and is rated for a maximum power handling of 130 watts. To make installation easier this speaker comes with a FlexFit speaker basket. This allows for the speaker to be mounted in different mounting positions, if this doesn’t work it also comes with OEM adapter plates that are also included. We really like the fact that these speakers are so competitively priced for a leading manufacturers product. The sound quality of these aftermarket

speakers is a level above the factory units that the Ford Ranger comes with. One common complaint is the installation of these speakers. Being a higher end speaker than factory speakers the magnet and size of the speaker is larger. This can cause some fitment issues which will need to be overcome with the possibility of trimming some metal from your speaker holes depending on the vehicle they are being installed on. Sometimes with aftermarket components this is a necessary evil. Despite those issues we really like these speakers for the price and the reputation of the speaker manufacturer.

 

Pioneer TS-A6886R 6×8 Speaker

The next generation TS-A speakers that Pioneer is producing offer many amazing features. The Lightweight Elastic Polymer Surround and Multilayer Mica Matrix cone combine to provide improved bass and higher power handling. These speakers are rated for a maximum power of 350 watts. These speakers are designed to replace your factory speakers while providing improved sound performance at a great price. We really like the fact that these speakers produce much better mids and highs than the factory speakers. However if bass is what you are looking for these speakers are not what you are looking for. Fitment issues can be an issue as well, but like discussed above can sometimes be expected when installing an aftermarket accessory.

 

As you can see, purchasing that perfect aftermarket speaker for your Ford Ranger can be difficult, but with a little research and the right speaker you will be enjoying the music quality in your vehicle mile after mile. If you like this guide, make sure to check out a similar guide but for the best atv speakers.…

Best Way to Arrange Car Audio Systems for Everybody’s Convenience

Best Way to Arrange Car Audio Systems for Everybody’s Convenience

With the latest automobiles providing top notch infotainment systems with giant displays and entertainment systems with awesome audio systems, everybody must get to enjoy what it feels like to be listening to music in a car. For that, certain things have to be taken special care of as not everything is set perfectly beforehand.

Customization

We need to customize certain aspects of our cars to make them fit our exact needs. Similarly, the generic placement of the car audio system also has to be customized to fit our exact needs.

We can get it done by the professionals of the brand itself when we buy the car. However, that is rarely possible as the brands do their thing a certain way. What is most commonly done is, we hire our personally acquainted professionals to customize things exactly the way we want.

Always make sure that before you buy a car, you have consulted with the brand, as well as with your personal customizing expert, to be sure that you can customize the car audio system the way you want.

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Speaker set placement

The most important thing when it comes to getting your car audio set according to your needs is the placement of the speakers. If you are all about the thump and loud music, you need to go for the highest number of speakers and equally distribute them in the back for everybody to hear.

If you are often accompanied by people who do not like loud music, you can let go of the speakers for the back, or tune them to a lower volume compared to the front speakers from the very beginning, so that you will not have to do without music when you have a good car audio system.

Setup an individual bass

You must invest in good bass so that the quality of the music is deep and strong, and not substandard when you tune to the lowest or highest volumes. There has to be one bass exclusively taking care of the sound quality in all corners of the car.

Get an equalizer

A lot of noise cancellation and frequency loss is experienced in a car audio system due to the material of the upholstery in the car and of course, due to the vibrations and noise of the car when in motion. The higher the speedometer records, the more annoying the frequency loss gets. Get yourself an equalizer to get rid of this problem so that you can listen to your favorite tracks smoothly, just the way they are.

Get amplifiers

When you have the USB ports for easy access to any type of music from any device, you do not want the volume of the device to limit the volume your car speakers can produce. Get an amplifier to help enhance the volume without compromising the sound quality of the music played from any device.

If you plan ahead of setting up the car audio system, and invest in these essentials, you will be able to set up a very pleasing audio system for your car.

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Tips to Bring Out the Best Sound Quality In Your Car Audio

Tips to Bring Out the Best Sound Quality In Your Car Audio

With the luxury cars coming up in the last few years, we all want to enjoy our share of the infotainment system. With a good audio system we can have a great music experience in our cars.

Select a good audio system

Many cars come with pre installed audio systems which may not be up-to-the-mark because the cost price of the model had to be kept in a budget. However, if you have bought a car where you can customize the accessories freely, this is not a problem. You can get a good music system for the car. Before buying a car you just need to ensure if it is compatible with the sound system you want to install.

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Getting help for the installation

You obviously need a professional to do the customization unless you have had a try at it before under the supervision of a professional. Even then, it is recommended to get a professional installer to do the job so that everything is perfect and there is no loose wiring here and there.

You need to get professionals you are familiar with so that you can trust them with your car. Also, the installation price needs to be reasonable. In many cities these installation services have no standard prices, so if you are not aware of the standard costs, you could be cheated.

Replacing the speakers

For the best sound quality, you need to replace the ordinary car speakers with a top quality set of speakers. Though the automobile industry is getting competitive about the entertainment accessories the different companies offer you, we can often find sub-standard products in the name of premium products. Therefore, it is advisable to go for a car with moderate pricing on the infotainment system and accessories, and save some money to replace them with the best products yourself.

With a speaker set with good bass and amp, the music will be loud and clear, with no noise rupture. With tight bass and good clarity, you are all set to party in your car.

Adding an amplifier

A 50 watt difference in the top power of every channel makes a lot of difference. The factory stereo can give up to 200 watts and even if it is high, it is not good enough. You need a different amplifier to support the good speakers. The clean power will give you clean and clear music experience. The highest quality sound is not possible at the higher volumes without a dedicated amplifier. The sound quality of the music system depends largely on the quality of the amplifier installed. Also, with a dedicated amplifier, the overall pressure on the music system will be low.

Adding an equalizer

Glass, plastic, and other upholstery material like the leather seats and covers distort sound quality in a car. They absorb the sound waves, thereby restricting you from getting the pure sound quality. This is why an equalizer might help killing the peaks that make the noise too uncomfortable for the ears. Your equalizer could be built in the receiver or in the dash.

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Managing Music in a Car Audio System

Managing Music in a Car Audio System

It is difficult to get to the song you want to listen to while you drive. Nowadays many car models come with multi-functioning steering wheels with buttons for all the infotainment system controls right under your thumb while you drive. However, it is still a distraction mentally, even if you are not having to physically reach out for any buttons.

Managing music files

If you have your music files all sorted according to your preferred playlist, you would not have to go through the trouble of browsing through. Each track will be just a push away if you want to change. Often the order of the playlist jumbles up when you insert it in a new platform. Numbering the tracks will help you avoid this situation.

Compression for music folderturn-down-radio-hp-orig

With a greater compression, you can store as many music files you want. But when you are listening to a lower compressed track compared to a highly compared track, you realize that some frequency is lost in the compression game. If you have a good set of speakers, this frequency loss will not be subtle anymore. So you need to make a choice between quantity and quality of the music in your car.

Using digital-analog converter

A DAC converts digital information into analog. With a built-in DAC system in the music player, you can listen to music fine enough, but not in the best quality possible. Getting an advanced DAC is recommended if you don’t already have one with a good quality car stereo. You can easily get access to the DAC of your smartphone through a USB port.

Getting good sub-woofers

You need a good subwoofer box to do justice to the good speaker and amplifier set. If you are trying to build one, you must make sure that the sealing is well-done. A single little air leak can totally ruin the performance of the subwoofers. Also, you need to be careful about ported boxes. Without the right sub box, a ported closure can destroy your sub box if not handled perfectly. If you do not get the combination right, the subwoofer will not only perform badly, but will also stand a high chance of getting destroyed. Hence, getting professional help for the installation and expert advice for the combination, is recommended.

Using a suitable sound deadening material

Using sound deadening material like Dynamat helps improve the sound quality in a car by reducing the vibrations from the audio system and cancelling the road noise. The Dynamat can cancel out the noise from the door panels to offer accurate sound. The sound gets stabilized and the speakers do not face a lot of unwanted pressure due to the vibrations.

Dynamat also lowers the interior unwanted noise at higher speeds. The music can be enjoyed at a uniform volume irrespective of whether you are driving at 30mph or 60mph.

With a good amplifier, individual equalizer, well-placed speakers, and strategically placed noise deadening materials, you are all set for the best music experience in your car.