How to Balance Your Car Speakers to Optimize The Sound?

Answer 1

If you’re of the mind to drive around in a car that vibrates with each boom of the bass, this article may not be for you. However, if you like to hear all the complex tones the artist wove into each piece of music, you may want to turn that bass down a bit. Some audio systems in a vehicle come equipped with equalizers that would match those of a good boom box. But if you even have the balance and the fade set correctly, you can get the most out of even a factory installed audio system.

Before you decide to push any buttons, see if you have a friend around who can sit in the back seat and give you their perspective, so you don’t have to jump back and forth. If you never have any passengers, you can skip this step, as you will be tuning it to your ears only.

Find a CD or take your mp3 player out to the car with you, so you can set the speakers to music that you listen to and don’t have to worry about commercials interrupting your tuning.

Turn your car and radio on – a detail one cannot overlook in setting your speakers.

Find a button on the radio face that indicates ‘options’ or ‘sound.’ If you are not sure which button gets you to your fade and balance buttons, consult your manufacturer handbook.

Press the button until the display reads balance. Balance deals with the sound from front to back. Most of the time, it works well being in the center, but if you put just a bit more sound in the back, you will have freedom to put heavier bass and treble, making a fuller, concert sound.

Then press the button until you find the fade setting. Fading deals with the sound from the left speakers to the right speakers. This usually works best in the center, but if something is off, it is a good idea to check anyway.

If you have bass and treble, now is the time to boost those up a notch. On the bass setting, listen for distortion on the low levels, and if it is overtaking the other sounds, let off the bass. If you set it just above where you think you need it, you will probably be safe for most of the varied mixes out there.

Set your treble so that it sounds almost equal to the bass, and then set it just above that. You don’t want the treble to take over, because the sound will always be thin if it takes over the lower tones it was designed to meld with.

Just like classic paintings, sound is made to have highlights, mid-tones and shadows (lows). Fully appreciating your music can be easily achieved by setting your speakers to appeal to the way your ear was designed. Blasting it in your ears usually only appeals to adrenaline. But adrenaline is not your goal while driving, while the peace that comes from enjoying the craft of your favorite artist certainly is.