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SoReal Sounds
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52 Montvale Ave.
Stoneham, MA 02180
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Car Stereo
Car stereo upgrades are very popular and can be great solutions if you need more features / technologies or better sound from your existing speakers. Car Stereos are available in media players and multimedia touchscreen players. Not many companies have CD or DVD players in the car stereos as CDs and DVDs are becoming a thing of the past, but there are still some manufacturers that offer CD and/or DVD players. Media players generally consists of an AM/FM radio and some form of AUX or USB input. When you step up in media players you will begin to add features like Bluetooth and SiriusXM expandability. Multimedia players will offer a touchscreen with Bluetooth, back up camera input, and some form of AUX or USB. As you step up in multimedia player you will begin to add features like SiriusXM expandability, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and HDMI input.
Car Stereos come in two chassis sizes, single din and double din. A single din radio typically measures 2" in height and 7" in width. A double din radio is the same 7" width, but doubles in height to 4". Many vehicles can fit a double din sized radio which then gives you the option to install either a single din or double din. If your vehicle does not fit a double din and you want a bigger face radio you can, in some cases, have the dash customized to fit a double din or you can get a floating screen multimedia player. A floating multimedia player is a single din chassis with an adjustable 9" - 11" touchscreen. Floating multimedia players are also sometimes referred to as tablet style radios.
Single din and double din media players are very similar and the difference is typically the fact that the double din media player has a larger display and larger buttons. Larger display and buttons can make it easier to use while driving and look more factory in the dash. Double din multimedia players will have a typical screen size of 6" - 7" and like we mentioned above floating multimedia players will typically have a 9" - 11" screen.
The difference in multimedia player touchscreen's screen will be down to what kind of screen the manufacturer used. Multimedia player touchscreens will be a resistive touchscreen or a capacitive touchscreen. Resistive touchscreens are made with multiple layers of panels and requires you to push harder on the screen so it can feel the pressure of your finger pushing on a certain point. Because resistive screens have multiple layers for the screen you can get more reflections between the layers and the images will not be as sharp as a capacitive touchscreen. Which brings us to capacitive screens. As we just mentioned capacitive touchscreen will have better picture quality and clarity because the touchscreen does not have multiple layers. Capacitive touchscreens do not use pressure, but instead they use the electrical properties of the human body as input, just like your smartphone. When a capacitive touchscreen is touched by a finger a small electrical charge is drawn to the point of contact. This point of contact allows the display to detect where it has received an input to activate the operation of the screen icon. A capacitive touchscreen can detect lighter touches with greater accuracy than with a resistive touchscreen.
Car Stereos can also improve the sound of your current audio system regardless if it is factory or aftermarket. Quality aftermarket Car Stereos use higher quality components to achieve better sound quality and amplifier power output. Factory radios generally only have two to three bands of equalization ( bass /treble or bass / mid / treble ). Many aftermarket radios will give you more equalization so you have more adjustability over the speaker sound. Some car stereos will also add more signal processing to take the sound adjustments to higher level to achieve even better sound quality.
Keep in mind not every vehicle can have the radio replaced to an aftermarket car stereo. The best way to find out what solutions are available for your vehicle is to swing down to our facility with your vehicle for an evaluation. If you need more technology, connectivity, or better sound car stereos are a great route to go!
Below are some pictures of our car stereo installations.
Enjoy!
