¿Vale la pena actualizar los parlantes de fábrica para auto?

Desafortunadamente, en estos días, la mayoría de los vehículos vienen equipados de fábrica con parlantes de baja calidad que tienden a ser nada más que pisapapeles glorificados.

La buena noticia es que la actualización de los parlantes de fábrica para automóvil se puede hacer muy rápidamente y, en muchos casos, por una fracción de lo que costaría si comprara parlantes nuevos de reemplazo de fábrica, pero ¿vale la pena actualizar los parlantes de fábrica para automóvil? Vamos a averiguarlo.

Reemplazar los parlantes del automóvil mejora la calidad del sonido, pero solo si usa parlantes de alta calidad. Los parlantes de fábrica tienden a ser mediocres y a menudo producen sonidos apagados o distorsionados. La desventaja de reemplazar los parlantes es el costo y el hecho de que, en muchos casos, también es necesario instalar un subwoofer y un amplificador para escuchar una diferencia significativa en la calidad del sonido.

En el siguiente artículo, analizaré algunas de las cosas más importantes que se deben tener en cuenta al decidir si vale la pena invertir en actualizar los parlantes del automóvil de fábrica.

¿Los altavoces de repuesto para coche marcan una diferencia real?

Reemplazar los parlantes de fábrica con parlantes de repuesto de alta calidad es una de las mejores formas de actualizar el sistema de audio de un automóvil.

Muchas personas preguntan por qué los parlantes para automóviles del mercado de accesorios son mejores que los parlantes de fábrica, o qué tienen de malo los parlantes de fábrica si son tan malos. Tocan algo de música, después de todo. Sí, juegan, pero…

No muchas personas actualizan los sistemas de audio en un automóvil nuevo y, en cambio, escuchan el sistema de fábrica sin darse cuenta de la calidad pura que tiene para ofrecer. Es aún peor en vehículos usados, con altavoces en muchos casos de más de diez años que han sido diseñados en el siglo pasado.

Solo piensa en ello. Los fabricantes de automóviles instalan sistemas de audio mediocres solo para vender el automóvil y, para poder venderlo, el vehículo debe ser asequible. Principalmente desde la perspectiva de los costos, un sistema de sonido es una de las últimas cosas en su lista para mejorar.

En la mayoría de los casos, el cliente está "contento" porque está escuchando música, pero estos sonidos a menudo ni siquiera se acercan a la calidad de la música real.

Puede encontrar algunos modelos de automóviles que ofrecen sistemas de audio "premium", pero a menos que su automóvil sea relativamente nuevo, estos sistemas también están muy por detrás de los altavoces de calidad del mercado de accesorios.

Vi algunos modelos con sistemas de sonido premium instalados que tenían alrededor de diez años. Tenían los mismos altavoces estándar de fábrica y la única diferencia estaba en la potencia del amplificador.

A menos que su automóvil sea un modelo nuevo con un sistema de sonido premium real, siempre habrá una razón para reemplazar los parlantes de fábrica. Incluso si estaba satisfecho con la música al principio, los altavoces se desgastan y su suspensión de papel se debilita, por lo que la calidad de los sonidos que producen empeorará.

Hay varias razones para actualizar el sistema de audio del automóvil, y cuando los altavoces del mercado de accesorios se eligen sabiamente, marcarán una gran diferencia en la calidad de sonido del sistema de audio del automóvil.

Los altavoces para automóviles del mercado de accesorios se han diseñado para producir un sonido más preciso y dinámico. De la mayoría de los altavoces del mercado de accesorios, también escuchará un bajo más fuerte y más bajo.

A continuación se muestran algunas de las principales diferencias entre los altavoces del mercado de accesorios y los de fábrica:

Los altavoces del mercado de accesorios no solo suenan mejor sino que también tienen un mejor diseño

Solo unos pocos fabricantes de automóviles prestan atención a la calidad del audio en sus automóviles, y todos ellos son automóviles de lujo producidos a la perfección hasta el último detalle. Estos autos se pueden comparar con los escenarios de sonido donde cada altavoz tiene su lugar único y claramente definido, una dirección hacia los oídos del oyente o una frecuencia transferida.

Los mejores sistemas de audio del mercado de accesorios se están desarrollando en laboratorios avanzados, donde los mejores ingenieros de sonido experimentan continuamente para crear un sonido cada vez mejor.

Estos altavoces tienen diseños sofisticados y, a menudo, cuentan con múltiples controladores para una reproducción de sonido excepcional. Top-quality woofers, mid-ranges, tweeters, and often super tweeters are built to reproduce specific sounds perfectly.

Woofers, for example, are focused on lows while tweeters concentrate on the highest frequencies.

Aftermarket speakers also contain more advanced and often active crossovers compared to those found in factory speakers. Perfect and precise frequency allocation to the specific driver is critical for speakers to operate efficiently and deliver great sound.

Aftermarket speakers offer better sound imaging

Factory car audio systems, including speakers, are designed to work with limited power from the factory stereo. Such a way of programming has to compromise the quality of the sound details or the bass amount, to allow the entire system to work with a lack of power.

That is why the music sounds muddy, and to solve it, factory speakers should be replaced with aftermarket component systems.

Component systems create stage effects in the car, and if you never heard them in action, just imagine woofers at the door bottoms make an ideal low base, and tweeters facing your ears and create a perfect surround effect.

This imaging of the high tones is what factory speakers are missing.

When you install component speakers, you can steer high tones from tweeters, and regardless of their position, you will have a better sound stage, and frequency separation.

With the components system, your car can have better sound imaging. And if you value music quality, tweeters will add to it another dimension.

Aftermarket speakers are made from materials of a better quality

As mentioned earlier, most cars have to be affordable, which means they will not be made from high-quality materials. This approach is no different when it comes to car audio.

Cheap materials that standard speakers are made of, like paper, wear out quickly and cannot handle extreme temperatures or humidity inside the car.

Aftermarket speakers can work much longer than typical factory speakers, thanks to the durable and better quality materials.

The woofers in the aftermarket speakers are made of lightweight but stiff materials. The best woofer cones are made from synthetic films such as polypropylene or fiberglass and often are coated with aluminum or titanium. These materials can stand up well to cold, heat, and humidity extremes and create higher quality bass.

Tweeters designed to perform soft sounds are made from soft and textile materials, like nylon or silk. These for sharper and brighter highs are made from harder materials like aluminum, ceramics, graphite, or titanium.

No less important is the speaker’s surround. It has to be flexible to allow free and not limited movement of the speaker cone, and on the other hand, it has to be strong and durable, as not to get damaged too quickly. Depending on the speaker’s design, the surrounding can be made from foam or butyl rubber in the hi-end speakers.

Aftermarket speakers have better power handling

Factory car speakers are not designated to work with powerful amplifiers or to handle lots of power, which is the main reason they cannot produce high-quality sounds, especially when listening to music at a high volume.

Another reason that factory speakers are unable to work in powerful audio systems is the low quality of the materials they are made of.

On the other hand, aftermarket speakers have much better ability to handle more power and, therefore, reproduce brighter sounds with deeper bass. Their robust design reduces the risk of clipping or sound distortions even when they receive a large amount of electricity.

When you are a fan of loud music, aftermarket speakers will allow you to enjoy loud and crystal clear sounds at a high volume without worrying about damaging the speakers.

How much does it cost to upgrade car speakers?

Many audio technicians say it’s the number-one upgrade you can make to improve your car’s overall quality, and they are right. Adding new speakers to your vehicle can dramatically improve the sound quality and does not have to cost a fortune.

Once you know the speaker’s size and type of the system you will install, the next step is to start searching for the best ones to fit your criteria. And at this point sky is the limit because there are hundreds of models, brands, power levels, and of course prices.

A replacement for factory speakers can cost anywhere from $100 to over a thousand dollars if you decide to aim for the top-shelf speakers with audiophile music quality.

The price range does not always depend on the speakers’ size, but rather on the technology and quality of used materials.

You can find a small 5.25″ that will cost multiply of larger 6″x9″. It all depends on personal preferences and what you want to achieve. Another important factor is the power that speakers can handle, and we are talking here about continuous RMS power, not anything else.

The speakers’ power can be misleading when searching for the right speakers, especially if they have to be connected to the external amplifier, so be careful when looking at the “powerful” speakers that have hundreds of Watts and are being sold on sale for barely $149.99.

Power handling is a common marketing trick, and sellers use firstly peak volume, which usually is twice or higher than RMS. Secondly, they often put power as a summary of both speakers.

So, for example, when you see “fantastic” 600W speakers with a low price, search for a catch because, in reality, it can happen, these are two pieces of 300W each peak power, and not more than 100W RMS.

So, it is actually nothing exciting, but as you see, marketing works.

Another factor that affects the price is the design of the speakers. In general, you will find coaxial speakers are cheaper than component systems.

• The coaxial speakers are the speakers that have tweeters built on top of the woofer.

• Component speakers are these with separate tweeters and woofers, that are connected to the external crossovers.

Good components systems like JBL, or Kicker you can buy for less than $200, but pair of those with ultra-light titanium cones will cost close to a thousand dollars . So if you want to install hi-end component systems in front and rear doors in the car, you should have a budget of around $2000, and these are just speakers. On top, you have to add the cost of the amplifier, proper wires, installation, sound deadening, etc.

While such a high amount can be extreme, in the majority of cases, you will spend a couple of hundreds of dollars. To all these, you will need to add an installation cost between $40 and $100.

Resumen

Stock speakers that are installed in the majority of cars have poor quality and the sounds they produce are on the far end from real music quality. If you are not happy with the music experience, or the sounds are muffled, it is time to upgrade the car audio system.

If you want to upgrade the car audio system, the factory speakers should be the first elements to replace. To get the best results from your upgrade, consider installing high-quality component speakers with separate woofers and tweeters.

You can get excellent replacement speakers for less than $200, and they will move your in-car entertainment to a different level.

Aftermarket speakers are designed with high-quality materials and there are thousands of speakers in various types or sizes to choose from.