A basic understanding of units of a car audio system is a good starting point for those who are new to car audio. Let's do a walk through . . .

Head Unit
This is a very important component in the music chain. These include your cassette players, car radio, compact disc or CD receivers, etc.

Whatever the rest of your system may include, the sound starts here. Choosing a proper head unit is important. If you use a poor head unit then no matter how good your other equipment is --down the line -- you will be stuck with low quality sound. Your overall sound is equivalent to the weakest link in your audio chain.

Amplifiers
An amplifier’s job is to take a low level signal from the head unit and change it into a high level signal for driving the loudspeakers. If you skimp here, you will not be able to take advantage of your speaker's power handling capability nor get adequate volume and clarity.

Amplifiers range in power from about 20 watts per channel to more than one thousand watts per channel. Amplifiers are in the price range anywhere from $50 to several thousand dollars depending on features, power output and quality.

Speakers
Speakers are the final link and the most important component in the audio chain. If you skimp here, even the best head units and amplifiers will sound bad. A speaker’s job is to convert the electrical signal to an audio signal (a pressure wave that we perceive as sound).

The ultimate goal of the speaker is to do its job without changing the original sound of the recorded audio signal(Sometimes, though, they are built to simulate something else). Speakers have an extreme range in quality and price.

Signal processors
They include equalizers and crossovers among others. Equalizers help to balance sound when used properly while crossovers help to divide up the full range of sound frequencies so that you can use special speakers for each range. This is important because no single speaker can accurately produce the full range of sound humans can hear.

Accessories
Accessories can range from important details to bits that just make installations look good. There are many accessories that are available for your car audio system (some necessary and others optional). Accessories include . . .

• RCA cables

• Speaker cables

• Power distribution blocks

• Capacitors

• Wiring harnesses

This is not an exhaustive list. However, it covers most of what makes up the average car audio system.