Car audio is certainly a hobby that became very popular in the 1990s and early 2000s. The simple fact was because car audio systems from the factory were made of poor quality in that era. A stock factory car audio system used to consist of four cheaply made paper cone speakers and a poor cassette player in the dash with no audio features. CDs became a popular thing back in the old days because cassettes used to provide poor sound quality and hissing in the background noise. So, the first thing people used to do head over to their local car audio shop and upgrade the head unit to a CD player. This provides more features and better sound quality, along with upgraded car speakers and maybe a subwoofer in the trunk in a sealed box.
Nowadays most people have forgotten about car audio because the stock sound system in most 2010 + cars sounds decent compared to the systems in the 90s. However, they are not the best and the people that are pure hobbyists that are into speakers and music with throw out the garbage regardless and upgrade it with an aftermarket brand of their choice. My favorite brand is JL audio for car speakers, this is because the development and research to make any JL product are top-notch. Some say JL audio is overpriced, however, you only change the car speakers once and you can always take them out and install them into a new car audio system in your future vehicle.
Car audio systems have developed over the years massively. There are big brands like sundown and DC audio in America that can handle thousands of watts. The big system contains lots of electrical upgrades, extra batteries, bigger alternators, and lots of money. We have been getting asked lately a lot on car audio forms if loud car audio systems cause hearing loss. We are going to cover what can cause hearing loss and what you can do to prevent it.
Can car audio cause hearing loss? Well, the answer is no. Car audio systems contain a subwoofer that usually is more powerful than the car door speakers. Even though car subwoofers provide really loud bass from the trunk, they are not damaging to the ear. This is because the low frequencies that a car audio subwoofer produce are usually below 80hz. These are frequencies that you feel more than you can hear and because of this, there is little damage being created with subwoofers alone. Subwoofers because of their large cone area move air and pressure creating bass being heard. It’s the treble that is deadly!
Not correctly tuned mids and highs can cause hearing loss. If you have a car audio system with spikes in the upper-frequency range and your music is screeching loud then there could be some hearing loss. Car audio systems with many bullet tweeters can cause hearing loss. It’s the higher end and harsh frequencies of music that damage the ears the most. I always filter down the highs on the car equalizer so that I can listen to it loud without any discomfort. When your car door speakers with big tweeters are playing harsh treble you need to tweak it down.
To prevent hearing loss from your loud car audio system, turn down the 5 Khz to 20 Khz range settings on your car equalizer. These will turn down the harshness from the loud tweeters and you will save your ears.
So, to conclude, loud bass doesn't cause hearing loss, but loud harsh treble created from annoying huge tweeters right in your face will. So, enjoy your loud bass because it’s a myth that bass causes hearing loss. A rock concert with harsh-sounding PA speakers is far more damaging to the ears than a nice quality refined car audio system with tuned down spikes in the treble.
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