What good is the best car subwoofer if you do not have a good car radio? A […] […]
What makes a good car radio?
One of them is theMerkmaleundPossibilitiesthe things you can do with a radio. On the other hand, theOpticsand theOutputsalways match your car. For example, if your interior lighting is blue and the car radio has only one colour for the display lighting, you’re already limited. To a certain extent, different colours look good, but I don’t think that yellow or green lighting will match blue. That wasn’t a criterion in the review.
The same applies to you if you have a car subwoofer in operation and are not paying attention to the outputs. Because if you don’t have a sub-output, you’re going to have to make a mess. Not only does this look bad, but it can also lead to problems in sound quality! And last but not least, personal preferences should also be a priority. If you may already have a navigation device installed, then the choice is limited again. The same applies to Bluetooth, hands-free and more.
The best manufacturers at a glance
You may find it hard to believe, but the manufacturer makes a difference! In the car radio review this was particularly noticeable. Depending on what you are looking for, there are good manufacturers in the lower price segment, as well as expensive manufacturers. But the price is not decisive for the quality. There have even been mid-range car radios that could not keep up with a cheap competitor in the review.
Here are the best car radio manufacturers:
The probably best known manufacturers for high quality are Pioneer, Alpine and Clarion. They can shine across the board with high quality. But you should definitely pay attention to the price-performance ratio. Because the manufacturers let the quality of the car radio clearly pay off and can also shine with high prices. In contrast, car radio manufacturers like JVC, Kenwood, Sony and Blaupunkt are known for their good price-performance ratio. With a solid equipment and mostly good quality they can convince. However, lovers of technical gadgets should still reach for more expensive alternatives. Nevertheless, they are exactly the right choice for most users. In the lower price sector are the manufacturers Becker and Denon. These are very cheap, but they are not very convincing in the car radio review. There the sentence hits, who buys cheap, buys twice. Especially if you have a subwoofer installed, you shouldn’t be tempted by cheap models z
The different car radio sizes
Fortunately, the sizes are standardized and are given in DIN. In the center console there is always an opening with a size of 2 DIN. But if only 1 DIN is used, the other one can be used as a shelf or you simply close it with a cover. Both options have their advantages and disadvantages.
The large version is a 2-DIN radio and measures 180mm x 100mm. With these variants you should make sure that it fits to your car. This is because the surface varies from car to car and it can happen that the car radio is not flush with the surface. I don’t need to tell you what this looks like. But this size usually offers one big advantage, namely an integrated monitor. Or even better, an integrated navigation device! This not only saves an additional device, but also looks classy.
The second variant is a 1-DIN radio. It is only half as high and has the dimensions 180mm x 50mm. It is compact and brings its performance. Here you don’t have to review if it fits to your car, because it doesn’t matter. It fits into any car and always seals off from the surface. Because of the small size there is usually no room for a monitor (although some have a folding monitor), but the price-performance ratio is incredible here. Even the best car radio from our review has a height of 1-DIN.
A variety of features
The best car radio can do everything and much more. Touchscreen, remote control, CD player, cassettes, USB, grand piano and much more are part of it. Or as you know it from home, that Internet Radio. But why does a car radio need wings? For flying, of course! And at the lareview now you should ask yourself, does it really need that? The clear answer is no! It should be tailored to your needs. In the review we gave an overview through the bank and dispensed with superfluous knick-knacks, if the remaining features
Connection via Bluetooth
With a car radio with Bluetooth, any device can be easily connected to it. Of course, this has the huge advantage that music can be played from the mobile phone without the need for an AUX cable. reviews have shown that this feature is now very common. This shows the clear added value of this simple feature.
Music from USB stick
Those who have had enough of CDs and cassettes can easily access a car radio with USB. Especially with 1-DIN these are integrated on the front. The big advantage here is quite clear, a USB stick takes up little space and can be constantly played with new music. Furthermore, many more songs have space on the medium and the folder structure can also be used. The only alternative for more music would be to play from your mobile phone via Youtube, Spotify and other providers. But that costs again battery and data volume, which is either limited or costs a lot.
No fines with hands-free car kit
The first fine for making a phone call while driving usually comes sooner than hoped for. The suitable alternative is a car radio with a hands-free kit. The hands-free kit can either be purchased separately or integrated into the radio. More beautiful and functional is the already integrated equipment. And in the long run it saves money 🙂
Arrive everywhere with a navigation system
A car radio with navigation system is quite often 2-DIN in size and needs a monitor. Otherwise you could not see where to turn. They are available with touchscreen or without, although they are much more comfortable with touchscreen. Some manufacturers already offer smaller versions with a folding monitor. With this feature, however, you should keep in mind that this navigation system cannot always keep up with a real navigation system. It gets a new update with the lareview maps with every service, but we have seen in the review a few times that there would be faster routes than how they were displayed. We don’t know why this is the case. On the whole, however, a useful feature with many advantages.
review of the outputs
The outputs should be a clear KO criterion if they do not provide the right power or outputs. The factory-installed loudspeakers often only have a power output of 4 x 20 watts. But once you are used to a good sound, you don’t want to do without it anymore. Therefore, a good car radio should provide at least 4 x 50 watts of power. Whether this is really needed is another matter. With stronger systems you should definitely have the right power amplifier for this. Because the higher power then comes from the power amplifier.
The second must is a sub-out. If this output is not available, you’ll have a lot of problems when connecting the subwoofer! Because then you have to hang up your cables on outputs that are not meant for this purpose. I did this with my first subwoofer and the result was a disaster. The subwoofer didn’t have a good sound and could only play when I adjusted the balance to one side. Which in turn caused the speakers to wear differently… So if you’re not interested in this review, you should leave it alone and have a look at the output.
As mentioned before, personal preferences are of course just as important. We have tried to approach the matter objectively and selected and evaluated criteria. This was the basis for an objective evaluation. We hope that we have helped you in your decision.
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