Journalism of Courage
From woofers and amplifiers to LCD screens and USB ports,personalized car stereo systems have it all nowadays
Hemant V,a unit manager with a prominent IT company,has a JVC music system in his car. The deck can play CDs,cassettes,and even has a memory card slot and USB port built in to play music,which allows him to load his favourite playlists straight off his PC into his car system.
The stereo that came with my car could only play audiocassettes,and I wanted a CD player. When I saw the available options,I decided to go all out and install a system with all the features, Hemant smiles. The IT professional now uses a USB drive for all his music,and feels it is a convenient and easy option.
Hemant represents the increasing trend amongst young car-owners,who are opting to replace the default music systems that come with the car,with spruced up systems that have all the bells and whistles on board,and are literally ready to go overboard with the pricing options for these high end systems.
Rahul Khurana,a graduate student of economics at the Symbiosis College,feels that sound quality is of utmost importance in a car music system. Everyone likes listening to music when they drive,and I like to listen to my music on a loud volume,especially when I am driving alone, says Rahul,who has a four-speaker,800-watt Pioneer system installed in his car. Additions like woofers and amplifiers enhance the sound quality and even make driving more enjoyable! he smiles.
For youngsters nowadays,the quality and clarity of the sound from their system is of utmost importance,as music is a vital part of their driving experience, says Vijay Agarwal of Apex Car Décor,a store in Aundh which installs and sells car accessories.
Pioneer,JVC,JBL and Sony are the preferred brands of stereo systems. They offer a wide range of options to play various media,including CDs,MP3 players,USB drives,memory cards and auxiliary cables. The German company Blaupunkt has even produced a technology that allows one to connect his media device via Bluetooth.
The USB port and memory card slots in these systems are especially appealing to IT professionals and youngsters alike,as all of them are tech-savvy nowadays, adds Agarwal. The sound systems that are installed in cars are also quite powerful,with an unimaginable 1500-watt system available as the highest upgrade.
According to Deepak Kumar of Car Ax auto accessories in Balewadi,a basic speaker system gives the car about 300-400 watts,while a woofer and amplifier adds another eight hundred.
The options are totally dependent on our customers personal choices,and also on the kind of music they like. If they prefer softer music then we suggest a basic speaker system,while if they like louder music with a lot of beats and bass,then we add an amplifier and a woofer to give it more power, says Kumar.
Kumar adds that most people,especially youngsters,opt to upgrade the in-built system that comes with their cars,as these provide only 40 or 50 watts of power in the system.
Besides this,people are now starting to install LCD screens and DVD players in their cars. There is even an option for a bumper-camera,which feeds the image onto the screen and proves highly useful while reversing the car.
With such a variety of entertainment options,the car-accessory industry in the city is growing in leaps and bounds,and if you have all these accessories available,then living in your car may not be such a bad idea after all.
High end music systems
* Pioneer AVIC-Z110BT
* Alpine iDA-X305
* JVC El Kameleon EXAD KD-AVX77
* Sony Xplod CDX-GT920U
* Eclipse AVN726E DVD/GPS Reciever
Prominent music systems
* Sony Xplod series
* JBL
* Blaupunkt
* Pioneer
* JVC
* Boston Acoustics
* Alpine Systems
