At Speed of Sound, we love a good audio system as much as the next. With an ear for high-quality sound and equipment we’re here to help you design a stereo sound system that enhances your listening experience without breaking the budget.
Whether you’re looking for car audio installation or an improved experience on your boat or motorcycle, Speed of Sound can bring your listening desires to life.











Car Stereo Buying Guide
Your car stereo system should bring you years of listening enjoyment but todays systems offer so much than just audio entertainment. They control the depth, tone and volume of your listening experience but also can connect you to the outside world with smartphone connectivity, voice activated text messaging, play audio files from your phone, take phone calls and provide an onboard navigation system.
The list of features and capabilities with modern audio systems can get quite large and appear overwhelming. Speed of Sound’s experts can help you navigate through these choices so you get the best audio system, meeting your needs and budget.
Common Car Head Unit Sizes
Created in the mid 1980’s by European automobile manufacturers the DIN standard (Duetch Industri Nomen) was established to classify car stereo opening sizes. After 1988 there are basically two standard sizes for aftermarket sizing with some very rare exceptions.
- Single DIN (or DIN)- the opening for the receiver is roughly 7 ⅛”W x 2”H.
- Double DIN – has an opening of 7 ⅛:W x 4”H and is common in newer vehicles.
Single DIN Head Unit

Double DIN Head Unit

Add A Touch Screen On A Single DIN Opening?
You have your heart set on a larger screen head unit but you only have a single DIN opening? No problem, there are several manufacturers out there who make a flip out touch screen in a single DIN configuration.

Using Your Smartphone To Control Your Stereo
Remember the old days, arguing who had control of the sound system, who’s music were we going to listen to and lastly who gets to ride shotgun for easy access to the stereo?
Many of todays manufacturers have taken this into consideration and made it possible to control the car’s stereo from a smartphone. You can stream music, have your text messages read back to you, control the radio, access navigation, make and receive phone calls, control the audio and many more features.



Find Your Audio Source
No longer just limited to AM/FM todays car audio solutions offer us a wealth media selections from CD’s, satellite radio, flash drives, micro SD cards or use your custom playlist on your smartphone. But which of these many audio sources provides you with the best options, we have provided a simple list below to help you make an informed decision.
Streaming Music: Use your phone to stream music and content directly to your car audio system
SD Card: Build your playlist from your computer by adding compatible audio files onto an SD card, then you simply insert the card into your car audio system. Types of compatible audio files are determined by your car audio systems capabilities.
USB: Stream or play music files directly from your smartphone when connected to your audio system. You are also able to listen to text messages, make and answer phone calls all with your phone on it’s charger and your hands on the wheel. Some systems also offer Android Auto and Apple CarPlay along with the ability to connect a USB Flash Drive, working the same as an SD card.
Bluetooth: Provides the ability to connect your phone wirelessly to your audio system allowing you listen to text messages, make and answer phone calls and stream music.
BlueTooth + WiFi: Provides the ability to connect your phone wirelessly to your audio system allowing you listen to text messages, make and answer phone calls and stream music. WiFi allows you to stream data rich app such as navigation to your receiver’s display.
Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are available depending on the audio receiver that you have chosen. Note: WIFI is not used as a hotspot but only allows you to access larger data streams for music or navigational data.
- Android Auto: Brings the Android platform to your Android Auto compatible car stereo. Designed to reduce distractions while driving, Android Auto enables you to manage your messaging, send/receive phone calls, cellular based maps/navigation and play or stream music via simple touch screen input or voice commands, all while allowing you keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel.
- Apple CarPlay: Enables your Apple CarPlay compatible receiver to communicate with your Apple smartphone allowing you to access Apple maps, send/receive phone calls and texts, as well as listen to music. All of this is accomplished by a touch on the receiver’s touchscreen or through Siri voice commands allowing you to focus on the road and comply with local hands-free laws.
CD/DVD: Many receivers support additional file formats such as MP3, WMA and AAC, this means that you can burn a CD from your computer and have 100s of songs on one disk as opposed to 10 – 20 songs on one standard CD.
AM/FM Radio: A standard on almost every car stereo, that allows you to listen to top local programming.
HD Radio: Picking a receiver that has built-in HD Radio decoding will dramatically improve the audio quality of local radio stations broadcast in the digital format..
Satellite Radio: Using satellite means a wider coverage area than AM/FM and cellular based broadcasts. Through SiriusXM you can listen to over 140 channels of audio entertainment. Some tuners may not be SiriusXM compatible and may need additional hardware (sold separately) in order to receive SiriusXM content and a subscription to SiriusXM.
Types Of Car Audio Systems
Car audio systems can do more than just play music. Many of todays systems will let you listen to the radio, play a CD or DVD, connect to your smartphone and run their apps, or even integrate with your vehicle’s factory infotainment and vehicle information, such as performance information. Depending on what type of control you require will directly affect the type of car stereo that you choose.
CD (Only) Receiver: Gives you the ability to play CD’s and most of these units offer bluetooth/wireless or USB connections, allowing you to use your smartphone for additional entertainment and convenience.
CD/DVD Receiver: Has all the features of a CD receiver but with the added ability to play DVDs. You will need have a rear seat entertainment system to take full advantage of this system.
Digital Media Player/Receiver: These systems do not contain a disc mechanism and lack the ability to play CDs or DVDs. They still contain a radio receiver and can connect to a smart device, USB or SD Card inputs, bringing the majority of your entertainment from your smart phone or a digital storage device..
GPS/Navigation Receiver: This feature adds the ability to use a navigation system that employs satellite GPS tracking giving you a wider coverage area over phones that rely on land based cell towers. Some of these models have the ability to play CDs or DVDs and some are Mech-less.

Additional Features For GPS/Navigation Receivers:
- Guidance by Garmin: Garmin navigation software, offering a variety of display options to make your driving easy, such as Photo Real Junction View and Lane Assist.
- Lane Assist: Lane Assist guides you to the correct lane for an approaching turn or exit, making unfamiliar intersections and exits a breeze to navigate.
- Lane Information: Pioneer’s proprietary app that displays the best lane to travel in for the quickest route.
Industry Acronyms
With a wide and broad range of acronyms choosing your audio system can seem very daunting and overwhelming. We have compiled a list below and tried to simplify the communications.
- 24-Bit DAC: 24-Bit Digital to Audio Conversion. Allows for higher quality audio.
- A2DP: Advanced Audio Distribution Profile – The protocol that allows audio to be streamed via a Bluetooth connection.
- AAC: Advanced Audio Coding – A compressed audio file used by iTunes.
- AIFF: Audio Interchange File Format – A compressed audio file format.
- ALAC: Apple Lossless Audio Codec – A High Resolution file format.
- AVI: Audio Video Interleave – A video file format created by Microsoft.
- CD/CD-R/RW: Compact Disc ReWritable.
- D/A Converter: Digital to Analog Converter – Converts the digital signal from your media to an analog signal to send to your speakers.
- DivX: A Video Player
- DSD: Direct Stream Digital. A hi-res audio file format developed by Sony and Philips.
- FLAC: A high resolution, lossless audio file encoded at up to 192kHz/24 bits. Allows CD quality playback with a smaller file size.
- HPF: High Pass Filter – An electronic filter that allows frequencies above a specified point to be audible, and mutes all signals below that point. Used for sending select signal to different speakers such as a tweeter.
- LPF: Low Pass Filter – An electronic filter that allows all signals below a specified point to pass, and mutes all signals above that point. Used for sending select signals to different speakers such as a woofer.
- Mini-jack: Auxilary input for 3.5mm or 1/8″ jack.
- MP3: Compressed Audio File.
- MPEG-1: A lossy compressed A/V (Audio Video) file.
- MPEG-2: A lossy compressed A/V (Audio Video) file.
- MPEG-4: A lossy compressed A/V (Audio Video) file.
- NFC: Near-Field Communication allows two devices to establish communication when they are in close proximity (about 1.6″). Commonly used as a syncing method in car stereos. Preout: A volume controlled output signal. This option is needed if you intend to connect additional amplifiers to your receiver. Presets: Stored information within the receiver such as radio stations or EQ settings.
- RCA: Type of connector that is commonly used for Pre Output signals on a receiver.
- TMPS: Tire Pressure Monitoring System
- WAV: High Resolution uncompressed audio file.
- WiFi: Wireless connection established between a device and the receiver for transmission of information such as audio and navigation.
- WMA: Windows Media Audio – Compressed audio file.
- WMV: Windows Media Video – Compressed video file.