I don’t know why I never thought to do this before. It might be common sense to you, others like me might smack yourself in the forehead. Regardless, I am posting.
As I am someone who wants to extract the maximum benefit from everything I own, I started tweaking my car stereo this morning on the way to work. I had Radiohead’s The Bends in the CD changer and thought “I know this CD sounds much better than this.”
So instead of going the intuitive route and messing with the treble and bass, I started adjusting the balance and the faders. It never occurred to me when the balance is set at it’s default, it’s out of balance with the driver since he/she is sitting off center. So I tuned the balance so it was louder on the right. Wow, what a difference!
The fader didn’t seem to make as dramatic change, but moving the sound up toward the front of the car did have some effect. So on your way to or from work today, be sure and tweak your balance setting. Unless you have passengers in your car.
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That’s an interesting point. I’ll have to give it a shot.
Cool, I’m not the only one after all! Let me know how it works for you.
I started doing that with our previous car. I kept wondering, as you did, why it always seemed to be louder on the passenger side.
I also would adjust the fader and balance when others were in the car who didn’t want the stereo as loud. I’d concentrate it most around me.
That makes perfect sense because you are recreating the proper sound stage. If you listen at a concert for example, the sound comes from the front of you and the sound is balanced for the audience. A lot of car stereo systems are set up to have the sound down the middle of the car and louder from the rear. I’m glad you figured this out on your own and passed it on to your readers.