# How do you set your car stereo equalizer?



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

I rent cars a lot for work, and I noticed 99% of the time, the radio was tuned to some contemporary hip hop with the bass turned to max, and the treble up also. I usually set the bass to -4 with the scale of -5 to +5 (most common for cars I found), and treble to -3. With Classical music I might turn the bass up to -1 or 0. I'm paranoid of losing my sensitivity to these frequencies, and screwing up my hearing.


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

It depends on the car. On my old Honda, the stereo was rather boomy. The rear package shelf on the car would rattle too (a known problem with that model) and bass would make matters worse. Thus, I kept the bass almost flat and maybe +2 on treble. With my current car, it's not boomy and it doesn't rattle so I put it to like +5 or 6 out of 10 and maybe +7 for treble (I can't remember for sure). It seems to sound best there with a wide variety of music. I usually listen to MP3s through the car's USB port and those can use a bit of a high end boost anyway especially with the road noise.



Phil loves classical said:


> I'm paranoid of losing my sensitivity to these frequencies, and screwing up my hearing.


I'm not sure if listening to more bass or treble damages hearing necessarily. I think the volume level in general is the biggest factor in hearing loss/damage. I could be wrong about that though. Does anyone know of research in this area?


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

I no longer try to listen to classical music in the car, road and wind noise are too much and drown out the quiet passages instead it is Jazz or Irish Folk and not too much bass.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

I don't listen to classical music in the car, because I have much stricter requirements for it. The dynamics aren't suited for car audio, for the most part. My standards for listening to classical are too high.

I do, however, listen to hip hop, electronic and indie music, and I tend to have the bass high, but not high enough that it causes those horrible vibrations, but enough that the music slaps. 

My friend has a subwoofer in his trunk and it's just overkill. He says it's for slaps, but I don't think a subwoofer like that is necessary for slaps*. 

*"slaps" is a SF Bay Area term referring to good loud bass-heavy music that you find enjoyable


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I have a cheap car stereo, the standard CD player installed in a 2001 Ranger pickup. It has bass and treble. I keep both at the middle. Rather I use the front rear control for tone as the front speakers are smaller and more treble and the rear are more bass. Works better for me because it is one control for both rather than separate controls. Less distraction while driving.


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## chill782002 (Jan 12, 2017)

With everything on neutral, no equalisation at all. I like to hear the music in the manner it was intended to sound. I have to drive quite a bit for my job so do most of my listening in the car.


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