The car battery powers the car’s electrical systems, including the radio, headlamps, heating systems, and virtually anything that needs electrical power.
A crash may damage the car’s electrical wiring, disrupting the regular operation of these systems.
But does the music stop in a car crash?
Your car music may or may not stop in a crash. It depends on whether the electrical wiring powering the system or the audio system itself gets damaged. If none of these is damaged, your car music won’t stop.
Read on to understand the basics of a car audio system, how it works, and why it could either stop or not in a crash.
How a Car Audio System Works
Since Motorola unveiled the first car radio in 1930, The 5T71, the car audio system has evolved from the basic 80-year-old AM radio.
The car radio now features complex electronic systems, navigation tools, and systems reproducing music from recorded formats and over-the-air signals.
What Are the Components of a Modern Car Audio System?
Nothing can compare to driving down a country road with soft music from your car audio system.
The car stereo system converts electrical waves into the musical sound that you hear from the speakers.
But what are the components of a car audio system?
A car audio system consists of three components: the head unit, amplifiers, and speakers. These components work together to create the music you hear in your car. If one takes damage in a crash, the audio may stop. Otherwise, the music keeps playing.
I’ll explain how these components work and how a car crash can affect them.
The Head Unit
The head unit is the primary source of sound in your car. Simply put, it’s the radio installed on your car’s dashboard.
It comes with an antenna, radio receiver that captures the radio frequencies, and tuner component. It also has a multimedia disc player, a preamplifier, and an equalizer.
The head unit also has a control interface that lets you work on various functions such as the volume and other menu functions.
It’s powered by the car’s electrical distribution system and connected to the other components of the audio system.
Amplifier
The head unit comes with a preamplifier that prepares the amplifier’s electrical signal for further boosting.
An amplifier is a separate unit from the head unit.
It processes the electrical signal from the head unit’s preamplifier, increasing the power and sound quality.
It then delivers the improved signal to the speakers.
Speakers
The speakers receive the signal from the amplifiers and convert it to the actual sound.
There are various speaker types, including:
- Tweeter: Produces high-frequency sound.
- Subwoofer: Produces the lowest-frequency sound.
- Woofer: Produces a low-frequency sound.
- Mid-range: Produces a mid-frequency sound.
See our article on the most interesting speaker facts!
Auxiliary Input Devices
A car audio system may also feature other components plugged into the head unit, such as portable audio players, disc changers, and storage devices.
What Would Make Car Music Stop in a Crash?
A lot happens in a car crash—damage to the windscreen, nose cut, engine, electrical distribution, etc.
The severity of the damage depends on the amount of impact force and the car’s build.
A few factors may cause the car audio to stop playing in a crash. One is damage to the electrical system or the audio components’ wiring. Damage to the audio components themselves can stop the audio. For example, shrapnels may puncture the speaker membranes and cause them to stop producing sound.
A crash may not damage all the car’s audio components. But the damage to one part may cause the entire system to stop.
The music will continue playing if nothing is damaged even after the crash.
Final Remarks
Some crashes are minor and won’t damage any electrical equipment, just a few scratches on the body.
However, if your car rolls several times, you can expect severe damage or several components to disconnect from each other.
So, most of the car’s systems are likely to fail.
Nevertheless, your car audio system isn’t aware that a crash has happened and needs to stop playing music.
The damage will cause the music to stop, not the feeling that it should stop because of the impact.
