The History of Car Audio

Car audio is one of those modern conveniences that we often take for granted. Hopping in the car and listening to some tunes is relaxing and fun. But it wasn’t always that way.

It all started back in the 1930’s when the Galvin brothers invented the first commercial car radio. It sold for about $110 which is the equivalent today, to about $1700.

In the 50’s, the seek button was invented using a Town and Country mode. While in town, you could seek for the strongest signals only, and in the country, the sensitivity of the radio allowed you to pick up more distant signals.

The 60’s and 70’s saw the introduction of record players into cars due to higher power voltages. Unfortunately, this players were large and never gained mass popularity. In 1964 Philips invented the cassette tape and the 8 track followed.

In the 80’s home speakers were used in cars, but were ill suited to the extreme temperatures and vibrations of the road. The focus switched to volume and sound quality, with importance placed on the car audio subwoofer, car audio amplifiers, and the car audio speaker.

Today, car audio continues to improve in terms of power and quality. If you want to see what I mean, visit www.PyleAudio.com.