Your first step is to change the speakers that came with the vehicle. Factory speakers are generally cheap and have thin paper cones. Most don't even have tweeters and have tiny magnets which affect their bass reponse.

Many manufacturers make speakers which can be used as direct replacements for factory speakers. Generally, make sure any speakers you add have at least 2 drivers. (1) A tweeter to handle the highs and (2) A woofer to handle the lows.

Making sure the speakers you purchase are from a reputable manufacturer is usually one way to make sure that you end up with a clean sounding system! Some reputable manufacturers of car speakers are: Jensen, Kenwood, JBL, Sony, MB Quart, Polk, Pioneer, Kicker and Infinity.

The next step is to change the head unit. The head unit is the Cassette Receiver, CD player or CD changer that you use. A factory CD player will probably sound as good as an aftermarket one, but the tape player is another story. Unless you have a top-of-the-line car with a great stereo system, you will probably have better sound if you change the cassette deck. There are a number of manufacturers who make good cassette decks but if you are not careful, you may have to do some cutting to get the deck to fit. It would be best for you to contact a reputable dealer for advice as to which decks would be best suited to your vehicle.

Here are some features that any cassette deck you buy should have:

• Separate Bass and Treble controls: Allows you to tailor the sound to your own tastes.

• RCA pre-amp outputs: Allow you to add an outboard amplifier or equalizer with ease. These outputs have a cleaner signal than normal speaker outputs and hence give a cleaner sound when connected to outboard components. Even if you do not intend to add outboard components, the day will probably come when you will. Pre-amp outputs give you easy expandibility.

• Auto Reverse:This feature is standard on nearly all decks now.

• Radio Recall:This allows you to listen to the radio when fast-winding. No more silence!