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Ask any guy about his top ten list of things he'd like to buy if he only had enough money, and you stand a good chance of having something like "a huge entertainment system" in that list somewhere. A great entertainment system is a badge of pride for your average guy, and so it should come as no surprise that the best-selling car accessories are comprised of components for Car Audio & Video Systems.

Startronics, voted 2008 Best Car Stereo Shop in Los Angeles Area by MyFoxLA, has been kind enough to give us an introduction to the awesomely impressive world of in-car electronics, and give us a primer on audio and video systems for your car, as well as car speakers and amplifiers.

If you've just driven your brand-new car right off the showroom floor, chances are that it will have stock stereo and speaker systems installed. If you're a music addict and think that this is insufficient, then you're in the market for a good speaker and audio system. These are available from reliable US-brand hardware, to imported world-famous Italian brands, which are a bit pricier. Whatever you'd like to have, it's highly recommended that you purchase both stereo and speaker and subwoofer systems all at once.

2008 Best Car Stereo Shop in Los Angeles Area by MyFoxLA winner Startronics recommends a very simple method of choosing speakers: take them for a dry run. Have your supplier hook up a system you'd like to buy, and bring along one of your CDs and play it. Is the sound quality good enough? Does it play very high and very low sounds well, at high volumes? Reading user reviews online will help you decide, but hearing and comparing setups for yourself, playing your favorite song, is really the best way to know if this particular audio system is for you.

This piece of advice extends to in-car video systems. Bring along a DVD to test the monitor. An ideal video would be one that has bright, vivid colors, and very dark scenes. This is show you whether the monitor can register extremes in tones and values, and if it can represent colors they way they're supposed to. Do this while buying your audio system, and you might be able to test out the entire multimedia system.

There are other considerations to installing your video and audio system in your car. The structure of your car will also affect how everything is installed. For instance, if you plan to put an amplifier system in the trunk, your car technicians will have to measure out the dimensions, to see how it will fit. Every car is uniquely structured, and it will affect which methods can be used for installation.

2008 Best Car Stereo Shop in Los Angeles Area by MyFoxLA awardee Startronics believes, ultimately, that you are the person to know what's best. Since music and video enjoyment are a matter of taste, you should decide whether the quality of your planned system is good or not. You simply have to have a working relationship with a good car shop, so that they can figure out how you can drive out of the shop with a great, manly new entertainment system on wheels.