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Car audio in the 21st century
Stereophonic sound reproduction dates back to the 1930s when it was developed by Bell Telephone and a British sound engineer named A.D. Blumlien. But it wasn't until the 1950s that affordable stereo technology began making its way into our homes. A fusing of two Greek words meaning "solid" and "sound," the term "stereo" generally refers to a type of sound reproduction using two separate channels regardless of how many speakers there are.
Of course, the modern "stereo" or audio system has moved well beyond a simple turntable and two speakers. Today's audio systems are highly complex and can often reproduce music that sounds even better than the original thanks to multitrack recording and sophisticated mixing equipment and techniques. With the advent of digital technology and the ever shrinking size of the needed components, many of us are able to purchase home audio equipment that as recently as the 1980s would have been considered professional-grade.
As home audio has changed, naturally, so has car audio. One of the areas in which we've seen the biggest improvement is in the level of sophistication of entertainment systems we find in today's cars — specifically, sound reproduction and clarity.
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