Car audio systems must overcome a good deal of ambient noise--a vehicle traveling down the highway in the company of other loud engines is surrounded by a high background noise level. Factory-installed head units have a modest amount of amplification (generally about 10 watts per channel or less), and many aftermarket head units have at least twice that. The more power the amp included with your CD or cassette player delivers, the cleaner the sound from the speakers. NuGadgets.com offers both 2-channel amplifiers and multi-channel amplifiers. But be careful--a receiver rated at 50 watts maximum power probably has no more than 20 watts of clean power.