Audio: Sound System Quality?

[Todd Burch]

Todd, Do you still get the A pillar speaker bass distortion of you set the fade to -7 or more?

The distortion appears to be coming out of whatever speaker the sound is pushed to. Full forward, full rear, full left, full right, and the corners all show the distortion.

Something definitely isn't right with the sound system.

 

[Whom]

When I wrote to Tesla about the distortion, they very quickly asked for a service appointment. This is scheduled for the end of next week, I'll let you know about the outcome.

 

[Todd Burch]

When I wrote to Tesla about the distortion, they very quickly asked for a service appointment. This is scheduled for the end of next week, I'll let you know about the outcome.

I haven't heard back yet.

I'm afraid a service appt will probably not be fruitful. Service looked at my car. I provided a sample song for testing. They tried it on one or two other cars, said they heard it there too, so concluded it was "normal".

Normal maybe, but not correct...

 

[texex91]

I'm curious about opinions of those that have 'upgraded' system and those that have 'standard' system.

The test car only had 'upgrade' package, and I thought it was okay at best. So I'm scared to hear regular system.

Coming from a Porsche with Bose and Audi with a simply amazing B&O, I am really curious.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

The standard audio system is not scary at all it's plenty good for most non-audiophiles. It's definitely weak in the bass department as it doesn't have a dedicated sub. Otherwise, for HD radio, Slacker and compressed audio, it's plenty good.

 

[texex91]

It's too bad they don't partner with a real audio company to put in a system that people would not mind paying for. $2500 for a no-name 'upgrade' system--no thanks. And it really did sound terrible, and I even adjusted settings.

Will need to really think about this, as bad sound system is a deal breaker for me.

 

[dsm363]

It's too bad they don't partner with a real audio company to put in a system that people would not mind paying for. $2500 for a no-name 'upgrade' system--no thanks. And it really did sound terrible, and I even adjusted settings.

Will need to really think about this, as bad sound system is a deal breaker for me.

Would hate to see someone not join in the fun over the sound system but understand. Some owners have been happy with this upgrade
My audio upgrade for - Reus Audio

If you don't opt for the $2,500 'upgrade' from Tesla, that would pay for about half of one of the Reus upgrades. I think by not getting Tesla's upgraded sound system you do lose a few features though.

 

[texex91]

Would hate to see someone not join in the fun over the sound system but understand. Some owners have been happy with this upgrade
My audio upgrade for - Reus Audio

If you don't opt for the $2,500 'upgrade' from Tesla, that would pay for about half of one of the Reus upgrades. I think by not getting Tesla's upgraded sound system you do lose a few features though.

Looks like not a great experience. Just sad to me to pay $100k for a car and have a pathetic sound system. Looking more like I'm hanging out until Jan and see what Gen III brings as I won't pay for crappy sound.

 

[dsm363]

Gen III is likely 3-4 years away so will be a long wait. The list of pluses far outweighs the sound system but understand paying that much then needing to go aftermarket is not appealing.

 

[texex91]

My question is can I go after market, or is there something proprietary about the electronics system in the Tesla that would preclude me from replacing? Love the car, hate the sound system--so trying to find happy middle ground

 

[dsm363]

My question is can I go after market, or is there something proprietary about the electronics system in the Tesla that would preclude me from replacing? Love the car, hate the sound system--so trying to find happy middle ground

Check out artsci's Reus install thread as well. It is pricey but the people who have had the install seem to be really happy.

 

[texex91]

Check out artsci's Reus install thread as well. It is pricey but the people who have had the install seem to be really happy.

Read it and seems like people are not trusting this guy if you read whole thread.

Any other options?

 

[evme]

It's too bad they don't partner with a real audio company to put in a system that people would not mind paying for. $2500 for a no-name 'upgrade' system--no thanks. And it really did sound terrible, and I even adjusted settings.

Will need to really think about this, as bad sound system is a deal breaker for me.

Bose is not exactly know for high quality sound...it has a brand name but that is pretty much it.

When you listened to the audio on the upgraded system, what was the source of the audio?

 

[SCW-Greg]

I'm curious about opinions of those that have 'upgraded' system and those that have 'standard' system.

The test car only had 'upgrade' package, and I thought it was okay at best. So I'm scared to hear regular system.

Coming from a Porsche with Bose and Audi with a simply amazing B&O, I am really curious.

Depends on your music tastes.
Some people like really accurate sound, not what Bose puts out with the "smiley" face EQ - Bass pumped up 20db, mid down - 10db, and Treble boosted 18db.

For accurate sound, you want your EQ flat lined at the middle. Then test with music you trust, know, appreciate... tested the same way on your other car, your home system - all flat lined too. In cars you should center up the fader and balance too. Then you can truly compare. NOTE, music track to music track recordings (different albums, labels, etc), can vary wildly on the audio output. Some tracks I have pump the bass, others are weak, that I wonder what's wrong some times.

I've listened to $100,000+ custom home audio speakers (7' tall that pivot on a gimbal), that would blow your mind (simply the most accurate out there)... but many people would not appreciate them, until they put the smiley face on the EQ and distort the music from how it was originally recorded.

Everything else is just a mind game.

 

[RodF]

Depends on your music tastes.
Some people like really accurate sound, not what Bose puts out with the "smiley" face EQ - Bass pumped up 20db, mid down - 10db, and Treble boosted 18db.

For accurate sound, you want your EQ flat lined at the middle. Then test with music you trust, know, appreciate... tested the same way on your other car, your home system - all flat lined too. In cars you should center up the fader and balance too. Then you can truly compare. NOTE, music track to music track recordings (different albums, labels, etc), can vary wildly on the audio output. Some tracks I have pump the bass, others are weak, that I wonder what's wrong some times.

I've listened to $100,000+ custom home audio speakers (7' tall that pivot on a gimbal), that would blow your mind (simply the most accurate out there)... but many people would not appreciate them, until they put the smiley face on the EQ and distort the music from how it was originally recorded.

Everything else is just a mind game.

Makes a lot of sense. I am pretty pickey about my stereo sound, but I must confess I'm one of the smiley face aficionados.

 

[chrisdl]

That's a great post, SCW-Greg. And I agree with what you're saying. Everybody should read this.

However, as with most things in life, what we like to sense (hear, see, feel, taste, and smell) depends on personal preferences.
Personally, I mostly like my sound system to sound like I'm standing in front of an enormous stage on an open air concert. That gives me the ultimate kick (depending on the type of music), but it's certainly not flat-lined and accurate.

 

[Johan]

An intereseting guy I used to know was a HiFi aficionado, who also constructed his own line of speakers. He wrote a PhD thesis titled something like "Aquired tolerance and preference for low fidelity audio in an unselected population" where he did a kind of scientific study that concluded that people today are so used to listening to low-fi music on the radio, mp3 etc. and that the music producers mix even their high quality CDs to sound good when played through low-fi systems such as poor car stereos, radios, cheap headphones on mp3 players and mobile phones etc, that when confronted with the choise between lo-fi and true hifi, most prefer lo-fi.

 

[texex91]

Bose is not exactly know for high quality sound...it has a brand name but that is pretty much it.

When you listened to the audio on the upgraded system, what was the source of the audio?

Slacker--which is what I would listen to 90% of the time, so must sound good.

Point around partnering with someone is they know audio system most likely better than Tesla.

Agree Bose is over rated, but come on guys the sound system is terrible in Tesla (to my ears).

At least give us a super option to pay for in order to get a quality sound (and the 'upgraded system' system is not that).

 

[SCW-Greg]

Slacker--which is what I would listen to 90% of the time, so must sound good.

Point around partnering with someone is they know audio system most likely better than Tesla.

Agree Bose is over rated, but come on guys the sound system is terrible in Tesla (to my ears).

Objectivity, objectivity...

Until you pick ten or so of you favorite music tracks (a couple with really low bass audio, a couple of live studio recordings, a couple with crisp highs, some orchestra, and a couple tracks with great vocals), put them on a memory stick - with quality of true 256 bit or better - set stereo as I've stated above, play at volume levels where the sound system comes alive... Only then can you truly know.

With my testing it directly compares on par with the best factory installed audio.
And I haven't heard the new sound system TM just introduced.

 

[nkohlimd]

Objectivity, objectivity...

Until you pick ten or so of you favorite music tracks (a couple with really low bass audio, a couple of live studio recordings, a couple with crisp highs, some orchestra, and a couple tracks with great vocals), put them on a memory stick - with quality of true 256 bit or better - set stereo as I've stated above, play at volume levels where the sound system comes alive... Only then can you truly know.

With my testing it directly compares on par with the best factory installed audio.
And I haven't heard the new sound system TM just introduced.

I was one of the early installs on the recent Reus trip to the east coast and I can tell you the sound system improvement is substantial and impressive. Even the Tesla folks here at the showroom and Sac were impressed and will be recommending the system for local customers who are looking for more. The thing that really helped me make the decision was that I wanted a system built for my car, stealth in appearance, and installed by someone who knew the car. Please see artsci's post for install details but Cliff is slick. The NE shops just don't have the experience. One of the local guys has had his car in the shop for weeks although part of that was waiting for a part from Tesla to do some custom work. Either way, I would not want my car apart at a shop that long. Cliff came to the house and did the install with tuning in 4 hours. In my garage. The entire Reus process including the quality of the parts, customer service, expertise in tuning, convenience of garage install, confidence in an experienced installer, and warranty and future conversion makes $4000 for the install look dirt cheap IMHO. I had the SS upgrade and I would recommend future buyers to forego that option and go Reus. I think the reliability issues previously posted are old news as current experience has been completely different and completely reliable with great communication and customer service. Just my 2 cents....