Thanks for the great info! I may just go with the 4032's for cost effectiveness and confirmed fit, but also looking at the ScanSpeak's and FaitalPro's based on feedback above. I've personally never heard of either brand.
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Aftermarker Sound Upgrade of 3 Front 4" speakers
- Thread starter smagicmans
- Start date
I wasn't planning on rushing into this but I'm thinking I would rather take care of this before getting the windshield tint installed in order to avoid any mishaps. Would this be a good way to think about the options (and are there any others currently out there?):
Infinity - good
FaitalPro - better
ScanSpeak - best
While on the topic, has anyone without the center tweeter in the newer cars installed one? Obviously the Infinity's have tweeters built in but I know that's not necessarily needed on all 3 front speakers given the door tweeters.
Infinity - good
FaitalPro - better
ScanSpeak - best
While on the topic, has anyone without the center tweeter in the newer cars installed one? Obviously the Infinity's have tweeters built in but I know that's not necessarily needed on all 3 front speakers given the door tweeters.
I haven't heard the FaitalPro, so I don't know if it's closer to the Infinity or the ScanSpeak, hopefully others chime in here, but I suspect your order is correct.
My car doesn't have the centre tweeter, when I started out I disconnected the L/R tweeters on the Infinity as I was using door tweeters but I left the tweeter connected for the centre speaker, and it sounded good to me. I sold the Infinity's to someone with the premium system and he installed Hertz MPK165.3's in the doors and Infinity's in the dash, and left the tweeters disconnected it sounded great. He had the Centre tweeter but disconnected it in favor of using the Infinity tweeter.
Now I have the ScanSpeak trio with no centre tweeter (Focal tweeters in the doors) and it sounds awesome to me.
Hi,
I purchased a 2023 Model 3 RWD and am pretty much loving it besides the audio. For better words, it's just okay. Not great, just okay. I have been reading so much of these forums and was going to do the harness activation, but I think I decided against it and am going to just replace the already existing speakers. Following yalls recommendations, I'm going to order the FaitalPRO 4FE32 4 from parts-express. This would pretty much be my first install of any kind in regards to car upgrades, so I am a total noob. Any recommendations for me? Tools to buy? Precautions to take? I'm planning on buying the brackets online too, either from yourself or Amped Garage. Do I need to buy speakers harnesses like this? speaker harness
After much deliberation, I decided to go with the FaitalPro 4FE35 for the edges and the 4FE32 in the middle. I managed to get the trio for about $100 from parts express. It's a bit easier to slide $100 by than what it would be for the ScanSpeaks, though I'm sure they're worth the money based on my research today.
@RWAudio Will your 4FE32 dash bracket set work for those 3?
@RWAudio Will your 4FE32 dash bracket set work for those 3?
Got it, I do know of someone here that put the 4FE35’s in the corners and the 32 in the middle, so I’m going off of that. I’ll update here when I have a chance to install these myself, probably a couple weeks out. Thanks!
They don't fit using the focal housing, and they are loose without so I 3d printed a small 2 part adapter (if you have a printer I'm happy to send you the files).
You could probably accomplish the same thing with a few wraps of tesa tape (or any fabric/electrical tape).
If you have a RWD, there is no signal to the tweeters (even though the factory tweeters are installed) A speaker activation harness will do this, but is no longer free. You could tap into the L/R dash mid signals and use the stock crossover from the Focal kit to give them the signal. I don't know where you would grab these signals off the top of my head though.
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This is kind of off topic, but can anyone tell me if your navigation audio comes from only the center dash speaker? I have a 2023 M3 RWD. I can't hear the nav audio for *sugar* and I don't know if its intentional or an issue. I want it to come out of all speakers 
I was planning on doing a speaker upgrade for the dash.
I was planning on doing a speaker upgrade for the dash.I can give it a try later to verify, I turn my Nav volume off as in my area every time there is an off-ramp it tells me to continue straight so it gets unbelievably annoying, especially since it's nearly muting what I'm listening to every few minutes.This is kind of off topic, but can anyone tell me if your navigation audio comes from only the center dash speaker? I have a 2023 M3 RWD. I can't hear the nav audio for *sugar* and I don't know if its intentional or an issue. I want it to come out of all speakers
You can go into the Nav menu and verify that yours isn't muted, there's a volume slider or something like that.
no it's all the way up. manually verified and with the volume wheel up during speaking. But yeah, I can't hear it well at all over the music as its only coming from 1 center speaker :/
It's definitely only the centre speaker for Nav, but with the Nav volume set to half I was easily able to over power music regardless of volume, with the music volume set higher and higher it will reduce the volume more and more. Mine is also a '23 RWD. Mayber there is an issue with the centre speaker/amplifier or something, might be worth a trip to Tesla to have it checked out before you modify the audio system.
Wow set to half? Yeah I can't even imagine. Mine has to be full blast for me to even hear it at all when music is up to 80+%. I have a mobile appointment set up for Thursday the 1st, hopefully something comes out of it. For some reason I feel like the alert audio is quiet at times too, I just can't quite pin it.
Just wanted to share my experience with these dash speakers. Some are happy with the stock sound, I was most definitely not. There is a harshness to certain tones, mostly vocals, that make me turn the volume down. I also felt there were some frequencies underrepresented, not just due to the lack of tweeters, but mids too. The soundstage also stinks. Some people hear the decent bass those door woofers put out and think its a great sounding system. I'm sorry, but in this case it's not all about dat bass. I've had great experiences with Infinity Reference in 2 cars, so I started with just the two 4032s in the L/R dash.
I installed without any brackets or adaptors. I tried to harvest the male bracket from the stock speaker, but destroyed it. I'm sure its doable with a small cutoff wheel. I ended up just using bare, solid core speaker wire stuck directly into the female harness. I thickened it with a bit of solder, it fit snug, and I taped it well, it ain't going nowhere. The other end of the wire is soldered to the Infinitys. I used 2 layers of speaker foam tape because without an adaptor the magnet bottoms out inside the dash. You need to remove or bend one of the mounting tabs, the one that will be closest to the window. Then I screwed down the 2 tabs that line up with the stock screw holes. For the 3rd, I used an angle drill attachment to drill a small hole through the dash and used the stock screw. The speaker seals well and feels solid. There is the possibility that without backing behind the tabs they may bend over time, but if that happens its an easy fix.
After installing the first speaker I tested stock vs Infinity by fading back and forth. I could definitely tell I was going to be happy with the change, but the stock center speaker worried me a bit. I was concerned it was going to be too loud. I installed the 2nd speaker and confirmed that the middle speaker still had some harshness. I suspect the stock speakers are more sensitive than the Infinitys, which would make them louder with the same power. To combat this, before I reinstalled the dash I taped over the underside of the center grill with two layers of fabric wire harness wrap. It stuck nicely, and muffles sound slightly. Reinstalling the dash was a PITA, but once it was on I was very happy with the change. So far I haven't noticed any vocal harshness, the center speaker is noticeable but not overpowering, the tweeters add some much needed highs and staging, and the sweep handoff from the door woofers to the dash is seamless.
For those wondering, the center speaker most likely us used for mono sound. I assume when the amp detects the same signal from the L/R channels it sends that to the center speaker. I think the idea is it helps with imaging when you have multiple different listening positions. I've never had a center speaker before, and I never have anyone else in the car that cares about imaging, so I considered disconnecting it. I have heard, though, that the navigation only comes through the center, and I don't think I want to lose that completely. Its probably best to replace the center speaker as well. but they only come in pairs. If anybody wants to go in on a pair let me know, I'll split the cost and shipping with you.
I have the Hansshow activation harness coming, the one the rep told me won't work for a 2023. We'll see. But now that I have actual tweeters in the dash from the coaxial Infinititys I'm not so sure the harness is going to add much. Am I going to have TOO MANY tweeters now? Worst case, I use the harness to interface with a DSP and tune it all to my liking. Until recently I didn't know that was a thing, but now that I've read about it, sounds fun!
I installed without any brackets or adaptors. I tried to harvest the male bracket from the stock speaker, but destroyed it. I'm sure its doable with a small cutoff wheel. I ended up just using bare, solid core speaker wire stuck directly into the female harness. I thickened it with a bit of solder, it fit snug, and I taped it well, it ain't going nowhere. The other end of the wire is soldered to the Infinitys. I used 2 layers of speaker foam tape because without an adaptor the magnet bottoms out inside the dash. You need to remove or bend one of the mounting tabs, the one that will be closest to the window. Then I screwed down the 2 tabs that line up with the stock screw holes. For the 3rd, I used an angle drill attachment to drill a small hole through the dash and used the stock screw. The speaker seals well and feels solid. There is the possibility that without backing behind the tabs they may bend over time, but if that happens its an easy fix.
After installing the first speaker I tested stock vs Infinity by fading back and forth. I could definitely tell I was going to be happy with the change, but the stock center speaker worried me a bit. I was concerned it was going to be too loud. I installed the 2nd speaker and confirmed that the middle speaker still had some harshness. I suspect the stock speakers are more sensitive than the Infinitys, which would make them louder with the same power. To combat this, before I reinstalled the dash I taped over the underside of the center grill with two layers of fabric wire harness wrap. It stuck nicely, and muffles sound slightly. Reinstalling the dash was a PITA, but once it was on I was very happy with the change. So far I haven't noticed any vocal harshness, the center speaker is noticeable but not overpowering, the tweeters add some much needed highs and staging, and the sweep handoff from the door woofers to the dash is seamless.
For those wondering, the center speaker most likely us used for mono sound. I assume when the amp detects the same signal from the L/R channels it sends that to the center speaker. I think the idea is it helps with imaging when you have multiple different listening positions. I've never had a center speaker before, and I never have anyone else in the car that cares about imaging, so I considered disconnecting it. I have heard, though, that the navigation only comes through the center, and I don't think I want to lose that completely. Its probably best to replace the center speaker as well. but they only come in pairs. If anybody wants to go in on a pair let me know, I'll split the cost and shipping with you.
I have the Hansshow activation harness coming, the one the rep told me won't work for a 2023. We'll see. But now that I have actual tweeters in the dash from the coaxial Infinititys I'm not so sure the harness is going to add much. Am I going to have TOO MANY tweeters now? Worst case, I use the harness to interface with a DSP and tune it all to my liking. Until recently I didn't know that was a thing, but now that I've read about it, sounds fun!
I never understood the way Tesla designed the SR+ system. They took the system they had tuned to the car, whether it was good or bad, and removed 7 speakers from it. They supposedly tuned the system with the 8 remaining speakers, but there was only so much they could do. But why did they not wire the door and pillar speakers? They were already there and in close proximity to the other speakers and it's all plug and play to them.
I found the sound completely lacking when I got the car. My Honda Odyssey sounded better with the stock system, especially after I added a 3.5mm line in so I could stream hi-res music from my phone. And that's the other thing I dislike about the Tesla sound, there is no way to add an input and the only way to get hi-res sound is to put music on a USB stick. I wanted to stream hi-res off my phone, but using bluetooth downgrades it, I can't plug it in, I can't play it from the browser while driving, it doesn't use DLNA nor Airplay. Music streaming has come a long way since Tesla first designed their system. The only concession to better streaming has been Tidal, and even that is throttled unless you use your phone's wifi hotspot, and still not hi-res. Even Elon Musk thought the audio needed an upgrade, as well as the very slow browser. My Raspberry Pi browser is faster.
I did the speaker upgrades to the Infinity 4032 and Focal ISU-200, and that is OK, and I use only Tidal with my phone and I'm happy enough with it now but I shouldn't have to do all that.
I found the sound completely lacking when I got the car. My Honda Odyssey sounded better with the stock system, especially after I added a 3.5mm line in so I could stream hi-res music from my phone. And that's the other thing I dislike about the Tesla sound, there is no way to add an input and the only way to get hi-res sound is to put music on a USB stick. I wanted to stream hi-res off my phone, but using bluetooth downgrades it, I can't plug it in, I can't play it from the browser while driving, it doesn't use DLNA nor Airplay. Music streaming has come a long way since Tesla first designed their system. The only concession to better streaming has been Tidal, and even that is throttled unless you use your phone's wifi hotspot, and still not hi-res. Even Elon Musk thought the audio needed an upgrade, as well as the very slow browser. My Raspberry Pi browser is faster.
I did the speaker upgrades to the Infinity 4032 and Focal ISU-200, and that is OK, and I use only Tidal with my phone and I'm happy enough with it now but I shouldn't have to do all that.
Excellent summary.
DSP is a powerful (but not easy) tool, years ago I had the Alpine PXA-H701, and more recently the Alpine PXE-0850S, both powerful devices, however the software wasn't great. I've heard the Helix/Match systems are much more powerful with respect to their software platforms.
Good luck!, there's lots of room for improvement.
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