Another stereo thread...

[JaeTheDev]

Porting a W6 woofer is exactly that... high output. The W6 was developed for small sealed enclosures. You can port them, of course, and it's designed to play loud when ported. However. I suggest you model it in a program like bass box, or winisd. You'll see what most audiophiles already know. High output, yes. Amazing sound? Kind of a one note 55HZ thing. But lots of it. LOTS.

So, if your looking for a lot of output, but mostly at one frequency, the ported W6 is fantastic. Some people really like that, and it's ok to like it. Whatever floats your particular boat.

The W3 is a lot smoother and detailed ported, with a much better overall frequency response, but needs a larger enclosure, and handles a little less power. But for simply upgrading the factory bass... it's EASY more then enough. As I mentioned, everything is pretty much turned all the way down.

The box I use was actually professionally made knowing it would hold the w6, and be in the subtrunk. Sadly, I never got a trim piece made, so it looks incomplete in my eyes, but that doesnt stop its yes, AMAZING sound. HAHA. It actually sounds better in the box made, than in the box the w6 was meant to be housed in, which is "chamber-coupled, slot-ported". You sound like you know your stuff. Why would that be?

It's definitely not "one noted" whatsoever, but Im not here to debate it with you as text to describe sound youll never here is well, stupid. LOL.

That being siad, youre setup looks amazing, and I bet it sounds so as well. Well done!

 

[Vicj]

Your correct in that there's no sense arguing about it. The frequency response is easily modeled for the W6 in any quality subwoofer program. It does not matter why type of port you use, or whether it's "professionally" made. The W6 is designed to work in a certain size enclosure ported, with a certain port tuning frequency, and creates the same response curve every time. You can take the huge "hump" out of the response. But it requires a much, much larger enclosure, and much lower tuning frequency than JL recommends. This, in turn, allows the cone excursion to exceed it's xmax, especially with an XD600/1 powering it. That's why JL recommends the port tuning characteristics that they do. To protect the woofer.

Using recommended enclosure size, with the recommended port area and length, produces that hump in the response. Whether your using a round port, a slot port, or a trapazoid sqiggly port made put of playdoe. Very high output at the cost of very high fidelity.

I'd be happy to model it for you and post pics. I've also owned a ported W6 myself. As I said...great for output, and served my purpose at the time.

I was not trying to offend you, or your choice of subwoofer. As I said, there's no right or wrong. Bass is like wine... whatever YOU like is all that really matters.

 

[JaeTheDev]

Your correct in that there's no sense arguing about it. The frequency response is easily modeled for the W6 in any quality subwoofer program. It does not matter why type of port you use, or whether it's "professionally" made. The W6 is designed to work in a certain size enclosure ported, with a certain port tuning frequency, and creates the same response curve every time. You can take the huge "hump" out of the response. But it requires a much, much larger enclosure, and much lower tuning frequency than JL recommends. This, in turn, allows the cone excursion to exceed it's xmax, especially with an XD600/1 powering it. That's why JL recommends the port tuning characteristics that they do. To protect the woofer.

Using recommended enclosure size, with the recommended port area and length, produces that hump in the response. Whether your using a round port, a slot port, or a trapazoid sqiggly port made put of playdoe. Very high output at the cost of very high fidelity.

I'd be happy to model it for you and post pics. I've also owned a ported W6 myself. As I said...great for output, and served my purpose at the time.

I was not trying to offend you, or your choice of subwoofer. As I said, there's no right or wrong. Bass is like wine... whatever YOU like is all that really matters.

Oh not offended at all! Youre 100% right. Bass is like wine. Great analogy!

 

[DadRS99]

Are you asking if I recommend upgrading the sub? Absolutely. Hard for me to reconcile the words "audiophile" and "mp4 320", but this isn't a thread about that. You'll see a huge difference either way.
If your asking about which direction to fire the sub, in all my years of audio tinkering, and being an IAASCA sound judge , I have always found whichever direction gives you free airflow, especially with a ported enclosure, is best. In this case, up.

Thanks. And I will accept your call out of me being a pretend audiophile and my mp4…have 2500 songs on a USB ripped from source and just couldn’t hear the difference in the car btw lossless and that maxed out mp4. Oh well.

So ok, yes to a subwoofer upgrade. (Not touching the speakers or amp?)

Is there a JL that has consensus? Rough cost? And alas would prob need a shop to install it…

Thx thread

 

[Mixman]

Your correct in that there's no sense arguing about it. The frequency response is easily modeled for the W6 in any quality subwoofer program. It does not matter why type of port you use, or whether it's "professionally" made. The W6 is designed to work in a certain size enclosure ported, with a certain port tuning frequency, and creates the same response curve every time. You can take the huge "hump" out of the response. But it requires a much, much larger enclosure, and much lower tuning frequency than JL recommends. This, in turn, allows the cone excursion to exceed it's xmax, especially with an XD600/1 powering it. That's why JL recommends the port tuning characteristics that they do. To protect the woofer.

Using recommended enclosure size, with the recommended port area and length, produces that hump in the response. Whether your using a round port, a slot port, or a trapazoid sqiggly port made put of playdoe. Very high output at the cost of very high fidelity.

I'd be happy to model it for you and post pics. I've also owned a ported W6 myself. As I said...great for output, and served my purpose at the time.

I was not trying to offend you, or your choice of subwoofer. As I said, there's no right or wrong. Bass is like wine... whatever YOU like is all that really matters.

Thought I was a hardcore basshead and audiophile, but you got me beat. Nice system.

 

[TheLex]

What about using the one of the side wells instead of the subtrunk? I'd like to save that area for storage. I know NHK has a sub for the side well, but supposedly it's only for the 5 seater and I've got a 7 seater on order.

Also have you though about buying an extra trunk storage lid and perforating it, and then recovering it with acoustically transparent cloth?

 

[Vicj]

What about using the one of the side wells instead of the subtrunk? I'd like to save that area for storage. I know NHK has a sub for the side well, but supposedly it's only for the 5 seater and I've got a 7 seater on order.

Also have you though about buying an extra trunk storage lid and perforating it, and then recovering it with acoustically transparent cloth?

No... even if one was VERY good, with a quality drill press, your not going to create enough holes to get a 70 or 80 percent pass through. I'll probably use some sort of bar system, but may still use acoustical carpet. Only issue with that stuff is that it's almost impossible to vacuum. Every hair sticks to it forever. I may go with a solid board edge, and a strong grill over the middle. Rubber coat the grill, to avoid scuffs. There are many options.

 

[Vicj]

What about using the one of the side wells instead of the subtrunk? I'd like to save that area for storage. I know NHK has a sub for the side well, but supposedly it's only for the 5 seater and I've got a 7 seater on order.

Also have you though about buying an extra trunk storage lid and perforating it, and then recovering it with acoustically transparent cloth?

Yes, you can use those. NVX makes some custom enclosure for those spots. I don't love sealed woofers in tiny enclosures, though. Just a personal preference.

 

[Vicj]

Thanks. And I will accept your call out of me being a pretend audiophile and my mp4…have 2500 songs on a USB ripped from source and just couldn’t hear the difference in the car btw lossless and that maxed out mp4. Oh well.

So ok, yes to a subwoofer upgrade. (Not touching the speakers or amp?)

Is there a JL that has consensus? Rough cost? And alas would prob need a shop to install it…

Thx thread

Your not alone, many cannot hear the difference. I certainly can, easily. I think if you ripped a Flac file and your mp4 file of the same song, back to back, you would hear it too.

As for cost, obviously it wasn't cheap. It was quite expensive. I don't want to go into too much detail on costs, as they will vary greatly from shop to shop, but well over half the cost was the custom fiberglass for the enclosure. Unless your real confident with fiberglass fabrication, I would have a shop do it.

Soundworks, in Millersville MD, did an outstanding job. You can talk to Jeff there, who, I'm sure, would be happy to discuss costs with you.

 

[DadRS99]

Your not alone, many cannot hear the difference. I certainly can, easily. I think if you ripped a Flac file and your mp4 file of the same song, back to back, you would hear it too.

As for cost, obviously it wasn't cheap. It was quite expensive. I don't want to go into too much detail on costs, as they will vary greatly from shop to shop, but well over half the cost was the custom fiberglass for the enclosure. Unless your real confident with fiberglass fabrication, I would have a shop do it.

Soundworks, in Millersville MD, did an outstanding job. You can talk to Jeff there, who, I'm sure, would be happy to discuss costs with you.

Thanks! I actually will try FLAC or Apple Lossless and see…likely will be a convert!

I’m in SoCal so would have to look for a shop down here.

But is there consensus that a sub upgrade is best first step over an amp or speaker upgrade?

thx again. Helpful info

 

[Vicj]

Well, I also upgraded the front stage speakers with Light Harmonic drivers. Obviously. You can change everything, speakers, amps, everything...soup to nuts, if you wish. You need to be real careful about current draw, of course.

I thought the factory sound and staging is not bad at all. I wish it had a little more gain, but mostly it's good, especially with the hideous Immersive Sound turned completely off. For me, the only thing obviously lacking was low end impact. Thus, a subwoofer upgrade.

 

[TheLex]

Well, I also upgraded the front stage speakers with Light Harmonic drivers. Obviously. You can change everything, speakers, amps, everything...soup to nuts, if you wish. You need to be real careful about current draw, of course.

I thought the factory sound and staging is not bad at all. I wish it had a little more gain, but mostly it's good, especially with the hideous Immersive Sound turned completely off. For me, the only thing obviously lacking was low end impact. Thus, a subwoofer upgrade.

Would you say the Light Harmonic drivers make a big difference? Is it worth the price for the change? I'm assuming this is something that can be rather easily DIY?

BTW, when you made the change did you add any Dynamat or other similar materials in an effort to better dampen the doors?

 

[DadRS99]

Your not alone, many cannot hear the difference. I certainly can, easily. I think if you ripped a Flac file and your mp4 file of the same song, back to back, you would hear it too.

As for cost, obviously it wasn't cheap. It was quite expensive. I don't want to go into too much detail on costs, as they will vary greatly from shop to shop, but well over half the cost was the custom fiberglass for the enclosure. Unless your real confident with fiberglass fabrication, I would have a shop do it.

Soundworks, in Millersville MD, did an outstanding job. You can talk to Jeff there, who, I'm sure, would be happy to discuss costs with you.

MMes

Well, I also upgraded the front stage speakers with Light Harmonic drivers. Obviously. You can change everything, speakers, amps, everything...soup to nuts, if you wish. You need to be real careful about current draw, of course.

I thought the factory sound and staging is not bad at all. I wish it had a little more gain, but mostly it's good, especially with the hideous Immersive Sound turned completely off. For me, the only thing obviously lacking was low end impact. Thus, a subwoofer upgrade.

makes sense. Thanks. So what is the best sub recommendation that is <$1000 and potentially can be manually installed?

My other car is an X3 and there for ex you can order a replacement amp from a place like Bimmertevh for $899 and it’s pretty much plug in play and sounds great!

Is it just a ton harder with the Model Y?

 

[Vicj]

No, I did not add any dynamat. In my opinion. The doors don't need it. I don't get any rattling or excessive vibration. A lot of "opinion" that you need tons of dynamat comes from either shops, happy to sell you things, or people who make smiley faces with their EQ out of habit, excessively boosting the midbass frequencies, or, as I have found out the hard way, Tesla simply left out some clips when assembling the doors. One those were replaced, everything is as it should be. Actually, we found that to be the case everywhere they took panels apart. Lots of missing clips.

As for the Light Harmonic, they're drop in replacement speakers, with no change in amplification. You cannot expect miracles. That having been said, the carbon fiber cones are lighter than stock, giving you a quicker, more precise sound. I think the biggest impact was in the midbass speakers in the doors. They're a big improvement. However, jury for me is still out on the dash mid range drivers. They're probably cleaner than stock, but not as warm sounding. I'm hoping they're still breaking in. Whether the cost is "worth it" to you, only you can answer.

 

[Vicj]

I cannot give you a recommendation on subwoofer upgrades for less than $1000. Your local shop would be a better source of info for that. My upgrade was far more than that. Almost twice that just for the custom fiberglass enclosure. I do know this... you need to be careful about both weight, and current draw in an EV. Excessive current draw can trigger error messages, and even stop the car from being driven. That's why all of the packages you see available have small, digital amplifiers. To reduce the amount of current needed.

I know that NVX makes a package for the Y that's just under $1000. I cannot comment on the quality of the components, as I've never used them. But I know I don't like tiny sealed enclosures, and that there advertised 500watts from the Amp is only produced at 1 ohm, and the woofer is a dual 4 ohm, giving you a 2 ohm load. I imagine the power is really about 350 or so. The woofer as a stand alone item is $99. I haven't used woofers at that end of the spectrum for a very long time... so again, I can't really comment.

 

[TheLex]

No, I did not add any dynamat. In my opinion. The doors don't need it. I don't get any rattling or excessive vibration. A lot of "opinion" that you need tons of dynamat comes from either shops, happy to sell you things, or people who make smiley faces with their EQ out of habit, excessively boosting the midbass frequencies, or, as I have found out the hard way, Tesla simply left out some clips when assembling the doors. One those were replaced, everything is as it should be. Actually, we found that to be the case everywhere they took panels apart. Lots of missing clips.

As for the Light Harmonic, they're drop in replacement speakers, with no change in amplification. You cannot expect miracles. That having been said, the carbon fiber cones are lighter than stock, giving you a quicker, more precise sound. I think the biggest impact was in the midbass speakers in the doors. They're a big improvement. However, jury for me is still out on the dash mid range drivers. They're probably cleaner than stock, but not as warm sounding. I'm hoping they're still breaking in. Whether the cost is "worth it" to you, only you can answer.

I would not use the Dynamat brand. There are any number of other brands that can achieve similar results. If I were to use a dampening material, I'd install it myself.

Sounds like the Light Harmonics are a mixed bag. I'm a fan of more mid-bass, but I do not like brittle or cold sounding speakers. Perhaps as you stated, more break-in time will allow the drivers to loosen up and smooth out.

I really do wonder if some other make of speakers would make a more substantial difference. Something like a Stereo Integrity component system should sound substantially better: Component Speakers

 

[Vicj]

I'm sure there are a lot of drivers out there that sound better than the factory units. The issue with using aftermarket drivers is that they are rarely as efficient as the original drivers, so you lose some gain. Since this system is a bit "gain challenged" already, I'm not willing to give up volume.
Also, since most aftermarket drivers are designed to handle much more power than the factory units, they, too, can sound a bit cold in low power conditions.
So, just changing drivers, without changing everything else, has to be done carefully. I think Light Harmonic has done it very well. It's just that no solution is perfect.
The mids are beginning to warm up now that they're breaking in a bit. I think it's going to be great, in about another week... lol. The bass, of course, is astronomical. Effortless.

 

[TheLex]

I'm sure there are a lot of drivers out there that sound better than the factory units. The issue with using aftermarket drivers is that they are rarely as efficient as the original drivers, so you lose some gain. Since this system is a bit "gain challenged" already, I'm not willing to give up volume.
Also, since most aftermarket drivers are designed to handle much more power than the factory units, they, too, can sound a bit cold in low power conditions.
So, just changing drivers, without changing everything else, has to be done carefully. I think Light Harmonic has done it very well. It's just that no solution is perfect.
The mids are beginning to warm up now that they're breaking in a bit. I think it's going to be great, in about another week... lol. The bass, of course, is astronomical. Effortless.

This is true. You have to match the impedances. Light Harmonics lists their speakers at 3.5 ohm, but as we know, most speakers have impedance varies with the frequency. I would imagine a nominal 4 ohm speaker should work just fine. But I do see your point that the Light Harmonics makes it easy as a plug and play solution. Good to see that the mid-range is warming up. Please continue to report back.

 

[Vicj]

It's not just the resistance. It's also the efficiency. For example, there are 4-ohm Morel drivers that are exceptional sounding. They're designed to handle 100 to 150 watts, so the cones, spiders, and voice coils are all beefy enough to do this. The paltry 25 watts produced by the factory system for the mids world barely move the Morel drivers. Awesome drivers, but totally wrong for the application.
It's far more than just matching the impedance of the factory drivers.

But I don't want to let this thread get hijacked with discussions about midrange efficiency. This is about the subwoofer installation.

 

[Redman122905]

I plan to do a post to include my full journey but I’m picking up my box in the morning But someone asked about costs a simple box with a trim ran me $800 to fit 2 L7T 10’s. I am running the VAD1000.1 by NVX.