Can Replacing Rear Speakers Improve Bass base sound on MS?

[EnjoyingLife]

I've been reading up on the sound system for MS.

Here is what I know:
UHFS shares the same front and rear speakers as the Base System.
The front and rear speakers are the same.
More power is been distributed to drive the front speakers. This is apparent because the front has bigger better sound than the rear.

I have the standard base sound system on my MS. I know SC won't add UHFS afterwards. I am looking at the LH part 1 to replace all 4 speakers. My question though is, even if I were to replace all 4 speakers with the LH, would the rear still be somewhat muted due to how Tesla has configured the overall sound system?

 

[Tam]

...UHFS shares the same front and rear speakers as the Base System...

According to TeslaTap:

Base System mid-woofers:
Front doors: 6"
Rear doors: 6"

UHFS Base System mid-woofers:
Front doors: 8"
Rear doors: 6"

Contrary to what you stated, 8" is not the same size as 6".

...the rear still be somewhat muted...

Base System is 2 channels while UHFS is 5 channels.

I don't see how changing speakers would mute the rear doors' ones.

If that does happen, you can compensate for it with equalizer/balance screen.

 

[EnjoyingLife]

I guess I wasn't being clear...if I were to replace all 4 speakers with the LH, would the rear speakers still sound lacking/small due to how Tesla has configured the overall sound system?

 

[Tam]

I guess I wasn't being clear...if I were to replace all 4 speakers with the LH, would the rear speakers still sound lacking/small due to how Tesla has configured the overall sound system?

I have no idea what LH means, but if I swap got 4 "better" speakers, I expect the sound would be slightly better.

You still have a 200 Watt system even with brand new 4 better speakers (while UHFS is 560 Watts.)

What you would miss is the more Watts that can vibrate the whole car with its sub-woofer.

 

[EnjoyingLife]

Oh Sorry Light Harmonic Model S.4D part 1, basically one of the few (if not the only) "plug and play" speaker swap for the tesla.

 

[BoerumHill]

You could swap the speakers & that would give you a slightly less bright sound, but you’d find yourself muttering “I’m giving her all she’s got, Captain!”

We need more power, Mr. Scott.

This explains the issue well; the lightweight tiny magnet factory speakers are indeed inferorior, but no matter what you replace them with, you simply don’t have adequate watt output to drive the speakers. In addition, the quality of the OEM is subpar & inefficient. By replacing the existing amp with the LH amplifier, you’ll have 4x the output, and less battery drain because of the efficiency of the components.

 

[Struja]

Who does the Light Harmonic installation and has anyone ever verified the "use less power" claim?

If it is 4 times the power and half the energy consumption, seems like a no brainer to anyone who loves premium sound. I have UHFS in my car but is kind of underwhelming.

 

[boaterva]

The old threads I read on this while trying to see whether my new X rear speakers were defective led me to believe it is what it is. I found an equalizer setting that helped somewhat but I don’t think there’s a good fix.

 

[BoerumHill]

The build quality of both the factory amplifier and the speakers are inferior. The speakers themselves are made of flimsy paper cones with small magents.

This YouTube series appeared on Teslerati some time back. The goal was to install the LH speakers but, in order to keep costs below the premium audio, not replace the amp or subwoofer. It concludes the speakers do sound much better at ow to moderate settings. At high volume, and with certain types of music, the subwoofer makes the UJFS superior.

Replacing the factory system is a relatively easy DIY project and there are many tear down videos on YouTube.

Anyway, I think this series mimics what the OP is trying to accomplish & when done does a side by side comparison of speaker only upgrade versus UHFS.

 

[EnjoyingLife]

Oh wow thanks for all the replies! @BoerumHill Thanks so much for the youtube videos! Also, I sent an email to LH and Larry Ho was the one who replied which was awesome!

 

[BoerumHill]

Oh wow thanks for all the replies! @BoerumHill Thanks so much for the youtube videos! Also, I sent an email to LH and Larry Ho was the one who replied which was awesome!

Now that’s some good stuff! Let us know how the DIY install goes.

 

[EnjoyingLife]

I will once I get all the pieces figured out.

 

[jelloslug]

I replaced the front door speakers in my Model S with the door speakers from the premium sound system. They are bolt in and plug and play. They do a more low end that the stock system without a reduced output that some aftermarket drivers suffer from. In theory, they could be mounted to the rear doors also but I don’t think the door trim panels would fit over them.

 

[Carl]

I have that 'simple' LH upgrade @1000 EUR. Definitely worth its price. Speakers are much more sensitive so it does feel as if you have a bigger amp already. Also, comes with proper insulation of door panels which also makes a big sound difference (and incidentally makes the car quieter!).

 

[EnjoyingLife]

I do want to upgrade the standard amp if that's even possible. I was told if I had the premium sound, they have an amp that is better.

 

[jelloslug]

I do want to upgrade the standard amp if that's even possible. I was told if I had the premium sound, they have an amp that is better.

The premium system has an extra amp that powers the extra speakers (outboard dash, rear hatch, and sub) as well as the front door speakers. The remainder of the speakers are still powered by the stock amp.

 

[EnjoyingLife]

Is there a way to replace the stock amp?

 

[Saimaannorppa]

To OP and header question: LH1 really improves mid-range and makes it worth the upgrade. However upgrade does not increase bass by a lot, you'll still need a subwoofer with dedicated amp to do so. The rear door speakers sound slightly anemic, probably due to poor amp on these channels.

You can improve the quality of bass though, by also making small acoustic improvements. Check out what I did for a few dollars, and it is minimum extra work if done while installing LH door speakers.
Easy DIY Improvement of Audio for a Few Dollars

 

[jelloslug]

Is there a way to replace the stock amp?

From what I understand, it's built into the center screen.

 

[Saimaannorppa]

From what I understand, it's built into the center screen.

But you could install an aftermarket amp with DSP that takes the headunit speaker level input from each channel, converts to line level, and powers then any amount of channels the aftermarket amp may have. Better have an expert to design the system if you go this route.