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Does anyone regret installing Light Harmonic speakers?

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Hello. Some time ago, I installed the Light Harmonic speakers in my MY, along with doing an aftermarket subwoofer upgrade. Super happy with the subwoofer... but the Light Harmonic...maybe not so much.

While one could argue they are "better quality" than the Chinese made factory drivers, with their carbon fiber cones and hi-tech magnets, I find that the dash midrange speakers from Light Harmonic are a bit dry sounding. Not nearly as warm as the original factory units. I suspect, but don't know, that the LH mids would be more comfortable with more power than the factory Amp provides, which is I think about 25 watts per driver.

Also, I don't think they're as efficient. The few times I actuality turn on the Tesla "Immersive sound", I definitely now get a much heavier rear bias to the sound, that i don't remember experiencing with the factory speakers . Way too much rear fill, indicating to me that the rear (still factory) drivers are more efficient than the front Light Harmonic drivers.

Thoughts from other Light Harmonic owners?

I'm actually thinking of going back to the factory drivers for warmth and efficiency.
 
Sounds better seems very subjective. But I don’t really feel comfortable spending 2K on something I don’t like. The Tesla system is plenty adequate and in a previous car I made the mistake of spending big money on infinity kappa speakers which the end result was meh, a little to much treble… or sssss whatever. Not an Audio expert.
 
Yeah. I'm not questioning the Quality of LH stuff...I just think they're underpowered as drop in replacements. To my ears, I've lost upper midbass and lower midrange. But as I said, it's actually an easy test. I'll take the right side back to stock, and run pink noisethrough each side. My audio control analyzer will tell me which is smoother, and which has more gain. But I have a feeling I already know what the results will be.
 
Yeah. I'm not questioning the Quality of LH stuff...I just think they're underpowered as drop in replacements. To my ears, I've lost upper midbass and lower midrange. But as I said, it's actually an easy test. I'll take the right side back to stock, and run pink noisethrough each side. My audio control analyzer will tell me which is smoother, and which has more gain. But I have a feeling I already know what the results will be.
Hey @Vicj ! Did you do the pink noise test? I’m thinking about doing a speaker upgrade, but I don’t want to get lower efficiency speakers if I’m going to stay with the factory amplifiers. Thanks!
 
Sorry...I never posted pics, but I reverted back to factory for the mids. I kept the LH midbass drivers. There's enough power in the factory Amp to drive those. However, the midrange drivers were definitely underpowered by the factory Amp, cutting off the lower midrange frequencies...at least to my ears. They sounded a bit "honky", like I was listening to them in a tunnel.

The factory 4 inch drivers may not have as smooth an overall response as the LH drivers, but I found them to be a better match for the limited power of the factory Amp, and more natural sounding.

I think if LH developed an amplifier package to match their drivers, they'd sound fine.
 
Sorry...I never posted pics, but I reverted back to factory for the mids. I kept the LH midbass drivers. There's enough power in the factory Amp to drive those. However, the midrange drivers were definitely underpowered by the factory Amp, cutting off the lower midrange frequencies...at least to my ears. They sounded a bit "honky", like I was listening to them in a tunnel.

The factory 4 inch drivers may not have as smooth an overall response as the LH drivers, but I found them to be a better match for the limited power of the factory Amp, and more natural sounding.

I think if LH developed an amplifier package to match their drivers, they'd sound fine.
Thanks for the info. I picked up an OEM Tesla midbass and subwoofer from eBay so I can measure the Theile-Small parameters to compare with potential replacements before I start pulling interior panels. No conclusions so far, but most subwoofers that would drop in to the factory enclosure are rated as less efficient. When I get some spare time (ha, ha) I plan to measure the actual performance of a couple that are in the same ballpark as the OEM. I think that the OEM sub does ok at lower volume, but increases distortion, probably due to the flimsy cone, at higher outputs. I’m looking for a sub with similar efficiency, but less distortion. It may be a unicorn, but there are a couple that might provide a marginal improvement.
 
Marginal being the key word. Less distortion will mean better, heavier spiders and voice coils. A little less efficiency, and a little less volume with the same power levels. Plus, you're talking about an extremely light, flimsy sub, in a resonant PLASTIC enclosure. Not the stiffest structure to house a sub in. That's why I got rid of the factory sub altogether.
 
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Marginal being the key word. Less distortion will mean better, heavier spiders and voice coils. A little less efficiency, and a little less volume with the same power levels. Plus, you're talking about an extremely light, flimsy sub, in a resonant PLASTIC enclosure. Not the stiffest structure to house a sub in. That's why I got rid of the factory sub altogether.
I hear you. I'll probably end up with a new sub enclosure and amp, but I figured I'd see what benefit I can squeeze out for a few $$$, at least until I can afford a real sub upgrade.
 
Depends on what you mean by "swapping". I think the light Harmonic door speakers are an improvement, even with factory power. I don't think any subwoofer driver substitution in that plastic enclosure with factory power levels is a real improvement. I "swapped" out the entire subwoofer system. I run a JL 12W3 in a ported enclosure, using a 600 watt Amp.
 
Depends on what you mean by "swapping". I think the light Harmonic door speakers are an improvement, even with factory power. I don't think any subwoofer driver substitution in that plastic enclosure with factory power levels is a real improvement. I "swapped" out the entire subwoofer system. I run a JL 12W3 in a ported enclosure, using a 600 watt Amp.
I am planning to replace the factory subwoofer with Alpine S-W8D4 and replace the two factory door speakers with Alpine DP65C. (I may end up adding an Alpine R-A75M for the subwoofer in the future)...but what do you think of this set up for now?
 
I wouldn't know, as I'm not familiar with the Alpine speakers. While i generally don't buy speakers that are sourced elsewhere to sell by an electronics company like Alpine, preferring to purchase speakers from speaker building companies like Morel, Focal, DynAudio, etc, the thing to check is how efficient they are. The biggest issue with simply replacing speakers while using the factory Amp is that you won't be giving them enough power. You could lose output, especially in the lower frequency ranges .

As for simply replacing the subwoofer in the factory enclosure, utilizing the factory amplifier, I can't say if your driver's TS parameters match the enclosure size and tuning frequencies or not, but I suspect you'll be very disappointed with the results

To steer this back to Light Harmonic, I would say the LH midbass drivers for the door ARE superior to the factory drivers, and are a good match for the factory 40 watts of power. Their subwoofer is marginally better than the factory sub in that plastic enclosure. The only drivers I'm not impressed with are the 4-inch mids for the dash. The quality of the driver itself is fine, sturdy, flatter response in the upper midrange frequency, but they lack warmth at the factory power levels. That was obvious to the eye, as well, when I did pink noise tests with the Audiocontrol RTA.
 
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I installed the LH door speakers and took them out as I intended on only doing the installation for a YT vid. They were great, but the bass was lacking IMO vs the factory door speakers. Still, the LH speakers were def better quality.

I am working with a new company as I type called "Orella Acoustics" which offers a "plug and play" amp and subwoofer replacement package. I received it in the mail as one of their first clients only a day ago. I plan on installing it this week. Ill update hear on my thoughts!

Install vid from the company below.

 
I am planning to replace the factory subwoofer with Alpine S-W8D4 and replace the two factory door speakers with Alpine DP65C. (I may end up adding an Alpine R-A75M for the subwoofer in the future)...but what do you think of this set up for now?
Alpine S-W8D4 - u will required an external Amp. Without an external Amp, u can feel the bass improved 15-20% only. Furthermore, the entire space of the plastic enclosure will required to install sound deadening material.

Alpine DP65C - the sound is clean and loud, but still lack of bass supported by the factory Amp.