Has audio improved in 2021 models?

[Peteski]

BMW good?

Not in my experience. Our BMW is getting on a bit now but it has a £700 audio upgrade and our M3 2020 is still better than the BMW. I dread to think what the standard BMW audio is like.

As others have mentioned, source quality is the key. It's an enormous difference if the source is good quality. Not just bit rate, but well mastered in the studio. I use Disney for a lot of my audio testing, high budget movie production which translates well to the commercial audio sales, especially musicals like Sing, Moana and things like that.

If you want to do it right in terms of set up, you can download frequency tracks (20hz, 40hz, 60hz etc etc) play them individually, and use an spl meter to measure the dB. You're looking for as flat a line on the dB as you can find at each frequency. You can download spl apps on your phone if you don't want to buy equipment (I've got all sorts, spl meters, light meters, colourometers etc for my home cinema lol) and while a phone spl meter isn't perfect, it gets you in the right ballpark.

You can then fiddle with audio settings to try and get that flat dB line at various frequencies. You absolutely won't achieve a flat line, but that's not the point. I find distortion at the low end, and for my particular taste, I would rather have no low frequencies than audible distortion so generally in cars, I find myself turning the bass down, wheras most people turn it up to try and make improvements.

When you achieve by my method is that in most stock cars audio systems, you get cheap (ish) amplification and it's the low frequencies that are the biggest draw on power. By reducing the bass, you put less draw on the amp which 'may' lead to an improved midrange and therefore, and overall better listening experience.

Most people think distortion is due to bad speakers. 99 times out of 100, its due to not enough amplification. So reducing bass can free up much needed midrange quality if you want to enjoy higher volumes undistorted.

I'm speaking generally here, as some of you will have subwoofers with their separate amplification (happy days!) so you are in a stronger position that way in terms of dialling in optimum performance.

But overall, a key mistake is that people turn up the bass to try and improve the audio in stock systems which can end up making it worse. It you aren't going to tune your car like I described, then simply try turning the bass down a bit and feed it some good source material. That on its own should help you on your way towards a better listening experience.

This is an interesting perspective and no doubt true. But for me it’s all about the music and I find that when driving along in a car some bass is lost within the low frequency road noise (and engine noise/vibration in an ICE car!). So I always end up compensating for that loss by boosting the bass frequency. I only do this in moderation, but I usually prefer it. With the Tesla premium audio I boost the sub and bass sliders by a couple of points and it sounds pretty good. Just slightly bass heavy when stationary, but quite well balanced when cruising along at speed. If I try to crank up the bass too far in our M3 LR it gets quite muddy and unpleasant. So I live with a little less bass weight than I would ideally prefer. Our MX premium audio had a much tighter and more powerful bass, but that was exceptional. Our M3 LR audio is still pretty respectable, at least via Spotify.

Just to add that I think the mid and high frequency audio in all Teslas I’ve owned with premium audio has been crystal clear with great sound staging. Voices are a particular stand-out on some tracks. No complaints there.

 

[WannabeOwner]

But overall, a key mistake is that people turn up the bass to try and improve the audio

Guilty. Thanks for spending the time writhing that, I found it very helpful.

 

[SR-Plus]

Guilty. Thanks for spending the time writhing that, I found it very helpful.

Yes I used to have my bass quite high eg 5 but watched a recent YouTube video which shows that you need it mostly flat with a little lift in treble to be close to what the Producer intended. I must admit, this has helped massively. And thinking about it logic, if you have lots of bass then all your speakers is trying to compensate and give you the bass but at the same time, you’re then losing the quality and precision of the music.

 

[khyros]

I think this is the key of what I’ve experienced. I’ve never changed the EQ settings in any of my cars. The difference Im experiencing might be down to Tesla having good quality speakers poorly tuned? I have to admit the first thing I did on this rented model 3 LR was to boost bass all the way up. I’ll learn how to do this properly once I have my LR

Yes I used to have my bass quite high eg 5 but watched a recent YouTube video which shows that you need it mostly flat with a little lift in treble to be close to what the Producer intended. I must admit, this has helped massively. And thinking about it logic, if you have lots of bass then all your speakers is trying to compensate and give you the bass but at the same time, you’re then losing the quality and precision of the music.

 

[OliLondon]

Strange, I had the Burmester system in my Mercedes before the M3 LR and i would say that the M3 sounds significantly better in terms of quality, bass and volume - i would say it’s the source you use which is the likely cause of sub apr audio

 

[Peteski]

I have to admit the first thing I did on this rented model 3 LR was to boost bass all the way up. I’ll learn how to do this properly once I have my LR

IME this would just lead to a muddy, distorted bass in this car. Of the 3 Teslas I've owned, our M3 LR has the weakest bass, but the overall sound quality is still very good if you accept that bass weight is not its forte. I find it puts more emphasis on vocals than many other systems, which can be really impressive on certain tracks. Vocals are always crisp and clear with pinpoint accuracy. But if you want deep thumping tight bass, then it's ceratainly not the best system for that.

 

[gangzoom]

Go and spend 10 minutes listening to what ever HiFi setup you have at home, than you remember why ANY car audio setup is basically a waste of time.

Sound staging, lack of space, wind noise, road noise, than having to focus of driving (Damn you Elon get FSD done ). Just accept if you acutally want HiFi 'experience' stick to the home.....But at 40 tinnitus means even home HiFi is pretty wasted on me!!!

Currently staying in London for Easter break, even in the house random car/house alarms, people walking past, motorbikes, what do you have to do to get just some silence in capital so I can atleast hear my own tinnitus .

 

[Peteski]

Go and spend 10 minutes listening to what ever HiFi setup you have at home, than you remember why ANY car audio setup is basically a waste of time.

Sound staging, lack of space, wind noise, road noise, than having to focus of driving (Damn you Elon get FSD done ). Just accept if you acutally want HiFi 'experience' stick to the home.....But at 40 tinnitus means even home HiFi is pretty wasted on me!!!

Currently staying in London for Easter break, even in the house random car/house alarms, people walking past, motorbikes, what do you have to do to get just some silence in capital so I can atleast hear my own tinnitus .

The car is the only place I get any peace and quiet to listen to music. Also helps to drown out road noise.

 

[Tony Hoyle]

On my 3 I could put the bass up full and barely hear it.. on the Y I've had to reduce it to not have it overpowering - which is unusual for me as I normally keep EQs neutral (too many of my early years sharing a flat with audiophiles). It's wierd that the same system would be so different.

The difference between home and car.. well it's not going to blow anyone away but sat on the driveway it's pretty decent given a tidal hifi quality source.. And I can turn the volume up without family members complaining, which is a big plus. Once you start driving you get road noise of course.. but I've more than once sat in the car just chilling to an album.

 

[gangzoom]

The car is the only place I get any peace and quiet to listen to music. Also helps to drown out road noise.

Same here, but find 5 minutes to your self at home and your remeber what HiFi is suppose to sound like versus what ever system is in any car.

My daughter and wife both fell asleep half way on the drive home from London today. I actually turned the music off, 30 minutes of silence (aside from road noise), bliss .

 

[Cossa]

Strange, I had the Burmester system in my Mercedes before the M3 LR and i would say that the M3 sounds significantly better in terms of quality, bass and volume - i would say it’s the source you use which is the likely cause of sub apr audio

Same experience for me, the M3P audio is noticeably superior to the high end Burmester in my previous AMG Merc.

 

[Tony Hoyle]

Same here, but find 5 minutes to your self at home and your remeber what HiFi is suppose to sound like versus what ever system is in any car.

We don't all have audiophile hifi systems.. mine's a 2 speaker system that's 10 years old. The car sounds better. I have good headphones on my PC but that's for specific cases where I want to listen to music on my own.

 

[gangzoom]

We don't all have audiophile hifi systems.. mine's a 2 speaker system that's 10 years old. The car sounds better.

You don't need anything more than that for a good HiFi system, age of the system is also rarely important (my floor stander speakers are 20 years old and amp is 15 years old - In HiFi stereo setup the subwoofer isn't even powered). Car audio setups is almost antithesis of home HiFi, more speaker doesn't = better sound or staging, nor does more watts = better enjoyment.

Get some 'old' HiFi amp off ebay and floor stander speakers for <£500 and you will get a far better sound system than anything in any car regardless of price......getting 'free' time and space at home though is the far bigger issue.

 

[SR-Plus]

You don't need anything more than that for a good HiFi system, age of the system is also rarely important (my floor stander speakers are 20 years old and amp is 15 years old - In HiFi stereo setup the subwoofer isn't even powered). Car audio setups is almost antithesis of home HiFi, more speaker doesn't = better sound or staging, nor does more watts = better enjoyment.

Get some 'old' HiFi amp off ebay and floor stander speakers for <£500 and you will get a far better sound system than anything in any car regardless of price......getting 'free' time and space at home though is the far bigger issue.

And what’s the source music? Vinyls, CDs, online streaming?

 

[prabhu]

I use 24 bit hires and FLAC music via USB. The model Y sound system is way better than BMW, comparable to even B&O. Due to poor soundproofing and lack of vents at the rear, the bass is low. These could be improved for less than the B&O upgrade, which is around £5K!

 

[Peteski]

Same here, but find 5 minutes to your self at home and your remeber what HiFi is suppose to sound like versus what ever system is in any car.

My daughter and wife both fell asleep half way on the drive home from London today. I actually turned the music off, 30 minutes of silence (aside from road noise), bliss .

I sold my Naim Audio home system several years ago. Of course it was way better than any car system. Stunning sound and dynamics. I do have a decent Canton sound system for the TV, which also comfortably beats in-car. Then I have a B&W Zeppelin for casual home listening, which I would say is similar quality to our Tesla M3 LR. Actually a very similar kind of overall presentation. Clear, crisp and pleasant sound with plenty of vocal presence. Bass not very powerful, but reasonably controlled if you don't try to push it too hard. That's where our MX premium audio system scorerd considerably higher as it had a genuinely powerful and controlled bass. Our new MY is just a little better than our M3, but still not as good as the MX. But for casual listening it's really not bad at all and better than most other cars in the same price range. It's a good system without resorting to expensive upgrades.

 

[SR-Plus]

Before anyone starts cutting and splicing cables to add subs and extra missing speakers, is it worth replacing the existing speakers? I know from other manufacturers, they use very cheap paper cone type speakers and swapping them over to even the cheapos in Halfords or Argos would make a difference? But if you can afford it and then spend maybe £100 or £200 per set and add some dyno mat for insulation would be very effective.

 

[2020M3SR]

Before anyone starts cutting and splicing cables to add subs and extra missing speakers, is it worth replacing the existing speakers? I know from other manufacturers, they use very cheap paper cone type speakers and swapping them over to even the cheapos in Halfords or Argos would make a difference? But if you can afford it and then spend maybe £100 or £200 per set and add some dyno mat for insulation would be very effective.

The amplification is just as important as the speakers, in that, if you spend a chunk on high quality speakers, you might not get a huge benefit if the amp isn't good. I think the std Tesla amplification is pretty decent, so a speaker upgrade could work. Something with a good sensitivity (90db or above) makes it easier for the amp to drive. Stay away from the 87db or less range.

Random piece of info IIIRC) - a 87db sensitivity speaker takes double the amplification as a 90db speaker to get the same sound output. So choosing speaker sensitivity is important if you're not upgrading the amp - the higher db the better generally speaking.

Db increase is logarithmic, rather than linear. 120db isn't double 60db for example, its actually a million times louder!

 

[Peteski]

Before anyone starts cutting and splicing cables to add subs and extra missing speakers, is it worth replacing the existing speakers? I know from other manufacturers, they use very cheap paper cone type speakers and swapping them over to even the cheapos in Halfords or Argos would make a difference? But if you can afford it and then spend maybe £100 or £200 per set and add some dyno mat for insulation would be very effective.

I doubt you would see much gain from replacing speakers. They are the least important link in the audio chain. Even modern budget speakers are actually very capable. It's mainly about the source and then the amplification. I can easily identify large differences in sound quality from the various sources available in the Tesla, which kind of proves the traditional hierarchy applies i.e. source, amplification, speakers in that order of importance to the overall sound quality. However there may be gains to be made from the speaker installation with insulation etc. I'm sure a search of the forum will throw up some ideas. I'm happy enough with the Tesla sound not to bother.

 

[Peteski]

Random piece of info IIIRC) - a 87db sensitivity speaker takes double the amplification as a 90db speaker to get the same sound output. So choosing speaker sensitivity is important if you're not upgrading the amp - the higher db the better generally speaking.

Yeah, if not careful you could easily end up with some very expensive but difficult to drive speakers sounding worse than the standard setup. Any speaker upgrade would need to be chosen carefully to match the amps.