I normally listen to news radio and not a whole lot of music so the quality of the stereo system never really mattered much in my previous cars. I recently geeked out and cranked up the theme song from The Last Starfighter and was amazed at how great it sounded. For the audiophile members out there, how would you rate our audio system in the car?
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How good is the audio system in our cars?
- Thread starter Ciditad
- Start date
ratsbew
Active Member
I'm the farthest thing from an audiophile (I only listen to NPR), but the general consensus is that the Model 3's sound system is one of the best factory systems out there.
Your tripping. Audio engineer and audiophile here. Sound system is killer. I've had producers and engineers with gold and platinum records in my car be super impressed by it. Set the EQ to bump the bass ~+5.5db, low mids ~+3db, high mids +2.5db and treble ~+5db in a smiley face shape. Even on full volume the speakers show no signs of reaching their max headroom and no hint of distortion. Changing out this system for an aftermarket one would be insane!
Respectfully disagree. I'm an audiophile, DJ and work in sound healing as well. It's decent if you're listening to lossless files via USB, not terrible with mp3s. Sounds like absolute crap if you're streaming. All that glass doesn't help matters either. I'll be upgrading and adding sound dampening at some point.
+5.5db on the bass? The *sugar* distorts at like +2 for me.
No way I could set the treble that high, it's already way too tinny and hissy at lower levels.
There's a reason why guys like Matt Schaffer install 20k+ aftermarket sound systems in Teslas.
What other STOCK car audio system have you listened to that is significantly better?
A person can spend "whatever they want to spend" on audio. I do not have nearly your or subbby32s audio background (no where close). I normally buy upgraded audio systems in cars from the manufacturer, but dont upgrade them after the fact.
Why would "sounds terrible when streaming" be a fault of the audio system? The better your audio system, the more you could hear "crappy reproduction" in the source, right?
If you think it sounds ok in Lossless or not terrible with MP3s, it sounds to me that you are saying it sounds pretty good to you as I "when streaming" has to do about the bit rate delivered by the streaming source.
Again, not trying to be argumentative, just trying to understand what you are actually saying (typing). This has got to be the first time I have heard an audiophile person say a system "isnt that good" when using "streaming audio" as a justification.
Is it a perfect sound system? Absolutely not. Is it above average compared to other stock systems? Definitely. Overall, I'd say it is very good and to put a subjective number to it I'd rate it as 8.5/10. Clearly it won't be as good as a $20k aftermarket stereo but it is very reasonable and my guess is that the proportion of owners who will end up feeling the need to spend money to upgrade this system will be very low.
I'd give it a 5 or 6 out of 10. It certainly doesn't suck and perhaps when I spend some more time trying to tune it, I may change my mind. But comparing it to other car audio sound systems and concluding that it's better than the rest still doesn't make it good, in my book. Is it reasonable? Yes. Decent? Sure. Above average? Absolutely.
That still doesn't make it awesome.
In fact, I'd go as far as saying it's my least favorite thing about the car. If you peruse other threads on this and other forums, you'll find dozens of people who agree with me and are in the process of upgrading.
If you love the sound system, great! More power to you.
That still doesn't make it awesome.
In fact, I'd go as far as saying it's my least favorite thing about the car. If you peruse other threads on this and other forums, you'll find dozens of people who agree with me and are in the process of upgrading.
If you love the sound system, great! More power to you.
I agree on your comment regarding boosting the bass. Really bad idea.
Also agree that all the glass doesn't help. I installed both front and rear sunshades and that helps a ton.
I can hear the system distort at high volumes.
Model 3 is a decent OEM Sound System. My Jeep Harmon Kardon OEM system is a fair bit better.
A good deal of it being the cabin itself. 19 drivers, 800 watts and Active Noise Cancelation.
One problem with the Model 3 to start with is a pretty noisy cabin.
Because of that, upgrading the audio would be a complete waste of money.
Unless you don't listen on the highway.
Agreed, but it would still be an upgrade, no? What about adding some dampening in the doors and elsewhere?
Thanks for the suggestion on the sunshades.
Sound quality is a funny thing. We could use all sorts of instrumentation to take lab type measurements which do tell a story but subjectively saying the TM3 audio system is good or bad is in the ears of the listener. Overall, I think the audio system is a decent one and although I may consider upgrades when they become available, I'm not dying to give it an overhaul either. Suspect many are in a similar boat.
In my books, a rating of 5 or 6 out of 10 does not equate to absolutely above average. lol Unless of course average is much below 5 or 6.
In my books, a rating of 5 or 6 out of 10 does not equate to absolutely above average. lol Unless of course average is much below 5 or 6.
planetary
EndlessCheese spreader
I think it's pretty good. Not as book as the Burmester in my 911 (which is a crazy car to have a high-end audio system, I agree), but still pretty good. I think it's a very capable system, but seems to lack fullness, despite me playing with the EQ and immersion settings. Not sure if this is related to the lack of "punch" which others have noted from a prior software update.
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