Is UHFS sound upgrade worth it?

[Doug_G]

No, nothing noticeable at all with the speaker upgrade, well nothing apart from appreciably better sound!

People always way overestimate the impact of electrical draws like that. Depending on speed you will be using something like 20,000 watts to move the car. Even an ear-splitting 100 watt stereo would be trivial in comparison.

You might fall 100 feet short on range lol.

 

[Az_Rael]

What, really? What kind of nonsense is that? These technological marvels can't play music through a cord from your phone? Only lower quality bluetooth?

Yes, Tesla does not support playing music directly from your phone via USB cord. Its a bit crazy in 2017.

 

[Ulmo]

I occasionally like to blast some music, but mostly listen to talk radio. How good are the stock speakers? I know this is very subjective, but looking for input from owners on regrets or opinions. Is it worth the money? I likely would never do an after-market upgrade, so not interested in that as a third option.

For that specific use case, I assume that both talk radio and "blasting" music require only low quality audio, since in my opinion, if you have to blast anything, you're not looking at the refined fineries of it, but I know that even some blasters like to occasionally hear the fineries of the music while they simultaneously ruin their ability to subsequently hear it. Therefore, I apply it to Tesla's two sound options: crappy and slightly less crappy. For your use case, as I understand it, either is sufficient. Since "slightly less crappy" isn't much improvement over "crappy", and "slightly less crappy" is rather expensive, I'd say go ahead and save your money.

Where it gets far more complicated is if you have plenty of money to spend on audio and want the best. Well, then, you're looking at how much money, and what the outcome will be. You're going to want to jump down the rabbit hole of aftermarket audio solutions. Many of those solutions will tell you it is somewhat better to have the "pre-wiring" of the UHFS option in place; the extra cost for UHFS is a rather steep price just for some wires. You decide. But, if money is no object, then having the "additional wires" of UHFS available for the aftermarket implementation of your choice is a good thing.

My summary is that you're lucky: you have one of the easier use cases to make a decision on this matter.

EDIT!: Then, I read @Sully's8 response, and realized that even those who want to blast have particular notions of how the sound ought to be. I refer you to his post for your blasting needs, and stand corrected.

 

[Lawrence1]

Of course, this is all very subjective. Before buying my S60, now S75, in August, 2016, I listened to stock and UHFS pretty carefully. For me, the UHFS sounded like a $500 upgrade, definitely not a $2,000 upgrade. (Unlike my old Mini audio upgrade, which cost about $500 but sounded like $2,000.)

Since I mostly listen to podcasts, I didn't get the UHFS and don't regret it.

 

[ntrstngftrmth]

I ordered by 75D MS on 4/4 with a "May - Eary June" delivery. I went back and forth on it and then finally opted for SAS instead of UHFS. A week after the order was confirmed I tried to add in the UHFS but it was too late. I'm a little worried the sound is going to be really bad. We shall see!

 

[Sawyer8888]

I ordered by 75D MS on 4/4 with a "May - Eary June" delivery. I went back and forth on it and then finally opted for SAS instead of UHFS. A week after the order was confirmed I tried to add in the UHFS but it was too late. I'm a little worried the sound is going to be really bad. We shall see!

I picked up my car from Tesla before the weekend, after another trip back for and finish. The more I have an opportunity to compare the UHFS in the loaners to the SAS in my 60, I am further convinced that I made the right decision in not spending the extra money on the upgrade.

Someone previously mentioned UHFS was worth $500. I'd say closer to $300 maybe. UHFS gives you Dolby Surround as a check-box option where ther equalizer settings are located. Unless the audio is centered in the car, surround sound is pointless. Adjust the sound to the front driver's side to let your wife sleep, and half of the song dissappears when surround sound is on.

The bass, while a bit weak with SAS, it is only slight better with UHFS.

I will put the $2500 toward a better audio system in the future. I would have been disappointed if I had spent this money on the UHFS.

 

[lakerholic]

My .02: I have had UFS in two Teslas and my only experience with the "standard" audio has been in various loaners over the past three years. To my ears -- and I am not an audiophile, the UFS system is vastly superior to the standard audio system. Your mileage will vary, but for me everything about the UFS, from the soundstage, to clarity, to low end (sub obviously being the main factor here), is better than the standard system.

 

[boonedocks]

And don't forget if you regularly use Slacker UHFS is the only way to access "Hi Bit Rate" in Slacker

 

[Xenoilphobe]

I think you need this Is this the best sounding Tesla?

 

[fabricator]

Being in the aftermarket audio field, I would say to please never fall subject to ANY OEM audio upgrade. That goes for the UHFS, Bose, B&O, Burmeister, ect. It is all paper and plastic equipment. And to make it worse, they add tons of speakers because thats what sells the systems. When a potential customer hears that this car has a 20 speaker system and this one has 6.....which one do you think the uneducated customer is going to want? Fact is, they use the cheapest equipment possible (paper and plastic drivers) and EQ the hell out of the OEM source to make it sounds the best possible for what it is made out of. They go to an 8" paper speaker in the front door on the UHFS system because "more bass" means better sound right? I equate great sound with no being able to locate any speakers. That the vocals appear wide and center on the windshield. The the subwoofer sounds like its playing in the dash. Where there is so much separation you can envision how far away the drummer is from the person playing the guitar. That is great sounding audio and it does not matter if you jump into a Ferrari....it is the same crap. A 2017 Lamborghini Superleggera IP570 has the same speaker as a base line Audi A4.

There is a lot that goes into designing a great audio system and with good equipment, less is more. You dont need 20 speakers. You need a good set of front speakers, a good DSP (to fix the OEM signal and make it full again, and to time align your new drivers), some good amplifiers (the sky is the limit....you can add a lot more than you think to the OEM battery) and a decent subwoofer. Don't throw away your money and get the upgraded system from the OEM. If you were to take out the equipment and look and it and hold it next to even a cheap aftermarket speaker, you would feel conned.

 

[fabricator]

Here are a few photos of the link that @Xenoilphobe was referring to. This is a Model S P100D that I just finished up. I would say this is probably one of, if not the best sounding Tesla in the world.

 

[dandelot]

Pretty impressive, fabricator. We don't have room in the hidden trunk
in the lower back because...you know... cloth shopping bags. And
the ChaDeMo we've never had reason to use... and the tire pump I
hope we never have to use.

Anyway, our 2014 had standard sound and I went for the upgrade on the 2017.
Wife skeptical
I was always satisfied by the 2014 audio.
My comparison was based on a trivial comparison of under 2 minutes in the Tesla Store
lot (in Burlingame). My impression as a non-audiophile was that the upgraded
sound had noticeably more 'presence': it sort of sounded more like a bigger room
than like a single quite-acceptable speaker.
We listen to symphony/chamber-music/ opera
so maybe that is relevant.

 

[fabricator]

Here is another Tesla I have done. This one had 95% of the space left under the cover, and still had an OEM look.

 

[fabricator]

That was an 85d. More of your run of the mill aftermarket system with an OEM look.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Here is more detail on the UHFS System from the original developers in Stuttgart - S1NN (Harmon International Group).

How Tesla developed the in-car audio system for the Model S saloon

 

[Dutchie]

I tried the UHFS last weekend in the Model X and it was good. Much better than the standard equipment we tried a couple of weeks ago. That was really mediocre. When playing a little louder the UHFS had some deformation in the higher sounds, but nothing out of the ordinary. As good as my system sounds at home -- will always be a dream. A car is by definition a compact place with a lot of obstacles which interfere in the sound quality. You will never get the clarity as a good system in your living room.
I ordered the UHFS and I am glad I did. The standard equipment is a joke.

 

[fabricator]

I tried the UHFS last weekend in the Model X and it was good. Much better than the standard equipment we tried a couple of weeks ago. That was really mediocre. When playing a little louder the UHFS had some deformation in the higher sounds, but nothing out of the ordinary. As good as my system sounds at home -- will always be a dream. A car is by definition a compact place with a lot of obstacles which interfere in the sound quality. You will never get the clarity as a good system in your living room.
I ordered the UHFS and I am glad I did. The standard equipment is a joke.

I would respectfully disagree in the statement that you cannot make a car sound like a home system due to the obstacles. There is a lot that goes into the processing, but you can time align the drivers and flatten the ambient frequency response of the speakers. (This is given if you're dealing with great equipment) If you sat in @Dickerns p100d you would laugh in disbelief the second you heard the first note of your favorite song. His car probably sounds better than most enthusiasts home systems.