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Let's talk about audio: Immersive Sound

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Today I put down my deposit to have a Reus 2.5 installed next Wednesday.

I got a chance to spend some time in a Model S with the same system. While I was mostly sold on the system before I even called them, the final decision was made easy when I heard the system. The clarity, power, imaging were about as close to perfect as you could get. I had a hard time driving back to the office in my now woefully inadequate system. Wednesday can't come soon enough.

Interesting to learn that the 3 has better acoustics than the S through better sound dampening and other factors.
 
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Since the Tesla stereo is so low-powered (because it's an electric car) it has inherently muddy sound and a weak low end that distorts at even modest volume. Immersive Sound is an attempt to compensate for this by adding a "wow factor" stereo chorus effect with a bit of stereo reverb. This effect is pumped out through the A-pillar speakers, which is why they're silent if you disable Immersive Sound. Most people think it sounds AMAZING and they say the Tesla has the best-sounding stereo they've ever heard; however, it should be a clue that Teslas NEVER appear on any good lists of "best car stereos" (except for one often-shared article on Teslarati, big surprise). Cars with ICE motors can pump out a lot more juice and have a big advantage in their ability to produce high-powered, crisp audio.

Whatever all Tesla has done with the DSP filter is known only to them, it's probably a combination of effects. Stereo chorus means that alternating frequency bands are panned L and R; the reverb seems to have similar panning in the wet end; and there is likely another effect or two in there.
 
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disagree system in the model 3 is low powered. when i had my 3/2020 m3p and put in that ohmmu lithium battery, the low end and sound stage came to life. transients were better produced due to the power being more consistent and on demand. its akin to those 1 farad capacitors we all put on our systems back in the 90s. :)
ive got a new 2022 m3p and the sub in there is much better. perhaps since new build comes with thew 16v lithium battery, this may be a reason. immersive sound is ok on some recordings and not on all.
 
The stereos in both of our Model 3's sound loud and clear without immersive sound turned on. About the furthest from 'weak" and 'muddy' one can get. The music has impressive presence for a car.

It's not surprising it doesn't get any accolades from the auto industry considering Tesla's lack of advertising and zero auto journalist benefits and junkets pretty much puts all other mainstream cars first in line for that sort of mainstream auto industry praise.
 
Since the Tesla stereo is so low-powered (because it's an electric car) it has inherently muddy sound and a weak low end that distorts at even modest volume. Immersive Sound is an attempt to compensate for this by adding a "wow factor" stereo chorus effect with a bit of stereo reverb. This effect is pumped out through the A-pillar speakers, which is why they're silent if you disable Immersive Sound. Most people think it sounds AMAZING and they say the Tesla has the best-sounding stereo they've ever heard; however, it should be a clue that Teslas NEVER appear on any good lists of "best car stereos" (except for one often-shared article on Teslarati, big surprise). Cars with ICE motors can pump out a lot more juice and have a big advantage in their ability to produce high-powered, crisp audio.

Whatever all Tesla has done with the DSP filter is known only to them, it's probably a combination of effects. Stereo chorus means that alternating frequency bands are panned L and R; the reverb seems to have similar panning in the wet end; and there is likely another effect or two in there.
Sorry, I have to disagree with some particulars on your post.
  1. The A-pillar speakers work regardless of whether Immersive Audio is enabled
    • It should be noted that at least in earlier M3s, the A-pillar doesn't even work in SR+ 3s as it was not hooked up at the factory: they were there, but nothing was flowing to them. I haven't kept up with whether they are still installing them in later models.
  2. Strong power is mostly only relevant in the bass and sub frequencies. "Crispness" is in the domain of the higher frequencies which don't require nearly the power as the bottom end.
  3. To an extent, power wattage of amps/speakers is often not a good indicator of quality output. There are a lot of cheap "1,000 watt" amps out on the market which are worthless. Amp & speaker design plays a much bigger roll in output. I dabbled in car stereo competitions in the late 80's and I was achieving higher SPLs in my 250 and under class car (right at 250 watts) than some cars in the 1,000+ watt class. When I was looking at the Reus system I ended up installing my car, one of the things that impressed me was their custom designed and manufactured tweeters. We listened to a stock one out of a Tesla and compared to theirs and the output was 2-3X more on the same amp and volume and was amazingly crisp and clear.
  4. It should also be noted that there is a fair amount of difference between the sound system in the SR+ (now just called "Model 3") vs. the LR & Performance cars. The latter comes with a "Premium" sound system which includes a sub with separate amp, the A-Pillar speakers and a couple of others hooked up.
 
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