Model 3 audio quality

[dkloud]

Folks, apologies for another audio thread, but I need help with my audio experience as I’m not sure if I actually have a problem with my audio system or tesla audio is just not for my taste.

I have recently purchased fully loaded M3 (LR, FSD, etc) so it comes with premium audio. Based on everything i read on the web and hear from other users, the audio system is exceptional.

I am not too picky, but switching from audi a6 with basic audio, my M3 sounds... flat and basic. It feels like it is missing depth and i need to increase volume to 70% to get better sound. At lower volume it sounds pretty bad even with different eq and immersive settings. And this is in idle car, not even moving so no road noise.

I played with all the settings and also confirmed all speakers are playing. So I took it to the service center. Sales rep sat in my car and agreed 100% it does not sound right, saying same as I felt - flat. Technician came out and blasted rap at 80% volume and said it sounds good. The fact that at 30% any music sounds bad he could not hear. I insisted it is not right so he confirmed i have premium audio feature enabled and reset everything and reloaded software. He then put it side by side with another performance M3 and still said everything is good and if i feel different then maybe bring it in for engineers to take a deeper look.

This morning when i got into the car and turned on the audio i think it sounded good for a change while set to low volume, so i got excited and wanted to turn it up, went to settings and as soon as i touched EQ it made a click/static sound and went back to bad. I could be imagining things at this point but pretty sure that was the case so will keep trying the same periodically to see if I can reproduce.

So at this point I am lost. Really feel something is not right as this audio sounds to me worse than any other car i ever owned, and most were not fancy. Sorry for long post but any help and opinions would be appreciated so i can figure out next steps or just give up and accept it as is.

 

[WarpedOne]

You should go sit in another m3 and compare.

 

[Hayden]

Now you making me nervous, I went from Audi with B&O and my my wife's car sits on Harman Kardon!
End of the mond i get my SR+, looks like i'm going to have to go with an after market upgrade.

 

[MrBadger]

This morning when i got into the car and turned on the audio i think it sounded good for a change while set to low volume, so i got excited and wanted to turn it up, went to settings and as soon as i touched EQ it made a click/static sound and went back to bad. I could be imagining things at this point but pretty sure that was the case so will keep trying the same periodically to see if I can reproduce.

Click/static if thats what you heard indicates something is probably (almost certainly if static) not right. A click may be the result of the system temporarily muting internally - I've heard this when some audio systems reload their DSP software, but if this was normal, I would expect others to chip in and say that they hear this too under same circumstances.

 

[jmaddr]

I agree with the other post to go sit back to back in another car to make sure something is off.

I had a 13 S5 with BO and I felt the stereo in the S5 sounded MICH better, but the M3 is not flat by any means. If it sounds that flat to you, there indeed might be a problem but you are gonna have to sit in one back to back to be sure. You said the tech did and it was ok, but have you?

 

[Nels]

I do consider myself somewhat of an audiophile (have a 5 figure vinyl rig in dedicated sound room at home, tube electronics, 6' planar speakers, etc.). I just moved from a Lexus with Mark Levinson to a premium sound system on an M3...and think the M3 sounds better. However, any audiophile will tell you that the source is most important. Are you comparing streaming in the M3 to CD or DVD-audio in the Audi? If so, that's the difference.

If not, I agree with the others. Sit in another M3/premium to compare with yours.

 

[dkloud]

I agree with the other post to go sit back to back in another car to make sure something is off.

I had a 13 S5 with BO and I felt the stereo in the S5 sounded MICH better, but the M3 is not flat by any means. If it sounds that flat to you, there indeed might be a problem but you are gonna have to sit in one back to back to be sure. You said the tech did and it was ok, but have you?

good points on trying different car myself. Tech did not tell me he was going to put them side by side at the back of the shop, so I did not het a chance to participate in his comparison. I have a friend who has performance mode and claims audio is better than his previous high end systems in lexus and porsche so going to use his car to compare myself.

 

[dkloud]

I do consider myself somewhat of an audiophile (have a 5 figure vinyl rig in dedicated sound room at home, tube electronics, 6' planar speakers, etc.). I just moved from a Lexus with Mark Levinson to a premium sound system on an M3...and think the M3 sounds better. However, any audiophile will tell you that the source is most important. Are you comparing streaming in the M3 to CD or DVD-audio in the Audi? If so, that's the difference.

If not, I agree with the others. Sit in another M3/premium to compare with yours.

So the Tech compared using Tesla’s on-board streaming music. I judge based on iphone bluetooth connectivity and downloaded music in high quality setting. This is the same setup i was using in audi. Was thinking to try usb just in case, even though inconvenient to use that on daily basis, but just to compare.

 

[artsci]

IMHO the audio quality in the Model 3 is overrated. It's better than average but hardly great. I have a Reus system in my Model S. Compared to that the Model 3 sound is limp.

 

[dkloud]

IMHO the audio quality in the Model 3 is overrated. It's better than average but hardly great. I have a Reus system in my Model S. Compared to that the Model 3 sound is limp.

Of course the topic is subjective, but with so many people raving about it, figured it should be at least 75% true and good.. wouldn’t expect i’d hate the thing!

I do find lots of tesla topics overrated though. I love the car, but it is far from perfect and in many areas is below average - road noice, handling, rearview like from a tank to name a few. But still, for $60 grand and a ton of speakers I’d expect the audio to be much much better.

 

[tvad]

Seems to me as though there is something wrong with a component in your M3's sound system. I'm an audiophile, and while I never expect audiophile quality from any car sound system, I find the Tesla's sound in our Dual Motor LR quite good. I made a few EQ adjustments and have Immersive active. I think the car's sound system sound is one of the pluses of the car.

I definitely agree with you that source is the most important factor, although I find all sources sound pretty good in the M3...streaming, FM radio, USB.

 

[sduck]

Sounds like something is off. But also be advised to use your ears and not the "numbers" in setting volume levels - I think the volume setting curve in the model 3 is exponential, so you get a lot of change in the top end of the range. For me, the sound system is the best I've heard in a car, and I've had a lot of high end car sound systems. And you actually want it to sound "flat" - that is, you don't want the system coloring the sound, you want the source material interpreted as naturally as possible, which this system does quite well.