Model 3 subwoofer install.

[Captain McFunk]

Your comments have been very helpful, I am half deaf after being in the military for years so hey maybe I am imagining all the extra bass I suddenly started hearing after my install was completed .
I'd rather not have to drive with my rear seats down, but again, another useful suggestion, thank you.

lmao these comments have me rolling man. I swear these people that just cannot grasp the concept of changing factory sound systems and swear its the best possible setup ever. Listen, i'm in huge agreement with you, the factory subwoofer in my 2021 performance is laughably weak. ANY change you make utilizing aftermarket equipment, for the most part, is going to make a substantial difference. It's not worth your time to respond to their uneducated comments i've seen in the last few posts. Thank you for your information, as it was super helpful for installing my Skar Audio subwoofer/amp. Thanks again!

 

[TFSMotorsport]

lmao these comments have me rolling man. I swear these people that just cannot grasp the concept of changing factory sound systems and swear its the best possible setup ever. Listen, i'm in huge agreement with you, the factory subwoofer in my 2021 performance is laughably weak. ANY change you make utilizing aftermarket equipment, for the most part, is going to make a substantial difference. It's not worth your time to respond to their uneducated comments i've seen in the last few posts. Thank you for your information, as it was super helpful for installing my Skar Audio subwoofer/amp. Thanks again!

Hardly, I have a 15" subwoofer in a free air configuration with the sub venting out of the boot floor...Probably the most extreme install you may see in a M3, I do however know the output you get from a tiny sealed sub with a tiny amp and its not compareable to the stock system.

If the M3 came with a 0.5L sealed enclosure with a 200w amp then there would be people queing up to replace that for a 5L ported enclosure and quite rightly so because it does not take a genius to work out which configuration is goingto have more output with the given limitations of amplifiers we can use on the battery or from the converter.

 

[MarkGeezy]

The 12v battery is in the frunk and my installer ran a wire there. You can pull signal from the cabin speakers or the woofer. But it depends on your amp if you will need something to convert that signal depending on which one you tap into. I wouldn't recommend messing with your inverter or the big battery used to run the car if you value your life. Technicians have to be certified to work on Tesla's because of the amount of power that running through those wires.

 

[TFSMotorsport]

No disrespect but you had someone else install your kit and now you are giving advice on install? The penthouse wires that people are using are 14v....Literally nobody is tapping into the 400v system.

 

[cfbackrow]

Replacing the three front speakers actually gives you the biggest bang for your buck. I used Infiniti 4022s but there are several other options. Difference was very substantial. I have Dynamatted the front door speakers but I have not swapped them out. That's next - see @play150

you were right...i replaced the front 3 speakers and I see a huge improvement thanks

 

[cfbackrow]

so I went to 3 shops here in MA about adding a sub to my 2022 Model 3 RWD....2 won't touch Tesla and the 3rd says any sub in the subtrunk will rattle all day..he was pushing a 12 " fosgate and a LC2 setup...I do want an all in one box/amp but man that 12 takes up a lot of space

 

[Paulgottatezzi]

I have a JL 10” w7 in my trunk and a chuchero in the frunk. Plus the stock audio system. I managed to have the car playing without interruption from 3pm to 11pm on the 4th of July. I only turned it off because we lit fireworks. This is by far the loudest setup For a Tesla in my area that I know of, and much better at handling audio for a longer time than my ICE vehicle.

 

[play150]

The (no longer recent) update that allows us to specifically turn up the sub in the car has been so great in terms of getting closer to that big bass feel

 

[TBrownTX]

The (no longer recent) update that allows us to specifically turn up the sub in the car has been so great in terms of getting closer to that big bass feel

Agree 100%, but only with the back seat down in my '21. They removed the vent in the deck at some point in the past, and the sub in the trunk is inaudible with the seats up.

Tim

 

[cfbackrow]

anyone have the dimensions of the cubby that the stock subwoofer/amp goes in the premium stereo set up? I'm having a 10 inch audison put in my SR+ and was hoping I would know if it would fit prior to the shop pulling things apart. APBX 10 AS2 | Audison - car audio processors, amplifiers and speakers

 

[Lashlee]

If I had to guess, I'd say the OEM sub box is about 0.3-0.5 cu ft, about what to be expected of an 8" driver. I was able to mount two amps and the relay/resistor in the spot where the OEM sub/amp used to reside.

 

[TFSMotorsport]

I have found that the stock amplifier does not send much information under 40hz, with an 18" on 3kw there is nothing sent to the speaker when a 20hz sinewave is applied, very little at 30hz, if you run an ipod to the amp and run the same tone the sub definatly gets it then, there isn really anything that can be done about this because there isnt an auxillary input, if there was we could run one line from a source to the aux and also seperately to the amps.

 

[TFSMotorsport]

I have a JL 10” w7 in my trunk and a chuchero in the frunk. Plus the stock audio system. I managed to have the car playing without interruption from 3pm to 11pm on the 4th of July. I only turned it off because we lit fireworks. This is by far the loudest setup For a Tesla in my area that I know of, and much better at handling audio for a longer time than my ICE vehicle.

what amp is in there?

 

[blvckm3]

I have found that the stock amplifier does not send much information under 40hz, with an 18" on 3kw there is nothing sent to the speaker when a 20hz sinewave is applied, very little at 30hz, if you run an ipod to the amp and run the same tone the sub definatly gets it then, there isn really anything that can be done about this because there isnt an auxillary input, if there was we could run one line from a source to the aux and also seperately to the amps.

Nice system!!

 

[C-Bus Y]

I have found that the stock amplifier does not send much information under 40hz, with an 18" on 3kw there is nothing sent to the speaker when a 20hz sinewave is applied, very little at 30hz, if you run an ipod to the amp and run the same tone the sub definatly gets it then, there isn really anything that can be done about this because there isnt an auxillary input, if there was we could run one line from a source to the aux and also seperately to the amps.

Makes sense that you added an epicenter. Have you had any 12V issues?

 

[TFSMotorsport]

No issues, there is also another 1.2k amp in there currently.

The system uses a 500a Stinger relay which is bypassed by a 200ohm resistor, there is also a 40 second delay timer relay which switches the relay on, 40 seconds after the DC converter wakes up.

Problem is that DC converter will wake up randomly when the car isnt being used, you open the car and the amps are HOT so there is another relay that triggers the amp remote inputs if the driver is in the seat AND the rest of the system is active, it works very well.

The lack of sub 40hz signal is a real crap situation and to be honest these supposed audiophiles that has referenced pointed the system and taken measurements seem totally unaware of it blaming the inabilitys of the stock subwoofer and then fitting their own upgraded subwoofers that are fine, they are not, under 40hz is absent and 20hz sinewaves through the infotainment systems does nothing. The passband that gives the music aggression, emotion, authority and deliverance was filtered away never to be seen again.

There seems to be very little that can be done about it, I considered using dual bluetooth from a phone so you can signal to the sub amp and the tesla system at the same time, crap resolution but at least the information is there but you cant do that because the car does not have bluetooth 5.0.

You cant input an auxillary feed to the car via USB either.

You could fit a PC with a touchscreen and use bluetooth and wired output to the amp but the car needs to be connected to your phone in order to start up and open the door, plus there will be issues with the mounting of the scren and about a million other things.

Everyone talks about how great the cars audio is and yes its good but when I took a closer look its actually the worst system i have ever worked on, the epicenter is a relic from the 90's when we had tape cassettes and it has a use case in 2022 FFS.

 

[Idkorcare]

I had went the Epicenter route also, sold my SR+ and havent decided if I want to put the system back in the new LR between that drop off and not driving as much as I use to.

 

[TFSMotorsport]

interestingly i just changed to v11 and the first thing i done was run a 20hz sinewave, there is a hell of a lot more information there than there was before and i have ran that test many times previously

 

[C-Bus Y]

interestingly i just changed to v11 and the first thing i done was run a 20hz sinewave, there is a hell of a lot more information there than there was before and i have ran that test many times previously

Was just about to order an epicenter haha.

Would love to see a write up of your relay setup and auto turn-on process.

I am installing a basic switch near the drivers seat this weekend that simply grounds the LOC, which will then turn on the LOC and then the amp.

 

[TFSMotorsport]

Next to the driver seat is the wire that triggers once you get in, problem with manual switches is you can always forget to switch it off