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Model 3's Sound System--How good is it?
- Thread starter LastResort
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- Model 3
I suspect it will be in line with the Model S but that's not saying much as the UHFS is pretty underwhelming if you've come from another premium car with a high end stereo. It's adequate but not great. It was worth $850 Tesla used to charge for it but definitely not the $2500 they eventually charged.
Dynastar
Member
I received my Model 3 this week and finally had an opportunity to take an extended drive in it and listen to the Audio system. For a frame of reference, I have a Model S with the top tier Reus audio package (2 subs, amps, new tweeters, center tweeter mounted behind the rear view mirror) and a Model X with the UHFS setup.
My personal tastes in what I like in an audio system is one that is balanced and presents the music in a way that is balanced, clear, with a good sounds stage and is very musical. I don't tend to like over-emphasised bass, but I do want to have bass be there in a balanced and clear way at all sound levels.
That being said, I am very, very pleased with how the Premium sound system sounds in the Model 3. Out of the three cars I have, for my personal music presentation preferences, I prefer listening to music in my Model 3 the best. While I like the bass presence and control I have with the Reus system in the Model S, I feel that it's a tad on the muddy side and it's biased towards the back of the car in the sound stage. I know that bass is supposed to be omni-directional, but in a space as small as a car, I have to constantly fiddle with the Bass pot control that Reus installed on the side of my drivers seat to blend the bass into the presentation of the music. I don't mind doing it, but for most people, they wouldn't be so obsessive about making tweaks to the bass level depending on the road noise, volume level of the music and recording level of the track itself.
Since I'm talking about bass right now, I think the clarity of the overall bass presentation is sharper than the S (with my Reus setup) or the X. When there is a bass solo, you can hear more clarity in the slap of the bass strings and it's tighter in the 3. The sound stage is all unified up front or dispersed appropriately around the car (You can also make further adjustments to the sound stage by electing to use the 'immersive' sound settings in the Model 3 audio controls). Note - all these observations are from the driver seat position. I haven't tried sitting in the other seating positions in the car to see how consistent it would sound. But the observations are with the sound stage set at the default position (in the middle of the car).
There is an 'immersive' sound setting in the Model 3 audio controls. I'm not in the car right now, but I think the settings were 'Off' 'Standard' and 'High'. You get the idea. I don't think it's a Dolby surround setting. It might be some kind of phase adjustment or something else. I haven't spent enough seat time to figure out what it's doing, but it does do what it says. Everyone has a personal opinion on what a sound stage should be. But the settings do what they say they will do, they separate the left and right channel program information more to the left and right of the car, thus psychoacoustically widening the sound stage. I personally like having the option to adjust it and depending on the particular music track you are listening to, it may or may not 'improve' the experience of the track. But it's there and I personally like it and will use it to enhance my enjoyment of a particular track of music.
I like the sound stage presentation. The default sound stage is presented like you are listening to a concert - so the sound stage is at the front windshield like you are listening to a concert stage when the audio positioning of the control is in the default center position. I haven't tried to move the control around yet to see how much it adjusts the sound stage because I like how it presents at its default setting.
To get a real sense of how good the Model 3 audio system is, you should load a USB stick with high resolution music and play it through the system. The streaming stuff from the internet does sound good through the system, but when you put high res files through it, the stock premium Model 3 should satisfy those of you who want a clear, balanced, well rounded high fidelity audio system.
I haven't tried to really push the bass, but I suspect that those of you who enjoy heavy bass won't get that out of the Model 3 system. But I will get some bass heavy tracks and put the car through it's paces when I have more time. Also those of you who might want a totally immersive, all around sound stage, you might not be as pleased with the front sound stage presentation.
The system also has a control for Speed sensitive volume adjustments. Again, I'm not in the car, but I think the labeling is 'Off', 'Low' and 'High'. I personally like what it does as it seems to adjust the EQ of the system as the car speeds up, rather than globally increasing the volume equally across the frequency spectrum. The road noise starts to increase the noise floor, especially in the bass frequencies. My perception is that it is boosting the bass frequencies more than the rest of the frequency range as the car speeds up. In my opinion, that's the right thing to do for a speed sensitive volume adjustment. The mid and high frequencies aren't being covered up much by road noise or other noise in the car because the Model 3 is a fairly quiet car. If Tesla just applied a standard boost of the entire frequency range you would have the audio get 'louder' unnecessarily. But I have not really spent much time trying to critically figure out what's going on. What I will say is that I like to have the setting on right now and don't feel it interferes with the intent and depth of the music.
In terms of speakers that I can see in the car. There appears to be a tweeter positioned on the A-pillars at sightly above my ear height. There is another tweeter sized speaker right towards the bottom of the A-pillar. There are mid-range sized speakers in all the doors. I assume there is a sub somewhere in the car, but I haven't located it and there probably are rear speakers behind the rear passenger seats, but I haven't tried to locate them.
There is a multi-band EQ control system that I think is the same as the ones in the Model S and X. I'm not sitting in the car, but I think they have the same number of bands and I'd assume they control the same frequency bands, although they may have tuned the controls specifically for the Model 3. The only adjustment I made is to bump the control that is centered around the 125Hz frequency range. I bumped it up 0.5dB.
I've attached a photo from an iPhone frequency spectrum analyzer app (SPLnFFT for any of you who are interested). I took this measurement from the head position of the driver's seat. Measurements don't tell you a whole lot, but they are a starting point to diagnose things and I'm pretty pleased with the starting point of the Model 3 frequency response.
For those of you reading who are thinking, 'why isn't the graph flat/even?' in audio, you don't want to have a 'flat frequency response'. To be musical, a system should have a response curve. I prefer a curve very similar to the above. Whomever designed the Model 3 audio system seemed to have a very similar opinion to me as to what response curve sounds musical.
So mission achieved! In my book, the Model 3 premium audio package is the most musical and balanced system of the three Tesla cars (S,3, X) I have. I was prepared to get an aftermarket system in the car to meet my audio needs, but for now I'm not pursuing that route. Maybe after more listening I may change my mind, but the system is more than adequate to meet my relatively high standards. But audio is a very personal thing. This is not a system that really thumps (at least I don't think it is, but I haven't cranked up the volume to ear splitting levels and pushed the bass EQ fader control to try to shake the car). It does have very clear and articulate bass, mids and highs with a sound stage that pleases me very much. The speed sensitive audio adjustments does what I would do if I were designing an adjustment system and the immersive setting opens up the sound stage without any distortion that I can detect.
One caveat, this report is based off of a very short time with the car and putting the audio system through a basic listen that was pleasing to me. Once I found the settings I liked, I just left them there and enjoyed the music. Another thing, the speakers are brand new, so it will take time for them to settle into what they will sound like after the drivers have musical time on them. That might change my opinion in the future, but out of the box, the system (in my opinion) is very, very good, if not great.
My personal tastes in what I like in an audio system is one that is balanced and presents the music in a way that is balanced, clear, with a good sounds stage and is very musical. I don't tend to like over-emphasised bass, but I do want to have bass be there in a balanced and clear way at all sound levels.
That being said, I am very, very pleased with how the Premium sound system sounds in the Model 3. Out of the three cars I have, for my personal music presentation preferences, I prefer listening to music in my Model 3 the best. While I like the bass presence and control I have with the Reus system in the Model S, I feel that it's a tad on the muddy side and it's biased towards the back of the car in the sound stage. I know that bass is supposed to be omni-directional, but in a space as small as a car, I have to constantly fiddle with the Bass pot control that Reus installed on the side of my drivers seat to blend the bass into the presentation of the music. I don't mind doing it, but for most people, they wouldn't be so obsessive about making tweaks to the bass level depending on the road noise, volume level of the music and recording level of the track itself.
Since I'm talking about bass right now, I think the clarity of the overall bass presentation is sharper than the S (with my Reus setup) or the X. When there is a bass solo, you can hear more clarity in the slap of the bass strings and it's tighter in the 3. The sound stage is all unified up front or dispersed appropriately around the car (You can also make further adjustments to the sound stage by electing to use the 'immersive' sound settings in the Model 3 audio controls). Note - all these observations are from the driver seat position. I haven't tried sitting in the other seating positions in the car to see how consistent it would sound. But the observations are with the sound stage set at the default position (in the middle of the car).
There is an 'immersive' sound setting in the Model 3 audio controls. I'm not in the car right now, but I think the settings were 'Off' 'Standard' and 'High'. You get the idea. I don't think it's a Dolby surround setting. It might be some kind of phase adjustment or something else. I haven't spent enough seat time to figure out what it's doing, but it does do what it says. Everyone has a personal opinion on what a sound stage should be. But the settings do what they say they will do, they separate the left and right channel program information more to the left and right of the car, thus psychoacoustically widening the sound stage. I personally like having the option to adjust it and depending on the particular music track you are listening to, it may or may not 'improve' the experience of the track. But it's there and I personally like it and will use it to enhance my enjoyment of a particular track of music.
I like the sound stage presentation. The default sound stage is presented like you are listening to a concert - so the sound stage is at the front windshield like you are listening to a concert stage when the audio positioning of the control is in the default center position. I haven't tried to move the control around yet to see how much it adjusts the sound stage because I like how it presents at its default setting.
To get a real sense of how good the Model 3 audio system is, you should load a USB stick with high resolution music and play it through the system. The streaming stuff from the internet does sound good through the system, but when you put high res files through it, the stock premium Model 3 should satisfy those of you who want a clear, balanced, well rounded high fidelity audio system.
I haven't tried to really push the bass, but I suspect that those of you who enjoy heavy bass won't get that out of the Model 3 system. But I will get some bass heavy tracks and put the car through it's paces when I have more time. Also those of you who might want a totally immersive, all around sound stage, you might not be as pleased with the front sound stage presentation.
The system also has a control for Speed sensitive volume adjustments. Again, I'm not in the car, but I think the labeling is 'Off', 'Low' and 'High'. I personally like what it does as it seems to adjust the EQ of the system as the car speeds up, rather than globally increasing the volume equally across the frequency spectrum. The road noise starts to increase the noise floor, especially in the bass frequencies. My perception is that it is boosting the bass frequencies more than the rest of the frequency range as the car speeds up. In my opinion, that's the right thing to do for a speed sensitive volume adjustment. The mid and high frequencies aren't being covered up much by road noise or other noise in the car because the Model 3 is a fairly quiet car. If Tesla just applied a standard boost of the entire frequency range you would have the audio get 'louder' unnecessarily. But I have not really spent much time trying to critically figure out what's going on. What I will say is that I like to have the setting on right now and don't feel it interferes with the intent and depth of the music.
In terms of speakers that I can see in the car. There appears to be a tweeter positioned on the A-pillars at sightly above my ear height. There is another tweeter sized speaker right towards the bottom of the A-pillar. There are mid-range sized speakers in all the doors. I assume there is a sub somewhere in the car, but I haven't located it and there probably are rear speakers behind the rear passenger seats, but I haven't tried to locate them.
There is a multi-band EQ control system that I think is the same as the ones in the Model S and X. I'm not sitting in the car, but I think they have the same number of bands and I'd assume they control the same frequency bands, although they may have tuned the controls specifically for the Model 3. The only adjustment I made is to bump the control that is centered around the 125Hz frequency range. I bumped it up 0.5dB.
I've attached a photo from an iPhone frequency spectrum analyzer app (SPLnFFT for any of you who are interested). I took this measurement from the head position of the driver's seat. Measurements don't tell you a whole lot, but they are a starting point to diagnose things and I'm pretty pleased with the starting point of the Model 3 frequency response.
For those of you reading who are thinking, 'why isn't the graph flat/even?' in audio, you don't want to have a 'flat frequency response'. To be musical, a system should have a response curve. I prefer a curve very similar to the above. Whomever designed the Model 3 audio system seemed to have a very similar opinion to me as to what response curve sounds musical.
So mission achieved! In my book, the Model 3 premium audio package is the most musical and balanced system of the three Tesla cars (S,3, X) I have. I was prepared to get an aftermarket system in the car to meet my audio needs, but for now I'm not pursuing that route. Maybe after more listening I may change my mind, but the system is more than adequate to meet my relatively high standards. But audio is a very personal thing. This is not a system that really thumps (at least I don't think it is, but I haven't cranked up the volume to ear splitting levels and pushed the bass EQ fader control to try to shake the car). It does have very clear and articulate bass, mids and highs with a sound stage that pleases me very much. The speed sensitive audio adjustments does what I would do if I were designing an adjustment system and the immersive setting opens up the sound stage without any distortion that I can detect.
One caveat, this report is based off of a very short time with the car and putting the audio system through a basic listen that was pleasing to me. Once I found the settings I liked, I just left them there and enjoyed the music. Another thing, the speakers are brand new, so it will take time for them to settle into what they will sound like after the drivers have musical time on them. That might change my opinion in the future, but out of the box, the system (in my opinion) is very, very good, if not great.
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Thanks Blurry for the detailed technical evaluation. I just configured my 3 a few days ago---so getting closer to the day I can make my own assessment. comforting to hear mostly positive assessments so far. Great sound has a multiplying effect on the total driving experience for me.
timk225
Active Member
Since Tesla didn't offer Sirius Satellite Radio in the Model 3, I will put my own in. I will take my 3 to an audio shop after I get it and see what they can do about wiring in a Sirius receiver to the car's speakers, bypassing whatever sound system the car already has. Tesla isn't going to deny ME my ability to listen to Howard Stern!
And for a total non-audiofile point of view, I didn't even consider the audio upgrade on the S, because for me I felt it would be a waste of money. I've always felt fine about how the audio sounded in the S, but I was surprised how much better the stereo in 3 sounded. I could tell right away that it was much nicer than the base audio in my S.
marty2112
Member
Wow. Great assessment Blurry_Eyed. I do like my X audio over the premium S. I'm glad I didn't go down the Harmonic path.
Looking forward to getting the 3 and not taking a step back. Too old to try and modify to get great sound. Plus can't hear worth a *sugar* anymore after all my Rush concerts...
Looking forward to getting the 3 and not taking a step back. Too old to try and modify to get great sound. Plus can't hear worth a *sugar* anymore after all my Rush concerts...
erthquake
Active Member
Thanks for all the detail Blurry! One question, how is the SPLnFFT app calculating the low frequencies? I thought iPhone mics rolled off below 100 Hz? Are you using an external mic?
I had my Model 3 audio system upgraded recently by Reus (the first 3 for them), and posted about it here:
Reus audio upgrade for Model 3
It sounds pretty awesome....They put in a single 10" subwoofer in a customer enclosure in the trunk, hid the amp to the right where the smaller Tesla subwoofer is installed, installed a tweeter on the back of the rear view mirror, and replaced the drivers above the doors...It sounds terrific...They do good work there...
Reus audio upgrade for Model 3
It sounds pretty awesome....They put in a single 10" subwoofer in a customer enclosure in the trunk, hid the amp to the right where the smaller Tesla subwoofer is installed, installed a tweeter on the back of the rear view mirror, and replaced the drivers above the doors...It sounds terrific...They do good work there...
mcghee33
Member
timk225
Active Member
Then it would kill my phones data usage, I only have a 2GB per month plan and usually don't even use that much.
Does the Model 3 have an AUX input anywhere? Someone mentioned using a USB stick, is there a way for a Sirius received to plug into the car and play over its speakers?
Plus, I shouldn't have to use the phone to listen to the radio in the car.
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9erDog
Member
Blurry - appreciate the detailed review. Can you please tell us what music tracks you have listened to on the system? What are your music preferences?
Thanks again.
Thanks again.
