One issue I‘ve had with my Model Y compared to my old Model 3 is that there’s hardly any bass at all from the audio system, it wasn’t amazing in the M3, but it was noticeably better than the MY. If I turn the bass and sub sliders all the way up then there is some bass, but it’s very muddy sounding, and still virtually no punchy bass on bass drum sounds from rock music etc. I’m not wanting massive earth shattering bass, I’m far too old for that now, but I would like to feel my music.
I realised that whereas the M3 had some vent holes in the boot side panel where the subwoofer is housed, the MY has none, the panel is completely sealed, and the carpet sections are much more rigid than the flimsy M3 ones; which reminded of the time I fitted my 12” sub box in the boot of my E46 3 Series and got virtually no bass untill I removed a section of the metal bulkhead between the boot and passenger compartment!
I have now cut a hole in the side panel, on the horizontal section, so you will never see it, unless you stick your head underneath, and my initial findings are that it makes a big difference to the bass! Below are photos of where I have cut the hole (I will neaten up the edges with a file).
Now I could leave it there, but after some research it appears that this 8” Kicker dual voice coil subwoofer should fit in the factory sub enclosure as a direct replacement for the existing sub, and should run off the Tesla amplifier, the Kicker sub needs minimum 150 watts, and the original sub inputs are 2x 80 watts (dual voice coil sub), giving at least 160 watts total. It is likely that the Tesla amp output is a single 80 watt 4 ohm output which is internally connected in parallel, meaning the stock subs two 4 ohm inputs become 2 ohm total, which doubles the amp output to 160 watts. The sub is only £109, so I’ve ordered one to see if it makes a decent improvement.
kickeruk.com
Here is somebody else’s photo of a similar Kicker sub (a single voice coil one, to be used with an aftermarket amp) fitted into the factory sub enclosure.
Also, to get even more bass then it will be fairly easy to add an amplifier to the sub, would need to run a positive cable from the terminal under the rear seat bench, but the rest of the required cables etc. are all behind that boot panel.
I will keep this project updated, if anyone is interested.
I realised that whereas the M3 had some vent holes in the boot side panel where the subwoofer is housed, the MY has none, the panel is completely sealed, and the carpet sections are much more rigid than the flimsy M3 ones; which reminded of the time I fitted my 12” sub box in the boot of my E46 3 Series and got virtually no bass untill I removed a section of the metal bulkhead between the boot and passenger compartment!
I have now cut a hole in the side panel, on the horizontal section, so you will never see it, unless you stick your head underneath, and my initial findings are that it makes a big difference to the bass! Below are photos of where I have cut the hole (I will neaten up the edges with a file).
Now I could leave it there, but after some research it appears that this 8” Kicker dual voice coil subwoofer should fit in the factory sub enclosure as a direct replacement for the existing sub, and should run off the Tesla amplifier, the Kicker sub needs minimum 150 watts, and the original sub inputs are 2x 80 watts (dual voice coil sub), giving at least 160 watts total. It is likely that the Tesla amp output is a single 80 watt 4 ohm output which is internally connected in parallel, meaning the stock subs two 4 ohm inputs become 2 ohm total, which doubles the amp output to 160 watts. The sub is only £109, so I’ve ordered one to see if it makes a decent improvement.
CompR 8" Dual Voice Coil Subwoofer - 4 Ohm
The KICKER 8" CompR subwoofer is the very model of power and reliability. Play them loud. Play them hard. Play them all day. They love it as much as you do.
kickeruk.com
Here is somebody else’s photo of a similar Kicker sub (a single voice coil one, to be used with an aftermarket amp) fitted into the factory sub enclosure.
Also, to get even more bass then it will be fairly easy to add an amplifier to the sub, would need to run a positive cable from the terminal under the rear seat bench, but the rest of the required cables etc. are all behind that boot panel.
I will keep this project updated, if anyone is interested.
