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My Experience with Upgrading the Sound System in my 2014 P85

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Hi Everyone.
I wanted to share my recent experience with what started out as an Audio-Enhancement exercise.
My 2014 P85 has everything anyone could ever want from such a great car – except for a quality sound system. So after months of researching, I finally decided on purchasing a complete replacement Audio System from NVX via Sonic Electronix.
I decided on NVX for the simple fact that the owner of the company created a specific build for his Tesla Model S and once he perfected it, he re-packaged and sold it to other Tesla Model S owners. (a bit of Blind faith here)
I chose to procure from Sonic because they were able to accommodate my every requirement in terms of ordering all the hardware from one vendor.
And after searching for a “local” (I searched up to 500 km’s/300 miles away) stereo installation shop, with Tesla experience, and coming up empty handed repeatedly, I decided to work with a company in Newmarket, Ontario Canada called “Custom Audio”. They tricked out a 2006 Pontiac GTO I owned and given the GTO was never sold in Canada there was no one with experience to complete the work required on that car either. Whatever these 2 guys are missing in terms of vehicle specific experience, they more than make up for it with Attention to detail, Competence and Dedication to a quality result. They spent a total of 14 hours installing a completely stealth system running all new wires and leveraging the existing Tesla system as little as possible. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED as "splicing into" the Tesla system was not something I was all that willing to do.


I ordered 2qty NVX installation kits, NVX tweeters and mids for the front, NVX co-ax speakers for the rear, and an NVX 10” sub woofer installed in a perfectly made fibreglass enclosure that matches the Model S perfectly. The system was truly custom created for our cars.


Everything fit exactly as designed with the exception of the tweeters. Something tells me Sonic sold me the wrong pair – but the installer was able to install a pair of JL Audio’s which were a direct replacement for the Tesla Stockers in terms of installation and fit.


Now, for the test…I started playing various tracks via Slacker…and I was astonished at the quality of sound coming from the car. I had it cranked and can honestly say I had never heard such sound come out of any car. I can't wait to get some quality tracks to a USB key and try them out.


Given our options are a bit more limited in the North East vs. Southern US for example, I can say that I found Nirvana in the NVX system, Sonic the retailer, and Custom Audio the installer.


To give you another perspective…
My wife looked at me and said “wow, I didn’t think it was actually possible for you to have an even bigger smile driving this car…”


Yeah…I really Love my Tesla now.
 
Hi Everyone.
I wanted to share my recent experience with what started out as an Audio-Enhancement exercise.
My 2014 P85 has everything anyone could ever want from such a great car – except for a quality sound system. So after months of researching, I finally decided on purchasing a complete replacement Audio System from NVX via Sonic Electronix.
I decided on NVX for the simple fact that the owner of the company created a specific build for his Tesla Model S and once he perfected it, he re-packaged and sold it to other Tesla Model S owners. (a bit of Blind faith here)
I chose to procure from Sonic because they were able to accommodate my every requirement in terms of ordering all the hardware from one vendor.
And after searching for a “local” (I searched up to 500 km’s/300 miles away) stereo installation shop, with Tesla experience, and coming up empty handed repeatedly, I decided to work with a company in Newmarket, Ontario Canada called “Custom Audio”. They tricked out a 2006 Pontiac GTO I owned and given the GTO was never sold in Canada there was no one with experience to complete the work required on that car either. Whatever these 2 guys are missing in terms of vehicle specific experience, they more than make up for it with Attention to detail, Competence and Dedication to a quality result. They spent a total of 14 hours installing a completely stealth system running all new wires and leveraging the existing Tesla system as little as possible. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED as "splicing into" the Tesla system was not something I was all that willing to do.


I ordered 2qty NVX installation kits, NVX tweeters and mids for the front, NVX co-ax speakers for the rear, and an NVX 10” sub woofer installed in a perfectly made fibreglass enclosure that matches the Model S perfectly. The system was truly custom created for our cars.


Everything fit exactly as designed with the exception of the tweeters. Something tells me Sonic sold me the wrong pair – but the installer was able to install a pair of JL Audio’s which were a direct replacement for the Tesla Stockers in terms of installation and fit.


Now, for the test…I started playing various tracks via Slacker…and I was astonished at the quality of sound coming from the car. I had it cranked and can honestly say I had never heard such sound come out of any car. I can't wait to get some quality tracks to a USB key and try them out.


Given our options are a bit more limited in the North East vs. Southern US for example, I can say that I found Nirvana in the NVX system, Sonic the retailer, and Custom Audio the installer.


To give you another perspective…
My wife looked at me and said “wow, I didn’t think it was actually possible for you to have an even bigger smile driving this car…”


Yeah…I really Love my Tesla now.

Did you have premium audio already? Also what was the hardware cost? My biggest disappointment with the car is the audio system (I do not have the ultra high system)
 
Wat do you think about the sound quality and loudness of the sub/enclosure?
Fantastic for 99.9% of people. It really makes a HUGE difference. Unfortunately I am looking for ALOT of thump. As a result, I am looking to add a second 10" sub on the other side. If that's not "enough" bass, I will be looking to add 2 qty 12" subs in the "floor"...under the trap door". That should rattle enough.
 
I recently had Reus Systems install their custom system in my car. Exceptionally clean install, very professional. I went with the two subs in the rear cargo area, amps and new speakers in the a pillar. Door front and rear speakers remain the same. I started with the upgraded system from Tesla so their rear side sub plays more low mid now. For most of today's music, it sounds absolutely terrific. And the low bass response will rattle your brains!


But for many of my older 60 and 70s songs (Beatles in particular), lossless flac, the sound quality is not as vibrant as I had hoped. I think the older songs barely touch the low bass range of the added subs and the remaining stock speakers lack the depth in the lower - mid ranges. Not quite certain how to correct this but wondering if replacing the remains stock door speakers would help.

Any thoughts?
 
I recently had Reus install a sound system in my Model S and I was very impressed with the sound.I would recommend them to anyone looking for a sound upgrade.I think the issue with some of the 60s and 70s sounds is not so much a problem of the playback system and really an issue with the source material.Even in my home sound system I'm not happy with some of the 60s and 70s sound.