My Reus sound system install: Photos and comments

[adiggs]

Art - did your car start with the Tesla upgraded audio, and then Reus build on that, or did you start with the stock / minimal audio, or did Reus replace most / all of the components? I'm trying to get a feel for how I would order my car (looking ahead to Model X) if I wanted it to get this level of treatment, and minimize what I spend (and toss) on audio components.

Thanks for the writeup - good info!

 

[artsci]

Art - did your car start with the Tesla upgraded audio, and then Reus build on that, or did you start with the stock / minimal audio, or did Reus replace most / all of the components? I'm trying to get a feel for how I would order my car (looking ahead to Model X) if I wanted it to get this level of treatment, and minimize what I spend (and toss) on audio components.

Thanks for the writeup - good info!

I had the premium system to start,which comes with a sub and other more advanced features. Reus built on that. But I'm quite sure the ordering options have changed so my experience may not be appropriate for buyers today.

 

[Mayhemm]

Anybody get a Reus install with SiriusXM?

I second this. Only reason I'm getting the upgraded Tesla audio on my car is for the satellite radio option.

If Reus could add Sirius instead of XM (as in the Tesla system) I would drive all the way down to California from Canada to get it without hesitation.

I know sat radio is a crappy source but I do a lot of driving in dead zones (no Slacker, TuneIn, or internet radio service) and Sat is the only thing that works (and keeps me sane)

 

[andrewket]

What programming is on Sirius and not XM? We have both and I haven't noticed much of a difference. To be fair, I hardly use it in the MS (use slacker).

 

[Mayhemm]

What programming is on Sirius and not XM? We have both and I haven't noticed much of a difference. To be fair, I hardly use it in the MS (use slacker).

It's not a matter of programming (The stuff I listen to is on both services). It's a matter of signal strength. The Sirius satellites are situated more northerly and therefore get better coverage in my area. Only when I park inside a building do I lose my signal. With XM, I lose my signal if I park near a building, or if it's cloudy, or if it's sunny, etc, etc.

Plus, I already have a Sirius account, so I qualify for a discounted rate.

 

[Jhall118]

Sorry for the bump, but didn't want to start a new thread.

I plan on getting some variety of the Reus system in my P85+. I heard a system and was blown away, and don't find Tesla's upgrade worth how much they are charging for it.

There's no reason the Reus upgrade won't work on the normal system right? I just won't have Satellite radio, which is fine with me.

 

[artsci]

Sorry for the bump, but didn't want to start a new thread.

I plan on getting some variety of the Reus system in my P85+. I heard a system and was blown away, and don't find Tesla's upgrade worth how much they are charging for it.

There's no reason the Reus upgrade won't work on the normal system right? I just won't have Satellite radio, which is fine with me.

It works fine on the normal system but the options are fewer.

 

[jvonbokel]

View attachment 28095

Is that the charger beneath the rear passenger seat? It looks like there's a corresponding empty space on the driver's side for the 2nd charger.

 

[artsci]

Is that the charger beneath the rear passenger seat? It looks like there's a corresponding empty space on the driver's side for the 2nd charger.

Yes, that's right.

 

[aaronw]

Great write up. I'm having the 2.SS with the optional sub installed this Friday. I tend to listen to classical and classic rock and look forward to the upgrade. I am rather disappointed at how the sound studio system grows muddy at higher volumes and lacks the depth it should have. I rip my own music to flac for listening.

 

[artsci]

Great write up. I'm having the 2.SS with the optional sub installed this Friday. I tend to listen to classical and classic rock and look forward to the upgrade. I am rather disappointed at how the sound studio system grows muddy at higher volumes and lacks the depth it should have. I rip my own music to flac for listening.

You should be very happy with the Reus system.

 

[bareyb]

Great write up. I'm having the 2.SS with the optional sub installed this Friday. I tend to listen to classical and classic rock and look forward to the upgrade. I am rather disappointed at how the sound studio system grows muddy at higher volumes and lacks the depth it should have. I rip my own music to flac for listening.

You can get a much better sound out of the stock Alpine system with a few tweaks. It won't get you any more power, but it definitely helps with the Bass contour (better mid bass) and midrange quality.

1. Turn off Dolby
2. Fade to the rear to -11
3. Turn Bass up to +2
4. Turn Midrange down to -3
5. Leave Treble at +0
6. Enjoy.

 

[Blurry_Eyed]

You should be very happy with the Reus system.

+1 - I have a 3+ SOTA system and just love it! To adjust my EQ on the touchscreen, I ripped this Disc and use the Chromatic scale to balance out the frequency response - Rooms | Stereophile.com The sweep starts out at 32.7hz and the bass response is perfect with my setup. I'm sure it extends easily below 20Hz with my setup (but I haven't tested it with any frequency sweep material) and with the control that Reus provides on the side of the drivers seat to control the bass response, you can easily adjust your bass response on the fly as the quality of your source material changes.

I have noticed that over time, as Tesla has pushed out firmware updates, I've had to change the EQ on the touchscreen to keep my overall frequency response smooth. The frequencey sweep referenced in the link above has worked out great to help me do that and I feel like the firmware updates have improved both the stock audio system as well as my Reus system.

 

[Merrill]

+1 - I have a 3+ SOTA system and just love it! To adjust my EQ on the touchscreen, I ripped this Disc and use the Chromatic scale to balance out the frequency response - Rooms | Stereophile.com The sweep starts out at 32.7hz and the bass response is perfect with my setup. I'm sure it extends easily below 20Hz with my setup (but I haven't tested it with any frequency sweep material) and with the control that Reus provides on the side of the drivers seat to control the bass response, you can easily adjust your bass response on the fly as the quality of your source material changes.

I have noticed that over time, as Tesla has pushed out firmware updates, I've had to change the EQ on the touchscreen to keep my overall frequency response smooth. The frequencey sweep referenced in the link above has worked out great to help me do that and I feel like the firmware updates have improved both the stock audio system as well as my Reus system.

Can you explain to me in laymens terms how the test cd works, sounds interesting, wonder if I can use this on my Reus system,
Thanks, Merrill

 

[Blurry_Eyed]

Can you explain to me in laymens terms how the test cd works, sounds interesting, wonder if I can use this on my Reus system,
Thanks, Merrill

The track I tend to use is track 16 - The Chromatic scale track. I play the track and listen to how balanced the sound is at each note and adjust the EQ on the touch screen to try to get an even sound level from each point in the scale. What the Chromatic scale track does is basically play individual notes ranging from the low notes to the high notes in a scale. It's like you have someone in the car singing notes in a scale and you can hear how each note sounds. I like it because it lets you hear individual notes rather than a big sweep up and down the frequency spectrum.

From a nuts and bolts perspective, I used iTunes to rip the entire Test CD to individual AIFF audio files encoded at a 44.1kHz sample rate and 1411kbps data rate. I put the tracks on a USB stick and plug that into the USB ports in the car. If you want to get a sense of how different sound levels impact your frequency response, set everything to flat (0) in your car EQ controls and put the sound positioning to the middle (0 front/back and 0 left/right). Also try listening to the system with Dolby on and off so you get a sense of how it impacts your frequency response. I tend to listen to my system at the top end of the '4' volume level, but will also listen to it at up to about the top end of '6'. For my system I've found that there isn't much change in frequency response from 4 to 6 volume levels. I also tend to listen to content now with Dolby on. Previously, the Dolby implementation did not produce pleasing results for me and I listened to it with it off, but some recent firmware updates that Tesla has pushed have modified the entire audio system and I now like the results I get with Dolby on for the majority of content I listen to.

To figure out what particular frequency band your EQ controls (Low/Mid/High) are impacting in your particular system, try both boosting and cutting the band on the touch screen (go to +12.0 for one listening pass and then try going to -12.0 for another pass). Once you get a sense of the range of notes it's impacting, play concentrate on getting that range as even as possible with the high frequencies. Don't be afraid to reduce the sound level in a particular band. We can tend to think I have to boost something to get it balanced. Reducing a sound level can be even more effective on occasion. That being said, for my system I have it set as follows:

Dolby on
Fader controls centered to the middle of the car (0,0)
Low EQ +4.5
Mid EQ + 1.5
High EQ -0.5
I can't give you a reading on the bass knob control on the drivers seat that Reus installed, but my guess is I have it turned up about 30% from the lowest level. But I will vary that depending on the content.

The Test CD is a good one overall because there are a variety of tracks that contain both music content and test tones to play over your system. It can give you a sense of how accurate and smooth your system response is and then you can verify it with high quality musical content that the disc contains.

Let me know if you need more detail and I'll do my best to give you more info to help you out.

 

[RonMathMD]

Reus with Sound Studio vs standard?

Art - did your car start with the Tesla upgraded audio, and then Reus build on that, or did you start with the stock / minimal audio, or did Reus replace most / all of the components? I'm trying to get a feel for how I would order my car (looking ahead to Model X) if I wanted it to get this level of treatment, and minimize what I spend (and toss) on audio components.

Thanks for the writeup - good info!

Thinking about ordering a P85 but considering options for audio. Would it be better for me to order the standard audio and do the Reus upgrade or pay the $3500 to Tesla instead of Reus? Paying for the Sound Studio option and then doing the $3700 Reus option makes the audio in the Tesla $7200! Ouch!

Has anyone done the Reus level 2 or 3 upgrade to the standard audio system? I realize I would sacrifice XM, but that's no big deal for me.

I also wish there was an AUX input so I could at least play an iPod through the system.

 

[artsci]

Thinking about ordering a P85 but considering options for audio. Would it be better for me to order the standard audio and do the Reus upgrade or pay the $3500 to Tesla instead of Reus? Paying for the Sound Studio option and then doing the $3700 Reus option makes the audio in the Tesla $7200! Ouch!

Has anyone done the Reus level 2 or 3 upgrade to the standard audio system? I realize I would sacrifice XM, but that's no big deal for me.

I also wish there was an AUX input so I could at least play an iPod through the system.

You should really talk to Reus about this. I'm really not sure about the answer.

 

[Merrill]

Thinking about ordering a P85 but considering options for audio. Would it be better for me to order the standard audio and do the Reus upgrade or pay the $3500 to Tesla instead of Reus? Paying for the Sound Studio option and then doing the $3700 Reus option makes the audio in the Tesla $7200! Ouch!

Has anyone done the Reus level 2 or 3 upgrade to the standard audio system? I realize I would sacrifice XM, but that's no big deal for me.

I also wish there was an AUX input so I could at least play an iPod through the system.

i did the level 2 with the standard system and love it. The standard system was not even as good as my wife Mbz with the standard Bose system, now I can tell a significant difference.

 

[Jello]

Hi all. I live and work near Studio City. I had Cliff come up and install the 2S system for my Model S, and I love it! I knew right away that it sounded dynamic and full with a broad soundstage, but like all things, I became used to it after a couple of months. I took my Model S to Tesla service yesterday to get rid of "knuckle junk" in the steering components (yes, that's a real term from the Service Center), and I got another Model S loaner, almost identical to mine. Boy did I realize what I was missing. It sounded absolutely dreadful - my wife noticed it, too.

Reus knows what they're doing - trust your car to them, you won't regret it.

 

[theamitsagar]

Does anyone know how the Reus system sounds with lossy sources such as Bluetooth and FM HD? I have the standard system and the soundstage is shallow but I don't want to shell out the money if it lossy sources sound the same because I don't listen to many FLACS, WAVS, etc.