Show us your Aftermarket Stereo Mods

[Excaliber]

Anyone else upgrade their stereo with Aftermarket stuff?
Although the OEM stereo in the Plaid is pretty good I upgraded it by building a sub box for the trunk
and added 2 x 12" Skar 800 watt rms Subs with a 700 watt rms CT Mono Amp
along with an extra battery and some breakers
I also added some Skar 1' tweeters and Infinity Kappa 2" midranges
and used a small Kicker 200 watt amp for those.
I made the midrange enclosures from some 3" ABS street elbows.
I have Schoshe level controls for the Subs and Tweeter Midranges.
I set the Tesla EQ with a downward slope so I can use my tweeters subs and midranges to
dial in my tones.
Now it really Rocks !











LC2i line convertors 1 for subs and 1 for Tweeters and Midranges.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Is that a farm truck?

 

[Excaliber]

Is that a farm truck?

Ha Ha everybody's a comedian



Just want to see what others have done for Aftermarket Stereo.

 

[Sam1]

Think I would personally be replacing existing components and not bolting on attachments.

 

[Excaliber]

Think I would personally be replacing existing components and not bolting on attachments.

Well that's another way to do it but

You wouldn't get the Bass that 2 12's give you
or fingertip level tone controls.

 

[Sam1]

You wouldn't get the Bass that 2 12's give you
or fingertip level tone controls.

Agree you have more bass for sure, but the car has 20 speakers other than that. The subs are irrelevant because they're hidden. The other speakers bolted on the dash look terrible IMHO. But I'm sure there are things on my car you may not like, we all have opinions.

 

[Excaliber]

Agree you have more bass for sure, but the car has 20 speakers other than that. The subs are irrelevant because they're hidden. The other speakers bolted on the dash look terrible IMHO. But I'm sure there are things on my car you may not like, we all have opinions.

The OEM 20 speaker system is pretty good but I wanted more Bass and tone controls at my fingertips.
The tweeters are held on with 2 way 3M tape and some adhesion promoter.
Don't want to drill any holes on the dash.
I had the tweeters up higher but I think
IMO they're pretty unobtrusive now




I used to put tweeters at the tops of the A Pillars until the airbags in my late Trackhawk
blew them across the car when I got spun into a guardrail.

 

[thyname]

With all due respect this is my opinion on the car stereo:

1) Whatever money you spent in the car stereo is useless. Nothing beats the at-home stereo system. Full disclosure: I have more than $100,000 in my home stereo system, and have done it all. Considering road noise and the attention you should pay (In theory) to actually driving, car stereo is a waste of money

2) the stereo system in my 2023 MYP is by far the best stereo system I have ever had. and I have had about 16 cars in my lifetime, including 6 luxury cars

 

[URBAN LEGEND]

The Model S Plaid’s sound system sucks compared to other stock systems I have owned. No one should say the stock system is great. Because it’s not.

 

[Sam1]

With all due respect this is my opinion on the car stereo:

1) Whatever money you spent in the car stereo is useless. Nothing beats the at-home stereo system. Full disclosure: I have more than $100,000 in my home stereo system, and have done it all. Considering road noise and the attention you should pay (In theory) to actually driving, car stereo is a waste of money

2) the stereo system in my 2023 MYP is by far the best stereo system I have ever had. and I have had about 16 cars in my lifetime, including 6 luxury cars

yeah, the system in our 3's and Y are by far the best. Even better than the S - except specifically for the bass, having two subs in the S does help out a lot.

 

[thyname]

The Model S Plaid’s sound system sucks compared to other stock systems I have owned. No one should say the stock system is great. Because it’s not.

Please state the other cars you owned with better stock systems. I am very curious. Make, Model, Year, Tier.

 

[URBAN LEGEND]

Please state the other cars you owned with better stock systems. I am very curious. Make, Model, Year, Tier.

2009 M3, 2012 M5, 2016 M5 Comp, 2018 M3 Comp, 2019 E Tron, 2020 X3M Comp, 2022 RS-E Tron GT and many more. Also others sucked as bad as the Plaid.

For more evidence you can find me on other message boards. Same user name.

If you like yours then all is great. It’s your car. Just like I dislike mine. It’s my car. It’s ok to have different opinions on things. Nothing personal from me.

 

[Excaliber]

With all due respect this is my opinion on the car stereo:

1) Whatever money you spent in the car stereo is useless. Nothing beats the at-home stereo system. Full disclosure: I have more than $100,000 in my home stereo system, and have done it all. Considering road noise and the attention you should pay (In theory) to actually driving, car stereo is a waste of money

2) the stereo system in my 2023 MYP is by far the best stereo system I have ever had. and I have had about 16 cars in my lifetime, including 6 luxury cars

My wife has sensitive hearing and I only listen to tunes in my cars when alone.
I had 5000 watts rms in my Trackhawk.
It used an Ampro Pac harness which is superior to an LC2i but that's not possible in the Tesla

 

[Excaliber]

Please state the other cars you owned with better stock systems. I am very curious. Make, Model, Year, Tier.

I also have a BMW iX M60 EV SUV with a 1600 watt Bowens and Wilkens 30 speaker stereo.
It's superior to the Tesla but only had under seat subs and only speakers in the doors.
So I added subs and tweeters.
The subs sound better and are more consistent in the BMW

 

[cmarshack]

Not going to get into an argument here, but there is no way $30 speakers from Amazon are going to sound better than the OEM especially when you placed them in worse locations than the OEM locations. You placed the mid-range down by your shins when the OE is at the bottom of the A Pillar, more in line with where they need to be and you put your tweeters on the dash when the OE tweeters are at the top of the A pillar, in line with your ears.

If you wanted to upgrade the sound system, why didn't you just replace the OE speakers, which are in much better locations as it pertain to acoustics?

I will not comment on the subs.

 

[Excaliber]

Not going to get into an argument here, but there is no way $30 speakers from Amazon are going to sound better than the OEM especially when you placed them in worse locations than the OEM locations. You placed the mid-range down by your shins when the OE is at the bottom of the A Pillar, more in line with where they need to be and you put your tweeters on the dash when the OE tweeters are at the top of the A pillar, in line with your ears.

If you wanted to upgrade the sound system, why didn't you just replace the OE speakers, which are in much better locations as it pertain to acoustics?

I will not comment on the subs.

My speaker locations are fine.
It all blends together nicely.
There is no other good place to put 2" mids in 3" enclosures and they are in almost
direct line to my ears.
They are extra on top of the oem tweeters and midranges.
I didn't want to replace them.
The Skar tweeters sound just as good as the 200.00 Hertz tweeters I have in my BMW.
I used to put tweeters tucked in at the tops of the A Pillars until they got blown across the
car by the side curtain airbags when my Trackhawk got spun into a guard rail.
I don't want to drill holes in the A Pillars.
I have bumped up the oem 985 watts to 1700 watts mostly with the extra subs.
Replacing the oem speakers won't give me analog tone level control knobs
or higher volumes.
The 2 x 12 subs really rock compared to the oems
Like an earthquake sometimes which is why subs need level control knobs at your fingertips
I like to adjust for every song when the volume is at 9-11.
I'm happy with my stereo mods.
There's companies that sell sub kits for Teslas but my setup is better.

 

[cmarshack]

"...They are extra on top of the oem tweeters and midranges."

Wouldn't this completely negate your external tone controls?

 

[Excaliber]

Wouldn't this completely negate your external tone controls?

Not at all.
I set my higher oem tones low and adjust the levels up with my tone controls.
Trust me it works great.
It's nice to be able to adjust the Bass and Treble instantly without having to use the touch screen.

 

[maximizese]

With all due respect this is my opinion on the car stereo:

1) Whatever money you spent in the car stereo is useless. Nothing beats the at-home stereo system. Full disclosure: I have more than $100,000 in my home stereo system, and have done it all. Considering road noise and the attention you should pay (In theory) to actually driving, car stereo is a waste of money

2) the stereo system in my 2023 MYP is by far the best stereo system I have ever had. and I have had about 16 cars in my lifetime, including 6 luxury cars

Haha, I'll one-up you and say that money spent on home audio systems is useless as well when you compare it to the live in-person experience while center-seated at the Hollywood Bowl or Disney Concert Hall with the LA Philharmonic or Hollywood Bowl Orchestra playing. They do screenings of blockbusters such as "Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Jaws, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, E.T, Star Wars, etc". It leans more John Williams heavy but that man is a living legend. I highly recommend it from either the Terrace Box seats or Super seats.

It's a completely different experience hearing a live arrangement and so much richer and brighter than the studio recorded soundtrack. The Rebel/Ewok battle on Endor has the strings section going nuts for a full straight 6 minutes...my wife and I joked that we thought the violins were going catch fire.

I spent a couple thousand on my home audio and will gladly admit it sounds like junk compared to a live chamber assemble or even my cousin-quartet (granted 3 of them are professional musicians and professors). As for the Tesla, our 11/13 built base audio with MCU2 could use an upgrade. I'd love to use bigger woofers at the front door, add a class D amp with DSP, and add some sound deadening material to the front doors and wheel well areas. I'm trying to keep it under $2K.

EDIT: Even more extra is when the LA Phil performs with acts like Ludacris, Janet Jackson, Christina Aguilera, Cafe Tacvba, and Duran Duran.

 

[Excaliber]

Going to a show is nice but for daily driving I like the Amusement Park quality of a powerful stereo with lots of Bass.