what is the consensus on the upgraded sound system? is it a must get option or can it be passed on?
sound system upgrade
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Larry Chanin
President, Florida Tesla Enthusiasts
Marc,
I am not an audiophile, but I greatly enjoy my upgraded sound system. I do not regret getting the upgrade, but I am big on proper surround sound and unfortunately surround processing was not well implemented in the Model S. In fact, most people turn off the Dolby Pro Logic option.
Being able to tell the car what to play via Slacker Radio is fantastic, but I'm not sure if that feature is part of the sound upgrade or not.
It's difficult for me to say whether you should pass on the sound upgrade, but in my opinion there are other more important options, such as the Tech Package.
Larry
I have the upgrade, and have listened to both. The upgrade is definitely worth the money if you listen to uncompressed music, e.g. FLAC recordings through the USB port. If you primarily listen to MP3 recordings or "internet" sources, you probably won't hear much difference.
I really like mine. As Trouble has said: use FLAC. Note that if you like a sound system where mostly what you hear is bass, then you'll be disappointed. Also it's garbage in-garbage out so if you are listening to low quality recordings, they will sound bad.
I have the upgraded sound system and have driven loaners several times without the sound system. Like Larry and Jerry, I very much like the upgraded sound system and consider it excellent. If money is an object, however, IMO it can be passed on. Note though, if you have a decent ear you will notice the standard sound system is unable to reproduce bass frequencies with fidelity or amplitude regardless how you set the EQ or fade.
On the other hand by playing around with the EQ and fade the upgraded sound system can be tailored to most people's complete satisfaction. For the minority who find Tesla's upgraded sound system inadequate, after market upgrades costing several thousand dollars more are available.
On the other hand by playing around with the EQ and fade the upgraded sound system can be tailored to most people's complete satisfaction. For the minority who find Tesla's upgraded sound system inadequate, after market upgrades costing several thousand dollars more are available.
SeminoleFSU
Voluntaryist
At the old price, worth it. New price.. Meh. I'd do aftermarket if I bought again today with the new pricing
It's certainly true that the new pricing makes it much less appealing. Having some aftermarket person mess with my car isn't all that appealing either, and if they mess something up it will probably be impossible to ever make it right again.
^^ this!
I highly recommend the upgraded sound system. The last thing I want to do is take delivery of my beautiful car, just to have it torn apart by some audio guy putting in new speakers and relays. No way.
SeminoleFSU
Voluntaryist
I would agree with that if it hadn't been done, but there's plenty of folks online who've taken lots of photos of their work.. and there's at least one S owner here in Atlanta with an aftermarket custom sub and he's pleased with the work. I would probably start by getting a quote from where he went.
I think the upgrade is definitely worth it, I too am hesitant to have anyone mess with the car other than a Tesla tec. Compared to an old Jetta with monsoon sound and a booster amp and the JBL in our hybrid highlander, even the upgraded sound on the tesla lacks the true ability to fade to center and lacks some in the fidelity department considering the horsepower of the system, and not just the bass. I believe it's a design constraint mostly in positioning of the speakers, turned up, so close to the windshield. I'm tall, so that puts me back away from speakers, adjusting fade simply cuts out more of the fidelity. I find myself sometimes wanting to lean forward to find the center. I just wish I could reach into the dashboard and pull out some of the speakers and rearrange them around the car. I've driven quite a few loaners and have owned two S's so far. There is one thing I'd suggest watching out for. On my old S and one loaner so far, it appears that on occasion a car is produced with something especially bad about the sound. Not sure if it's a blown fuse for the subwoofer (has been known to happen and is difficult to determine) or what, but some % definitely have sub par sound, the volume is muted, and the tell tale sign, from what I can gather, is that when you fade the sound back, it suddenly cuts out. my current car does not do this and I'm much happier with the one I now have. I've seen one bad loaner so far that had this. any mention to service about this issue gets a blank stare. to me, the sound system of a car really has a huge influence on the customer experience of the car overall. I think Tesla needs to identify what the issue is... if they could fix this on the few that are truly dismal, it would help those owners feel much better about the ownership experience, IMHO. In the long run, I hope they reposition the sound system in future iterations. right now it feels a bit like it's styling at the expense of fidelity a bit, I'm guessing that they simply wanted to give the inside of the car as clean a look as possible with fewer visible speakers.
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Merrill
Merrill
Just to throw in another point of view, I did not get the upgrade because I had heard it was not all that good. Do not know how the new upgrade sounds, but was not available when I made my purchase. After 3 months of ownership and trying all kinds of transfer options realized the the Bose system in my wife's 99 ML430 was better decided to do aftermarket. What I liked about the Reus system is that you did not have to tear apart the car, it was a less intrusive install. Also I was not looking for anything over the top, just wanted more response and surround sound with some base, wanted my music to sound like it should from the original CD's. So took some of the money I saved not doing the upgrade from the factory and applied it to the Reus system. I have had it since last August and am very happy.
Larry Chanin
President, Florida Tesla Enthusiasts
My understanding is that the Reus system does not do anything with surround sound processing. Is that incorrect? If so, what exactly does Reus do to implement surround processing?
Thanks.
Larry
Personally, I skipped the sound system upgrade, because the car is far too noisy at highway speed to benefit from a higher quality sound system than the default system.
It is an improvement when listening to music while parked or driving around < 40MPH, but I spend 90% of my driving on the highway, so it's not worth the rather large upgrade cost to me.
It is an improvement when listening to music while parked or driving around < 40MPH, but I spend 90% of my driving on the highway, so it's not worth the rather large upgrade cost to me.
Merrill
Merrill
You may be correct, they added a center channel, some tweeters, an equalizer and adjustable woofer. From my point of view it gives the system more of the surround sound, ie; a feeling that the music is not coming from one area, rather enveloping the whole interior of the car.
Remember that if you don't get the upgraded sound you don't get XM or internet radio. I have the upgraded sound I am quite happy with it. Overall the sound is solid and is well balanced. There is a thread on TMC where a gentleman has tested the sound and his results were quite positive.
This choice really falls into the "different strokes for different folks" category and the best way to determine if you want it is to listen to both. I am curious if in the future when Tesla deploys the API and Pandora comes to the car if non sound studio cars will be able to get it.
This choice really falls into the "different strokes for different folks" category and the best way to determine if you want it is to listen to both. I am curious if in the future when Tesla deploys the API and Pandora comes to the car if non sound studio cars will be able to get it.
Somewhere I saw reference to the subwoofer in the upgraded package taking up space in the car somewhere...can someone post a pic or describe? I tried to find it online but couldn't. I need the rear jump seats and just wanted to make sure it didn't interfere with those in any way. Thanks!
Yes, I think that's a lot of the difference. Whether you want sound coming from all around or whether you want a concert hall like sound. The only time I want to the the bass behind me is when I'm on stage.
i thought slacker and tune-in were standard regardless of if you have the sound package or not
The subwoofer goes in the trunk on the right side and doesn't interfere with the footwell of the jump seats.
