Has anyone managed to do a comparison between the stock audio option and the ultra high fidelity sound upgrade? I am curious to find out if the upgrade is worth the price but there is no showroom unit available. My music interests are classical music and 80-90's pops.
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Not worth for scoring from 50 to 60. Still far behind from expection for spending at HK$19,000.
timidri
Member
Classical music lover here. We did listen to some tracks in an UHF-equipped Tesla before ordering and didn't think the upgrade was worth it. Most people you will read here say UHF is vastly superior because of the better bass (no wonder since it includes a subwoofer). But for classical music immersion is much more important and personally I found it lacking.
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Agree. Subwoofer is not for music at all. For home cinema system, yes, but it does not belong to any HIFI system since it will completely destroy the sound resolution and balance. There is laterally no HIFI audio system that has a subwoofer as a component.
timidri
Member
Although car audio cannot really achieve the undistorted reproduction a good HiFi set has, it can IMHO give a better immersion than Tesla's UHF. For example, my Alfa 166 had an excellent audio system which was a pleasure to listen to.
I tested stock vs. UHF on 1-2 a Canto pop tracks and felt the primary difference is a more noticeable bass. Went with stock on my 70D and have no complaints at all. There's bound to be a test drive vehicle with/without UHF, maybe towards close of business, as that's how I did my comparison at Sai Ying Poon.
Although I haven't done a side-by-side comparison, I believe a key decision factor is the quality of your source material. If you mostly listen to the radio and lossy MP3s, then the upgrade isn't going to be worth it. In fact, some high-quality HiFi components (not sure the Tesla upgrade can be included in that category) can make such material sound worse precisely because the higher quality components make it so transparent that the quality of the source material is poor.
I got the upgrade... Mainly listen to Apple Music or sportily connecting with Bluetooth.. Not impressive at all as compare to my previous Range Rover evoque
it seems the moov lossless audio doesn't work with Bluetooth streaming as I suspect the data rate is too high for Bluetooth... I always get distortion
so the problem I think is with Bluetooth connection u can't play lossless music and without lossless music the upgrade is useless .. So not recommeneded
it seems the moov lossless audio doesn't work with Bluetooth streaming as I suspect the data rate is too high for Bluetooth... I always get distortion
so the problem I think is with Bluetooth connection u can't play lossless music and without lossless music the upgrade is useless .. So not recommeneded
Insight: How Tesla developed the in-car audio system for the Model S saloon | What Hi-Fi?
This has some useful information about Tesla audio.
"The premium set-up is a £2100 option, and here's what you get for the extra outlay:• A 'daughterboard' as part of the Tesla head unit with seven amplifier channels developing 240W power output (5x40W for the 8cm midrange speakers, 2x20W for the 3cm tweeters).
• An additional 'booster' amplifier with five amplifier channels delivering 320W (2x80W for the 20cm woofers in the front doors, 1x80W for the 25 litre subwoofer in the boot and 2x40W for the surround 16cm speakers in the back).
• That's a total of 12 channels of amplification delivering 560W maximum power.
The more basic standard audio system does without the left and right midrange speakers in the top of the dashboard, the 25 litre subwoofer, the rear surround speakers, the additional booster amplifier and the woofers in the front doors are replaced with 16.5cm speakers. Both systems include DAB radio as standard.
"There is no Pro-Logic or other surround sound processing used in the system, the rear speakers - like those in the front - playing in stereo. It's clear Fabry and Hensgens are not big fans of 5.1 surround sound for in-car audio, preferring to make the best of the stereo signal for all the occupants.
Also see Germany’s Auto Motor
This has some useful information about Tesla audio.
"The premium set-up is a £2100 option, and here's what you get for the extra outlay:• A 'daughterboard' as part of the Tesla head unit with seven amplifier channels developing 240W power output (5x40W for the 8cm midrange speakers, 2x20W for the 3cm tweeters).
• An additional 'booster' amplifier with five amplifier channels delivering 320W (2x80W for the 20cm woofers in the front doors, 1x80W for the 25 litre subwoofer in the boot and 2x40W for the surround 16cm speakers in the back).
• That's a total of 12 channels of amplification delivering 560W maximum power.
The more basic standard audio system does without the left and right midrange speakers in the top of the dashboard, the 25 litre subwoofer, the rear surround speakers, the additional booster amplifier and the woofers in the front doors are replaced with 16.5cm speakers. Both systems include DAB radio as standard.
"There is no Pro-Logic or other surround sound processing used in the system, the rear speakers - like those in the front - playing in stereo. It's clear Fabry and Hensgens are not big fans of 5.1 surround sound for in-car audio, preferring to make the best of the stereo signal for all the occupants.
Also see Germany’s Auto Motor
I agree. I still have hard time justifying the upgrade since UHF I tested with my classical music tracks is still worse than my Ford Fiesta ST original audio... Hard to believe huh? The upgrade itself is 10% of Ford FiST retail price.
Mr.Grumpy: I went to the showroom at Sai Ying Pun when there aren't any other customers. It might be just that they don't want to do it.
One thing though, there are aftermarket solutions that claim to improve the audio quality significantly that's built on top of the UHF option. It would be interesting to find out how much it costs locally if we fit in an aftermarket hi-fi without the UHF option.
REUS audio — Reus audio upgrade | Forums | Tesla Motors
Lightharmonic — Premium Audio for Tesla Model S by Light Harmonic
REUS audio — Reus audio upgrade | Forums | Tesla Motors
Lightharmonic — Premium Audio for Tesla Model S by Light Harmonic
I did compare the stock audio on the loaner S60 to my UHD using FLAC for various types of music. The stock audio lacks punch and clarity. While UHD is not as impressive as some of the other premium sound systems (eg. Meridian on Jaguar, etc.), I think that it is still worthwhile given that it is priced quite reasonably.
To summarize then,
If you don't care much about sound, DON'T get the upgrade.
If you don't have high quality source material (lossless or very high bitrate MP3 files), then DON'T get the upgrade.
If you care about sound, have high quality source materials, but don't want to deal with aftermarket options, then GET the upgrade but manage your expectations.
If you care about sound, have high quality source materials, and are willing to spend a lot for the better sound, then SKIP the upgrade and GO AFTERMARKET.
If you don't care much about sound, DON'T get the upgrade.
If you don't have high quality source material (lossless or very high bitrate MP3 files), then DON'T get the upgrade.
If you care about sound, have high quality source materials, but don't want to deal with aftermarket options, then GET the upgrade but manage your expectations.
If you care about sound, have high quality source materials, and are willing to spend a lot for the better sound, then SKIP the upgrade and GO AFTERMARKET.
Good summary. Thanks.
I first wanted to have UHF when making the order but have decided not to take it because I listen to the radio most of the time when driving.
