Best Factory Audio Systems?

[Head_Unit]

The default Tesla sound system is suprisingly clean and neutral.

I would concur with that after renting one for a month and a half as noted above. I wonder what the drivers are-the grille goes all across the dash, makes me fantasize maybe there are small drivers all across. Most audio folks are constrained into thinking point source, but there are definitely other DSP driven approaches, like the Apple HomePod or the EAW Anya PA system, which come from a different direction literally. Instead of "where does the sound originate" thinking "what sound do we want to end up where" and manipulating the sources to get that result.

I could never live in place that's noisier than a car

I don't know about that literally in decibels but certainly there are noisy neighborhoods. I remember after being out late trying to sleep in the Plaka area of Athens...not happening. Or a friend's place on Clark Street (famous for lots of bars) in Chicago. What I really meant though was that many many people live in tight situations with very close neighbors and so the only place they can turn the music up to a lively level is literally in their car. (Or headphones, but that's a different experience).

 

[thewas]

An interesting presentation posted by Sean Olive recently:

I will be giving a Keynote talk at the Audio Engineering Society Automotive Audio Conference on the 2nd day called:

"The Evolution of Automotive Sound-Quality Evaluation ---- Four Decades of Listening Panels, Measurement Technologies and Predictive Engineering"

It has been fascinating learning how the industry has changed over 4 decades in terms of methodologies, research and technology used to measure the objective and subjective sound quality of audio systems.

Compared to headphones and loudspeakers. consumers prefer much more bass in cars still today -- but maybe consumers too have evolved?

I found this 1986 article in Audio magazine where they measured the Lincoln Continental premium JBL System. The bass was 23 dB!!! — 13 dB higher than typical premium systems today. That's bass inflation at work but in this case less is more in terms of quality Below is the slide.

The reason we need less bass today is speculative but I suspect there is less noise masking due to quieter cars (less road./engine noise and vibration.Modern cars have speed-dependent dynamic EQ and loudness and some even have ANC. And maybe more knowledge has been gained from research into listener preferences.

This reminds me a bit of the massive bass boost in headphones around 2010's when a well-known brand hit the market. Eventually science. caught up with what consumers prefer in sound and today it’s rare to see headphones with more than 10-12 dB bass. And with ANC there is less need to crank the bass.

https://auto.aes.org/

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sean...-at-the-audio-share-7484435901431930882-betx/

 

[Willem]

I do not particularly care for cars, and don't think decent car audio is possible. So like Frank Dernie I would never pay extra for an upgrade. We listen to talk radio and podcasts to beat the boredom of a long drive, and that is about it. There has been one thing that has improved car audio that has not yet been mentioned, and it is digital radio. In Europe we have DAB+ digital radio replacing traditional FM, and it is a big improvement. And of course with bluetooth streaming from your phone you can listen to whatever is available on Spotify or TuneIn. With our head unit and phones the BT sound is not quite as good as the DAB+, but still better than FM.

 

[Marc v E]

The standard audio system in a volvo v60 is really good. Very enjoyable, better than all systems I heard in vw & audi: neutral, good detail and good bass, although one improvement could be tighter bass.
Probably the size of the subwoofer or the power provided is not enough to tightly control it.

Still very good. I'd say it's quality is somewhere in the region between sonos and a 8030 Genelec system with small sub.

I tried the harman kardon upgrade but thought is was coloured and subjectively worse.

I hear from multiple sources that the premium option of the B&W with many speakers and dsp is very impressive but haven't heard it myself.

 

[Fahzz]

Anybody have thoughts on whether the Harman Kardon upgrade in a new BMW is worth the extra $650? Seems like a reasonable price in light of the cost of audio upgrades in other cars. Thanks.

 

[pablolie]

I wasted a $700 on an upgrade that was unhearable in my Bimmer. the standard seems pretty competent IMO and YMMV.

(went from factory to Focal recommendation.)

 

[makruger]

The best automotive sounds system I have ever listened to was in a base model '21 Acura RDX SUV. It wasn't even the upscale ELS version. In any case, most likely still made by Panasonic and tuned by Elliot Scheiner. It was really quite good.

In contrast, the "upgraded" Harman Kardon badged sound system in my '25 Subaru Legacy sedan pales in comparison to that Acura. In the Subaru I had to drop the bass down 5 levels and adjust the treble up 2 levels just to get the point where was even remotely capable of playing something without completely overwhelming levels of bass. Even after doing all of that, it's still really not very pleasing to listen to. But it's a heck of a lot better than any Subaru base audio system (which should be illegal).

In any event, the "premium" audio package was part of the Sport package with the turbo engine...so it wasn't like I really had a choice. If I wanted the turbo engine, I got the Harman Kardon as well. But looking back, I should have bought a used Genesis G80 instead. Oh well.

 

[Fahzz]

I agree with you, so I just keep my 2020 Acura! LOL.

 

[Fahzz]

I agree with you, so I just keep my 2020 Acura! LOL.

When I looked into this I found a cottage industry devoted to upgrading BMW sound systems. One which i will explore

 

[VientoB]

Has anyone tried using EQ? I asked Gemini to give me a parametric EQ profile for my MG HS and it did a pretty good job. I play my music from my phone using the USB Audio Pro app with the Toneboosters Parametric EQ add-on. I think it still needs fine tuning but I probably need to do a frequency sweep and let AI have a look at that.

 

[Fahzz]

Can I get some opinions/experience on whether an amp with DSP is something that should be considered in upgrading the audio system? To me it's still a car not a listening room, but I'm interested in what others might have to say. I do know it increases the cost substantially. Thanks.

 

[VientoB]

Can I get some opinions/experience on whether an amp with DSP is something that should be considered in upgrading the audio system? To me it's still a car not a listening room, but I'm interested in what others might have to say. I do know it increases the cost substantially. Thanks.

DSP is the way to go imo. Why spend mega bucks on expensive speakers for the inside of a car which has loads of glass next to your ears?

 

[10PSPMemSticksForMiku2007]

Can I get some opinions/experience on whether an amp with DSP is something that should be considered in upgrading the audio system? To me it's still a car not a listening room, but I'm interested in what others might have to say. I do know it increases the cost substantially. Thanks.

DSP tuning is important because the car is not a listening room. It's part of a quality installation but it doesn't have to be that expensive.

You can't sit in the stereo triangle while driving, so you need to bring the sound into focus.

Imaging is improved so much when all driver locations have the correct timing and volume level at your listening location. Bass response will improve with all woofers in phase. Digital delay is the only way to get time alignment in the driver's seat.

Beyond that, you can also do loudness compensation, try different target curves, quickly develop crossover settings, etc.

You can get dsp cheap on a regular computer. Computer+8ch dac could be $100-200. Raspberry pis can act as your Bluetooth reciever and dsp.

Compared to an integrated dsp amp, you can use a computer with simple amps that are cheaper but more powerful. Save money but get a better result.

Its not as compact or easy to integrate with head units, especially factory ones, but find the tradeoffs for the computer method more than worth it.

I use an old pc tablet instead of a head unit. Just foobar and equalizerapo -> usb sound card -> amps.
Limited to 8 channels and 2 volts input/output with the common usb sound cards, but otherwise very flexible and easy to program. You can play surround sound flacs in my car, for example. Most automotive products won't do that.

I should add that DSP lets you make the most of your configuration but the physical installation with good driver locations, woofer mounting, noise reduction, etc is still paramount.

 

[VientoB]

DSP tuning is important because the car is not a listening room. It's part of a quality installation but it doesn't have to be that expensive.

You can't sit in the stereo triangle while driving, so you need to bring the sound into focus.

Imaging is improved so much when all driver locations have the correct timing and volume level at your listening location. Bass response will improve with all woofers in phase. Digital delay is the only way to get time alignment in the driver's seat.

Beyond that, you can also do loudness compensation, try different target curves, quickly develop crossover settings, etc.

You can get dsp cheap on a regular computer. Computer+8ch dac could be $100-200. Raspberry pis can act as your Bluetooth reciever and dsp.

Compared to an integrated dsp amp, you can use a computer with simple amps that are cheaper but more powerful. Save money but get a better result.

Its not as compact or easy to integrate with head units, especially factory ones, but find the tradeoffs for the computer method more than worth it.

I use an old pc tablet instead of a head unit. Just foobar and equalizerapo -> usb sound card -> amps.
Limited to 8 channels and 2 volts input/output with the common usb sound cards, but otherwise very flexible and easy to program. You can play surround sound flacs in my car, for example. Most automotive products won't do that.

I should add that DSP lets you make the most of your configuration but the physical installation with good driver locations, woofer mounting, noise reduction, etc is still paramount.

DSP can be used to tune the frequency response. That was the whole point of my post.