RESOLVED Does your front footwell woofer work properly? TSB-B1122-001

[Bocabob]

How do you remove the covers so I can check whether or not they're firing I definitely don't hear them thank you

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Do you not hear anything if you play a 40hz test tone through Tidal or Spotify? If not, that tells you the subs aren’t working because the other speakers cannot play a frequency that low, only the subs can.

 

[BradSholl]

You guys had me worried, so I tested my subs. Working just fine. Pushed the volume to about 80% til the back deck started vibrating a bit. Also triggered the shock/tilt alarm…ha! I wouldn’t have thought that would be active with the car unlocked.

 

[windscar911]

Do you not hear anything if you play a 40hz test tone through Tidal or Spotify? If not, that tells you the subs aren’t working because the other speakers cannot play a frequency that low, only the subs can.

So my car has a massive drop off in bass performance at the 40hz mark. Barely hear anything.

 

[windscar911]

How do you remove the covers so I can check whether or not they're firing I definitely don't hear them thank you

It's the panel directly above your pedals. You need to unscrew it. There are likely clips that you need to be careful about and the ambient light you'll need to unplug.

 

[Bocabob]

thanks !

 

[Bunnylebowski]

So my car has a massive drop off in bass performance at the 40hz mark. Barely hear anything.

Ok I bet one or more of the subs isn’t working or else there’s a problem with the amplifier.

 

[windscar911]

Ok I bet one or more of the subs isn’t working or else there’s a problem with the amplifier.

They're all working as far as i could tell. Not sure why there's such a big drop off in output at the low frequencies.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

They're all working as far as i could tell. Not sure why there's such a big drop off in output at the low frequencies.

Where is your volume knob set to when playing the 40hz tone?

 

[windscar911]

Where is your volume knob set to when playing the 40hz tone?

Around 3/4th. I never get the chest thumps in my car. I played the same frequency sweep audio on my home speakers and right as we drop below 90hz my sub clicks on and around 45 I can start to feel the bass in my chest.

 

[Bocabob]

Around 3/4th. I never get the chest thumps in my car. I played the same frequency sweep audio on my home speakers and right as we drop below 90hz my sub clicks on and around 45 I can start to feel the bass in my chest.

Same here I hear some bass but it is very low vol definably not a thud thud thing all are firing and yes set to 3/4 as above

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Interesting. Put the volume knob in the pic below, open the SPL meter app I posted before, and then play the 40hz test tone track, I’m curious what dB it will show. In the pic below is 79dB.

 

[Bocabob]

Regrettably play time is over for now I'm heading out of town I'll be back on Tuesday ..... I'll get back to my lucid fix as soon as I return.....

 

[tmilone103]

It's possible that there is a programing error in the digital amplifiers and hopefully a software update can improve the sound. My Model S which always sounded better than Lucid, Tesla rolled out an update which greatly improved the subwoofer output. Maybe if enough people complain Lucid might look into it.

 

[MoniputerLM]

It's possible that there is a programing error in the digital amplifiers and hopefully a software update can improve the sound. My Model S which always sounded better than Lucid, Tesla rolled out an update which greatly improved the subwoofer output. Maybe if enough people complain Lucid might look into it.

I hope that it's a software issue. My Lucid's audio system has never sounded as good as any of our other cars. Also, I have to turn the volume way up in the Lucid.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Ok I got to dig deeper into some frequency tests. I don’t think the front firing speakers underneath the dash are true subwoofers but just larger woofers to extend the low frequency range in the front of the car. If you play a test tone at 30 and 35hz you’ll notice the low frequencies from the front of the car drop off noticeably but if you position the audio to the rear, where the true subwoofers are, you’ll hear it more from the rear than front. I think they have a crossover that doesn’t have a steep cutoff allowing surprisingly low frequencies to make it to the front woofers to ease the transition from low frequencies to very low frequencies. The subs themselves are impressive, I can hear them down to 25hz though they drop off pretty steeply at that point. Also you’ll notice certain test tones (for me 50hz and 100hz) will rattle the shit out of that rear sunshade if it’s in the down position. Not much you can do about that. But I think for those of you who are getting concerned listening to the front foot well for low low bass, I don’t think those speakers are true subwoofers, so there’s nothing wrong with the car and the audio is functioning as designed. Plus they don’t look like typical subwoofers in that picture, more like 6-8”woofers? If however you’re playing a 40hz tone and position it to the rear, and volume is at least 75% then you should definitely feel and hear it and if you go into the back seat while it’s positioned back there you’ll hear it enough where it might even be uncomfortable. If not then something is not connected right or is broken.

 

[windscar911]

Ok I got to dig deeper into some frequency tests. I don’t think the front firing speakers underneath the dash are true subwoofers but just larger woofers to extend the low frequency range in the front of the car. If you play a test tone at 30 and 35hz you’ll notice the low frequencies from the front of the car drop off noticeably but if you position the audio to the rear, where the true subwoofers are, you’ll hear it more from the rear than front. I think they have a crossover that doesn’t have a steep cutoff allowing surprisingly low frequencies to make it to the front woofers to ease the transition from low frequencies to very low frequencies. The subs themselves are impressive, I can hear them down to 25hz though they drop off pretty steeply at that point. Also you’ll notice certain test tones (for me 50hz and 100hz) will rattle the shit out of that rear sunshade if it’s in the down position. Not much you can do about that. But I think for those of you who are getting concerned listening to the front foot well for low low bass, I don’t think those speakers are true subwoofers, so there’s nothing wrong with the car and the audio is functioning as designed. Plus they don’t look like typical subwoofers in that picture, more like 6-8”woofers?

Interesting. That does make sense as they don't look like your typical subwoofer.

I'll try sitting in the back and checking how well the rear sub does in terms of frequency response.

 

[ARamsdale]

Okay, time to finally weigh in on this one - it's been bugging the hell out of me after having the car for about 3 weeks now.

I've noticed the womp womp, flat, almost "bottoming out" on kick drum type bass beats to the point that it's pretty annoying, albeit not as bad as the video posted in the thread.

I've tried to isolate the music that is producing the dead thump/blown out/bottoming out sound, and where it's coming from - for me, it sounds like it's coming from just behind me, to the left. Here's a song and test that I did tonight on the drive home: St. Lucia, the song is Physical. Volume up to about 75%. For the sake of hearing the bad kick drum, turn bass up, and turn down the mids and treble. In the drivers seat, I hear it on every kickdrum beat, but almost slightly after - it's almost like the enclosure of the speaker is causing the voice coil to stretch beyond its max, and therefore not providing a nice full, rich tone.

So once I finally got home and pulled into the driveway, I was able to climb out and inspect further. I isolated the thud, at least for me, coming from the speaker that is above the drivers door window, and it seems to actually be resonating through the space in the frame. I can feel the slight vibration of the speaker in conjunction with the bad womp.

Now unfortunately, this isn't the only thing I've noticed... I was trying to move the balance farther away from me to quiet down that speaker, and noticed that when I put the balance towards the back, the volume fades dramatically. I can practically hold a whisper conversation while turning up the volume to 90+%. I realize that when I get in the back, the speakers seem to be VERY directional to the rear speakers, so volume gets better, but I'm surprised that balancing to the back quiets them THAT much. I wouldn't have guessed that a premium sound system would go to 70-80% for normal driving.

Compared to the B&W system in our Volvo, the Harman system in our Polestar... eh, I'm pretty underwhelmed.

I called in a ticket to customer support, but not sure if this is just a mixture of bad design decisions, or something that can be corrected with some software updates.

 

[tmilone103]

This sound system in the GT & Dreams is a $4000 upgrade compared to the standard sound option in the Air Pure. I definitely expected much more for what this system costs.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

I guess there’s no arguing with hyped systems that artificially crank certain things to make mediocre streaming sources sound adequate? Harman Kardon just is not capable of reproducing accurate audio. They’re solid prosumer but much like consumer Bose systems, there are massive frequency loss issues and very uneven dynamic range. You’ll get a “punch”, but anything using lower bits like the resonance of a Tom Tom or reverb in a track is just absolutely absent. Maybe my ears are programmed wrong from being in audio engineering for 9 years, but 75-80% of max volume should be where you’re listening at, as that’s how things are actually mixed in the studio. With Tidal HiFi Plus (are all those who don’t like the car’s audio really listening in this resolution or are you streaming over Bluetooth or cheap version of Spotify?) I just can’t fathom someone saying “meh, my Volvo sounds better” playing back the Atmos mix of Riders on the Storm or When Doves Cry. There’s this transparency and very broad dynamic range that you rarely hear outside of a recording studio in the car (again, 75% of volume on the wheel is how it should be, not a car dial set to 5 being loud), so I’m convinced those who are disappointed actually are either not listening in the correct format or are trying to force the car to do what lesser systems do by sounding “big” at 50% volume. It can’t be possible that so many cars somehow have a defective audio system and a small handful of owners somehow got the good system. I tested another car and it was literally identical to mine, pretty amazing they were able to achieve that level of consistency if you ask me.