Photos of the installation are at the bottom. This is an explanation of why we performed the upgrade and not a how-to.
Before we go down the road on WHAT we did, let’s start off by saying WHY we did it.
Our customer came to us looking for an improved listening experience over what Tesla could deliver. Being a fully electric vehicle, this Model X is one of the only vehicles on the road that is not overcome with excess noise from a combustion engine, keeping the interior nice and quiet for an above-average listening experience. This allowed us to really dive in and create something special.
Like most shops, Elevated Audio understands the benefits of power and clarity and its relationship to a customer’s satisfaction level but those are not our primary focus. Here we love to recreate what the artist truly wants you to hear.
What do most artists want you to hear? These 5 items will be referenced later in the post.
1. Music – Of Course, but there’s more!
2. Properly tuned music – Do you believe that you hear is what you’re supposed to hear when listening to a song? Of course not. You’re smart and understand that your Apple AirPods sound different than your McIntosh home theater system. Which is right? Well, we have to assume that your McIntosh is just a little more accurate at sound reproduction! Sound reproduction comes down to the components tasked with the job of recreation and the signal they receive. The better the signal, the easier it will be for your speakers to reproduce the sound accurately. It’s our job to ensure the signal going to the speakers has been compensated to make up for the areas where a particular speaker is deficient (increase levels) and where it tends to overachieve (decrease levels). We do this with an equalizer.
3. Image – Everyone is familiar with stereo sound. Think of the last time you wore headphones. You had certain sounds in your right ear and certain sounds in your left. The sound that is played at both at the same time can give you a center image of music coming from the center of your brain. It’s like someone plugged the music into your head! The issue is that you can’t really visualize as though you’re at a concert.
5. Room – Room is the environment the artist intended you to hear to replicate the environment in which they recorded. This can be synthesized if the data does not exist. Think about your Windows Media Player sound effects. Small room, Large room, Concert Hall, Living Room, Canyon, etc. These effects can give you the illusion that you are listening to something recorded in a different room or environment. It is dependent on the artist and we have no effect on if it is there or not.
Now we know what we are trying to recreate for our customer how did we choose what to use.
1. Starting point – Music. It sounds good but not exceptional.
2. Proper tuning – We then focus on components that will give us the most dynamic range that fits within the customer’s budget so that we can ensure the sound is accurate and tonally correct. Our Morel 3-way Elate 903 speaker set paired with our JL Audio W6 10″ woofer has the dynamic range of playing accurately from the lowest (25hz) to the highest frequency range (20k hz). Our JL Audio HD600/4 and HD900/5 amplifiers are now in charge of taking our tonally corrected sound and amplifying it clearly and giving it impact.
3/4. Image/Staging – In a vehicle, proper center image is impossible if you do not have a digital signal processor (DSP) to delay the speakers that are closer to you so that all sound arrives at your ears at the same time. In the case of the Model X, we chose to use the Audison bitOne HD. The bitOne HD is also our way to adjust our EQ and ensure the signal going into the amplifier is adjusted to compensate for the Morel and vehicle acoustic properties to ensure we receive a tuned response at our listening position. Our bitOne HD also allows us to adjust the levels of each speaker so that we can make sure our staging is accurate as well.
Overview of components used.
Morel Elate 903 – 3-way active component speaker set. To give us an amazing 70-20khz frequency response. No rear speakers. Please email if you want to know why.
JL Audio 10″ W6 – Single 10″ woofer that provides the power handling to keep up with most customer’s need for “feeling” their music. Frequency range – 25-70hz.
Elevated Audio hand-built subwoofer enclosure – A great subwoofer is only as good as its home. It’s our responsibility to provide our customers with an enclosure that is built to specifications laid out by JL Audio that fit the measurements of their vehicle, built with quality materials, and upholstered to match interior.
JL Audio HD600/4 – Amplifier bridged to power each of our two 9″ door speakers. 300w to each speaker.
JL Audio HD900/5 – Amplifier powering left and right 3″ dash speakers along with 1″ tweeters in a-pillars (no photo), and subwoofer.
100w to each mid and tweeter + 500w to subwoofer.
Audison bitOne HD DSP – The workhorse responsible for turning Tesla’s limited bandwidth outputs from its factory amplifier and summing those signals together to create a full range output to our amplifiers. Function two – Provide us with an interface to set timing delays, EQ adjustments, and level adjustments. Function three – with use of its external remote, we give the customer control to select different preset tunes for different seating positions in the vehicle so that everyone can experience a great sounding stereo.
That’s it!
If you’re interested in having Elevated Audio perform the installation of your custom audio system please inquire on our Contact page!
