[Ferruccio]

So I have a rather standard musicar NW setup that I put in the E90 about 8 years ago. I've normalized to it. I've heard stellar reviews of many stock sound systems in newer cars, and when I was thinking about buying a model 3, I was quite eager to hear the sound system that has gotten so much media acclaim.

It sounds... average? The bass felt dull, the higher frequencies felt dull, nothing seemed to stand out as distinctly its own sound. I tried a bose system in an RS7 and had the same reaction. It feels to my ears like these sound systems are missing something. I'm only running 8 speakers yet these 12+ speakers in these new cars just aren't generating any type of sound that impresses me.

As a result, it's sort of been the achilles heel that has stopped me from purchasing a replacement car. Nothing to my ears has sounded close to this aftermarket system. Do I just have a distorted view of what good sound is? I mean, I have very mainstream bose headphones and I love the sound on those, and I'm just not getting a similar excitement in the cars I've been testing.

[ctuna]

the Musicar system's are way better than what's in an average
car . The word Hi Fidelity is all but absent in even Hi End car's
these day. I was pretty happy with the HK in the E46 it did not make
me want to run out and get something right away the way I have
in most every new car I bought when I got to the point I could afford
it. But up until the e46 I was happy with upgraded speakers and head
units. It got it from awful to I can live with this without ear fatigue.

I was pretty disappointed in the Hi Fi system so I did a lot of research
and finally settled in on Musicar system .
It has Morels and Jehnerts powered by a Jl 600/6 and I have to say its
the best thing I ever had in car stereo or maybe even any type of stereo
I have ever had. Warm and accruate you can here things you never heard
before in Music you have been listening to for decades.
500 for a pair of Morels 500 for a pair of Jehnert and 500 for an amp
is more than most people want to do for a nice car stereo.

The trend toward lots of small speakers not driven by very much power
seems to continue across the board in almost all car brands.
BMW states rated power per channel but what they don't tell you is
its at 10 percent distortion.
(you just can't get the presence from a small speaker and Physics
says it can't play that low)

Yeah I would say that Musicar system has corrupted your view of
what average is.

[flgfish]

If you have a Musicar system, you're so far above average that it's silly. Yes, you're spoiled. Assume you're upgrading every car from here on out.

[vilord]

Even with the L7 / HK system in my e91 it sounds far better than the factory 'bose' system in both my TT and my girlfriend's Maxima. Your musicar is (i'd hope for the price) significantly better than that too, so yep, spoiled!

Also, factory audio systems in cars are for the most part garbage. Even when they have some fancy company's sponsored name slapped on.

[ctuna]

I listened a little to the Model 3 system and it wasn't that bad.
Not something that would cause ear fatigue.

and another opinion.

[Ferruccio]

To be honest I listened to the model 3's stereo and I was extremely unimpressed. In fact it just about killed my enthusiasm for the rest of the car. It's seriously brilliant but it had compromises, but the real deal breaker was its sound system.

Same with the Bose system on the RS7. I wonder what the B&O system sounds like.

I think I agree with the third poster. The bang for the buck for an aftermarket upgrade is just... so much better than trying to find a stock system or even optioning out a stock system from the factory. Even the musicar setup I have is pretty mid-range of their options, as I was upgrading from the horrendous base stereo, and that's like 1/5 the price of some of the factory sound system options I've listened to.

[Damaskus325]

I am with you 100% here. Even though I have some Focal Polyglass components in my car, it is miles better than the OEM stuff but still not as good as my old setup. These cars make every audiophile option so limited. It took forever for me to upgrade vehicles coming from my E39 because EVERY new BMW/Audi/Merc etc, has a stupid "infotainment" system. I purposely bought an E92 without Idrive for this reason. These car companies have dumbed down the audio aspect of new cars so much in favor of stuff I just don't want. I don't care about all the new tech in these cars. I have a perfectly good set of Boston Acoustics Pro50SE's with some Boston and Soundstream amps from my E39 I can't use because of limited space. I am, quite frankly, stunned that the car audio industry has gone the way of the dodo because of these infotainment systems. Unless you have a car with the new B&W or Meridian sound from factory most stuff will sound hollow, tinny and lacking in mid bass and low end.

[ctuna]

I think part of the blame for Lo Fi comes from ipods and low
bit rate mp3's. Plus there is not a lot of Music coming out that
I hear that doesn't use the whole frequency spectrum.

Add to the last entry lacking presence , warmth and dynamic range.