Factory audio system questions.

[Mr. Mac]

Hi - Just acquired the new Z and was shocked to learn how bad the factory audio system is. Incredibly sub-par at this price point, and it's supposedly the "Premium Bose" system too. Criminally bad. Just terrible. Anyway, so I'm beginning my research on how to fix this unforeseen injustice and the first thing I'm finding is there's what appears to be only one tweeter in the dash on the left/driver's side. There's no way this can be correct, is it? Reason I'm asking is there are clearly visible perforation holes over what appears to be ~4" midrange drivers on each dash grille, but perforation holes only over one ~1" tweeter on the left/driver's grille, while the other grille has no perforation holes for tweeter on right/passenger side. Has anybody here explored deeper yet underneath these grilles to determine exactly what's going on with the dash speakers? Also, any info on exactly what size and type speaker(s) are in the new Z's doors and in rear behind each seat. I've checked with Crutchfield already and they still have no data for the new Z. Any advanced info would be greatly appreciated before I go reading into things. Being a hardcore music lover and audiophile this is completely unacceptable and must be corrected ASAP. Thanks

 

[Hubert]

I have a keen interest in upgrading the sound system too. I would love to put in some Morel Elate Carbon, or Focal M series.

 

[AlanZ]

Has anyone had any issues connecting their Apple play? Sometimes it auto connects and sometimes it doesn’t . It’s one of the most frustrating things about the Z.

 

[Mr. Mac]

I have a keen interest in upgrading the sound system too. I would love to put in some Morel Elate Carbon, or Focal M series.

Yep, Focal and Morel are definitely in the sorta vein I'm looking at to get the Z's audio up to snuff. Dynaudio is another.

 

[Mr. Mac]

Has anyone had any issues connecting their Apple play? Sometimes it auto connects and sometimes it doesn’t . It’s one of the most frustrating things about the Z.

No problems here so for. Both my wife and my iPhones connect in mere seconds with no problems.

One thing you may want to check if you haven't already is if device priority has been selected in the connection preference menu.

 

[Ckynus]

Congratulations on the new Z!

The audio isn't great but that's not what I bought the car for. If you make upgrades to the sound system please come back and update us.

 

[Mr. Mac]

Congratulations on the new Z!

The audio isn't great but that's not what I bought the car for. If you make upgrades to the sound system please come back and update us.

Thanks and will do.

 

[zwannabe]

Has anyone had any issues connecting their Apple play? Sometimes it auto connects and sometimes it doesn’t . It’s one of the most frustrating things about the Z.

I feel the same. when wireless carplay, other app cannot access internet via cellular data, forced take over bluetooth earphone even the mechanic started up the z inside the shop while i was in the waiting lobby. once it loses the wireless carplay connect, you have to prime it again with wired connection or restart your phone. i find the software very clunky defo not their strong suite. my solution is to always has a wire in the z just in case it acts up.

 

[iztrumental]

Congratulations on the new Z!

The audio isn't great but that's not what I bought the car for. If you make upgrades to the sound system please come back and update us.

Yep I feel the same way although they sound just fine in my Nismo but nowhere near as good as in my 2019 RDX with the ELS sound system. It gets the job done.

 

[MacCool]

Congratulations on the new Z!

The audio isn't great but that's not what I bought the car for. If you make upgrades to the sound system please come back and update us.

Agreed. It seems a little futile to spend money on the audio performance of a car where the drive wheels are rotating about 12 inches from the driver's/passenger's head

 

[drunkumbrella]

I replaced the factory Bose sub with the JBL hub. Also I had the dealer turn off the ANC and ASE.
Big improvement!

 

[Mr. Mac]

Agreed. It seems a little futile to spend money on the audio performance of a car where the drive wheels are rotating about 12 inches from the driver's/passenger's head

FWIW, there are many different methods for tackling such noise with modern materials and technology such as sound damping products and advanced digital signal processing which is realtime dynamic in its control of audio signal.

 

[MacCool]

FWIW, there are many different methods for tackling such noise with modern materials and technology such as sound damping products and advanced digital signal processing which is realtime dynamic in its control of audio signal.

Yes...but you'd have to really love music to hassle the install, spend the money, and add the weight. I do get the hobby experience, but, just me, I'm pretty indifferent to music and don't need audio hi-fidelity to listen to CNN/Fox News. And even with the best Dynamat installation, it's still a small car going traveling down the road, certainly not a great audio environment.

 

[Mr. Mac]

...you'd have to really love music to hassle the install, spend the money...

Yup, that's me, a hardcore music lover. Life's much too short to spend all that driving time without the very best music/audio experience. YMMV of course. Without it driving is boring IMO. No thanks. My goal is to turn every single drive into a cinematic soundscape that's custom soundtracked, and some of my best memories have been made this way. Have heavily invested in audio systems in nearly every vehicle I've ever owned and it has proved over and over again to be some of the best dough ever spent.

...and add the weight.

Again, modern materials and installation techniques are able to shave lots of weight that used to burden high-end systems. Besides, we're only talking about adding maybe 30-pounds tops for everything.

I do get the hobby experience, but, just me, I'm pretty indifferent to music and don't need audio hi-fidelity to listen to CNN/Fox News.

Agreed, no need for audio upgrades if all you're going to do is listen to talk/news/sports type stuff while driving.

And even with the best Dynamat installation, it's still a small car going traveling down the road, certainly not a great audio environment.

No vehicle is a great audio environment. They all have challenges for optimizing their acoustic properties. That's where all the aforementioned technology comes into play, and of course the know-how to apply it.

 

[Mr. Mac]

Update on dash speaker locations: After removing the suspect dash speakers' grilles that showed from top view no apparent perforations for tweeter on right/passenger side it's now been confirmed that there is NO tweeter on that side, not even a factory holes for one to be installed. In nearly 40 years of audio I've never seen such a thing. Crazy!