Cybertruck subwoofer teardown reveals why stereo system's bass is so good

[MadMaxTX]

Sorry, HT is the abbreviation for Home Theater for those of us really into it and is a hobby (obsession) other than BEV trucks so understandably foreign to most.

Yeah, no problem, I was just thinking cars/trucks and wondering where in the world you mounted 6 15 in speakers. I was thinking, that's got to be in the vault. Right out of the Road Warrior. Context is important for TLAs.

From the rumors I have read over the years, Tesla has had some pretty careful and knowledgeable people designing their sound systems. I've been pretty impressed, but I haven't ever seen serious evaluation. One thing they have going for them in comparison with ICEs is the relatively quiet environment that they have to work with in an EV. I don't know who built the CT system, but it would interesting to know more about it. I'll look around and post if I find anything interesting. This particular element of the design is quite clever and I would expect there are other things to find.

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[CarMan ElecTruck]

I know I call out Tesla for a lot of the hype.. but this is one morsel as to why I love Tesla so much..

Bravo!!

 

[AlDente]

Yeah, no problem, I was just thinking cars/trucks and wondering where in the world you mounted 6 15 in speakers. I was thinking, that's got to be in the vault. Right out of the Road Warrior. Context is important for TLAs.

From the rumors I have read over the years, Tesla has had some pretty careful and knowledgeable people designing their sound systems. I've been pretty impressed, but I haven't ever seen serious evaluation. One thing they have going for them in comparison with ICEs is the relatively quiet environment that they have to work with in an EV. I don't know who built the CT system, but it would interesting to know more about it. I'll look around and post if I find anything interesting. This particular element of the design is quite clever and I would expect there are other things to find.

And for most of the frequencies good car audio can be very good. The low frequencies are seldom experienced in commercial auto systems and the aftermarket systems are just over the top. The space needs to be engineered and treated for good sound. Doing deep bass (infrasonics) well in that small space with smallish woofers is almost an impossibility. That said, I'm sure Tesla has done better than most.

Good audio although measurable, is very subjective and if it sounds good to you, that's all that matters.

 

[Jason B]

Yeah, no problem, I was just thinking cars/trucks and wondering where in the world you mounted 6 15 in speakers. I was thinking, that's got to be in the vault. Right out of the Road Warrior. Context is important for TLAs.

From the rumors I have read over the years, Tesla has had some pretty careful and knowledgeable people designing their sound systems. I've been pretty impressed, but I haven't ever seen serious evaluation. One thing they have going for them in comparison with ICEs is the relatively quiet environment that they have to work with in an EV. I don't know who built the CT system, but it would interesting to know more about it. I'll look around and post if I find anything interesting. This particular element of the design is quite clever and I would expect there are other things to find.

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/...k-audio-system-s-impressive-sound-239871.html

 

[HaulingAss]

I love that I can crank a song with a good bass track right up and it still sounds tight as a drum, with no annoying rattles, just nice clean and natural sounding punch.

In comparison, OEM truck audio tends to have miuddy sounding bass and aftermarket audio installs often feature unbalanced bass, which just makes me think the owner is compensating for a small member by spending big money on an overly powerful bass.

 

[smg]

I'm not at all surprised to see some additional magic in the engineering. The system is very capable and expertly-tuned.

 

[CyberGus]

"Low bass and sympathetic vibrations" refers to the phenomenon where a low-frequency bass sound can trigger vibrations in other nearby objects that naturally resonate at similar frequencies, essentially causing them to "vibrate in sympathy" with the bass sound, even if they aren't directly being played or touched; this is due to the principle of sympathetic resonance"

When I added a Velodyne sub to my HT, I could hear the dishes in the kitchen cupboard rattling

 

[AlDente]

When I added a Velodyne sub to my HT, I could hear the dishes in the kitchen cupboard rattling

That's a name I haven't heard in a long time. I had a couple of DD18's more than a decade ago and they were impressive but nothing measurable below 20Hz.

 

[sozucom]

Great engineering by Tesla however I can't help but wonder if this is could be a cause for developing creaking noises from the rear cabin area. I hear rattling from the bass vibrations but is the strategic usage of frame space adding to the progressive creaking and rattling as time passes.

I've been booming my base for 6 months. The only rattles I get are from things my daughters leave in the door pockets.

 

[oisiaa]

And here I am listening to podcasts 99.9% of the time. I actually turn the bass slider all the way down because I don't like the boomy sound or risk of people outside hearing it.

 

[wtibbit]

Great engineering by Tesla however I can't help but wonder if this is could be a cause for developing creaking noises from the rear cabin area. I hear rattling from the bass vibrations but is the strategic usage of frame space adding to the progressive creaking and rattling as time passes.

I'd be very surprised if the relatively lower power of the sub's amp could affect the frame structure enough to loosen its components.

The Cybertruck's subwoofer amp certainly won't output more than 1,000 watts continuously (that would destroy any reasonable 8 inch sub speaker), making 1,000w a very optimistic estimate of its power. Audio speakers' energy efficiency is never more than 5%, so a 1,000w watt subwoofer generates no more than 50 watts of acoustic energy. Since 1 watt = 1 N/meter/sec, a 1,000 sub can only transfer 50 Newton/meter/sec of acoustic energy. Typical engineering vibration tests on vehicles exceed that power by many orders of magnitude.

During development and testing, the truck's frame and even the entire truck surely underwent and passed extensive vibration testing. Those vibration tests are usually performed using shaker tables generating between 20,000 and 800,000 newton/meter/sec of energy across frequency ranges of .5 to 500 Hz, exceeding a subwoofer's range at both ends. Typical shaker tables transfer 400 to 16,000 times more energy than a high-powered subwoofer.

If the Cybertruck frame and associated components can survive that level of vibration torture, it is unlikely to be affected by any subwoofer.

 

[getsometom]

I'd be very surprised if the relatively lower power of the sub's amp could affect the frame structure enough to loosen its components.

The Cybertruck's subwoofer amp certainly won't output more than 1,000 watts continuously (that would destroy any reasonable 8 inch sub speaker), making 1,000w a very optimistic estimate of its power. Audio speakers' energy efficiency is never more than 5%, so a 1,000w watt subwoofer generates no more than 50 watts of acoustic energy. Since 1 watt = 1 N/meter/sec, a 1,000 sub can only transfer 50 Newton/meter/sec of acoustic energy. Typical engineering vibration tests on vehicles exceed that power by many orders of magnitude.

During development and testing, the truck's frame and even the entire truck surely underwent and passed extensive vibration testing. Those vibration tests are usually performed using shaker tables generating between 20,000 and 800,000 newton/meter/sec of energy across frequency ranges of .5 to 500 Hz, exceeding a subwoofer's range at both ends. Typical shaker tables transfer 400 to 16,000 times more energy than a high-powered subwoofer.

If the Cybertruck frame and associated components can survive that level of vibration torture, it is unlikely to be affected by any subwoofer.

This makes a lot of sense. I guess I'm trying to come to terms with the rear rattling that sounds like trim rubbing against each other. My local service center has investigated and "fixed" the issue 5 times since April but it comes back after a few days.

 

[jookyone]

This makes a lot of sense. I guess I'm trying to come to terms with the rear rattling that sounds like trim rubbing against each other. My local service center has investigated and "fixed" the issue 5 times since April but it comes back after a few days.

I found that the plastic/carpet that is covering the subwoofer was vibrating against other parts at certain points, so I just wrapped a piece of black duct tape around the edge of the piece and problem solved. I had a friend back there touching the cover in places to see where the culprit was.

 

[Klis]

I found that the plastic/carpet that is covering the subwoofer was vibrating against other parts at certain points, so I just wrapped a piece of black duct tape around the edge of the piece and problem solved. I had a friend back there touching the cover in places to see where the culprit was.

Any possibility you could share a photo?

 

[Seribus]

This might explain my rattle with loud base, could be in the cross member.

Ever get rattle sorted?

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