Cybertrucks's two subwoofers, ported or sealed?

[Don B.]

They look like ported subwoofers. Very disappointing. A high quality sound system would have sealed subwoofers. They make it easier to hear the subtle differences between those super low notes, whereas a ported subwoofer is very boomy... the kind of vehicle you can hear/feel a half mile away. If they are ported, I'm going to replace them with sealed subwoofers.

 

[IJNYamato]

They’re ported. They port outwards into the body. You should reserve judgement until you hear them.

 

[XCeilidhX]

So I am personally a crazy audiophile and in love with tubes, Martin Logan speakers, and Deep Sea Sound sealed subwoofers.

i have a very strong preference for sealed subs myself. AND there are certainly audiophile quality ported or passive radiating subwoofers. Not all ported subwoofers chuff or sound overly boomy. Some can be truly musical, and i will reserve judgement until i hear this system… until more than likely I upgrade the amp, change out all the speakers, and replace the ported subs with sealed subs myself. Lol

i am just leaving an open mind that maybe i will hear it and think nothing needs to be changed or that improving upon it would be absurdly cost ineffective. Given how picky i am about the sound from a stereo system it’s unlikely i will want to keep any stock car stereo, however.

but i have been wrong many times in my life in delightfully unexpected ways so i will wait to form an opinion until i have had a while to demo the stock system.

musical preferences tend to be highly personal and subjective… just like opinions on the design of the CT to begin with.

consider this a diplomatic diatribe in favor of sealed subs. Cheers.

 

[Wraven]

Talking technically about a design approach without talking about design constraints (do we know exactly where the subs are located, where the driver is firing and what space is available? While I wouldn’t declare I’m an audiophile - I did used to compete in DB drags and SQ competitions way back in the day and design constraints are often a factor and while you might say “sealed are better” it really depends on their location and obstruction.

 

[CyberGus]

So I am personally a crazy audiophile and in love with tubes

I’ve been incapable of audiophila ever since that Metallica concert in ‘89

 

[Petertsai]

So I am personally a crazy audiophile and in love with tubes, Martin Logan speakers, and Deep Sea Sound sealed subwoofers.

i have a very strong preference for sealed subs myself. AND there are certainly audiophile quality ported or passive radiating subwoofers. Not all ported subwoofers chuff or sound overly boomy. Some can be truly musical, and i will reserve judgement until i hear this system… until more than likely I upgrade the amp, change out all the speakers, and replace the ported subs with sealed subs myself. Lol

i am just leaving an open mind that maybe i will hear it and think nothing needs to be changed or that improving upon it would be absurdly cost ineffective. Given how picky i am about the sound from a stereo system it’s unlikely i will want to keep any stock car stereo, however.

but i have been wrong many times in my life in delightfully unexpected ways so i will wait to form an opinion until i have had a while to demo the stock system.

musical preferences tend to be highly personal and subjective… just like opinions on the design of the CT to begin with.

consider this a diplomatic diatribe in favor of sealed subs. Cheers.

You will have to get a 48v compatible system.

 

[Don B.]

They’re ported. They port outwards into the body. You should reserve judgement until you hear them.

With all due respect, I've been involved in audio for over 50 years, I've built both ported and sealed subwoofers, I know their sound characteristics; I don't have to reserve judgement until I hear them. I will modify the enclosures (seal the port), change out the speakers for ones meant to go into sealed enclosures, and hope that the amps can drive them appropriately (sealed subs generally require more watts than ported subs to get the same pressure level, i.e., umff).

 

[Rutrow]

They look like ported subwoofers. Very disappointing. A high quality sound system would have sealed subwoofers. They make it easier to hear the subtle differences between those super low notes, whereas a ported subwoofer is very boomy... the kind of vehicle you can hear/feel a half mile away. If they are ported, I'm going to replace them with sealed subwoofers.

Would that make a big difference with audiobooks, podcasts and an occasional YouTube video? If not, they'd be pretty much wasted on me. I thought Taylor Swift was a golf club.

 

[IJNYamato]

With all due respect, I've been involved in audio for over 50 years, I've built both ported and sealed subwoofers, I know their sound characteristics; I don't have to reserve judgement until I hear them. I will modify the enclosures (seal the port), change out the speakers for ones meant to go into sealed enclosures, and hope that the amps can drive them appropriately (sealed subs generally require more watts than ported subs to get the same pressure level, i.e., umff).

if you’re this picky, then it wouldn’t have mattered if they were sealed or not from the factory. You were going to swap them out anyways to meet your expectations.

 

[XCeilidhX]

You will have to get a 48v compatible system.

Indeed. There are some companies that made specialty amps for Teslas with high power and low drain when not in use so they wouldn’t vampire the EV battery. I suspect some will jump on making amps to fit the cybertruck architecture as well. Alternatively one could use a step down setup for 12v but that would be very inefficient and isn’t what I’m looking for.

 

[Wraven]

Indeed. There are some companies that made specialty amps for Teslas with high power and low drain when not in use so they wouldn’t vampire the EV battery. I suspect some will jump on making amps to fit the cybertruck architecture as well. Alternatively one could use a step down setup for 12v but that would be very inefficient and isn’t what I’m looking for.

a recent interview with Sandy Monroe and some heads of departments with Tesla mentioned the audio is running 24v currently, with an update planned to 48v in the Cybertruck.

 

[Don B.]

Would that make a big difference with audiobooks, podcasts and an occasional YouTube video? If not, they'd be pretty much wasted on me. I thought Taylor Swift was a golf club.

You are correct; it wouldn't make a difference for audiobooks, podcasts, and YT videos. In fact, for those a subwoofer wouldn't even be needed. But for music, that's where it can be a big difference. It just seemed odd for such a high quality vehicle to have ported subs.

 

[CyberGus]

seemed odd for such a high quality vehicle to have ported subs.

I hear they’re not even including a CD player ?

 

[Don B.]

a recent interview with Sandy Monroe and some heads of departments with Tesla mentioned the audio is running 24v currently, with an update planned to 48v in the Cybertruck.

And even more startling: The line level audio signals are being sent to the speakers via the "CAN Buss", along with all the other digital signals! This means that each speaker will have its own amp. I hope there's no latency issues between speakers.

 

[Don B.]

I hear they’re not even including a CD player ?

I will be installing a CD player and an 8-track tape player.