Hey all,
I was doing some testing, trying to figure out where the weakest link in the factory system is. Figured this might prove useful to some of you:

So i've got an 07 TL with Navi. I haven't tested the speakers, amp and the HU deck individually yet, but this is what the whole system sounds without any mods. Pretty abysmal i'd say. Not sure where all the praises are coming from.
I've tested only the Front Left Mid-Bass and Front Right Mid-Bass, from 20Hz to 5Khz and a sub from 20Hz to 250Hz.
The difference between the highest spikes and lowest dips on the front Mid-Bass speakers is about 15db. That's pretty horrible if you ask anyone who knows anything about audio.

I'm planning on testing the FL channel speaker, using a different cheap amp in the future. Lets see if it's the speakers, or the amp, who's caps have dried up.

 

Umm, can someone please move this thread to Audio section? Looks like I posted in the upper 3G TL level.

 

Something in your system probably went bad. My stock system had a nice response before i changed it. My previous tl had issues though....

I think after so many years they dont sound the way they used to... I maybe got lucky with my newer one but also it is a 08 vs 07.

 

I "think" there are some much older threads where someone did this when the car was much newer and the response wasn't quite that far off. What is all of the praise about? How many factory systems have you tested and found to be flat? The praise was about it being a decent sounding factory system in the mid-2000s. It was "generally" leaps above many other factory systems at the time. Times have changed and even the cheap cars have somewhat decent systems now.

I have never fully believed that a flat response is what sounds best. I know for sure my hearing isn't level across all frequencies. And I do know for sure my '05 stereo doesn't sound as good in 2017 as it did in 2008 when I bought it...or my hearing has just gotten worse? Probably both.

 

Especially the first capture is clearly showing cancellations due to reflections and possibly due to different path lengths to the microphone from two speakers. The telling sign is that you have deep dips at multiples of 125Hz . Where was your phone positioned? If you do the math, 125Hz wave is 108" long, for cancellation you need half that, or 54" It's not inconceivable that given some bounces of the windshield you can get 54" path difference. If you want to measure a speaker in the car, make sure you measure only one speaker (balance all the way to one side) and place the mic right up against a boundary like the side window or the windshield. In audio engineering it's called ground plane measurement and it helps to eliminate the effects of reflections.

Also, an RTA app with a phone mic is a piss poor measurement device. If you use a real omni mic that is verified to be flat over a given range you will get better results. And use an app that actually records a frequency sweep using gating. There are some nice ones in the IOS world.

 

I too was wondering about how accurate that phone app actually is. The system was good for its time, in terms of oem audio. These days.... not so much. That system was effectively designed in like 2002 or 2003...

 

I think that system is still better than many newer systems... Includomg outlr new 2017 Santa fe w the infinite system... Overly bright and airy.... But I think that is also an inherent feature to Infinite systems... Anyway I much prederred the stock system in the TL to this new modern day one.

 

I love the stock ELS system. Especially the DVD-A, I'm not a system enhancement enthusiast, so stock is fine for me, blows the Sony system I had In my Focus ST out of the water! Yeah it could use a little more kick, but unless I have the windows down and cruising... I never have the volume past 25. Acura outdid themselves on this one. However, I do have to say that the premium sound system in my fathers 12 Lincoln MKZ isn't far behind, in fact, it def has more "punch" with bass frequencies.