Coming from an XC90 T8 with the B&W sound system (arguably one of the greatest car audio systems ever), the audio was one of my primary concerns before switching to the R1S. I’d read quite a bit of negativity about the sound, and was concerned I was losing one of my most-used features (well, that and CarPlay but that’s another thread). I ended up going with the Gen 2 R1S Dual w/ Sound & Vision (premium audio), and when I first got a chance to listen in a quiet parking lot, I was admittedly let down. But I spent some time tweaking and I wanted to share that I was able to get it 90% of the way to the B&W system! Plus, when you factor in road noise, there’s very little discernible difference (unless you’re blasting your music). Here’s what worked for me:

EQ: the default system is definitely too mushy and lacks presence and clarity. The attached screenshot shows the EQ settings that tone down the muddy bass and add the midrange attack that helps the B&W system feel “in your face.”

Fade & Balance: assuming you want to optimize the system for you, pull the balance all the way to the front to boost presence and clarity. (This helps makes up for the lack of that B&W dashboard tweeter in the center) 

Special Settings: the audio engineers who mixed and mastered most music knew what they were doing. Special effects like 3D audio, Spatial Audio, and soundcheck reduce the original intent of the mix - turn them off. 

With this, it’s still not all the way there but it’s close enough that I wanted to reassure others you won’t be disappointed. I’ve owned a LOT of cars (ICE, hybrid, and EV) and the R1S is easily my favorite of all time! I hope this helps others who might be on the fence.


How to tune the audio to be great