You can always use this.
'Cheap' audio Upgrade help!
- Thread starter Johnda1
- Start date
Prepare for disappointment.
It's not that bad
I added a sub to mine and it made a world of difference, but I even find myself driving more with the radio turned off than on
the audio is weak and it’s fighting a lot of road noise and wind. Although this is a coupe, I hear more exterior noise that it feels like a soft top. It’s fine for me as I enjoy the sound of the road but after a three day road trip. My 7 hour drive home, I was hoping for some quiet and a nice stereo. First world issues I suppose.
I have the BOSE system in my Porsche. It's the mid range option between the non branded Porsche 'sound package plus' and the premium Burmester option.
You're right, it's not brilliant, and I often wished I had optioned the premium Burmester system.
At least that was until I got my Emira. In my mind I was expecting a premium system on par with the Porsche Burmester. In reality it sits below the BOSE system to my ear and I actually appreciate the sound quality upgrade when I get back in the Porsche.
I agree. Wife has a Porsche with the bose system, it sounds significantly better than the KEF system in the emira. One of my only gripes with the car. Subpar stereo
I am approaching the 1 year mark, and initially, I fell into the very disappointed group. However, after a few longer drives, I feel that it has grown on me. I believe this change in my opinion is due to a few factors.
1. I reset the tone to controls to flat, then listened to it for quite a while. What I discovered was that the bass was actually a big source of my frustration. To me, the bass is quite muddy and covers up the mids and highs. This muddiness is further boosted when the windows are down. That said, my current bass setting now resides at -2.
2. I now listen primarily to streaming services such as Spotify and Tidal. This has greatly improved imaging as well as dynamics.
3. Lastly, I agree that these drivers needed to run-in in order to achieve best performance. Overall sound has definitely improved with time.
At this point, if I was going to perform an upgrade, the first item I would look into would be an amplifier, as it runs out of juice pretty quickly. Next would be a dedicated subwoofer to solidify the bass, however, given the limited interior space, I doubt I would change this.
I posted about this before the Emira was even released & was blasted by a few forum members. The KEF system, has some serious sound quality issues.
I owned an Evora back in 2011 and did a full audio upgrade that took me three weeks, so I’m not new to Lotus audio shortcomings. Recently, a good friend locally added a powered sub enclosure that fits perfectly behind the passenger seat in his Emira, and the improvement was immediate—roughly a 65% gain to my very picky ears.
For context, my 2026 BMW M4 Competition and 2024 C8 Z06 both have their top-tier factory audio systems, and compared to the Emira’s KEF setup, they are easily 10× better in clarity, balance, and low-end authority. That said, I know there are people on those forums who still don’t think the systems are “good enough.” Audio is subjective everyone’s ears and expectations are different.
From a value perspective, the best bang-for-the-buck, lowest-cost improvement on the Emira is a powered sub upgrade. It dramatically improves the system without tearing the car apart. A full system overhaul, in my opinion, isn’t worth the squeeze for the juice unless you’re chasing perfection which is very difficult in such a small space. .
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I owned an Evora back in 2011 and did a full audio upgrade that took me three weeks, so I’m not new to Lotus audio shortcomings. Recently, a good friend locally added a powered sub enclosure that fits perfectly behind the passenger seat in his Emira, and the improvement was immediate—roughly a 65% gain to my very picky ears.
For context, my 2026 BMW M4 Competition and 2024 C8 Z06 both have their top-tier factory audio systems, and compared to the Emira’s KEF setup, they are easily 10× better in clarity, balance, and low-end authority. That said, I know there are people on those forums who still don’t think the systems are “good enough.” Audio is subjective everyone’s ears and expectations are different.
From a value perspective, the best bang-for-the-buck, lowest-cost improvement on the Emira is a powered sub upgrade. It dramatically improves the system without tearing the car apart. A full system overhaul, in my opinion, isn’t worth the squeeze for the juice unless you’re chasing perfection which is very difficult in such a small space. .
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Tracked Emira
Emira Fiend
Do you have a brand and model number you recommend?
Good to hear that you are getting more familiar with your car's stereo. Fully flat setting should be a great place to start, I wholeheartedly agree. I also completely agree with what you say regarding the bass being the weak point of this system. In terms of upgrades, I would put a replacement subwoofer at the top of the list. An amp is not going to give you much, IMO, since the stock system gets plenty loud. Also, with the added impact of a replacement subwoofer, you are going to be much more satisfied with the overall volume of the system that is properly filled in and with distortion kept in check. Augmenting/replacing the amp in this system is far more involved than just installing a capable subwoofer.
Click on this link do not remove the OEM SUB. You will see many options in this long post by adding a SUB BOX. https://www.emiraforum.com/threads/adding-a-subwoofer.5901/
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