Expect Improvements: Rivian Gen 2 Premium Audio

[mars.roamer]

Sound quality has always been a top priority for me when car shopping, and my latest addition—the 2025 Rivian R1S Gen 2—is no exception. Naturally, I didn’t hesitate to add the $1,750 “Premium Audio” option. However, as I mentioned in my previous article, the quality falls short compared to premium sound systems from other manufacturers.

Since buying my first vehicle in 2016, I’ve consistently opted for upgraded sound systems. Music is a big part of my driving experience, and I’m the type of person who stays parked in the garage just to enjoy a few more minutes of a favorite song. While I don’t consider myself an audiophile, I do have a deep appreciation for sound. Growing up, my mom—who dedicated her life to teaching music, playing piano, and leading the church choir—instilled that love in me.

The first vehicle I purchased in the U.S. was a 2017 BMW 540i, and I opted for the Harman Kardon sound system. A few months later, I bought a Tesla Model S 100D, which came with the “Premium Package,” including Tesla’s in-house “Premium Sound System.” That was the first time I experienced disappointing sound quality in a vehicle I owned. I distinctly remember Elon Musk stating during the Model S reveal that it had an excellent sound system, and that, because EVs are quiet, it would feel like a sound studio. While that might be true when the car is parked, it was definitely not the case on the road, especially with the early Model S.

The poor NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) performance combined with the overall build quality created significant wind noise above 50 mph, making the listening experience much worse than in my half-priced BMW 540i, which had a much quieter cabin despite having a 6-cylinder engine under the hood. While Tesla’s build quality didn’t improve much over the years, the sound system certainly did. Nine months after buying my Model S, I purchased one of the first Tesla Model 3 Performances in August 2018, and its premium sound system was noticeably better, even without Dolby Atmos.

Tesla has repeatedly spoken about their advancements in audio engineering, and I can confirm that the sound systems in their current models, even base trims, are excellent. My 2023 Model X Long Range has the best sound system of all the cars I own—it blew me away when I played John Splithoff’s Raye. Tesla even released a video about their audio engineering, and it’s quite convincing.

Now, let’s talk about Rivian. Before purchasing the Gen 2 R1S, I test drove the Gen 1 R1S and even rented one for a film project, so I had the chance to experience both the early Meridian Sound System and the newer in-house system, “Rivian Elevation.” I wasn’t impressed by either. When I was ready to buy the Gen 2 R1S and saw Rivian hyping up their Premium Audio, I decided it was a must-have. That said, I personally feel the Meridian system sounds better than Rivian Elevation. The Gen 1 Elevation system features a 1,200-watt, 18-channel amplifier with 21 speakers, while the Gen 2 “Premium Audio” has a 960-watt, 16-channel amplifier with 19 speakers. But despite what the specs say, neither comes close to the sound quality of my 2023 Model X. Worse still, the Gen 2 Premium Audio actually sounds worse than the Elevation system.

I later realized there have been many complaints about sound quality on forums, with some owners even saying the Gen 2 base system is terrible. A few owners on Facebook shared their EQ settings, which improved things slightly, but not significantly. I’ve attached their settings below for anyone who wants to give them a try. Personally, I believe a good system should sound balanced and rich without needing EQ adjustments.

The good news is that Rivian seems aware of the issue. In a recent tweet, their Chief Software Officer Wassym Bensaid confirmed that the audio system is tunable, meaning future software updates could bring improvements. I’m hopeful this is not a hardware issue. Despite the sound system and a few minor problems, the Gen 2 R1S is still an incredible vehicle, and I’m excited to see it improve over time.

My R1S is currently in service. They’ve ordered parts and assured me that all the alignment issues I mentioned in my previous blog article will be addressed. I expect to have it back in two weeks, just in time to start my camping trips. Rivian’s customer service and staff have been excellent so far, which has really strengthened my confidence in the brand. I really hope the quality doesn’t decline over the years like Tesla’s has. These days, Tesla’s customer service doesn’t seem to care much when you ask questions or bring your vehicle in for repairs.

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[bigsky]

For me, the sound system on my R1S is fine for what it is. A bit strident, perhaps, because of the several twitters, one almost right next to my ear. So is the sound system on my Tesla Model S Performance and the one in my Tesla Model Y Performance fine for what they are. Sound is good overall, but not excellent. To me, each of those three sound systems is lacking in faithful bass reproduction.
I find equalization extremely critical to make sure that as many of the audio issues with the environment are, well, equalized out. It is what I have done to my audio system at home.

There is much to unpack here and discuss about audio reproduction. At home and in vehicles as well, most audio systems are woefully bad at reproducing bass frequencies faithfully. Faithful bass reproduction is the Achilles heel, the bane of audio systems. Most people perhaps equate bass reproduction with the meanest, baddest, extreme vibration and god awful boominess, boom box effect put out by subwoofers. The sound distortion, THD and IMD are just plain overwhelming. And that is the problem with most audio systems, home or auto, I bet that the subwoofer in my Teslas and R1S is just a driver thrown in some sort of "tuned" box. And that is the problem. The only way to mitigate that bass distortion somewhat is to severely cut down on bass frequencies (equalization), or not listen to music at loud levels, or all of the above. Hardly anybody seems to address the big elephant in the audio distortion room: the very high distortion created by the motion of the speaker driver. Indeed, the uncontrolled motion of the speaker diaphragm generates very high, audible distortion, both total harmonic and intermodulation distortion at levels so high that it actually creates overtones, bass sounds in the music that do not exist in the actual music content to begin with.

There is a handful of high-end audio companies out there that have managed to control the motion of the speaker driver to hugely reduce the distortion that it creates. This has resulted true subwoofers that have clean, unbelievably clean, high quality bass largely free of distortion no matter how loud the music is played (to a very high degree). One of the main and most critical components of my audio system in my home theater room is precisely such a subwoofer. Manufactured in the 1980s, it reproduces bass frequencies down to 20 Hz with as little as 1% distortion. It achieves such low levels of bass distortion because it is a servo subwoofer that constantly and very rapidly monitors and compares, and adjusts the motion of the speaker diaphragm. Compare that to the bass sound of the audio systems in my Teslas and Rivian at likely 30% distortion, if not higher.

There is nothing like listening to a clean, faithful strike of a kettle drum, a bass drum, a plucking of a bass guitar string that sounds as if the musician is performing live in front of me at home. Incredibly clean, faithful, amazing bass reproduction. The way music is meant to be heard, listened to. Without all that awful boominess garbage that far lesser so-called subwoofers in cars and at home alike put out.

Have found no car audio system capable of such clean audio prowess, and I am afraid I never might find one.

Changing subject, the service afforded to me by Tesla service centers is top-notch, second to none.

 

[skyhigh]

I would like to see a separate subwoofer control. I just sat in the back seat for the first time in my 25 R1T with premium audio, and now I feel bad because my son would say, "Can you turn it down? It's making my stomach hurt." The subwoofer is directly under his seat. I would even turn it completly off with him in the truck.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

The Rivian system is better after the update but it still lags the Meridian by a little bit. That’s the only thing about my tri I don’t like over my gen 1

 

[kozak79]

I have a 22 R1T with a Meridian sound system and listen to all sources at volume level 12; I almost never have to adjust it.

I am currently driving a loaner 24 R1S with the Rivian sound system, and some sources are too loud at 2 or 3 volume levels, others at 8, some at 12, and phone calls at 18. I really miss my R1T.

 

[dleepnw]

I've heard Gen1 Meridian, Gen1 Elevation and Gen2 Premium and its not even close. The Meridian system is far superior. Its as good as any system I've heard in a Tesla, including the CT. Most people assume the Tesla systems are superior because of their larger subwoofer but tbh thumping bass is overrated. The quality of the Meridian system shines at any volume but imo gets even better the louder it gets: well balanced, warm, bright, clear with enough bass (not ridiculously overpowered).

 

[R1Tom]

I've heard Gen1 Meridian, Gen1 Elevation and Gen2 Premium and its not even close. The Meridian system is far superior. Its as good as any system I've heard in a Tesla, including the CT. Most people assume the Tesla systems are superior because of their larger subwoofer but tbh thumping bass is overrated. The quality of the Meridian system shines at any volume but imo gets even better the louder it gets: well balanced, warm, bright, clear with enough bass (not ridiculously overpowered).

I agree....Meridian systems in G1 are definitely excellent! Maybe eventually Rivian will bring back a comparable system....we can only hope....

 

[petemill]

It's been a year since we could expect improvements. Has it improved enough? I test drove one this week and just playing podcasts the voices had so much echo. Almost like the speakers were out of sync. Does the non-premium audio have the same issue?

 

[Honey]

Soon...

 

[drive2ski]

I took delivery of my R1S yesterday and was expecting horrible things out of my premium audio. I'm coming from an XC90 with the B&W upgrade - arguably one of the best reasonably priced audio upgrades available.

I was pleasantly surprised by the R1S. Even though I agree it lacks the fullness across the range and wow-factor that the B&W had I can best describe the Rivian system as fun to listen to and fitting for vehicle its in.

Also not to be ignored is that the interface for playing music it outstanding in the R1S. The number of times I didn't listen to the song I wanted in the XC90 because the Spotify app was so horrible......

 

[Scottski]

My Gen2 R1S with premium audio sounds like I'm listening to music on a zoom meeting. It's lifeless and sounds muddy. I"m using Apple Music in the vehicle, so it's not BT audio. I've noticed a slight improvement in audio quality after the latest update, but it's still not what I would call "premium" by any stretch of the word. My outgoing vehicle was a 23 Tucson and it had a much better quality audio system for less than half the vehicle price. Previous to that was an '18 XC60 with B&W audio, also for just over half the vehicle price.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

This months update is meant to improve the audio profile.

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