[JRRF]

I've never owned or even driven a Volvo. I do like the looks of the recent models. Coming to Polestar from the BMW ethos. I don't much like the newer BMW models. They look like they're trying too hard to me.

The entire BMW concept for a few years now has been to try too hard. It's simply the "me too" for anyone who wants to think they are someone. With a Volvo you fly under the radar. That's certainly my preference.

 

[JRRF]

I like tilting mirrors but not auto tilting. I once ripped off a mirror because I couldn't see a post in the dipped mirror 😕

 

[JRRF]

My wife (who is German) keeps me up to date with the German/European view of Brexit and the stories reported in each country are often very different.

My mother grew up in England. And when I learned about the American Revolution in grade school, she commented how her introduction to it in school was very different from mine.

 

[JRRF]

Classic case of - The winners write the history books!

Or at least their own history books 😉

 

[JRRF]

Well I have a different perspective as follows...

• I have always owned dark coloured cars, and have always been annoyed by how they turn into mobile ovens in the summer
• In my experience as above, dark coloured cars show up the little chips and even scrapes more easily, because the primer underneath is light coloured
• I've had two cars with dark leather inside... even worse than an oven. Like sitting on a skillet which is ready for a steak!
• And finally.... wait for it.... my ex wife recently got a TM3 in white!

So it was a no brainer. I know that maybe one day when PS get around to it I may be able to preset the climate, etc etc, but that was my reasoning. Loose as it is... 🤣🤣🤣

The look of a clean dark car is amazing. But keeping it clean is a nightmare. A white or silver car looks good all the time.

I was going to get a midnight P2 but the only interior was charcoal. I've had a black interior before and it makes the car feel smaller. On that car I also had cooled seats. Without that a black interior is untenable.

 

[JRRF]

Not ALL the time? I had to send mine to Volvo for a wash......after all every cloud has a silverish lining

Agreed. And that's the best color 😉

 

[JRRF]

Similarly, you can automagically (I like that term, nicely sums up the experience) set the heated steering wheel to come on - very cosy

It needs to come on when you pre-heat as well. That's one beef with my current car that I never understood. The seats turn on with pre-heating but not the steering wheel.

 

[JRRF]

Oh, does the Polestar not heat the steering wheel in precondition? Volvos do so only a matter of time I guess.

I think @charlier1100 was suggesting that it does which would be great.

 

[JRRF]

Mine was delivered by the local Volvo dealership's sales manager. Who also proceeded to tell me that Pilot Assist would allow me to set a destination and the car would drive me there.....

Just realised I responded to page 5 of this...

Your P2 will be in the junk yard before this capability is available on this car - if ever.

 

[JRRF]

doesn't need to be your thumb, just touch it. Can be back of your hand

I need to relearn this behavior - my current car locks itself when I walk away. Hmm...sure would be nice to have an app to be able to verify I actually did lock the car 🙄

 

[JRRF]

I've only got to about page 300 so far and most of it seems to be about child seats

There was a time (in my youth😅) whenever I got a new car I would literally read the manual cover to cover. Now I don't have near that kind of time, and I probably wouldn't remember half of what I read 🤣

 

[JRRF]

I think it was Bose that started us on the path of surround sound. And while a car is perfect for that, it's never been a real life scenario.

 

[JRRF]

These look like a standard "loudness" eq that boosts high and low frequencies.

 

[JRRF]

I was surprised to not see any Steely Dan on this list, but I guess the Donald Fagen track will have to do.

Always some of the best instrumentation by some of the top musicians.

 

[JRRF]

Look again! It's quite the opposite.

Really? You've boost everything below 75hz with the sub, and everything above 4K. The only deviation is that you have a very slight roll-off from 600hz down to 75hz. If that's not a loudness eq, I don't know what is.

 

[JRRF]

I'm still waiting for Amazon Music!

The only thing I don't like about Amazon Music is the relatively small library.

 

[JRRF]

The sub goes way higher than 75Hz in this car. Seems to roll off about 150-200Hz. It really isn't a 'sub' in any meaningful understanding of the word so of course that 'subwoofer' slider really isn't only affecting sub-bass. It's just controlling that one speaker.

What I've done is flatten the lower frequencies completely. If you leave the EQ flat, there's simply too much bass regardless as to the sub setting and the speakers in the doors then suffer. The car obviously already has an artificial 'loudness' curve as you describe it. I'm knocking it back out and at the same time redirecting some of the lower frequencies to the 'sub' where they belong.

Those settings end up quite closely matching the room curve (I think you call this a house curve in the US) I have in my main room at home as measured with a calibrated Umik-1.

Try the settings - you might like them. You might not. Nothing lost - I did say they were personal taste. I've set it up how I like it.

My current gripe is that you cannot adjust the automatic EQ feature on the car. The car has a much more advanced system - it doesn't just adjust the volume based on road speed - it uses the microphones to try and compensate for different road surfaces. It's clever and works well, but it's too intrusive. I'd like to back it off a bit.

Not as I describe loudness: Loudness compensation - Wikipedia

Somehow in this era -- given what my kids listen to -- I'm not surprised that the car might have a little loudness bias. So I understand that you are attempting to flatten the base, but you are also over-boosting the treble if the car is already amplifying that with a flat eq. No doubt all eq is personal. If my car on order for almost a year now is not regularly and ongoingly delayed, eventually I'll be able to enjoy and play with the eq.

 

[JRRF]

Going back to 'loudness' - I haven't clicked your link, but I personally would describe a loudness feature as being a dynamic EQ that adjusts the EQ curve depending on the volume setting. Boosting high and low frequencies at low volumes and flattening out as you approach max volume.

This is pretty close. A traditional loudness adjustment is intended to boost low and high frequencies at lower volumes to account for human hearing not being as sensitive to those frequencies at lower volumes (i.e. the Fletcher-Munson curve). This was standard on most high-end audio gear for a long time. Not sure anymore as I haven't purchased any in more than 10 years.

 

[JRRF]

What do you mean pretty close? That's exactly what I said to the letter!

It couldn't be further from the truth that loudness controls are standard on high-end audio gear. High end audio gear rarely if ever has this functionality - it's a 'feature' of cheaper stuff added to make it sound better and make up for other deficiencies.

It has nothing to do with sounding "better". It's an adjustment for human hearing capability. Cheap equipment may have had this in a raw form, but higher end preamps had a specific rolloff as volume increased and loundness compensation was not needed. I still have some very high end gear (e.g. NAD and McIntosh) with loundness controls.

 

[JRRF]

Sadly my NAD bit the dust a couple of years ago. I've tried to have it fixed to no avail, but can't bear to toss it. That amp sounded better than the Mac (also currently in disrepair) or even the Rotel I'm currently using.

Full disclosure: the Rotel is newer and does not have a loudness control.