What physical difference makes an LS sound so much better?

I know I might get some heat on this one but this is an honest question. I love the sound of a Coyote with the right mods ... but a lot of factory LS setups (ie, sport mode on a Chevy SS) sound absolutely incredible. They pop and gurgle and growl far more.

What is the mechanic reason for this? Is it something that can be achieved in our motors? Firing order? A consequence of the single-cam?

Serious question!

Exhaust design has a shit ton to do with it. So does engine tuning.

Go to a track and listen to a Corvette that screams past, then listen to a Camaro with the same engine. The Camaro, in my opinion, always sounds better.

Listen to some videos of the exhaust on the new 18, in track mode it sounds downright nasty.

PS The 350R is the best sounding car I've ever heard I think.

Every engine sounds different, ours is more a high revving engine with not much displacement also we are DOHC and the LS is pushrod...Also the firing order might be different... Even 5.0 ford coyote sounds different to the old five O.

firing order, compression ratio, header design, muffler type, all influence the sound.

Even the old 289 had a particular sound that was different than the 302 that replaced it. My first car was my grandmothers '65 Fairlane 2 dr hardtop with a 289 and a C4. When pulling up a driveway or incline, that motor had a lugging moan like nothing I have ever heard in another engine.
About 20 years ago, about 16-17 years after I last drove the Fairlane, I was sitting at home watching TV. All of a sudden I heard that old distinctive sound I remember as a teenager.
Ran outside and a friend had pulled up in a fully restored '67 Mustang with a 289.

Coming from an LS3 Vette to the 5.0 I have to disagree, but that's OK because sound is subjective. To me, the Fords have always sounded better.

The biggest factor for engines that share the same amount of cylinders in the same configuration is the firing order.

Coyote sounds way better than an LS1. I know that much. I liked my '02 SS, but the Coyote is better.

If we are talking idle, vs a cammed LS, LS hands down (although I'm partial to the old 4.6 4v at idle, kind of a burbling sound which always sounded good). But at WOT its anyones game really. Both engines with long tubes sound awesome IMO.

Heads have a lot to do with the sound.

Many, many variables. Firing order, # of valves per cylinder, header design (primary lengths and how they merge), type of crossover, muffler location, muffler design, total system length.

The Coyote smokes the LSx/LTx sound, but that's subjective. :lol:

It's all been mentioned so far, so I'll just make a useless post also sliding in my opinion.
The Coyote/Voodoo sound better than LS engines. Sure it's subjective, but this is my first Coyote, and I've had 3 Corvettes, a GTO, and 3 Camaros.
But it just depends on what you like. I like small displacement, high-revving V8s. So, naturally, I prefer the Coyote over the LS.

IMO, the only time an LS sounds good (or better than a Ford 4V) is at idle with a big choppy cam.

Any other time (or with the stock cam) the LS sounds like a straight piped farm truck. No tone whatsoever. Compared that to a Coyote with Corsas or a Terminator with Flowmasters it's not even in the same ballpark.

This coming from a former LS owner btw, nothing I could do would make that engine sound good and I honestly went through some 20 different exhaust combinations between headers, crossovers and mufflers.

Oh god one of these threads again.

DOHC vs. Pushrod

END.

As others have pointed out this is purely subjective. As for my .02 the stock exhaust on the 15 to 17 is hot garbage compared to the camaro. the 18 did a much better job on the exhaust. I dont really know which i like better honestly. I currently have Corsa extremes on my mustang and i think it sounds great. the best sounding ls in my opinion is the LS9 and the best sounding ford is the voodoo of course. both of these put together dont sound near as good as the LFA though.

As someone else said, every engine sounds different, the reason for that is virtually every detail inside the engine has an affect on the sound it makes. Bore size, bore to stroke ratio, firing order, number of valves, valve size, valve angle, port shape and port volume, and that's just the tip of the iceberg, there's also cam timing and the obvious things like manifold design and the exhaust itself, the list is nearly endless!

I'm very old school in my sound preference, for me nothing sounds better than a 351C, although the 429SCJ nearly equals it. These are both VERY over-square engines (meaning the bore diameter is significantly larger than the stroke), both have 2 very large valves per cylinder in a canted valve angle configuration.

While canted valves are fairly unique these days, what most old school performance V8's have in common is the large bore and 2 big valves per cylinder, coincidentally the LS series in Vette and Camaro dress also have larger bores with 2 valves. I'm not a sound engineer, but my guess is this has a lot to do with why the LS sounds the way it does, and why that sound is more like old school muscle than the coyote.

Now if you want a modern engine with real old school muscle car sound, find a Raptor 6.2 with anything other than the factory F150 exhaust, It sounds amazing! And it happens to have a relatively large bore, and 2 very big valves per cylinder in a canted angle configuration, but maybe that's just a coincidence ;-)