If you like music and spend a lot of time in your car, you’ve probably considered popping for a premium audio system. However, with brands like Bang & Olufsen, JBL, Revel, Mark Levinson, Harman Kardon, Infinity, and Lexicon all on deck at various manufacturers, it can be a bit hard discerning what makes certain factory sound systems special. I’ll let you in on a little secret; all of the brands I just mentioned are owned by Samsung subsidiary Harman International.
Throughout its history, Harman has steadily gobbled up automotive audio brands. JBL was among the first, bought out in 1969. Infinity was acquired in 1983, AKG joined the fray in 1994, then Mark Levinson and Revel in 2003. Most recently, Harman International acquired Bang & Olufsen’s automotive division in 2015, before Harman International itself was bought by Samsung in 2017.
However, just because all of these brands are owned by Harman International doesn’t mean that every single stereo under these brands will be alike. Let’s start with a really solid example, the 13-speaker Mark Levinson audio system available in the Lexus LC 500. Packing 915 watts of power, this system is a great example of what can be done when product planners know that customers will be serious about sound quality. Thanks to the LC’s fairly high price tag, acoustic engineers were able to produce a system with reasonably low distortion, clean staging, and a relatively balanced sound signature. No wonder it’s a massive hit with LC owners.
On the other end of the spectrum, you have the B&O system in the Ford Bronco Sport Outer Banks I tested a few weeks ago. In contrast to the pricey Lexus LC500, this baby Bronco’s premium audio system is part of a $1,285 package on a vehicle that starts at $36,045 (including a $1,595 freight charge). This means that Harman International likely didn’t have a huge budget for equipment and tuning, seeing as the system will have a fairly low take rate and has to recoup development costs while turning Ford a profit. As such, this system was engineered to a lower price point and therefore lacks the quality of higher-end systems.
Of course, this audio system monopoly has benefits for car manufacturers. For instance, the new Genesis G90 has a Bang & Olufsen audio system instead of a traditional Lexicon audio system. There’s no change in supplier here, just a change in branding. It’s a similar deal with BMW’s re-adoption of the Harman Kardon brand in the late 2000s. Late E90 3-Series models featured an available Harman Kardon stereo with exactly the same speakers as the earlier Logic 7 system and an interchangeable amplifier. Just slap a new name on it and call it done.
In addition, manufacturers can benefit from shared technologies. Take Clari-Fi, a digital compression restoration algorithm that attempts to reconstruct detail lost to compression. While it’ll never be as good as CD-quality or FLAC files, it’s proliferated across almost every corner of Harman’s car audio empire from the JBL system in a Toyota Camry to the Revel system in a loaded Lincoln Aviator.
However, this sharing of brands and technologies results in some audio systems that feel remarkably homogeneous. Compare Harman-made systems in competing cars, and similarities greatly outweigh differences. For example, the available Revel Ultima system in a Lincoln Nautilus features fairly similar sound quality to the Mark Levinson system available in the outgoing Lexus RX in terms of distortion. Due to Harman’s dominance in the automotive space, few premium audio systems really stand out from what competitors have to offer.
Moreover, Harman International has done some really strange things to famous audio brands in pursuit of market share in the automotive segment. The previously-mentioned B&O system in the Ford Bronco Sport Outer Banks is rubbish, which clashes with Bang & Olufsen’s stellar reputation. On the other end of the spectrum, the 36-speaker AKG system available in the Cadillac Escalade features a noticeable bass boost that’s at odds with AKG’s reputation for building reference-grade monitors. Despite the brand on the speaker grilles, it’s hard to know what to expect if Harman International is actually building the system.
However, there are still independent players clawing for market share in the OEM premium audio sector. If you want the best factory stereo in any car under $100,000, pick up a Volvo with the Bowers & Wilkins system. It’s exceptionally clean, balanced, and just joyous in standard studio mode. There’s no staging weirdness, reproduction is great, and overall quality is well worth the steep price tag. On the more reasonable side of things, the Burmester stereo is an $850 option on the Mercedes-Benz GLB and is worth every penny. While it certainly doesn’t have enough bass to rattle windows, distortion is impressively low.
More importantly, new players are either entering or re-entering the automotive space. McIntosh reappeared in several Jeep products, the Lucid Air features Dolby Atmos surround sound, and the new Audi Q4 e-Tron features an available Sonos audio system. The longstanding dominance of Harman International dominance have made things a bit audibly beige, but things are changing.
That last sentence made my eye twitch.
Audibly Beige would be a solid ironic band name
Great article, Thomas, and thanks for sharing something that those of us who replace these parts have known for a while.
That said, is there any consistency to the quality and performance of the various car audio brands under Samsung’s massive umbrella? I know the B&O speakers in the Bronco have been widely panned, and Mark Levinson and Revel tend to get accolades, and it seems that brands like JBL and Infinity tend to offer a fair amount of bang for the buck. Thinking of it in the vein of, say, VAG’s hierarchy, which brands are SEAT, which are Skoda, which are VW, Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, etc.? Or is there such an overlap and mishmash that the brands themselves are no longer dependably meaningful, and it’s what’s truly behind the speaker grilles alone that matters? That is to say, one would be better served building a system essentially from part numbers than choosing all the same brand and model line? ¹
This isn’t really a mystery or secret. A manufacturer is capable of producing different products (possibly under different brand names) form specific markets or price points.
For example, the Lexus that has the good audio system is manufactured by the same company that makes the Corolla, which I suspect has less audio cred than the Lexus.
All I know is that compared to what came from the factories in the 80’s and 90’s, almost anything available now is fantastic. Those radios and speakers were offensively bad. In some cases, they offered no better option. They weren’t even trying to up-sell, they just wanted you to be miserable.
I went from immediately replacing the audio system in my cars to pretty satisfied with the stock equipment. I think a few of my cars may have had a branded system (Bose in the Miata, Harman Kardon in the Subaru Outback, Pioneer in the FR-S), I don’t think my current Forester has a branded system and it sounds fantastic.
Of course, I’m also wicked old and moved to the country / suburbs. I don’t see my car as a rolling middle finger as I did a few decades ago.
I love music and have invested in some good audio equipment for home. That being said, with the road and wind noise of the average car, I’ve never really understood going over the top with a sound system
Ah but you see your stereo is not tied into your interface and into the lane departure system and the cruise control and the digital dash.
H&K have become the 1 stop shop for all this stuff and guaranteed to all play nice with one another rather than mixing all the tech’s.
Smart business model
Does Delco still make Delco-branded radios? I’ve got one in my Silverado, and check this out… it has *both* AM *and* FM! Seriously… My truck is my quiet place. The radio is rarely on.
“Hey, if you let the mayor go, we’ll even throw in a Blaupunkt!”
Thanks, now I have to watch Robocop.
Often though, even premium brands that aren’t owned by Harman don’t actually make their automotive systems. Bose (allegedly a “premium” brand) systems in many cars like Mazdas are just rebadged Panasonic gear. The McIntosh branded systems in some Subarus were actually made by Clarion.
I’d be interested to know if the uber expensive British audio brand Naim really make the premium system available in some Bentleys. Or if it’s just made by another automotive audio OEM.
No mention of the Acura ELS system? A lot of reviews call it ‘the best car stereo there is’ and I’m curious as to its provenance.
https://www.businessinsider.com/acuras-els-studio-3d-audio-system-best-you-can-buy-2020-8
ELS blew me away, but Thomas was not impressed. I recall him saying that the Volvo B&W system was his favorite.
I admit that I am not an audiophile, but I can at least tell when my favorite songs are getting messed up. And no matter what setting or volume I set, the ELS system rocked with the music I listen to. The surround sound in the MDX is real fun, but of course, you’ll need to have music that actually uses the additional channels.
For bad ones…
The Beats system of new VWs can’t even play the theme to Star Trek: Voyager without distortion or without seemingly losing some instruments.
The Marshall system of BMW motorcycles distorts the same song so much at high volume that it’s almost unrecognizable. At mid and low volume you just can’t hear it unless you’re not wearing a helmet… which, nah.
And Harley-Davidson’s system makes the same track sound like you’re trying to hear it through a couple of blankets. But at least you can hear it through a range of volume with a helmet on.
I have to say, I’ve always wondered about audio on motorcycles…isn’t that akin to just clipping on a bluetooth speaker and blasting it at full volume? Seems like some pass-through headphones would sound better and offer less outward noise pollution.
This just in: The Chevy Cavalier and the Cadillac Cimarron were kinda the same car. More on topic: Harmon makes head units, but more often their OE stuff is just a speaker and amplifier package.
I’m so grateful that the Autopian team puts out great informative articles like this. Kudos and plz keep it coming!
Meanwhile on another familiar blog, they have folks bitch and lay fault on Apple for having a properly working crash detection feature when he simply failed to secure his phone properly…
I had no idea just how uniform the industry had become! My last car (Miata) had a terrible factory sound system so I took it to my car audio guy and spent some money to install some sound insulation and proper speakers, we even put a nice bass speaker in part of the micro-trunk. The sound was unbelievable, especially when the top was up. My current Mercedes roadster has a HK system that luckily sounds damn good so I haven’t switched it out.
How about another comparison. Manufacturers differentiating between in house brands, selling the same audio but with a different speaker grille. Look at Ford selling B&O on, say, an Expedition, but rebranding the same system, maybe with a few added speakers, as Revel.
As a Revel system on a Navigator.
I see more Bose in cars nowadays than anything else. They universally sound worse than the Blaupunkt system in my dad’s Mk III Mondeo Diesel, and quite bland and synthetic in general.
What a great car that Mondeo was.
Bose: Better sound through marketing!
Though, once you tweak them you can get it sounding tolerable. Better than the standard fair you get in most cars that they come as options in.
My Kenwood after-market speakers sound better than the Bose that came factory-fitted in my dad’s Renault. And yes – Bose loves to market the shit out of their product. I counted 5 different Bose stickers on the car. Ugh!
Brand buy out has been rampant in audio in general.. I simply don’t trust any of the brands I knew or installed back in the 80’s. I had a David Hafler home system that at the time were hand made in Pennsylvania, now owned by some conglomerate, that I think owns the Jenson name too.
I’ve got a buddy that was an engineer for the Harman group up until recently, I would be interested to hear what he thinks about this. I’ll have to ask and get back.
For anyone interested in car audio from an electrical engineer’s perspective, check out episode 560 of the Amp Hour:
https://theamphour.com/the-amp-hour-560-high-end-audio-with-remco-stoutjesdijk/
Implications for car design as well (eg: lighten car by replacing soundproofing material with noise cancellation)
I have never been in a single high end store that had B&O equipment. A quick search shows that they do actually make audiophile level products, but the only place I have ever seen them is in a short lived B+O store that had a lot of sizzle and not much steak.
Harman makes some good products and there are benefits in terms of design resources and flow down technology to having them be a bigger company, but I think the world would be a better place if Mark Levinson and Revel were still their own thing.
Of course, in most cases the question is whether it’s appreciably better than the base audio system in the car or not that makes it worth the price or not. It helps to be objectively better than others in the segment, but probably not a huge differentiator.
Now that Sonos is the base level in some vehicles, then the answer will probably always be yes.
All Sonos sounds best in the off position.
I’m an acoustic engineer.
I’d just love to find the Harman executive who approved JBL branding (their budget-oriented but still good-sounding brand) for Ferrari. I laughed the first time I saw that tag on a Ferrari door speaker.
You’d think Ferrari approved that for some reason.
Even Ferrari probably wants you to pay extra for an “upbranded” system.
Who listens to the radio in a Ferrari? Listen to the damn engine, for God’s sake.
I want to find them and beat them, JBL used to be the shit. Now its just the low bar for high-quality audio.
I want to find the people who make those “Circus Parade” sound systems jackwagons like Squat Truck drivers inflict on us.
I mean, I’m not an audiophile, but I am a stereo guy with a huge music collection. And I don’t care one bit about car audio. I’ve never had a car with low enough NVH to be bothered.
That Bowers & Wilkins Volvo setup you mention as an “independent player” is not made by B&W. It’s a licensing agreement with . . . you guessed it, Harman International.
I agree it’s a good system, but it’s a Harman product like (nearly) all the rest.
no fucking way…do you have a source for that? that almost seems like a scam based on how expensive the B&W system option is compared to the optional Harman/Kardon branded system. I’m surprised B&W would advertise it on their site if it is a Harman-based system, but I guess everyone’s a sell-out these days.
https://www.bowerswilkins.com/en-us/collaborations/volvo
I haven’t seen anything about the Volvo system specifically, but I did some searching and Samsung did say this in their announcement of the Harman acquisition:
“HARMAN’s leading brands and cutting-edge audio systems include JBL®, Harman Kardon®, Mark Levinson®, AKG®, Lexicon®, Infinity®, and Revel®. The company also licenses Bowers & Wilkins® and Bang & Olufsen® brands for automotive.“
https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-electronics-to-acquire-harman-accelerating-growth-in-automotive-and-connected-technologies
This published contract also shows that Harman has a license to use Bowers branding for their own OEM products at least as far back as 2014, and possibly 2008.
https://contracts.justia.com/companies/masimo-849/contract/250232/
craziness, and it just furthers the question of if there are any truly independent audio firms partnering with automakers.
Can also buy a Sony TV with a Samsung panel, a Samsung TV with an LG panel. And of course iPhone with Samsung components too.
Everyone is supplying everyone else.
I’m still a Sparkomatic man, myself.
The El Camino is treating you good ?
Yup, me too, also Kraco and Realistic.
Realistic was often a really decent deal for the money back in the ‘80s. And the Realistic speakers I got from Radio Shack in ‘82 ( after I spent 75% of my summer-job $ on a Technics receiver) handled my abuse for almost 15 years. No regrets there.
A good friend in HS had a Pinto with Kraco front end, Realistic equalizer, AND Sparkomatic speakers: kinda the greatest hits of cheap car audio for that era. The Stray Cats sounded just right through that system.
Isnt it weird that reading someone else’s memories triggers my own
I got a Powerbooster in the glove box.
Good enough for my ’61 VW…good enough for me.
Lear Jet. Pardon my name dropping.
I always loved the connotation of this brand name – “Sparkomatic”. It sounds like something you’re trying to prevent from messing up your home-install 8 track & rear 6×9’s – “damn, sparkomatic interference!” God knows I spent enough hours trying to prevent ignition noise from making my stereo into an audible tachometer.
Pair of Bevada 6X9 with 40 Ounce Magnets for $20
Don’t forget to leave those 6x9s propped up and unsecured in the back window of your Firebird. Very important for proper sound reproduction.
No kidding ,i’d never heard of that brand.I thought that was a euphemism for broken speakers!
Hilarious
I remember my E36’s speakers being paper cones manufactured by Nokia.
Consolidation is king.
A lot of people that consider themselves audiophiles are really just brand snobs, and will throw money at the name, even if it’s crap. One of the guys I work with was apoplectic that I’d choose to sell a Marantz unit and keep a Denon one when I bought both at an estate auction. Refused to believe it was the same freaking company until I pulled up the corporate website.
Granted, this is the same reason most people buy an entry level BMW or Mercedes, but I digress.
Saul Marantz made some wonderful gear and later on the pre-1980 stuff when superscope owned Marantz is worth re-capping and using.
Later stuff is just a brand in a box.
Yeah, I’ve got a Marantz 2330B Stereo Receiver that I’ve had since 1979 that I’ve been thinking of having restored. It’s a Superscope unit made in Japan and I’ve gotten tired of spending money on equipment that doesn’t sound as good to me.
https://classicreceivers.com/marantz-2330-b
Remember when Watts rms was measured so it meant something and 1% thd was not something to be proud of?
In a car unless somebody is with me I usually keep the sound off, music I like tends to make me drive faster, but normally I’m just happy with the noises of driving. As for fancy audio IMHO any car I own it would be wasted in, too many years of unmuffled engines and rock and roll has taken its toll.
Brand snobbery IMO is the driving force behind many, many audiophiles. However, in cars, I think a big part of the demand for these systems is that they’re tied to other options in packages/trims.
If premium audio was its own box to check, I think lots of these options would disappear completely.
How did we get to the point where having something like 36 speakers is considered good? This has about as much logic as bragging about how many watts a system has.
36 is more than numbers that are less than 36, and thus is better.
Honestly it’s true on all consumer goods, whether or not it actually makes a difference. People like the bigger number.
It’s true everywhere you have uninformed target audiences that need to be sold on a product.
Mercedes replaced the C43 AMG (na 4.3 V8, 300hp) with the C32 AMG (supercharged 3.2 V6, 350hp)… and people couldn’t process it. “WHY NUMBER GO DOWN??”
So now the model numbers are completely meaningless as engines get smaller displacements and electrification because the moneyed potential first-owner at the dealership will get confused that number go down.
“Mercedes replaced the C43 AMG (na 4.3 V8, 300hp) with the C32 AMG (supercharged 3.2 V6, 350hp)… and people couldn’t process it. “WHY NUMBER GO DOWN??””
I guess by that logic Infiniti cars (and audio) are THE BEST!
Now do EV mileage. It can be measured, so it gets measured. Nothing about whether or not ever bigger batteries make the car any fun to drive.
Well with digital processing where you can control the phasing and frequency response of each speaker it makes it dead easy to stick a bunch of speakers all over the place then adjust them until it works. Impulse response dsp chips are cheap, digital amps are cheap, all those little speakers are cheap, and you don’t have to design the car around the audio.
Personally I find the illusion of driving around in a big room with sounds seemingly coming from outside the car to be something between annoying and distracting at best.
There is logic here, especially in a car. Bass travels in “all directions” and as I’m sure you know, even vibrates the vehicle itself, so you don’t need a lot of sub woofers or woofers, however as the frequency increases the sound becomes more directional, so to get a good sound stage, car audio companies started splitting up the classic three way speaker. My tiny MR2 back in the late 80’s had (technically) 8 speakers, 2 subs, 2 woofers in the doors, 2 mids in the dash and 2 tweeters high up in the doors. Not crazy power but a good sound stage, tough in such a tiny car. I could absolutely see 32 speakers in an SUV, not 32 full range ones, but as a collection of different frequency range drivers.
Getting a full range of sound to possibly 4-7 people in an environment as acoustically challenging as a car is inherently helped by having more speakers, especially midrange and tweeters.
To be fair, a lot of the higher number is packaging constraints in vehicles. My basement stereo is hooked to two pairs of speakers, but if you pulled each cone out and counted it like a car, that’s suddenly an 18 speaker sound system. Start splitting the big cones down to equivalent smaller ones for the same packaging reasons and it’s probably 24 before you add a sub to restore the bottom end.
I’ll leave the wattage discussion alone. Too many changes in measurement over time and too little understanding that you need wattage specifically not to use it if you want good sound in most of those back and forths.
The bigger question is, does it have Dolby Logic?
Its like the home theatre market.
Most home set ups would be better investing the same money into 2 channels.
Most people don’t understand you can get full 3-d immersion off a decent 2 channel set up.
Although getting music to both front and back rows requires a few more than 2 in a car. And with the modes, a few speakers also helps.