Best Factory Audio Systems?

[SlaughterX]

So, who do you all think makes the best factory car audio systems? I work at a Jeep/RAM/Dodge/Chrysler dealership, and the nicest system we have are the McIntosh systems in the higher trim level Jeep Grand Cherokee and Grand Wagoneer. It's probably about as close to a McIntosh system that I will ever get... I do like the Alpine systems though. I have never had the chance to listem to the Klipsch system in Tungsten RAM because we never order trucks that expensive, but I do find it interesting that the Klipsch system is supposedly more sophisticated than the McIntosh.

I own a 2018 Lincoln Continental with the standard speakers... I have heard the Revel system in a newer 2020 Aviator, and I honestly don't think it sounds much better than the standard speakers, but I do wish I had a Black Label.

 

[staticV3]

If I could, I'd choose Mark Levinson or Harman Kardon.

McIntosh don't appear all that capable at loudspeaker design.
E.g: https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/mcintosh_xr50/

 

[JustJones]

I'll never get a chance to hear them but maybe

KEF x Lotus Partnership

KEF US

us.kef.com

KEF in Lotus

First of all, congratulations on this deal. I bet it's a big thing for both companies. I hardly think anyone needs to hear me say it, I do have respect and high regards for KEF products, but here, I think they maybe went one step to far. This is an interior of a Lotus vehicle. It sports the...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Arindal]

who do you all think makes the best factory car audio systems?

It is pretty subjective, though, but the best in-car systems I have heard so far were:

Burmester in Porsche Panamera
B&W in Volvo CX90

Interestingly, the Volvo system did not anyhow resemble the B&W systems I was used to, particularly not these in larger BMW vehicles.

 

[Mr. Swordfish]

Question: is the audio system actually designed and manufactured by the company named, or is it just a marketing partnership with a "brand name" slapped on to the components while the actual system is designed and made by somebody else?

 

[NTK]

Question: is the audio system actually designed and manufactured by the company named, or is it just a marketing partnership with a "brand name" slapped on to the components while the actual system is designed and made by somebody else?

As told by Dr Toole:

...
Harman makes branded and unbranded audio systems for many car manufacturers, it owns the B&O car brand, and has been making B&W branded systems for years.
...

 

[Everett T]

As told by Dr Toole:

The Revel in my Lincoln sounds great but I'm sure Revel is just the name Harman licensed, they do Lexicon too, many consumers eat it up. McIntosh in the upper Jeep lines seems authentic for the most part..

 

[Floyd Toole]

The Revel in my Lincoln sounds great but I'm sure Revel is just the name Harmon licensed, they do Lexicon too, many consumers eat it up. McIntosh in the upper Jeep lines seems authentic for the most part..

Harman (with an "a") owns both Revel and Lexicon, and several other brands that are used to identify their car audio systems. Car manufacturers like "differentiation" so owning multiple brand names is useful. Revel product people were closely involved with early Lincoln systems, so there was a special effort to deliver good sound. I don't know what is done now. Cars are not designed with sound reproduction as a high priority, so systems must be concocted to fit the spaces available in sometimes small time windows not long before product release. Realities and marketing claims are sometimes miles apart. Brand names can have strong placebo effects - human nature and subjectivity prevail.

Car audio is a challenge because of varying background noise levels (bass must be boosted while moving at different speeds), and the fact that there is no "stereo seat". This is why multichannel upmixing is common and "Atmos" is talked about as the salvation. Car audio is a world of its own. Designers do their best to make it pleasurable.

Loudspeaker reproduction in a quiet small listening room is a significant challenge. In a car it is an even more uncertain game. Listening while parked is not a valid test, but it is often what customers get.

 

[Sharkdrive]

Having owned a relatively large amount of cars in my life, most with upgraded factory stereos, I have these thoughts:
Worst was either the mini cooper S, the upgraded stereo was weak and barely got loud enough to hear on the highway, or the Honda accord coupe (V6) which had a truly awful stereo and odd size speakers that were difficult to replace without cutting metal.
The best was Lincoln MKZ black label with the top-of-the-line Revel system, true audiophilia.
The ESL systems in the Acura Tl(s) I owned were very good, albeit volume limited. the TSX I had with ESL did go loud and the dual subwoofers kicked, but the tuning was lacking compared to the TL systems.
Subaru upgraded systems sound fine on satellite radio and classic rock, clearly tuned that way, not high resolution.
BMW HK systems were good as well
Dodge JBL system was great on classic rock, mediocre on everything else
My current genesis with Lexicon system is very good, but pales in comparison to the Lincoln Revel system.
All of this is (very) subjective of course, I did do measurements at times (laptop and mike) but results were all over the place, and as soon as you added passengers everything would change

 

[AudioJester]

Burmester in Porsche Panamera
B&W in Volvo CX90

I only learned several years later that Volvo had an early version of Dirac ART in the XC90 B&W we had.

Not sure what the secret sauce in the Panamera is.

 

[AudioJester]

Loudspeaker reproduction in a quiet small listening room is a significant challenge. In a car it is an even more uncertain game. Listening while parked is not a valid test, but it is often what customers get.

Clearly electric cars have a massive advantage with much quieter interiors. Some of the premium Chinese brands go further with double glazed windows etc.

 

[Arindal]

Clearly electric cars have a massive advantage with much quieter interiors.

I recommend to have a ride in RR Spectre, or the BMW i7 based on the same chassis concept. It is jaw-droppingly quiet, almost surreal.

 

[Karmacoma]

Clearly electric cars have a massive advantage with much quieter interiors. Some of the premium Chinese brands go further with double glazed windows etc.

Several recent cars audio systems have noise cancelation, and the new electric Audis got cushions inside their tyres to absorb the friction noises. The latter will probably become a standard.

 

[AudioJester]

Several recent cars audio systems have noise cancelation, and the new electric Audis got cushions inside their tyres to absorb the friction noises. The latter will probably become a standard.

Yeah, i recently drove an IM5 with double glazing and noise canceling. Goes 0-100 in 3.2 seconds and costs AU$80k!
Electric Audis are unfortunately way overpriced in Australia.

But all these electric cars have pretty good base multispeaker sound systems. I think the car audio paradigm has changed.

 

[Frank Dernie]

I have never expected good sound in a car.
Neither the listening position nor practical drive unit locations are consistent with good sound, with tweeters often in completely different locations to mid drivers, for example, and noise, particularly in the bass even in electric cars, is a detriment.
I mainly listen either to spoken word or a compressed classical music channel (which sounds dire on a home stereo) or have the sound system off in my car.
DSP does allow for some of the shortcomings to be masked by faux surround sound effects, but basically it is lipstick on a pig territory in general.
Added to that most after market stuff is mainly about how loud it can go and having a "subwoofer" which is not very sub at all, is often a one note resonator so sounds like somebody kicking a cardboard box.

My car is a Porsche Taycan EV, so quiet. I compared the standard system to the Bose option, which has some DSP and surround sound offerings, and the standard system was less coloured and had a fairly even frequency response so was non-irritating listening to speech and chose that.

I didn't have an opportunity to listen to the Burmester option but since I don't expect miracles in a car felt the £4000 extra to be very much not worth it however much better the drivers.

 

[Oddball]

My overall impression over the years is that car audio upgrade is hit and miss. Best I had was B&W in Jaguar XJ supersport, worst was B&O in Audi RS5. I guess it also depends on the model - my friend has MB GT with Burmester and can't say I am overly impressed, but then some claim that Burmester in other MB models is great. I really like the standard audio in 2025 BMW 420i coupe - they nailed it and glad did not look for upgrades.

With car prices being high as they are, I am honestly not looking for fully loaded options any more.

 

[AudioJester]

An EV with a silent sealed cabin and multiple drivers / multi-channel with advanced dsp including timing etc.

They should achieve more! I mean, we are not going to get high end 2 channel dedicted room type sound, but a lot of potential is there.

The old paradigm of engine/road noise and poor accoustic treatment with limited speaker positioing should now be overcome.

One of our cars is a BYD with Dynaudio speakers and Dirac tune. It sounds quite nice, a lot is probably due to the quiter background. Still can not do bass right, but we have solved that in our homes with multiple sources/subs, dirac ART, cardioid etc.

 

[Scrutable]

Having owned a relatively large amount of cars in my life, most with upgraded factory stereos, I have these thoughts:
Worst was either the mini cooper S, the upgraded stereo was weak and barely got loud enough to hear on the highway, or the Honda accord coupe (V6) which had a truly awful stereo and odd size speakers that were difficult to replace without cutting metal.
The best was Lincoln MKZ black label with the top-of-the-line Revel system, true audiophilia.
The ESL systems in the Acura Tl(s) I owned were very good, albeit volume limited. the TSX I had with ESL did go loud and the dual subwoofers kicked, but the tuning was lacking compared to the TL systems.
Subaru upgraded systems sound fine on satellite radio and classic rock, clearly tuned that way, not high resolution.
BMW HK systems were good as well
Dodge JBL system was great on classic rock, mediocre on everything else
My current genesis with Lexicon system is very good, but pales in comparison to the Lincoln Revel system.
All of this is (very) subjective of course, I did do measurements at times (laptop and mike) but results were all over the place, and as soon as you added passengers everything would change

I have had a couple of Acuras and the system was designated "ELS" (Eliot L. Schneier). The best car stereo I ever heard was the DVD Audio system in the 2004 TL. It came with a demo DVD Audio disc and it was like the musicians were inside the car. 2014 MDX also had a very good ELS system. Nothing from Burmeister, Focal or anyone else has been able to touch the Acuras. The new Acuras have a truly horrible boomy Bang and Olafsen system. Technology marches on. Sigh.

The Lexus Mark Levinson systems are also very very nice.

 

[nOOky]

First post here, so go easy on me... back in the day I used a 1994 Acura Integra GS-R as a platform for sound quality trophy systems. I currently drive a BMX X5 with the H/K system and honestly it sux. My wife's RX350 Lux is a bit better. However the source is a very important factor as you all know. I only play FLAC files from ripped CD's etc. via USB drive. I recently started the Amazon Music Unlimited 3 month trial and I am impressed. A lot of ultra HD content that streams at a much higher bit rate than Spotify or ugh Sirius. It even makes my earbuds almost acceptable lol. It does make the X5 a lot more tolerable, just saying.

 

[GS430man]

2001 Lexus with Mark Levinson sound system. Quite good quality, for a car audio system.