We rarely cover in-car audio and despite the Munich High‑End show being surrounded by automotive excellence (there’s a car museum just opposite and it sits…
The Panamera Hybrid provides an excellent environment for audio, because the car is so quiet. But this Bose system is disappointing.
The Genesis G90 Bang & Olufsen audio system has given birth to an exceptional audio experience that redefines in-car sound.
We’d hesitate to describe it as an ‘SUV’: It’s a Ferrari… just with four doors. But we’re obsessed!
The infotainment system is pretty conventional, dominated by Apple CarPlay and limited in scope by very few autonomous driving features. The optional harman/kardon audio system is good but not amazing.
We rarely cover in-car audio and despite the Munich High‑End show being surrounded by automotive excellence (there’s a car museum just opposite and it sits…
Today we’re watching Walter Hill’s The Driver, a “neo-noir” style crime drama that centers around a wheelman for hire and the cat-and-mouse game he plays with the detective who wants to bring him to justice at any cost. But since this is Gearhead Theater, we’re going to level with you – we’re really here for the cars, and everything else beyond that is more or less an incidental bonus.
Testing Notes: As Bose systems go, this is one of the better ones, though a glance at our ratings will perhaps convey that this is faint praise indeed. That’s because this system still takes the life out of music by sanding off the nuances and details. In addition, the spatial presentation is disconcerting with sounds coming from the dash and shifted away from the driver. Unfortunately, one’s listening pleasure is further reduced because the Fiat 500 is far from the quietest car on the road and the single DIN head unit offers but a minimalist user interface. Still, this leaves this stereo in the “not bad” category much more than in the “outright offensive” zone.
This is one of those Jekyll and Hyde systems where the midrange and treble sections seem to have been designed by people who listen to music and value accuracy, and the bass seems to have been tuned according to the whims of a product manager.
Dr. Dre might want to stick to making hip-hop. This is a surprisingly bland system that generally doesn’t sound bad, but rarely sounds very good. The problem is that the midrange is depressed and uneven, the bass is blurred and the treble only just above average. The system will play loud enough for our tastes (though based on what we hear from neighboring cars, we’re on the demur side when it comes to cranking it). It also manages to keep complex instrumentation from collapsing in a muddle. But it just doesn’t sound as clear or balanced as most premium systems, despite extensive twiddling with the EQ.
This is a surprisingly good system in terms of balance and clarity and spaciousness. It is also the rare system that doesn’t seem aimed first and foremost at producing boomy bass (the bass here going deep enough but at a reduced level). That said, we think some users will find the dynamics and bass power to be a little reticent, with the result that it doesn’t make rock or hip hop particularly exciting. But for acoustic music, classical and news radio, the Premium Sound here competes with many higher priced offerings (note that the whole Sonic, car and audio system, is $17k).
This system has a scooped out midrange that makes music seem less clear and articulate than it does on many other systems. Add that to the somewhat higher noise level that is endemic to convertibles, and you have less than ideal audio. Bass is strong, but doesn’t go that deep nor seem as clean as on the better OEM systems. Nissan’s interface is pretty straightforward, but the placement of the controls is a bit scattered.
Honda does its own audio systems, and as we’ve seen this shouldn’t count against them. This system sounds good, with a proper balance of bass/midrange/treble once you tone down the subwoofer.
This system has some problems. It sounds okay but a little lumpy, with a fairly big lower mid-range dip and blurry bass. The imaging is rather odd, shifted to the right, too low on the dash and overall a bit disembodied. The treble quality is actually pretty good, and the music doesn’t sound totally lifeless, despite these flaws. None of this is helped by the noise level on the TSX which, while not high, interferes more than on upper-end luxury models.
The Panamera Hybrid provides an excellent environment for audio, because the car is so quiet. But this Bose system is disappointing.
Honda/Acura does its own audio systems, and judging by this one, there’s really no need for them to go to the established audio brands for help.
Testing Notes: This Lexicon system spreads the sound out nicely in front of the driver and is enhanced by the quiet cabin of the Genesis sedan.
Competition is a good thing. It spurs innovation. WR recently tested the new Escort iQ. The combo detector/GPS unit worked well. However, the unit was bulky and pricy. If you’re looking for less expensive ($169) but comparable laser and radar protection and own an iPhone, check out Cobra’s iRadar detector.
Two common pitfalls that afflict those on the road: getting lost and getting tickets. What if you could avoid both?
