Bowers & Wilkins Redefines In-Car Audio

It’s unprecedented for Talk Audio, a site dedicated to aftermarket mobile audio, to report on an OEM sound system but the new Jaguar XJ is special. We know the people at Alpine personally who specified the front end electronics and are also well chummy with the UK’s most famous speaker company, Bowers & Wilkins, who provide the speakers. So here’s their press release about the sexy new Jag XJ. It is of course written for the Sunday colour supplements and broadsheet market, so forgive the obvious PR speak! (I was asked to go to do a moment on the BBC News channel as the XJ pictures were released. My masterful contribution was that it ‘looked shiny‘. I haven’t been asked back since….)

Innovative collaboration with Jaguar sets new standards for automotive audio.
The revolutionary new Jaguar XJ comes with possibly the best in-car audio system ever, thanks to a collaboration with Bowers & Wilkins. Bowers & Wilkins’ decades of engineering know-how and the latest in digital sound-processing technology combine to deliver the most faithful reproduction of audio performance ever achieved in a production car.
The innovative partnership between Jaguar and Bowers & Wilkins encompasses their shared no-compromise approach to design and performance in order to achieve the best possible experience. Using ground-breaking Bowers & Wilkins innovations such as aluminium dome tweeters and Kevlar drive units, each component in the new XJ’s sound system has been specially designed for the car. The twenty speaker, fifteen channel system has been fine-tuned and calibrated by the same expert engineers who tuned Bowers & Wilkins’ 800 Series speakers which are used at Abbey Road Studios. Having been given unprecedented input in the audio-sensitive positioning of the speakers, their locations have been painstakingly refined to ensure that each seat offers the same sound quality.
Constructed from aluminium, the XJ’s chassis uses aerospace inspired lightweight technology. Finding strength in lightweight construction is also a passion for the engineers at Bowers & Wilkins. Not only in the seven aluminium-dome tweeters that provide passengers with a refined treble performance, but in the XJ’s KevlarTM mid-range drivers. Originally used by body armour specialists around the world, Kevlar has become the material of choice for Bowers & Wilkins drive units. Due to its uniquely constant dispersion pattern, it’s the ideal material for delivering a clean sound at a wide range of frequencies.
Along with the XF, the all new XJ is Jaguar’s most aerodynamic car, and Bowers & Wilkins is equally committed to optimising airflow. The FlowportTM technology found on Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series speakers and inside the new XJ uses aerodynamic dimples, much like a golf ball, to reduce turbulence for both optimum airflow out of a speaker cabinet and minimum noise.
Of course, speaker positioning and construction materials are only part of the story when it comes to in-car audio. Reproducing sound effectively in the cabin raises all sorts of challenges – the small space, differing materials and the requirement to satisfy multiple entertainment needs, all become important issues to address. With the ability to stream video from an iPod or USB memory stick, watch digital TV or DVDs, as well as playing music from the Hard Disc Drive or via Bluetooth audio streaming, the sound system has to work perfectly across a number of different platforms. In order to compensate for the idiosyncrasies of the cabin environment, for the first time ever in an automotive application, the audio performance is tuned by the Audyssey MultiEQ XT system. This digitally corrects any imperfection created by the cabin environment, and provides an excellent foundation for the expert engineers from Bowers & Wilkins to do all the fine tuning in order to deliver accurate, distortion free sound anywhere in the car. Marking another innovative step is the inclusion of a choice of surround sound encoders. The XJ offers both Dolby Pro Logic IIx and DTS Neo:6 to maximise the 7.1 surround sound performance.
Jaguar and Bowers & Wilkins have set out to produce an in-car system to rival the best in home audio and Dan Haikin, Brand Director for Bowers & Wilkins, is convinced they have succeeded: “From day one Bowers & Wilkins and Jaguar worked closely together to produce a no-compromise audio experience. This shared desire has resulted in what we believe is the most extraordinary sound system ever to be integrated into a production car.”
To find your nearest Bowers & Wilkins stockist, call 01903 221500 or visit http://www.bowers-wilkins.co.uk