At Rides & Drives we love our music. From The Stones to Stravinski, we’ll listen to just about anything as long as it’s good. It also helps when that music is played through a great audio system. Apparently it’s not just us. In a recent study on auto buyers, nearly 33% of the people surveyed said the quality of the audio system in their car will have a significant impact on their purchase decision. That makes sense to us. After all, who wants to hear Merry Clayton wailing in the background on Gimme Shelter though a set of tinny tweeters.
So we are excited to hear that Ford has teamed up with Bang and Olufsen, specifically the company’s B&O Play mobile audio division, to raise the quality of their audio game in their cars, trucks and SUVs.
Bang and Olufsen used to be known for their iconic home audio systems. When I was a kid they were exotic and special and the people who had them in their homes were the real audiophiles of the neighborhood. That hasn’t changed much in the years since. Their B&O Play line of products are highly regarded not just for their sound quality, but design as well.
According to Raj Nair, Ford‘s executive vice president, product development and chief technical officer. “Customers tell us they value consistent, high-quality audio experiences, and our collaboration with HARMAN is helping provide that. This is just one of the ways we are creating richer, more engaging in-vehicle experiences for customers.”
2017 Ford F-150 Limited interior
Ford has been working with B&O Play engineers to custom design sound systems for each vehicle and optimize the sound for the space. One of the characteristics of B&O’s sound systems is their neutral approach, focusing on sound fidelity and audio clarity. While they didn’t have any cars or trucks on hand with the systems in place, Ford and B&O put together a demonstration we could walk through to get a sense of their approach.
No specific details were announced on the price of the system or which vehicles it will be available in, but we do know they’ll be in cars this spring. We’ll let you know exactly how good it sounds when we can take a listen later this year.
Until then, enjoy this…
