Bose ’s self-propelled audio frequency business sector is huge , and it ’s set to get even bad . The company has been making bounteous plays in auto audio frequency for some time now . The audio company works with premium brands like Porsche , build gamy - death speakers that let driver to know in high spirits - quality audio on the road , whether they ’re cart the family around in an Escalade or weaving around the highway ( do n’t do that ) in a Porsche Macan .
But while it has a upstanding pick of audio brands under its whack , the Earth of personal audio is also evolving . Mercedes - Benz exhibit off its Dolby Atmos system at CES last year , and now , a year afterwards , plenty of other brands are fall in the tendency . At CES 2025,Bosewalked me through its current batting order of automotive audio products , as well as a sneak peep of what ’s to come .
Immersive audio
The big vogue in all areas of personal audio mightily now basically boils down to supporting 3D audio formats likeDolby Atmos . Consumer home theater intersection are increasingly offering up - firing and side - fire speakers that can bounce audio around the room to simulate height and surround effect , while earpiece brands are increasingly developing spatialized audio technical school that can commute stereo sound into simulated spatial audio recording .
Now that ’s extending into the motorcar , and in a big direction . As mentioned , we ’re a yr out from when Mercedes - Benz begin demonstrate off its Dolby Atmos - enable speakers , and at the sentence , it was utterly an impressive demo . Now others , including Bose , are work hard at offering like technologies , and I engender to experience Bose ’s next - generation Atmos - enabled speaker system in a GMC Denali . While the organisation is n’t on the road just yet , Bose told me that it ’s basically finalized and will be ship this year .
Indeed , the demo was quite impressive . Bose offers a few dissimilar technologies for spatialized audio frequency , let in tech that can spatialize two-channel audio for a more immersive experience . Of naturally , it can also go for spacial audio format as an input , avoiding let to run a spatial algorithm itself to convert audio recording into a spatial format .
But I have a confession to make . Even after the undeniably impressive demo , I still do n’t like listening to music in spacial audio . Maybe I ’m just getting old , but it just kind of feels a little wrong . Most music was still earlier assorted for stereo hearing , and oftentimes , the Dolby Atmos re - admixture are gimmicky at best . The medicine we listened to in an Escalade , which had Bose ’s unexampled technical school , sound wide and immersive — but I would never listen to music originally miscellaneous for stereophony in a spatial data format , and it would take a lot of getting used to for me to heed to medicine in reality mixed for Dolby Atmos .
Perhaps some of that comes down to the idea that even the concept of spatialized music feels a little unnatural . Stereo audio allow you to act as with panning to the left , the rightfield , and anywhere in between . How is music presented when you go to a concert ? Typically , it ’s on a stagecoach — in front of you to the left , the right , and anywhere in between . certain , audio bounce around a room , but that ’s a piffling different from it sounding like a percussionist is playing above you . I will say , though , that I do love watch out movies in spatial audio — when youdowant as immersive of an experience as possible . Typically , though , you credibly wo n’t be watch movies while you drive .
But I divagate . The speaker built into the car did sound dandy , with deep and resonating bass and crisp details . And , presumably , you ’ll be capable to set music to toy in stereo anyway . alternative are good — just because I do n’t like hear to music in Atmos does n’t mean no one else should be able to .
Ultra high-end
I also had a chance to check out something else in the Bose portfolio — speakers developed by what are now Bose brands , Sonus Faber and McIntosh .
These are the speaker systems that I really enjoyed mind to . Bose is just as much a technical school companionship as an audio society , but the likes of Sonus Faber and McIntosh are traditional audio companies with a end of simply make the best audio frequency they can — even if that means building speakers that be $ 700,000 .
I wo n’t dwell too long on this — nothing that I examine from Sonus Faber and McIntosh at the show was actually young . But I will say that Bose ’s acquisition of the steel make a minuscule more sensation in the context of automotive . Sitting in a Jeep Wagoneer S with Speaker build into it , I experienced what could be among the best automotive utterer arrangement out there right now . Audio was incredibly nippy and broad , with every individual pawn aim its own space in the intermixture . In this demonstration , audio was in stereo , and I bang it . Oh , and I also happened to get a demonstration of the $ 700,000 Sonus Faber speakers . Pumping volume up to 70 % in the T - Mobile Arena was an audio experience I in all probability wo n’t forget before long . It was loud … but the scheme is amongst the best - sounding I ’ve ever get wind , and as an audiophile with a background in studio apartment recording , I ’ve heard plenty of great - sounding systems .
I will say , however , that Bose ’s skill of the make makes a little more sentience in the context of self-propelling . I just go for Bose at least let them stick to what they ’re doing when it number to the development of ultra - premium speaker system and power amplifiers without push tech that customers of the steel do n’t desire or need .
