McIntosh returning to car audio

Jeep... really... makes me want the McIntosh of days gone by ... I cannot believe that this will promote or help the brand, but then again I certainly could be wrong.

I would have thought they would have stayed with higher end brands to prompt the high end quality... such as Burmeister making systems for Bugatti, Porsche, and Mercedes only (ps I have one in my Benz... best car audio system I have ever had).

I’m hearing small appliances next. Blenders, toasters, etc.. all with blue meters....

^^^ That was salty.

McIntosh was making great car audio products for years. They are VERY highly sought after today. It is no surprising they want to jump the bandwagon - at least they are one of the very few companies that do have car audio experience.

I would love to see McIntosh car audio systems sold as a factory option.

Just imagine the new Vette with a McIntosh audio system.

I'm wondering how much of its actual technology makes it into the electronics of the car. I worked for an OEM that used a high-end brand in its cars and there didn't seem to be much that transferred over from the mothership. Very disappointing.

Mr. Big said:

I'm wondering how much of its actual technology makes it into the electronics of the car. I worked for an OEM that used a high-end brand in its cars and there didn't seem to be much that transferred over from the mothership. Very disappointing.

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You are probably right. I doubt that McIntosh is going to put lots of money in R&D to come up with a truly great system. They may just be getting a fee for using their name and providing some pretty face panels.
I have had car audios from Levinson, JBL, Bose (several) and B&O. The B&O was definitely the best of them all. All others have been just ok.
Bose stroke gold when they went after the car audio market and they keep capitalizing on it. Just about every car manufacturer offers a Bose system. Folks can say all they want about Bose, but they certainly built a very successful corporation.

I'm familiar with BOSE / Burmester systems in the Porsche Cayenne. Apart from the AMT tweeters in a dash that come with the Burmester system, everything else is made by the same OEM manufacturer. Amps look basicly the same (a bit more power in the Burmester version), speakers (front sans tweeters, rear doors, sub), are most likely also made by the same OEM company. IMO it is possible that Porsche / Mercedes only pays a fee for the nice badge on those and engineers them in house. Which kind of makes send if you have so many models with them.

Sonus faber systems in Pagani and the new Maseratti on the other hand, are definately a Sonus faber supplied. Also, Volvo and B&W have drive units supplied by B&W with the dimond tweeters and kevlar midranges.

How Bowers & Wilkins designed their system for the new BMW X5 - YouTube

When I was into car audio, 20+ years ago, I had MB Quart Q series speakers and PPI amps. JL Audio subs. The shop that I went to has McIntosh, Focal, and a few others that were considered the high-end of car audio. I always thought MB Quart did it the best.

These days with everything so integrated, I don’t know how anyone could put aftermarket audio equipment into a vehicle anymore.


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Car audio became a niche market. There are still very interested product out there, that integrate smoothly with in-car entertainment giving you an OEM feel.

For example, if you drive a Merc, you can get a plug and play speaker kit from Steg, which includes all speakers made to fit in factory locations. The improvement in SQ is nothing short of spectacular.



Merc OEM vs Steg:



Steg: