Audi A8 Bang & Olufsen Advanced Sound System Brings 3D Audio To Rear Seats

When it comes to luxury and technology, Audi crams it all into the A8, its most luxurious car. Audi has announced that it will be integrating a new Bang & Olufsen 3D Advanced Sound System into the car. The high-end audio system gives the Audi 23 loudspeakers that have ultra-light and low distortion neodymium magnets. All those speakers promise to product what Audi says is an "airy, high-resolution sound pattern."

Audi says the system is particularly good when it comes to classical concerts, "The effect is impressive, especially when reproducing a classical concert of high recording quality: The interior is transformed into a broad stage where the music unfolds exactly how it was recorded in the concert hall – without any artificial effects. The sound is authentic and emotional."

The A8 audio system has a pair of full-range loudspeakers in the A-pillars, two in the headlining above the rear seats working together to produce the spatial dimension and height. The amplifier for the system is a 1,920-watt Bang & Olufsen unit with high efficiency ICEpower tech and has an integrated digital signal processor.

When the infotainment system is turned on, two tweeters extend out of the instrument panel automatically. The have Acoustic Lens Technology and are able to produce sound in a horizontal 180-degree fan shape. Each loudspeaker in the system has its own individual amplifier channel. The system uses stereo or 5.1 recordings to calculate the information for the third dimension and processes that to the four 3D loudspeakers.

The system is able to localize every choice initially for the rear seat passengers for movie viewing. Occupants can also control subwoofer volume independently of all other speakers. "Integrating the loudspeakers at the right points in the car is the key to 80 percent of the audio quality," explains Wolfram Jähn, sound/acoustics developer for the A8. "They need to be mounted as rigidly as possible, so we fixed the subwoofer in the rear panel, which is made from carbon fiber-reinforced polymer. The aim is to isolate the loudspeaker from the body and prevent any vibrations from being transmitted."

For more details on the 2019 Audi A8, check out our coverage of the car.