AKG Audio.......

[Motorin Mark]

Does anybody know anything about the AKG™ Premium 15-speaker audio system that is coming in our cars. My last Bose (was also supposed to be premium) that was in my Camaro was painfully average, just wondering if this system steps up the game a bit? Has anybody heard it yet or know what kind of power output it may have? No details on the GM/Cadillac website. With this much Horsepower in my engine I want an equally impressive sound system. Thoughts?

 

[RDATLTE]

Does anybody know anything about the AKG™ Premium 15-speaker audio system that is coming in our cars. My last Bose (was also supposed to be premium) that was in my Camaro was painfully average, just wondering if this system steps up the game a bit? Has anybody heard it yet or know what kind of power output it may have? No details on the GM/Cadillac website. With this much Horsepower in my engine I want an equally impressive sound system. Thoughts?

The only thing that I know is that it's a part of Harman which in turn is a part of Samsung. That and the new Escalades use it as well. For what any of that is worth.

 

[1Evil55]

My guess is that for the cost we could have spent the same at a local shop and had a MUCH MUCH better sounding system.

 

[mkrup]

Car audio is a strange topic. Cars are a notoriously tricky space to design for from an audio perspective, with odd dimensions, imperfect listening positions, and a whole bunch of varied ambient noise to account for. You also get a hodgepodge from equipment providers, with some really drilling down into the car audio space, some half-assing it, and others just licensing their brand name to other manufacturers. I had a Bang & Olufsen system in my S4 that I thought was wonderful, and a Harman Kardon system in my 340 that was a joke--both from the same parent company, but clearly built to wildly different specifications. I have a Fender-branded system in my Golf R right now that is apparently built by Panasonic, and actually sounds pretty decent. AKG is known for headphones and pro audio equipment (specifically microphones), and doesn't have much history in speakers or the automotive space beyond their current deal with Cadillac... so who knows. Hopefully it'll be good, but we'll see.

Audio equipment is my other money pit hobby, so it's a topic of interest for me, haha

 

[arod221]

I have no intention on keeping any sort of factory "premium audio" they're all crap as far as im concerned. get yourself some good 3 way components, throw away the passive crossover get a nice DSP and amp....then jam until you are deaf.....just my $.02...hahahaha and don't forget the rear fill and subs.

Sorry OP, I know this doesn't answer any questions for you but in all honesty I don't think anyone has an answer for this question yet. we can only pray it's decent.

 

[Motorin Mark]

Car audio is a strange topic. Cars are a notoriously tricky space to design for from an audio perspective, with odd dimensions, imperfect listening positions, and a whole bunch of varied ambient noise to account for. You also get a hodgepodge from equipment providers, with some really drilling down into the car audio space, some half-assing it, and others just licensing their brand name to other manufacturers. I had a Bang & Olufsen system in my S4 that I thought was wonderful, and a Harman Kardon system in my 340 that was a joke--both from the same parent company, but clearly built to wildly different specifications. I have a Fender-branded system in my Golf R right now that is apparently built by Panasonic, and actually sounds pretty decent. AKG is known for headphones and pro audio equipment (specifically microphones), and doesn't have much history in speakers or the automotive space beyond their current deal with Cadillac... so who knows. Hopefully it'll be good, but we'll see.

Audio equipment is my other money pit hobby, so it's a topic of interest for me, haha

Great incite, Your on my same page. Bose in original CTS-V sounded very good, Bose in Camaro, average at best. Harmon/Kardon in my M3, again just average, Bowers-Wilkins in my M5, excellent, Bang&Olufsen in my new Mach-1 pretty darn good, but not as good as the Shaker in my last Stang GT. Thus my interest in what we are going to get with AKG. Audio is important to me while I'm driving.

 

[BenBaad]

I’ve been wondering about the sound system as well. One of my friends said he’s heard the AKG in the new Escalades and it’s not great.

 

[Drozboyz]

Im about banging gears and … the stereo will b good enough… then again im 64

 

[burn813]

honestly, the best stock system I have ever had is in my current daily driver a 2014 Ford Flex Ecoboost with the Sony sound system

 

[mkrup]

Great incite, Your on my same page. Bose in original CTS-V sounded very good, Bose in Camaro, average at best. Harmon/Kardon in my M3, again just average, Bowers-Wilkins in my M5, excellent, Bang&Olufsen in my new Mach-1 pretty darn good, but not as good as the Shaker in my last Stang GT. Thus my interest in what we are going to get with AKG. Audio is important to me while I'm driving.

It gets tricky with the high-end systems though. The HK in the F30 3er was a mess since the whole thing was proprietary fiber optic wiring. There was an expensive aftermarket wiring harness you could buy to put in a different amp, but it was kind of a mess and your options were really limited since the harness was built for one aftermarket amp. I didn't want to get into that kind of nonsense, so I ended up going the Bavsound route and replaced the speakers, but it never quite got to where I wanted it. There's a huge Bimmerfest thread in the F8x M3/M4 board (since most of the parts are shared) where some guys with audio engineering backgrounds tried to calibrate the EQ to get the system somewhere close to being flat, and I was deep down that rabbit hole, but it was basically impossible... I really hated that car: it was beautiful, but it never did any of the things I wanted it to, and I just kept throwing good money after bad chasing the hope that I could make myself love it.

But yeah, to @arod221's point, I wouldn't hold out hope that you can just easily swap things out. Especially with the integrated infotainment systems in newer cars, things get complicated. Everything's too tightly linked. May just have to cross our fingers that the AKG is good enough.

 

[arod221]

It gets tricky with the high-end systems though. The HK in the F30 3er was a mess since the whole thing was proprietary fiber optic wiring. There was an expensive aftermarket wiring harness you could buy to put in a different amp, but it was kind of a mess and your options were really limited since the harness was built for one aftermarket amp. I didn't want to get into that kind of nonsense, so I ended up going the Bavsound route and replaced the speakers, but it never quite got to where I wanted it. There's a huge Bimmerfest thread in the F8x M3/M4 board (since most of the parts are shared) where some guys with audio engineering backgrounds tried to calibrate the EQ to get the system somewhere close to being flat, and I was deep down that rabbit hole, but it was basically impossible... I really hated that car: it was beautiful, but it never did any of the things I wanted it to, and I just kept throwing good money after bad chasing the hope that I could make myself love it.

But yeah, to @arod221's point, I wouldn't hold out hope that you can just easily swap things out. Especially with the integrated infotainment systems in newer cars, things get complicated. Everything's too tightly linked. May just have to cross our fingers that the AKG is good enough.

I just did my 2019 Ram 2500 with the ridiculous Tesla like 12" screen. added audio frog GB 10, 25, and 60's up front and GS 60's for rear fill...then TOSLINKed a JL VX1000/1i and a VX800/8i (running mids and highs fully active with built in DSP) as well as two JL 12 TW3's....everything worked seamlessly and it sounds amazing. we used the PAC AmpPro which (to my surprise) worked perfectly.
Plan for the Blackwing is to do a very similar setup but use 3 8" subs instead of taking up a bunch of trunk space with an enclosure for 12" W6's or W7's

 

[Drozboyz]

All that matters to me…. Sound system will be just fine

 

[mkrup]

All that matters to me…. Sound system will be just fine

Believe me, be happy that you only have one money pit hobby And yes, 3 pedals is way more important in the grand scheme of things.

For what it's worth, the better my home system has gotten, the more it's seemed kind of foolish to even try to chase it in a car setting. But the HK in the BMW was legitimately a terrible system and they should be ashamed of themselves for calling it an "upgrade." I'm hoping the AKG is at least better than that.

 

[Drozboyz]

Believe me, be happy that you only have one money pit hobby And yes, 3 pedals is way more important in the grand scheme of things.

For what it's worth, the better my home system has gotten, the more it's seemed kind of foolish to even try to chase it in a car setting. But the HK in the BMW was legitimately a terrible system and they should be ashamed of themselves for calling it an "upgrade." I'm hoping the AKG is at least better than that.

Im an old turd that can barely hear as it is.. lol only one money pit hobby? Fast bikes, boats and cars.. thats where im at in life

 

[RDATLTE]

With the attention to detail spent on the other aspects of these cars, it would be a huge disappointment if the sound system was not up to par with the rest of the car.

 

[Ryan]

As long as I can understand my audiobook, don’t care! Low standards

 

[SIX 40]

My wife has the upgraded Meridan system in her Jag. It’s pretty impressive.

 

[mkrup]

A review of the AKG system in the Escalade. Granted, it's the upgraded 36 speaker version, but hopefully should at least give some idea of what we can expect.

 

[SSEEYA]

Coming from the bad excuse for an infotainment system that is MyLink in the SS, as long as the BW audio will connect seamlessly and consistently with my phone and sound better than an 1915 AM radio, I will be happy.

 

[ajamils]

Coming from the bad excuse for an infotainment system that is MyLink in the SS, as long as the BW audio will connect seamlessly and consistently with my phone and sound better than an 1915 AM radio, I will be happy.

Amen to that. Horrible MyLink and lack of Android Auto was one of the only things that I hated about the car.