For years, the trend was to add more speakers to high end OEM sound systems, to the point where some systems now include 34 speakers.
But with the advent of electric vehicles, the trend may head in reverse. Harman showed at CES last month a prototype OEM system that bragged of cutting the number of speakers by half, or from 20 drivers, down to 10.
By reducing the footprint of the audio system, a car maker can add a few extra miles per charge to the vehicle, said Harman.
Its new system combines component speakers into a coaxial that use a single magnet and motor, again to keep weight down in what Harman calls a “Unity” speaker, shown in the A pillar of the car. There are no speakers in the door. “This is the direction we’re advocating for the EV market. We’re talking to car manufacturers this week to see what they think,” said Harman’s Chris Ludwig during CES.
Harman’s EV Plus + system also uses a new “Prodigy” Class D amplifier with discrete transistors. It adjusts the power supply for different volumes for maximum efficiency, again to use less energy.
The system allows over-the-air updates including software updates to the amplifier. A new car buyer, when at the car dealer, can add a second amplifier to the system. The amplifiers run on the A2B network.
The EV Plus + system is also Hi-Res Audio compatible, past 40kHz. Harman is also offering options to the system such as pedestrian speakers on the outside of the vehicle to alert pedestrians that the car is approaching. These speakers might even play music, said Harman.
Users can also purchase various background noises of nature recorded at US National Parks through Harman’s Audio Marketplace.
Additionally, the system can include voice sensing to automatically lower the volume of the audio system when there’s conversation in the car, and raise it, when the conversation ends.
