Mobile speaker set – Audi Q7 with 62 speakers

Identify the location of all 62 speakers

Audi engineers have teamed up with Fraunhofer institute of Digital Media Technology to come up with a concept Q7 that sports not ten or twenty but 62 speakers! That’s 57 speakers and 5 sub-woofers. The normal Q7 comes with a 19 speaker, 1400W Bang and Olufsen Sound System.

Where is the space for this madness? Audi have cleverly integrated the speakers into the dashboard, doors and roof pillars, in other words wherever they could find space. Don’t think Audi forgot the trunk lid as that now houses three computers to operate the audio system. Apart from providing extremely precise surround-sound playback, the huge number of speakers permit “wave field synthesis,” which allows the system to simulate the effect of sounds playing anywhere in space. Audi say they can make it seem like vocals comes from several feet outside the car, for example.

While the concept sounds good, there are other issues. You just cant plug in your ipod and listen to your favourite music. You need special recordings done on 32-track format and right now, there is nobody doing that. It’s like having a HD TV only to find out that the input is non-HD. Audi say the vehicle is just a concept to illustrate the brand’s current sound system research, and that lessons learned from the Q7 will help guide future in-car audio systems.

[Car & Driver]