I think you're giving your mustang audio system a little too much credit.
I love music and I love a good sound system. Savagegeese a YouTube reviewer has a sound/audio engineer test basically every audio system and Fords don't do very well including the premium audio system.
I promise you the lexicon 15 speaker audio system in my g70 is better than anything Ford has ever put in a Ford vehicle. Now Lincoln may be completely different.
Bowers and Wilkins in the Volvos are probably some of the best automotive audio systems you can get.
Don't get me started on the Fiesta ST sound system because it sucks and it mostly comes down to the terrible tweeter location, and the fact they said hey no subwoofer for you.
Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk
I love music and I love a good sound system. Savagegeese a YouTube reviewer has a sound/audio engineer test basically every audio system and Fords don't do very well including the premium audio system.
I promise you the lexicon 15 speaker audio system in my g70 is better than anything Ford has ever put in a Ford vehicle. Now Lincoln may be completely different.
Bowers and Wilkins in the Volvos are probably some of the best automotive audio systems you can get.
Don't get me started on the Fiesta ST sound system because it sucks and it mostly comes down to the terrible tweeter location, and the fact they said hey no subwoofer for you.
Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk
The ST system serves its purpose and an under seat powered sub is a cheap improvement for some. I did not expect much in a $22K car.
With 55 years in audio I take "reviews" with a wheelbarrow of salt. Way too much snake oil in audio sales. Anyone that knows audio does not need a "test" to tell us a car is the absolutely worst place in the world for good audio. Every audio parameter is a compromise in a car. Even moving a seat forward or back 8 inches will change the audio.
I don't know who would buy a car based on arbitrary audio tests or brand name audio systems. My wife bought a Mustang GT/CS not a B&O system. She would have bought the upgrade no matter what big name was on it. What I do believe is B&O and the others audio providers for high end cars do the best they can given the space (car) and budget and I am sure all do much more extensive and expensive testing than any reviewer does. The are putting their well respected name on the product with the hope of expanding the brand. All humans have differing hearing even in each ear. We adjust our systems to our ears not what test equipment says. I have a midrange loss in my right ear but left is ok meaning without a L/R channel EQ in the FiST I can only adjust the right channel volume upward to compensate. All designers can do is give the customer a good starting point and expect the system will be adjusted to please the end users which is why we now have more than a Bass and Treble control. My daughter is perfectly happy with the CD audio in her FiST and sees no reason for a sub or any other changes. Said it is much better than the audio in her twice as expensive Honda Pilot she dumped.
This is the reason brand name systems are now the big thing in a new cars. The necessity of integrating the electronics interface in new cars and new interiors every 3 years or so means the days of "stock" generic 3rd party units (Pioneer, JVC, Alpine, ect) being available for most cars are totally gone.You can't buy a stock audio system in a Mustang and pay to "upgrade" it to the level of the B&O system for the $1000 cost. Almost nobody will buy a $1000 audio upgrade in a $22K car, in a $50K and up car it is expected to be offered or stock and makes a profit. The only audio changes my FiST needs is a Mountune exhaust system.
BTW...Harman International owns Lexicon, B&O automotive audio (not home/professional audio), Infinity, JBL, Mark Levinson, Harman Kardon. Revel and Selenium also, they make automotive and home speakers. Lexicon is primarily involved in digital processing/home theater not so much in home or auto audio, they did a Rolls and the Korean cars audio, I suspect the other brands were in exclusive use by other car companies so Lexicon was drafted by Harman for the those cars. Harman is very big ($$) in "high end" auto audio. I know 6 of their companies offer audio systems in various cars and all excellent quality for the costs according to what I read.