Audi has given the world a look at its latest all-electric vehicle and in good news for stereo fans, Sonos is kitting out the sound system – a first for the pioneering brand of multi-room Bluetooth audio.
This fresh partnership means Sonos will not only feature in the Q4 e-tron, but will also be the standard system for Audi’s future A1, Q2 and Q3 models.
Audi officially deems the Sonos setup in the Q4 e-tron to be a “premium sound system” and it will be fitted as standard to Vorsprung versions, but also available for other variants of the car as part of Audi’s optional Comfort and Sound pack.
The Sonos in-car system uses the Sonoamic Panorama algorithm to process audio and distribute it to 10 speakers inside the cabin. This algorithm, developed by the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, claims to “use stereo recordings to generate a three-dimensional surround sound, where it places the individual sound sources on a virtual U-shaped sound stage. This gives the listener the impression they are sitting in the middle of the orchestra or band.”
The way the Sonos system is configured is as follows: four tweeters and a centre speaker are driven by a dedicated amplifier built into Audi’s MIB 3 digital architecture, while a separate eight-channel booster amp handles the four bass speakers and the subwoofer in the luggage compartment. That all adds up to a whopping 580 watts of total power, combining both amps.
Previously, Audi’s in-car sound was taken care of by Bang & Olufsen. Does this mean Denmark’s iconic audio brand is no longer in the picture, or is Audi balancing arrangements with more than one audio partner?