We spend an average of 17,600 minutes in our cars. How much of that time do you enjoy? I know I don’t enjoy nearly enough of those many, many minutes. For the last few decades I’ve purchased cars based on their rollover ratings, their side air bags, and the sheer mass of children I can cram in them. I miss having fun in my car.
Remember being 17, driving fast with windows down and the music turned all the way up? Those were the days when rock was good and the really cool kids had a bumping woofer underneath the back seat. If your car didn’t have a killer stereo system, you’d get the “after market” stereo. If it was a really good one (you know, with the fancy new CD technology) you either bought a “Club” to lock your steering wheel or you had a removable stereo. You had to be careful though, if you played your music too loud, for too long, you could blow out your speakers. That’s a thing that could happen millennials, and it was tragic.
I haven’t thought about car stereos since the 1990s when I was rolling in a sweet white Fiero. Kids today think they’re all about music with their Spotify accounts and wireless headphones. They know nothing about what music should sound like. Artists create music to be listened to with multiple speakers and proper equalizers. You won’t get that in your AirPods.
Image Courtesy of Kirsten Alana
Who knew the best stereo I’ve heard in a long time would be in a Lincoln SUV? As part of A Girls Guide to Cars conference tomorrow I was assigned the task of reviewing the Revel Speaker systems that are found exclusively in Lincoln automobiles.
The New Now: Live Your Best Life conference is sponsored in part by Lincoln. You’re invited to join the conference, which is free and open to all. Keep reading for more details!
Turns out there’s a lot more to a good sound system than just volume and some kicking bass. Revel and Lincoln worked together to place 14-20 speakers in each model depending on that particular vehicle’s cabin size and architecture.
To create their legendary “Concert in a Car” sound they thought about everything from having the tweeters and the midrange speakers positioned so that the sound hits the driver’s ear at exactly the same time to move the sound around the thick leather seats.
There’s the regular Revel system, and then the Ultima Revel system which comes in every Black Label vehicle. You know that’s the one I tested. You can adjust the bass, treble and mid settings on many cars, but they won’t have the speaker and sound quality of a Revel system. In addition to creating truly immersive sound, they did something I’ve never heard of, you can choose whether to listen to the music in stereo OR as if you’re in the audience at a show AND BETTER as if you’re onstage with the band.
There’s a whole lot of technical information I can share with you if you want to know how to really test a car stereo system like a professional. I know about spacial sound, spectral sound, what are they dynamics the engineers are working with. Generally older people like boosted treble, people like me who just pretend they aren’t old like boosted bass. But the best way to really see what I’m talking about is to get in a Lincoln and listen. I never even left the lot, and it was honestly one of the best hours I’ve spent this week.
Register here: bit.ly/driveyourbestlife and join the fun on social media by following these hashtags: #DriveYourBestLife #LincolnSanctuary
Read more about How Lincoln Created a Sanctuary of Luxury and Elegance in its SUVS on A Girls Guide to Cars.
