Top 5 Car Audio Systems Still Led by Bang and Olufsen with Levenson a Close Number 2

And now the drumroll, please and the winning automotive sound system is, just as we expected it would be, a Bang and Olufsen design. We looked around the internet to try to find the best of the best in car sound systems and we were lucky enough to find a list that mirrored some of our own findings for the top five sound systems available.

Number one, according to www.askmen.com, is Bang and Olufsen's Advance Sound System (we once fixed a set of Bang and Olufsen speakers that were totally fried and they responded by supplying us with a complete replacement kit, including crossover. It took more time to remove them from the special wood cabinets that it did to do the actual work, but when it was done, the result was sweet and showed just how good Bang and Olufsen is to its customers.)

Indeed, the number one system was not only lauded by www.askmen.com, but it was also given an impressive award by Ward's Auto World which awarded Auti's A8 Bang and Olufsen Advanced Sound System top honors a few eyars back and time has only made it better. This system consists of an impressive array of 14 speakers, including a huge 12-inch subwoofer that will let your feet feel sound your ears can't hear. Imagine this addition, though, each speaker has its own amplifier and there are accoustic lens speakers in the dash that extend and retract. This is a system that will melt earwax and other things because it cranks out 1,100 watts of sound.

Number two on the hit parade is found on a more prosaic moodel, a Lexus Ls. The system is the Mark Levinson Reference surround Sound Audio System. This is a system that features total harmonic distortion of less than 0.1 percent says www.askmen.com. It features 19-speakers, a "450-watt Mark Levinson Reference (7.1-channel) Surround Sound Audio system that," askmen.com notes, will mean "you are unlikely to miss a single note because of the system's 20 hz to 20,000 hz range." Storage is a little light with only 8GB online.

Number three of the top five is found in the Jaguar XF. Done by Bowers and Wilkins, the XF, replacement for the aging S-Type, features a "Bowers and Wilkins 440-watt surround sound system with 13 speakers," askmen.com notes. As the site notes, it does bring out the best in Pink Floyd.

Number four on the list is a system that any audiophile would love to have on his birthday gift list. It's a Harman/Kardon LOGIC7 System. Actually made for Mercedes-Benz CL-Class, the LOGIC7 Surround Sound System is a "precision-tuned package that delivers 600 watts through 14 speakers" that are perfectly placed within the cabin for optimum listening enjoyment. Askmen.com notes, and we agree from some of the Harman/Kardon systems that we've used in M-Bs we've driven in the past, that this system "produces some of the most realistic, dynamic range" that has been experienced in a car. And, while it seems silly to note, it's best to leave your baton at home when you set off for work with this system, directing the Vienna Philharmonic could be dangerous to one's driving health.

Number Five of the Big 5 is the first American-produced system, the Bose 5.1 Cabin Surround System that's standard in the Caddy CTS (little wonder people don't want to turn off the radio). The CTS is Cadillac's way back into the performance field and it has fought hard for every inch of ground it has gained (many people probably forget that 50 years ago Caddy was a regular at the 24-Hours of LeMans and that it regularly teamed with other luxury marques to produce some of the best handling and performing machines of the era. One of the ways, www.askmen.com has noted that Caddy has closed the performance gap is the Bose 5.1 Cabin Surround Sound system. And, while it may not sport the 19 speakers of the B&O system or the 14 of the Mark Levenson, its 10-speaker system has been designed by one of the premier computer-aided sound design studios, Bose. This system sports 40 GB of online storage and is a marked improvement over the systems that have appeared under the Bose moniker through the years. It stands up as number 5.