![]() Challenge it with overwhelming bass like you'd find in "Sail" by AWOLNATION, and there isn’t a hint of distortion or dip in quality. The range of songs it could play with beautiful accuracy and control was second to none. When I eventually did hop into the new Grand Wagoneer for a seven-day test with this 23-speaker, 1,375-watt system, my feelings from the Chicago Auto Show were affirmed. They really allowed us to get the products placed where we wanted to for the best acoustics, that gave us all the capabilities we needed to give that goosebump experience that you can get, and we brought core McIntosh technologies from the home to the car, which was important for us to make it really authentic.” “Everything in this audio system is custom-designed for this experience in this vehicle,” Poggi told us. Over the years, Poggi said, Jeep really embraced McIntosh as a brand and let them run with the project. Back then (over four years ago), McIntosh didn’t realize it was stepping into the Grand Wagoneer project, but all the FCA execs knew that this nutty audio system would be going into its first true luxury vehicle. We gave them the demo, so here’s what we do in two-channel audio, here’s what we can do in a car, we think this can be a really interesting brand match.”Īnd just like that, Jeep was in. “It was in a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and we brought a system like this, a two-channel Mcintosh audio system, set it up in a room, and we sat down with Sergio Marchionne, Ralph Gilles and Harold Wester. “So we took this prototype car, and we brought it to Detroit,” Poggi said. Before we get to the in-car audio driving impressions, though, I managed to sit down with McIntosh CEO Jeff Poggi for a chat about how this system came to be, and what McIntosh brings to the table. I got to listen to the Grand Wagoneer’s audio system in a controlled environment at the Chicago Auto Show last year, and while wildly impressed, I wanted to wait until I had the chance to listen to it in a finished car while cruising down a highway to make any declarations. This time around, McIntosh is all about impressing luxury buyers in a six-figure Jeep. That car was more about the sound from its rumbling V8. This is McIntosh’s first foray into automotive in a long time, too, as its last full-car system was in the Ford GT of the 2000s. Pairing up with Jeep to put its system in a car that is literally bearing an American flag on its flanks just makes sense. Not only that, but McIntosh is an American company, and its gear is made in America. They’re among the best in the business, and they’ve been at it for over 70 years. If you’re into high-end home audio, you know McIntosh. For me, the new McIntosh system can’t be touched. Some audiophile can perform professional and instrumented testing to determine what's truly the “best.” However, most of us just want a system that sounds as incredible as the price we pay for it. Yes, this article gets the opinion tag, because this is strictly an opinion. ![]() And I’ve come to see one sound system as the holy grail of car audio: The McIntosh 23-speaker system in the 2022 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. I don't have that professional ear, but I've had the privilege of listening to the best premium sound systems in the business, and have always been obsessed with high-quality audio, whether in a car, home theater or through headphones. There are folks out there whose job it is to be those audio professionals, and we should listen to them.īut! There are also people like me. Even if my colleagues and I have listened to hundreds (if not thousands) of audio systems over the years, we’re not audio professionals. Evaluating audio systems as a car reviewer is sticky business.
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