Harman International has announced it's continuing its partnership with Renault for the brand-new Renault Austral. The vehicle's top trim lines are equipped with a Harman Kardon premium sound system.
Harman, a subsidiary of Samsung, develops connected technologies for consumer, automotive, and enterprise markets. The company has over 65 years of expertise in acoustic design, tuning, and signal processing. It aims to captivate listeners and focus them on the present by delivering top-quality sounds.
The Renault Austral is a compact SUV – its design has been inspired by the Renault Megane E-Tech, which was awarded a Red Dot Design Award and an IF Design Award this year.
The collaboration between the two companies is very recent – it started in 2021 when engineers from both parties worked together to create a state-of-the-art sound system and neatly integrate it into a Renault vehicle.
Let me get a bit technical and tell you more about what makes this Harman Kardon system so good – it features a patented shared coaxial speaker in the dashboard, which delivers a stable soundstage and a fine representation of both music and spoken words. Moreover, it comes with 12 high-performance speakers, including dual voice coil woofers with ECS (External Coupled Subwoofer) for dynamic and low-distortion bass reproduction. The 485 W will deliver a full frequency range regardless of the volume level.
The sound system has been finely tuned to the Austral's interior, and different technologies help get the sound across as seamlessly as possible. The Virtual Center processes audio signals from each speaker to make sure each listener receives an unbiased stereo stage directly in front of them. The Vehicle Speed Compensation function will maintain the proper music reproduction level no matter how fast you drive.
A genuinely immersive experience is offered via the patented QLS (QuantumLogic Surround) sound algorithm – you can choose between five sound ambiances to match your preferences: Studio will reproduce the music just as the artist intended, Concert makes you feel as if you were in a concert venue, Lounge provides an intimate setting, enabling you to feel closer to the stage and the artist, Immersion puts you inside the music, surrounding you with sound, and Club delivers powerful low-frequency bass with a loud, high-contrast sound.
Regarding design, the speakers perfectly fit into the vehicle's ambiance – they feature stainless-steel grilles with matte black coating. Harman Kardon's logo is proudly embedded into the center grille on the dashboard, with a highlighted 3D surface.
The Renault Austral is a compact SUV – its design has been inspired by the Renault Megane E-Tech, which was awarded a Red Dot Design Award and an IF Design Award this year.
The collaboration between the two companies is very recent – it started in 2021 when engineers from both parties worked together to create a state-of-the-art sound system and neatly integrate it into a Renault vehicle.
Let me get a bit technical and tell you more about what makes this Harman Kardon system so good – it features a patented shared coaxial speaker in the dashboard, which delivers a stable soundstage and a fine representation of both music and spoken words. Moreover, it comes with 12 high-performance speakers, including dual voice coil woofers with ECS (External Coupled Subwoofer) for dynamic and low-distortion bass reproduction. The 485 W will deliver a full frequency range regardless of the volume level.
The sound system has been finely tuned to the Austral's interior, and different technologies help get the sound across as seamlessly as possible. The Virtual Center processes audio signals from each speaker to make sure each listener receives an unbiased stereo stage directly in front of them. The Vehicle Speed Compensation function will maintain the proper music reproduction level no matter how fast you drive.
A genuinely immersive experience is offered via the patented QLS (QuantumLogic Surround) sound algorithm – you can choose between five sound ambiances to match your preferences: Studio will reproduce the music just as the artist intended, Concert makes you feel as if you were in a concert venue, Lounge provides an intimate setting, enabling you to feel closer to the stage and the artist, Immersion puts you inside the music, surrounding you with sound, and Club delivers powerful low-frequency bass with a loud, high-contrast sound.
Regarding design, the speakers perfectly fit into the vehicle's ambiance – they feature stainless-steel grilles with matte black coating. Harman Kardon's logo is proudly embedded into the center grille on the dashboard, with a highlighted 3D surface.