“Before we start discussing speaker placement, or tuning and design, we start by gaining a deeper understanding of the brand and what they are trying to communicate to the customer,” says Bill Wyman, Harman’s Vice President of Integrated Marketing for the Americas.
“We ask about the brand philosophy: is it rooted in luxury or performance? Tradition or innovation? This way, we can match the right brand from our portfolio with their brand. From there, we get started on the physical and sonic design elements. The materials, shape, placement inside the car, the number of speakers – these are all details that impact the sound characteristics.”
Bill says this process is never rushed through. The audio system decision making process can start up to five years before a new car even hits the production line. The process always works best when Harman’s engineering team is involved from very early on in the overall design project.
“Even things like engine size and the body of the car itself come into play,” he continues. “A few years ago, we partnered with the Lincoln brand in the United States. After working with the design team, our audio engineers recommended a full redesign of the Lincoln’s doors. To their credit, they were up for the change, and we went through 12 different iterations before landing on the perfect door for the perfect audio experience.”