Visited an automobile showroom lately? If so, then you’ve certainly noticed car audio has come a long way since the days of the humble, single-speaker AM/FM radio. Today, the selection of audio systems is dazzling. And for those who are willing and able, there is a whole different level of listening pleasure to step up to.

In recent years, elite carmakers have teamed up with high-end audio manufacturers to produce exclusive rolling sound experiences that aspire to musical greatness on an unprecedented plane—attempting, even, to rival audiophile-grade home systems. Impossible? As an editor with the high-end journal The Absolute Sound, I’m intimately familiar with premium audio systems. So what better way to validate these makers’ claims (and prices) than to come along on this test of the sound systems in the Lexus LS460L, Mercedes-Benz S550, and Audi A8L, which best illustrate how far this new breed of car audio has come.

Lexus LS460L’s Mark Levinson Surround

The exclusive partnership between Lexus and Mark Levinson, designer of high-end home electronics, is entering its seventh year, and the culmination of this collaboration recently debuted in the new LS flagship. Known as Mark Levinson Reference Surround, this discrete 5.1-channel system is comprised of nineteen speakers powered by 450 watts of digital amplification.

With unprecedented access from the earliest design stages, Levinson worked with the Lexus team to develop the Mark Levinson Surround (MLS) system. Based on extensive acoustic analysis of the new LS cabin, this proprietary digital signal processing (DSP) system not only optimizes the speaker system’s performance for each listener, it can also create an immersive seven-channel music environment from any disc format. The six-disc changer system is capable of delivering high-resolution audio content from DVD audio discs as well as conventional compact discs and other disc formats.

The result is an exceptionally well-integrated system that captures many of the qualities of finer high-end home setups. It delivers a neutral tonal balance that energizes Norah Jones’ vocals and conveys her piano’s complex harmonic structure. Its character is not overly analytical but is surprisingly articulate. Percussion transients and drum fills have an energetic snap, and brass and winds have substance and bloom, not just spit and sizzle. And thanks to three identical two-way drivers across the dash, the orchestral soundstage is superb. Our hat is off to the MLS algorithms for producing a sense of envelopment that rarely tugs the ear toward a door panel, whether one is seated in the back or the front.

Distortion, even at Springsteen levels, remains satisfyingly low, so there is little of the fatigue factor even after prolonged listening. Due to the supernaturally quiet cabin of the Lexus, the music’s dynamics are wide-ranging, although the lowest-level resolution remains problematic for even the quietest of rides. Always an issue in the restricted confines of a car, the deepest bass reproduction lacks the pitch sophistication required by the subterranean murmurings of a symphony orchestra but should play well with the hip-hop and rock crowd. And ultimately, low-level resolving power bumps up against the higher noise levels that are inherent in a ride even as quiet as that in the LS. By any standard, Lexus and Mark Levinson offer an enormous step up from the traditional car stereo. At $2530, it’s a relative steal.

Mercedes-Benz S550’s Harman Kardon/Logic7

Standard equipment in the lavish S-class is the Harman Kardon/Logic7 discrete 5.1-channel system. It bundles a hard-drive-based navigation system with a six-disc DVD changer capable of DVD audio high-resolution multi-channel playback as well as other common disc formats. Fourteen drive units and 600 watts of power amplification are strategically placed throughout the cabin. DSP is provided courtesy of Logic7, a keystone surround architecture developed by Lexicon. (Like Mark Levinson, it’s a Harman subsidiary.) Recognized for its musicality, Logic7’s intelligence and processing power enable it to derive seven channels from multi-channel and even basic two-channel sources.

The S550’s basic sonic character is reminiscent of the Lexus in establishing a robust midrange energy that conveys the richness in both male and female vocals. However, there was a liveliness factor that seemed slightly muted, as if some of the “air” that fills the harmonics of a performance had been released. The crackle of a Stewart Copeland snare drum, the attack from a rim shot—there was a basic sense of the performance being weighted down rather than driving forward.

The key shortcoming of the Harman system is that only the center channel is mounted in the dashboard—the four remaining channels are door-mounted. As a result, there is less of a classic soundstage, and less of an opportunity to feel immersed in the sweet spot. And unfortunately, speaker localization—an issue to be avoided—is more of a factor, especially in the front seats. It’s a problem we rarely encountered in the other two cars.

Interestingly, the Harman system performs far better from a back seat perspective, where it comes into its own with a stronger sense of envelopment and speaker integration. If not for the Lexus, this Mercedes setup would be more than a very good system.

Audi A8L’s Bang & Olufsen Advanced Sound System

Bang & Olufsen, the stylish Danish audio group, teamed with Audi to create the Advanced Sound System for the A8 flagship. In this application, B&O bet its technology on the compact disc rather than the DVD, thus making it the flag-bearer for two-channel purists among these three systems. The B&O team worked acoustic wonders within the two-channel paradigm, flooding the cabin with fourteen active speakers, including a pair of its distinctive, wide-dispersion Acoustic Lens tweeters (motorized to vanish when inactive), 1000 watts of digital amplification courtesy of its ICE power subsidiary, and rigorous DSP analysis of the cabin’s interior from every angle.

The overall impression is a nuanced, even delicate sound, consonant with the classical music experience in that it creates an immersive sound field atop the dash plus the kind of ambience and envelopment you would encounter in a small concert hall or jazz club. It effectively minimizes the lifeless, acoustic claustrophobia of an automobile cabin. Even when shifting to the Audi’s back seat, the B&O system manages to float a soundstage ahead of the front seatbacks. Like a live performance, it creates the impression that you’ve just moved back a few rows in a virtual auditorium.

Tonally, the B&O system has a lighter balance, which dispenses plenty of silk but not quite enough slam. And at times it seemed there was too great an emphasis on the Acoustic Lens tweeters. Like the Mercedes and even the Lexus, low bass was lacking in timbre accuracy. The net effect is that instruments like double bass, electric bass, and kick drums exhibit more raw punch than pitch-perfect tonality.

At $6300, the B&O is an extravagant option, so an audition is a must. Overall, however, it’s a beautifully executed system that delivers what it promises. And thanks to the designers at B&O, it’s a fitting tribute to the venerable and well-established compact disc format.

The Bottom Line

As impressive as these systems are, can they match a great high-end home audio system? Not really, at least not yet. The Levinson rig easily comes the closest, while the Harman and B&O systems must settle for being merely very good car systems. On the other hand, while they don’t quite sound like home, each is unlike anything you’ve ever heard before in an automobile.