A few instances of audio giving me goosebumps are etched in my memory. One was listening to Metallica perform live in Central Park in New York City, the goosebumps arriving during the guitar solo in “Nothing Else Matters.” Another one was experiencing Dolby Atmos for the very first time in theatres. And the latest came last week while lounging in the back seat of the Range Rover SV Ultra, hearing its new electrostatic speakers create absolute sensory magic.
The British automaker is trying to reinvent in-car audio in a big way. Its new electrostatic speakers ditch much of the conventional hardware in favor of a radically simpler design. JLR says it’s the first automaker in the world to fit electrostatic speakers to a production vehicle, and after spending about 20 minutes experiencing them, they’re the most impressive car audio system I’ve ever heard.
[Full Disclosure: Land Rover flew me to the U.K. for a press tour and paid for all travel and hotel expenses.]
The rear seats of the Range Rover SV Ultra long wheelbase.
Photo by: Land Rover
What’s So Special About Them?
In a traditional speaker—or dynamic driver in audiophile parlance—there are three main components: a voice coil, a magnet and a diaphragm attached to a cone. An electrical signal passes through a voice coil which has a magnetic field, making it move back and forth and push a cone to create sound waves by disrupting the air around it.
For about a century, nearly every improvement in automotive audio was built on that same basic foundation, whether through better materials, smarter tuning, more powerful amplifiers or increasingly sophisticated software. Planar magnetic headphones slightly alter this formula by ditching the cones, but they still use magnets and coils.
Today’s high-end audio systems relying on these fundamentals are pretty incredible in their own ways. Be it the Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound in Volvos and BMWs, Burmester 3D spatial audio in Mercedes-Benz models, or the AKG systems with Dolby Atmos in Cadillacs, they’ve all found a way to make listening to music while driving more immersive and entertaining than ever.
But the Range Rover’s electrostatic speakers are radically different. For starters, the hardware is vastly simplified. There are no cones, no voice coils and no magnets, just a 1-millimeter membrane suspended between two electrically charged metal plates. I saw a teardown version of this speaker, which was about the size of my palm.
Photo by: Warwick Acoustics
The SV Ultra has 21 of these membranes throughout the cabin. Instead of moving a cone, the membrane itself vibrates in response to an electrical signal to produce sound. That dramatically lower moving mass allows the speakers to reproduce sound with exceptional precision and zero perceptible distortion, Tilesh Karania, the senior electrical innovation engineer at Jaguar Land Rover, said during the demo.
The system still needs to move volumes of air for the full effect, so that’s done with five additional bass speakers and what the company calls “Body and Soul” seats and a “Haptic Floor.”
The floor vibrates with a bass-like effect, thanks to what the company calls “transducers.” Four of these transducers are also installed in each seat. I didn’t particularly enjoy how my seat was vibrating, but you can dial down the intensity of the transducers or completely turn them off. The speakers themselves are so unbelievably crisp (more on that below) that the added transducer effect felt gimmicky.
Photo by: Land Rover
Land Rover said the speakers respond 1,000 times faster than conventional units while consuming 90% less energy and containing 90% less mass. They also eliminate the use of magnets and rare-earth materials.
The technology was developed by U.K.-based Warwick Acoustics, which claims the speakers can even improve an EV’s efficiency. The company estimates that on an EV with a 100-kilowatt-hour battery, its electrostatic system could save up to 20 miles of WLTP range. That’s thanks to the system’s lower power consumption, less mass, and reduced weight. [Land Rover didn’t say exactly how much weight its system saves compared to a mainstream premium audio setup.]
How Do They Actually Sound?
You have to experience it to believe it.
Karania started by playing Susanne Vega and DNA’s “Tom’s Diner.” “You can hear her breathe,” he said. And he wasn’t exaggerating. Every inhale before each sentence came through with a jaw-dropping level of clarity. Next in the queue was “Hotel California.” The acoustic guitar, electric guitars, bass, drums and percussion were all remarkably clear without overpowering each other.
Every single note came to life. Nothing sounded muddy or compressed or distorted. It felt like a recording studio, with the kind of clarity that makes you forget you’re listening from speakers at all. But more than the detailed notes themselves, what struck me most was the sense of space. No, I’m not talking about 3D spatial audio here where you hear distinct sounds from different directions.
Photo by: Warwick Acoustics
Instead of feeling like the music was being blasted at me from the doors, dashboard, or pillar-mounted tweeters, it seemed to exist beyond the cabin itself, almost as if it originated outside the walls of the car. I couldn’t really tell where the sound was coming from in terms of direction, whether the front speakers or the ones behind me, but it was all still beautifully cohesive. It floated naturally around the interior, getting evenly diffused like a scent.
That sense of space also had a calming effect, making even high volumes feel unusually comfortable and less fatiguing. The range of these speakers was also impressive, with everything from “Hotel California” to Taylor Swift’s “Lavender Haze” coming in with just as much clarity.
While I’ll continue to be a fan of today’s premium audio systems—they’re already so bloody good—the Range Rover’s electroacoustic speakers raise the bar to a new high. I won’t be surprised if more luxury automakers chase Warwick Acoustics to tailor these speakers for their own flagships.
Photo by: Warwick Acoustics
For now, they’re standard on the SV Ultra trim of the gas-powered Range Rover. On the non-ultra SV trims, they’re available at an eye-watering sum of $12,570 as an option. Then again, if you’re dropping a quarter million on a Range Rover SV, another five figures for an extraordinary audio system isn’t going to harm your bank account all that much.
The bigger hope is that this technology doesn’t remain exclusive to six-figure luxury barges that a select few can afford. If these speakers eventually trickle down to more vehicles, they could be one of the biggest leaps in automotive audio in decades.
Contact the author: suvrat.kothari@insideevs.com