Nice cars can’t have anonymous stereo systems anymore. These days, just about every automaker has partnered with a name-brand audio manufacturer you can think of on a premium in-car sound option. McIntosh, which produces some of the finest high-end audio equipment out there, was one of the few brands that held off…until now.
For 2021, McIntosh has collaborated with Jeep on a sound system for the all-new new three-row Grand Cherokee L SUV. Here are five cool things to know about this awesome Jeep x McIntosh partnership.
How are the McIntosh speakers in the Jeep Grand Cherokee L?
Every automaker has a branded sound system these days. But Jeep is the only one working McIntosh. The Grand Cherokee L is the first production vehicle to get the high-end audio provider’s full 19-speaker treatment. Coming at this from a non-audiophile perspective, it’s phenomenal. I’ve never owned expensive home audio equipment — heck, I don’t even have a soundbar for my TV — but I don’t think I have ever heard piped-in music sound as clear or rich, in a car or elsewhere.
The McIntosh system is the aural equivalent of having a genuinely high-end 4KTV, where the video input from cable or streaming isn’t good enough to flesh out what it can do. We had to pipe in audio from a USB stick to get the sound full bore. And unlike when other manufacturers do that, you could tell the difference here.
My only slight quibble was I did not have time to figure out how to get the trademark McIntosh blue analog meters graphic to show up.
McIntosh
5 Cool Things to Know About the Jeep Grand Cherokee’s New McIntosh Stereo
McIntosh had held off from partnering with an automaker on a premium sound option…until now.
McIntosh
It sounds like, well, a McIntosh System
The system should deliver super-clear McIntosh sound, of course. The 19-speaker and 17-channel amp setup features an LD/HP speaker design for lower distortion and McIntosh Power Guard for clarity at high volume.
McIntosh
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You Don’t Need the Fancy Summit Reserve Trim to Get the Goods
The McIntosh audio system will come standard on the highfalutin’ Summit Reserve package. That said, you’ll be able to option it on the Summit and Overland trims as well.
FCA
McIntosh Has a Serious Rock & Roll Pedigree
In case you were unfamiliar, McIntosh amps powered the most over-the-top, obsessively precise speaker array in Rock & Roll history: the Grateful Dead’s “Wall of Sound” from 1974.
Kirk West
These Are the 16 Best Cars to Buy in 2021
Kelley Blue Book has released their best cars to buy awards for 2021. The results may surprise you.
Ford