Dearborn, Mich. –Harman’s high-end Revel home-audio brand will get additional consumer exposure now that automaker Lincoln has entered into a 10-year agreement to offer Revel-brand OEM audio systems.
The agreement marks the first time that Harman’s Revel brand will appear in a factory sound system, joining other Harman brands such as JBL and Infinity. Under the deal, the luxury automaker will get exclusive automaker access to Revel’s brand.
The first Lincoln getting a Revel sound system will be the all-new Lincoln MKX midsize premium utility vehicle in January 2015.
Revel systems will be designed for each Lincoln vehicle’s interior, with speaker placement, tuning, calibration and the number of speakers unique to each Lincoln model, the companies said. Engineers from Revel worked closely with Lincoln engineers and designers, they added.
MKX owners will use the MyLincoln Touch screen to select three listening modes – traditional stereo; audience, and On Stage, a surround-sound experience that places individual instruments and musical elements throughout the cabin.
The MKX system, called Revel Ultima, also features Harman’s Clari-Fi technology to restore information lost in compressed music.
To carry over design elements from Revels home speakers, the factory system will place the tweeter and midrange speakers close together in what’s called “point-source architecture” to improve the accuracy of midrange and high-frequency reproduction, the companies said. Tweeters are positioned within custom Revel waveguides to optimize high-frequency dispersion.
The system will also use Revel’s proprietary hybrid amplifier design, which combines Class A/B and Class D amplification.
Lincoln and Revel designers teamed up to create an aluminum speaker grille that complements Lincoln interiors without degrading sonic performance, the companies noted.
