Does the new Audi S8 have the best iPod dock on earth?

That's a totally sleek way to integrate an Ipod. Revolutionary just like Audi.

Best sound system available (currently)

I thought that was Mark Levinson?

at $6,500 is better be. Ues B&O rocks but it is not a good system for your RAP music :)

Ipod? like every one owns one..

Audi had that system a few years ago. You still may be able to find one at an Audi dealer parts department somewhere.

I think you mean when you buy a BMW or an MB.

Oh please! You are so full of sh&t!

The Mark Levinson systems in current Lexus models are the best. Second best would be the ELS system in the Acura TL.

Haven't heard the B&O system in the A8 yet, but their systems are usually designed with function following long behind form.

The B&O was just rated as the best sound system.

Critically acclaimed by who Will? It definitely isn't acclaimed by Ward's Auto World which named the Bang & Olufsen system in the Audi S8 as the best sound system.

Yea, sure... "coolest". (rolling eyes.)

Autoweb isn't exactly the last word on what's the best.

Will that article was in 2001 LOL

The B&O System came out 6 months ago. Not to mention the article is from the most obscure sorce.

The ML sound has big Boom boom boom sound but the acurate sound suqlity from the B&O system it dosen't even come close. I guess if you spend your time listening to RAP then enjoy.

Show how old this review is. This all may have been true before the launch of the Audi B&O system.

Yeah, autoweb or whatever isn't exaclty a #1 site...

How about the Linn 950W system available for the Aston Martin?

Smaller spaces = Worse acoustics

Ipods are crap. who cares if it has the best dock.

that makes you crap because pretty much every apple product is best in its class

First of all, the docking system is not only for the Ipod, but also any other MP3 player you may have.

It not only allows you to dock you ipod, but you can also dock any MP3 player and it even has a USB port for any sticks.
No other manufacturer offers that on any of their cars all at once. This will be available on:
A6/S6, A8/ A8L/A8LW12/S8, Q7

Actually, pretty sure it is offered on the new LS.

Anyways, this is from CanadianDriver.com

The list of optional extras will leave you salivating (see side bar). Highly recommended is the Mark Levinson 19-speaker audio system. This is a DVD system that allows you to watch video on the navigation screen when the car is parked. We tried it out and the sound quality is unlike anything we have ever heard. It left us wishing we could transform the windshield into a wide-screen TV.

From edmunds.com

Standard stuff now includes push-button start and Bluetooth with the nav system. Audiophiles will be blown away by the optional Mark Levinson Reference Surround, a 19-speaker audio system that pumps out 450 watts of power.

Excerpt from WorldCarFans.com

The sound of perfection
Mark Levinson creates its most advanced in-car audio system for the new Lexus LS 460
Sound quality has always been a key consideration in the design of Lexus vehicles, from the solid, satisfying thunk of a closing door, to the refined note of the turning engine. It is the quality of the on-board sound system, however, that represents the pinnacle of the aural experience and in the new LS 460 this is taken to new heights.

Continuing a partnership with world-renowned hi-fi experts Mark Levinson that goes back to 1998, Lexus has commissioned a bespoke 19-speaker premium audio system for its new flagship limousine.

Excerpts from CarandDriver.com

As usual, technology and creature comforts abound. The optional navigation system is now a quicker hard-drive-based unit with 14 gigabytes of space available for storing music. If you love tunes, upgrade to the 450-watt, 19-speaker Mark Levinson unit.

Excerpts from FamilyCar.com

Here is how the 19 speakers are laid out:

Six titanium cone speakers will be arranged across the dash
a woofer will be located in each front door
three speakers will be in each rear door
four satellite speakers will be in the rear roof pillars
a woofer will be located in the rear package shelf.
While sitting in the back seat, we watched a movie on the large screen that dropped down from the headliner. Sound was piped through the 19 speakers of the Mark Levinson system. The movie was U-571, a WW-II submarine flick with lots of action scenes. I have to tell you that it felt like I was actually on the sub in the middle of all the depth charges going off. The experience was better than any movie theater I have ever been in. Add to that the fact that I had the seat giving me a shiatsu massage as my feet were up on the built in ottoman and you will understand why my fellow journalists had to practically drag me out so they could have their turn.

This rear seat package is part of the Executive Class Seating Package that is available as an option for the LS460-L. It includes the high resolution DVD screen that drops down electrically. The cabin is configured as a 4 passenger car with an additional console that divides the

rear seat area. The console includes a control panel that can control a number of features like the four zone climate control giving everyone in the car their own thermostat.


==============================================

The new LS 460 isn't out yet, so we will have to wait until more credible sources review the system. One thing is sure: it is nothing to sneeze at; both the car and the audio system.

I've heard the Mark Levinson system in a half-dozen cars, including the previous-gen ES which I owned. It's very nice but nothing that you could claim is the absolute best ever created. There is always room for another high-end maker to be as good-or better. I don't doubt the BO stereo is awesome, and having an iPod adapter like that is very convenient. How many cars still lack this basic feature?

Most, in the luxury segment.

Autoweb? Men Style Magazine?

Look where it says in Edmunds, Car & Driver or Consumer Reports that Mark Levinson is the best high-end stereo system. You won't find it. Because Mark Levinson is not considered the best high-end audio system.

crackity: What are you smoking? Plenty say that ML is the best in the business. Look at the sources I had posted.

crackityjones: Oh this article is old, from 2002, but it does say that Mark Levinson is the best:

http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/list/top10/58886/article.html

Yeah, let's beat up this Crackity guy! Why should he ask for industry-leading sources? Why shouldn't a Men's web site no one's ever heard of be sufficient?

Cut the hooliganism and rest on the laurels of your Edmunds link from 2002. Ignore the S8's stereo from 2006. Edmunds must have known what it was going to sound like.

And I'm not smoking anything. I owned a ML Lexus myself so I hope you guys give me permission to have an opinion on something I drove with.

Also, just as you, crackity, say that Will cannot compare an article from 2002 to a new b&o system, you should have the sense to not compare either a model with a lesser ML system from a car other than Lexus' flagship and one no lesser than a 2006-2007 model just to be fair. Have you been?

Mike, what I've said is much simpler than that.

Every year there are huge changes in car technology. ML is among the best car stereo systems. A 2002 Edmunds review says they are the very best. But it's 2006 now. These things have to be evaluated regularly because that's a big claim to make about a car.

It's getting increasingly difficult to respond to Will's zealot behavior. To say Autoweb or Men's Style has the same reputation for car journalism as Car and Driver or Edmunds or Consumer Reports ... I can't respond to that. It's just grade-school attitude.

Will, I give up. Mark Levinson is the best audio system. Your bludgeoning of the subject has proven to me that I was wrong to question both you and your various 2nd tier web sources. You win Will. You win.

I'm done with this site. Goodbye all.

You guys thing the Bang system is the best just because you guys are Audi fans. Every review I read has the Mark Levinson at the top. And this isn't from other systems CNET and Edmunds had reviews on systems alone, while individual reviews by other magazines of individual cars have always praised Mark Levinson.

But if you guys are still not satisfied with all that the new system in the LS 460 will eat your B&O for breakfast, lunch, and dinner :).

"thing" should be "think"

Who cares who makes the best audio system!

These are all luxury cars! All of them have great systems!!!

But the B & O is undoubtedly the best-looking, and an improvement sound-wise over the Bose system previously offered in the A8.

i feel neanderthal-like.
i'm 16 and DON'T have an ipod. do i live under a rock?
no, i just feel that ipods are the bmws of mp3 players.
overpriced, fashionable, everyone has one and nobody really uses it to its full potential.
thats why i'm happy with my toyota-like cd player. dull, reliable, predictable, but still a good choice.

will, before you jump on me, toyota europe isn't a good selection, and its cars aren't as good as the competition's.
i'm sure the camry is a good car, but we don't get it.

Don't feel neaderthal-like, Rupert.

CD players still have provide better quality acoustics over the MP3 player given that the CD is an original recording.

I have an iPod. I would have bought a different brand player if I realized just how much problems it can be at times - freezing, pushing buttons on its own, not loading into my friends iPod jack in his 330ci (custom jack for an alpine deck... it works for HIS iPod.. only occasionally for mine, and then it stops for no reason), and the fact that my friend and his younger bro's iPods are BOTH broken now. When is mine going to go?

Audi should have used Roccaforte for their amps.

http://roccaforteamps.com/construction.htm

This is why Audi fans don't get BMW we drive and listen to those sweet I6's and V8's running to the redline. That's the best sound system.

That is sort of one-dimensional... Where is the diversity? The spice of life? Variety, my man.

and just for fun, Audi is coping BMW they were the first to intergrate the Ipod.

And copying Lexus by integrating Mark Levinson in their cars.

"Never Follow"???

ahhhh!!! Apple is turning in to Microsoft. ;).

Best Dock? Um...that nano looks upside down!

I know that Mark Levinson is the best "stock car audio system in the world" but eveyone hears different. This topic is totally subjective. I'm a musician, so I hear things that other listeners don't listen for and will not hear unless pointed out. We need to wait until a credible source, not caranddriver, or motortrend or edmunds, but sound and vision magazine or another audiophile magazine they have trained ears in what to look for in determining which audio system is better than the next. I believe Mark levinson will again be at the top. I have always viewed B&O as a "cute/chic" product that sounds decent. Most car audio manufactures still don't sound better than the 280 watt Nakamichi system in the old LS400 let alone mark levinson.

There's a big difference between home and car audio when comapared to amps and speakers used by guitar players.

Guitar amps like Divided by 13 and Germino are going sound a hell of a lot more in your face than Mark Levinson equipment which going to sound soft and pretty.

I disagree. Mark Levinson is a division of Harmon International which also owns the JBL brand. Since many concert venues and most movie theaters use JBL professional audio systems, I think the good people at Harmon would know how to make the Levinson sound "in your face" if so desired.

answer, I was just kidding.

You want home and car audio to sound soft and pretty.

The type of speakers used in guitar amps are way different than home or car audio.

Heck check out Eminence or killer guitar speakers.
http://www.eminence.com/guitar.asp?speaker_size=12

BTW, nobody uses JBL for guitar amps, for PA yes.