Monday 9th May 2022

McLaren announces long-term deal with B&W

New strategic partnership elevates Bowers & Wilkins to 'Official Audio Partner'

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There isn’t really any quibbling about the awesomeness of Bowers & Wilkins. Any British firm dealing in loudspeakers that sprung organically to life in 1966 (the same year as Pet Sounds, Blonde on Blonde and Revolver were released) is automatically endowed with an ineffable sort of cool that most carmakers spend millions trying to conjure up. Consequently, its relationship with McLaren has always made perfect sense, and is rivalled only by Bentley’s tie-up with Naim for title of ‘most appropriate’ in car stereo terms. 

Plainly this fact has not been lost on Woking; the carmaker has also been associated with Meridian (a no-less terrific British brand) in the past, but today has announced a ‘strategic long-term multi-year partnership’ with B&W, which apparently elevates the latter to the position of ‘Official Audio Partner’. McLaren says the alliance is built on ‘firm technical foundations’, having worked closely with B&W since 2019. 

Physical proximity has probably done the relationship no harm. Woking is just 30 miles from the audio firm’s R&D department in Southwater, and the inclusion of its signature tech - particularly the yellow Aramid Fibre cones - has become an integral part of the McLaren experience. Additionally, the manufacturer notes that the partnership has already expanded beyond traditional applications, with ‘pioneering advances’ like the subwoofers being directly integrated into its carbon fibre architecture to ensure a stiffer mount - and therefore better sound. 

"McLaren and Bowers & Wilkins were both founded by similarly minded technical visionaries who always pushed the boundaries of what is possible to create innovative products and experiences,” remarked Gareth Dunsmore, McLaren’s Chief Marketing Officer. “We are, therefore, delighted to be announcing our partnership which builds on the award-winning technical collaboration between our two companies and I'm looking forward to exploring what exciting innovations and products our shared values will create next."

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• McLaren 765LT | PH Review
• McLaren 620R | PH Review

[ate one too]

Have they been tasked with improving the sound of the engines as well ?

[Sofa]

Is the thread title a mistake or someone having a bit of fun? Based on the rumours that have been floating around lately I clicked expecting it to say 'BMW'.

[Pixelpeep 135]

Thread title reads 'RE: McLaren announces long-term deal with B'

I am guessing the & causes some formatting / display issues?

[Grey_Area]

ate one too said:

Have they been tasked with improving the sound of the engines as well ?

Do you mean the exhaust

[VS02]

Bowers & Wilkins make some fantastic sounding kit. Out of my first paycheck at my weekend job I dropped a serious amount (for me) on their PX headphones and I didn’t regret it one bit - there was seriously no wireless headphones under £500 that sounded like them at the time. Now moved back to Sony but still appreciate their kit a lot. I’ve never heard a B&W automotive system (BMW uses them as well) but I bet it sounds insane.

[w8pmc]

Got B&W in my F90 M5C & is by far the best in car system I've ever owned/heard.

That said, is it worth the premium over the standard system in the M5C, (I'd be hard pushed to say yes), but as part of the Ultimate Package it made the cost on it's own somewhat negligible, so am delighted it's in there due to the high quality audio & to a degree the visual improvement.

[Wab1974uk]

Heart-warming to the owners. You can listen to a great sound playing through your high end speakers, while waiting for the AA man to turn up !!!

[samjlevy]

The 12 speaker B&W in my 720s is fantastic, the standard 4 speaker setup is terrible.

You've been able to option B&W on the 720s since 2017 though so not quite sure how this is news?

[FourWheelDrift]

Pixelpeep 135 said:

Thread title reads 'RE: McLaren announces long-term deal with B'

I am guessing the & causes some formatting / display issues?

Plan B?
Cardi B?
Bumble B?

[Dr Interceptor]

samjlevy said:

The 12 speaker B&W in my 720s is fantastic, the standard 4 speaker setup is terrible.

You've been able to option B&W on the 720s since 2017 though so not quite sure how this is news?

I've got it as well in my 2018 570GT - passengers have commented what a great sounding system it is.

[Deranged Rover]

Good news and should make for a decent improvement over the Meridian items.

Much as I am a massive fan of Meridian's home hi-fi and magnificent active loudspeakers, every in-car system of theirs that I have heard has been absolutely terrible.

[ate one too]

Maybe someone from PH rang them up to ask about the Artura and came away with this "news" instead.

[Dr Interceptor]

ate one too said:

Maybe someone from PH rang them up to ask about the Artura and came away with this "news" instead.

Well it's better news than "We've sold the factory"

[robertdon777]

Long Term...so about a month or so with Macca's balance sheets

[jimmytheone]

Deranged Rover said:

Good news and should make for a decent improvement over the Meridian items.

Much as I am a massive fan of Meridian's home hi-fi and magnificent active loudspeakers, every in-car system of theirs that I have heard has been absolutely terrible.

I recently drove a Jag iPace with a Meridian system, i wouldn't go as far as "terrible" but "disappointing" covers it.
(the car itself was great)

[NGK210]

Out of interest, at 80mph or above in a McLaren - can the hi-fi actually be heard or is it drowned out by tyre roar / general road noise?

[Dr Interceptor]

NGK210 said:

Out of interest, at 80mph or above in a McLaren - can the hi-fi actually be heard or is it drowned out by tyre roar / general road noise?

The B&W system still works absolutely fine at 170mph

[ChristAlmighty]

samjlevy said:

The 12 speaker B&W in my 720s is fantastic, the standard 4 speaker setup is terrible.

You've been able to option B&W on the 720s since 2017 though so not quite sure how this is news?

Sorry my friend, I respect your opinion but the B&W sound in both the 720s’s I’ve owned is absolute trash. All speakers vibrate terribly (probably more McLaren fault than B&W) but worse, there’s a distinct lack of treble and bass even when the EQ is tweaked to max.

My VW Up GTi “beats” hifi is vastly, vastly better (for 350 odd quid upgrade cost instead of 3,500 quid!) and everyone I’ve ever demonstrated both to back-to-back agrees, so it’s not just my subjective opinion either.

I wrote a STIFFLY worded email to McLaren to express my extreme disappointment, suggesting they buy any Aston Martin with B&O audio and give that a listen - now THAT is what a car audio system SHOULD sound like!

Edited by ChristAlmighty on Monday 9th May 22:54

Edited by ChristAlmighty on Monday 9th May 23:12

[ImFeelingSaucy]

ChristAlmighty said:

samjlevy said:

The 12 speaker B&W in my 720s is fantastic, the standard 4 speaker setup is terrible.

You've been able to option B&W on the 720s since 2017 though so not quite sure how this is news?

Sorry my friend, I respect your opinion but the B&W sound in both the 720s’s I’ve owned is absolute trash. All speakers vibrate terribly (probably more McLaren fault than B&W) but worse, there’s a distinct lack of treble and bass even when the EQ is tweaked to max.

My VW Up GTi “beats” hifi is vastly, vastly better (for 350 odd quid upgrade cost instead of 3,500 quid!) and everyone I’ve ever demonstrated both to back-to-back agrees, so it’s not just my subjective opinion either.

I wrote a STIFLT worded email to McLaren to express my extreme disappointment, suggesting they buy any Aston Martin with a B&O audio and give that a listen - now THAT is what a car audio system SHOULD sound like!

Sound (stereo or exhaust) is the only decent element of an Aston. Awful, gaudy, overpriced and totally irrelevant.

As for this ‘story’, who on earth thought anyone would care?

Clearly a slow news day.

[Dr Interceptor]

ImFeelingSaucy said:

Sound (stereo or exhaust) is the only decent element of an Aston. Awful, gaudy, overpriced and totally irrelevant.

As for this ‘story’, who on earth thought anyone would care?

Clearly a slow news day.

Glued together in Gaydon, shipped to Wales to be painted because the paint shop at Gaydon is incapable, then shipped back to Gaydon to finish nailing it together.

But the stereos are good