These Cars Have The Best Factory-Installed Sound Systems

Imagine you're driving on a lonely country road, the sky erupting in a bright orange sunset on a mild winter day. You're sitting back on the headrest when you hear the familiar intonations of the Radiohead song "Karma Police." The acoustic guitar and piano sound organic, like Thom Yorke and his bandmates are sitting right next to you. The drums flutter to life, and you hear each cymbal crash. The bass has a guttural, enveloping quality that you feel in your bones.

Not every vehicle can reproduce this experience, but a few makes and models have factory-installed sound systems that make you feel like you are in the front row of a Radiohead concert. We're talking audiophile-level sound design, not the chintzy speakers of a budget car.

In each of the vehicles on this list, the sound system has unique features, including one with a setting that mimics Abbey Road Studios (where The Beatles recorded their albums), and another (like the stunning $400,000 Cadillac Celestiq) with so many speakers scattered around the interior that you may struggle to find them all. In each case, there are some details that make the sound system truly unique.

Like any cocoon, the Volvo EX90 wraps you in a sound envelope that can transport you to another realm — think Pink Floyd progressive rock playing from every corner of the vehicle or blasting the highly orchestrated synth pop of a band like Bear's Den. The 2025 EX90 is quiet and excellent for long car rides, which is exactly what you will want to do with this sound system.

The EX90 has 25 speakers powered by Bowers & Wilkins scattered all over the place. B&W used 3D printing to help with prototyping speaker design and placement, helping craft everything from the grilles to the speaker drivers. Reading through the specs detailing how the EX90 was fine-tuned for audio, it's obvious that some true audiophiles worked on the tech. The sound is tuned for a vibrant audio experience from each seat. There's an Abbey Road Studios Mode that mimics the organic audio from the famous studio where The Beatles recorded many of their albums.

In my own tests, the one word that describes the speaker system is distinct. I played an artist called Iceage (a high-energy punk band), which I use for testing distortion, and the EX90 barely blinked. Cymbals and other percussion were still distinguishable during the most frantic segments. Even when multiple guitars collide, you can still hear each one.

Mercedes is known for its high-end surround sound in many makes and models, often featuring the Burmester brand and its distinctive logo on the speakers. In my tests over the years, the S-Class has transportive audio that sounds faithful to the original artist, right down to the guitar solos on songs by Bruce Springsteen or the heavy synth of a band like The Cars. The bass is not crushing or overwhelming but still distinct and warm.

The Mercedes-Maybach S 680 is one of the best examples of how sound design in a vehicle can make music come alive. There are 30 speakers in the new 2026 model from Burmester. To improve the audio, the S 680 even plays a low-level tone to counteract any noise from the road. In a YouTube demo by DM Sound, you can see the sliders you can use to control your individual sound preference.

Lincoln went big on sound systems in many of their larger SUVs, including the Lincoln Aviator, which can come standard with the Revel Ultima audio system, depending on the trim level. That same Revell audio system is also standard on the Nautilus Black Label and the Navigator Black Label models, and it's one of the best you will find in any American-made car. The Aviator — which was recently updated for the 2025 model — gets the 28-speaker system as standard equipment in the Black Label trim and is unique in how it places some of the speakers, including several over heads of the driver and the passenger.

A blogger at Simply Amazing Living noted how the sound system seems to envelope you in 360-degrees of music. Some of the speakers even sit above your head to create more of a concert-style listening experience.

I've extensively tested the Revel system in multiple test vehicles over the years, and it is arguably one of the best in terms of a robust, organic audio that fills the interior. The Navigator has the added bonus of a curved dashboard that can play immersive video and audio experiences. For example, in my own recent test, I discovered that there's one sensory experience that shows a widescreen waterfall that stretches across the entire front of the vehicle and plays audio of the rushing water.

The Autobiography version of the Range Rover is unlike most Land Rover trim levels in terms of the exceptional Meridian Signature Sound System with up to 29 speakers.

In my own tests, the Range Rover Autobiography sound system offers rich, organic audio. I've tested several artists that stress test most audio systems — for example, the gothic rock artist Chelsea Wolfe can bring a subpar sound system to its knees, producing a muddy and distorted mess. The Range Rover Autobiography doesn't flinch at one of her songs like "Spun," which has a low-level bass part throughout the track. The Autobiography replicates it nicely.

The sound system runs at 1,600 watts and features speakers in the headrests. Active noise cancellation — similar to what you might experience with a high-end set of headphones like the Apple AirPods Max — helps reduce road noise and other distractions. Another advantage of a clear, high-end sound system in a vehicle like the Range Rover Autobiography is you can hear news and podcasts more clearly. In my tests, there just wasn't much road noise, making it easier to hear a lively discussion or even listen to an audiobook.

The spacious interior of the refreshed 2026 Jeep Wagoneer provides an exceptional listening experience — the sound permeates in all directions. Jeep uses a high-end McIntosh sound system with 19 speakers scattered all over the large interior, which is available as standard on the Series III trim level. McIntosh is known for its craftsmanship, often going to great lengths to design a new audio system to make sure it meets the expectations of audiophiles. In my experience testing the vehicle, the Wagoneer can produce clear audio even if you raise the volume to a much higher level, which can cause distortion in other sound systems.

In my tests, the Wagoneer has the wide open space (the vehicle has 179 cubic feet of passenger seating) to bring a classic rock band like Dire Straits alive. Once you've heard "Money for Nothing" blasting on the McIntosh sound system, with the iconic intro playing nothing but electric guitar using surround audio, it's hard to go back to a budget-friendly car with weak audio.

Meanwhile, the Grand Wagoneer model has an equally impressive factory-installed sound system from Mcintosh as well, sporting 23 speakers instead of the Wagoneer's 19 speakers.

We had to include the extremely rare Cadillac Celestiq, which looks like a concept car you might see at an auto show but never on an actual roadway, even though it is a real production vehicle. The Celestiq is a limited-run vehicle that uses custom-made components and costs around $400,000. Yes, the engineers hand-stitch the leather seats for you, along with each of the 150 other bespoke components.

What sets the Celestiq apart even more — beyond the custom-made parts and futuristic design — is the luscious sound system with 38 speakers powered by AKG Studio Reference. The term "reference audio" is thrown around a lot in audiophile circles, but it means the sound system comes close to what the artist intended in the original recordings, without adding any extra frills or effects. 

While most cars have one main amplifier to keep the tunes flowing, the Celestiq has three of them to power those 38 speakers situated around the interior. There are three speakers just in the front doors, four in the rear doors, one in each A-pillar, plus four in the ceiling.

In terms of transporting you to another realm, the BMW 7 (which we have called almost perfect in the luxury segment) is also a top pick for the sound system, due to the 36-speaker Diamond Surround Sound System. It's a wonder to behold, almost matching the 38 speakers in the Cadillac Celestiq.

The Diamond system lets you quickly adjust the sound profile. You can mimic the sound of being at a concert, or pipe the music only to the rear speakers, with one quick tap, as YouTube user DM Sound demonstrated. You can also adjust the intensity of the 3D surround sound.

One of my favorite tests involved driving a BMW 7 across two states listening to synth rock bands like Wolf Parade and playing way too many R.E.M. songs just to see what they sound like on a 36-speaker surround sound system. The main finding I had at the time was that the BMW 7 is insulated like most luxury cars, to the point that you don't hear a lot of road noise. It makes the stereo even more lush and organic when all you hear is the music.

The Audi S8 comes standard with the Bang & Olufsen sound system, sporting 17 speakers and powered by a high-end Class D amplifier running at 1,920 watts. One truly unique feature of the S8 sound system is the tweeters that pop up in the dashboard.

You have good control over the sound profile in the S8. For example, you can adjust the surround to be more like a movie, pipe everything to the front or rear for more of a two-speaker stereo effect, or further tweak the focus to being a mix between a movie and stereo sound.

I've tested several Audi vehicles including the A8 and the S8 over the years and noticed that the Bang & Olufsen sound system is a good example of reference audio. My tests involved playing some of my favorite artists, such as Bon Iver and Jeff Tweedy, to see if little audio highlights come through clearly. For example, Bon Iver doesn't mind leaving "mistakes" in some of their songs. You can hear fingers swiping over guitar strings like you are sitting at a concert in the front row. Jeff Tweedy is mostly an alt-country artist, but I've heard slight percussion flourishes that were not as noticeable on cars with a lower-end sound system.