The Beats by Dr. Dre audio system currently available in the 2012 Chrysler 300C will make its way into the 2012 Dodge Charger. The system will simultaneously debut at the Detroit Auto Show and the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week.
The 10-speaker setup will be standard on the Charger R/T Max model and part of the Blacktop or Rallye Appearance Group options packages on the SXT trim. Or you can get it as part of the (deep breath) Sound Group and Wheels and Tunes package on the Charger R/T. Chrysler says it will hit showrooms and the streets in the first quarter of this year.
We first saw and listened to the Beats by Dre system in a 300 S at last year's New York Auto Show. It pounded out bass better than most OEM audio systems, thanks to a dual-voice-coil 8-inch subwoofer in a sealed enclosure in the trunk (which looks a lot like the Kicker subs in other Pentastar products).
Bass from the trunk-mounted sub is reinforced by 6x9-inch woofers in each front door, two more 6x9s and an 8-inch speaker in the rear deck, a trio of 3.5-inch speakers across the dash and another 3.5-inch in each rear door. Power comes from a 12-channel amp that incorporates "Beats proprietary equalizer algorithm" that Dre supposedly uses in the studio.
Chrysler also claims that Dre and his sometimes Svengali, producer Jimmy Iovine, worked alongside Chrysler engineers to design and tune the Beats system. Acura has Grammy award-winning producer Elliot Scheiner tweaking the automaker's ELS audio systems. So what OEM audio/musician partnerships are next? Maybe Coldplay's Chris Martin designing one for Mini? Or how about Rascal Flats coming up with one for Ford pickups?
sniperruff says:
08:37 AM, 01/ 6/12
Good for Dr. Dre who continues to slap his name on every single piece of sub-par audio equipment and charge a premium for it. At least BOSE sounds halfway decent.
stoppre75 says:
09:34 AM, 01/ 6/12
What else is the man doing....
The world has only been waiting the better part of a decade for him to release one album.
lostboyz says:
11:30 AM, 01/ 6/12
@sniperruff, whose business model do you think monster/dre are copying? No highs, no lows? Must be bose.
At least beats has lows.
ralphhightower says:
12:15 PM, 01/ 6/12
I want an audio system in a car, not a boom box!
BigFordFan150 says:
12:19 PM, 01/ 6/12
I know that the Beats boom box system sounds shitty and is way over priced. I wish Ford would improve its sound systems. My Sony equipped Flex is ok sounding and the new Focus system sounds quite good. Dodge has always had deicent sound systems in every model. GM and the bose set up has been last in the big three for sound quality to me.
gregbird says:
10:10 PM, 01/ 6/12
I guess that means that the 9 speaker Alpine system like my car has is going away. If Beats are as bad as I have heard, then that means that is one more reason to be ok with buying an '11 over a '12. (That and the color.) Although, I sure would have liked the 8-speed transmission.