This is the best sound system I’ve heard in a car – and it’s not the model you might expect

I’ve listened to a lot of audio systems in my time, from high-end audiophile speakers to TV soundbars and of course, in-car stereos. I once spent a year listening to some of the craziest systems put into modified cars – some of which make your ears bleed and your rib cage rumble. Today, though, we have some of the best in-car audio ever experienced, and it’s mostly manufacturer-fitted.

Back in the 90s and 2000s, a good car audio system meant installing a new head unit, swapping out the speakers and then finding space to add in an amp. The basic systems were pretty poor, even in higher-end models. Today, though, the audio is well thought out to deliver a truly immersive experience that matches the screen and, indeed, the car itself.

One of the leaders in OEM audio systems right now is Bowers & Wilkins. Though more traditionally known for its giant floor-standing speakers and, more recently, its headphones, it has been showing the way in automotive.

Right now, Bowers & Wilkins systems can be found in BMW, Aston Martin, Polestar and Volvo cars. The systems share common characteristics, but each is different. The placement of the speakers, to deal with the different interiors and manufacturer restrictions, as well as the materials used in those speakers, the power of the amplifier and the number of speakers placed.

Recently, I tried the new Bowers & Wilkins system in the Polestar 2, which, being a relatively affordable car, has a more pared-back speaker arrangement than most, but still sounds amazing. I’ve also enjoyed the sounds of the system in the BMW iX, the Aston Martin DB12, which are very different systems but equally impressive.

I first reviewed the Volvo EX90 back in September 2024 and noted at the time that it had a ‘Crisp, clear and incredibly defined’ audio system. However, I was keen to give the car another look to focus purely on this sound system. This is, after all, one of the most extensive and powerful Bowers & Wilkins systems on the market right now, so it deserved another listen.

Volvo EX90

The EX90 is Volvo’s flagship electric SUV, so it’s no surprise that it has the best entertainment system on board. With on-the-road prices starting from £73,160 / $78,090, it’s only the EX90 Ultra model (the top spec) that features the Bowers & Wilkins audio system rather than the Volvo High performance or Bose Premium sound systems, and this starts from £93,860 / $85,740 ($88,940 with B&W sound).

The central 14.5-inch display is mounted vertically and joins a 9-inch driver display and a head-up display for information, and is powered by Google. In addition to the radio, the system includes Spotify and Tidal apps, as well as a connection to CarPlay for Apple Music.

One new addition to the system is the Abbey Road Studios app, which was created in partnership between Bowers & Wilkins and Abbey Road Studios. This faithfully recreates the sound dynamics of the famous recording studios inside the car, with the ability to adjust the spread and spatial treatment of the sound, as well as the age, from vintage to modern. It’s a clever feature and can be used instead of the traditional sound controls on the car. However, like most equaliser tools, once set, you probably won't spend a lot of time on it.

Bowers & Wilkins High Fidelity Audio System

The sound system inside the Volvo EX90 features 25 speakers and a 28-channel amplifier with 1610 Watts of power. The only more extensive system is the Diamond system used on the BMW 7 Series, which features 35 speakers and a 32-channel amplifier with 1965 Watts of power.

Volvo has partnered with Bowers & Wilkins for over 12 years and shows a shared passion for audio and deep integration of the systems. This has allowed Bowers to place the speakers exactly where they want them to achieve the perfect sound – including that signature tweeter on top of the dash.

The system features five Nautilus double dome tweeters, including the central tweeter on the dashboard. There are five 80mm continuum mid-range speakers and two 100mm Continuum mid-range speakers, four aluminium headrest speakers, four aluminium 3D speakers, four 170 woofers and one 250mm subwoofer.

We typically try and carry over as much from our core product as we can,” says George Fryer, Automotive Engineering Manager at Bowers & Wilkins. “We typically try and carry over as much from our core product as we can. So, for example, Continuum, our proprietary composite cone, you'll see throughout our core product and the same in automotive. Double dome tweeters used in our 600 series are also used throughout Volvo products.”

The EX90 system also includes Dolby Atmos capabilities, giving you that full surround sound experience, separating the instruments through the cabin. This brings its own extra requirements, hence the 3D speakers and headrest speakers.

Tuning for the road

The large cabin size of the EX90 has certain advantages – a bigger space, and more separation of the speakers allows you to create a bigger sound stage, but tuning for cars comes with its own challenges that are sub-optimal for a true Hi-Fi listening experience.

“We've got road noise, wind noise, tyre noise, but the key thing is these are all known and quantifiable,” says Fryer. So we account for them, and I think deliver some pretty cool experiences, particularly in the case of the EX90.”

One advantage of electric cars, like the EX90, is that they are pretty quiet inside and out, thanks to a whisper-quiet electric motor and slippery aerodynamics. “We typically use vehicle noise compensation in all of our systems, such as a microphone-based system where we actually use the sound of the cabin to mitigate road noise, wind noise, and fan noise, says Fryer. “In the case of an EV, particularly like the EX90, we're having to ask those systems to do a lot less. So we're not having to compensate quite so significantly as we might do in other cars.”

How does it sound?

To really test out the Bowers system in the Volvo EX90, I tried a series of tracks that I’m familiar with, from my Apple Music library. This ranged from Radiohead’s The Bends album and The White Stripes’ Elephant, through to Queen’s first album Queen I, Van Morrison’s Tupelo Honey and Taylor Swift’s Midnights.

What impressed me the most about this system is not just the power but the definition. There are lots of stereos that can give you bass to shake your very being, but the Bowers system delivers clarity in the bass, mids and highs. I have described it as if the difference between a tight drum skin and a loose one.

The sound stage is huge too, placing the instruments across the vast dash of the SUV, with the vocals coming straight at your face. The Bowers philosophy for tuning is to add nothing and take nothing away, which gives you a very neutral sound. But crank up the volume on this system and you still get a really deep, punchy bass and a crisp zing from those tweeters.

Some audio systems tend to suit certain types of music, but this was good throughout. It does help when there is some definition in the recording, and with this level of equipment, you really notice when the quality of the source material is poor – if you’re playing an old compressed file, you will hear the difference to a lossless audio file.

You will notice the difference from this Bowers sound system even when playing the radio. However, listening to lossless, Hi-Res tracks through Tidal gives you the ultimate experience here and allows you to fully experience Dolby Atmos tracks too. As there’s no dedicated Apple Music app here (yet), listening through CarPlay limits the quality to 16-bit/44.1kHz, which is the same as CDs, while Tidal can deliver up to 24-bit/192kHz.

If you really want to enjoy your music on the move, the Volvo EX90 with the Bowers & Wilkins sound system onboard is one of the best there is – the only danger is that you’ll never want to listen to music anywhere else.