Mercedes Benz and Bose mix status and
Acoustimass sound for a sports utility vehicle
that'll keep you singing even if you're lost.

Mercedes Benz gets
in tune with Bose

Like to rough it off road but want that "Lost World" sound sort of system while blazing through the jungle?

The boys from Bose and Benz, as in Mercedes, have just introduced the new acoustically tailored music system for the 1998 Mercedes Benz M-Class AAV (all-activity vehicle). That's the SUV used in the "Jurassic Park" sequel "The Lost World," and it's now the first sport utility vehicle to incorporate Bose's acclaimed Acoustimass speaker technology.

The Acoustimass is the same used in home and professional products. It produces dramatic low frequency with no audible distortion. Unlike conventional speakers that deliver sound through the motion of loudspeaker cones, the Acoustimass system launches bass sound on a cushion of air.

In this case the Acoustimass module is mounted under the driver's seat, filling the vehicle with bass from a single location. The Bose-Mercedes combination was developed on a "systems approach" taking into consideration the interior shape and materials makeup, driver and passenger seating locations, placement, and selection of the speaker elements and custom signal processing.

To provide spacious stereo performance for both driver and front seat passenger, Bose engineers created a dual speaker array mounted in each door. In this array, a 2-inch tweeter is mounted concentrically with a 6.5-inch wide-range speaker. For the rear seat sound image, a 5.25-inch full-range speaker is mounted in each rear door. The Acoustimass module contains a 5.25-inch dual voice coil woofer.

Happy trailblazing!

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Tim Ryan, Star-Bulletin