The Cadillac AKG audio experience is like having Faye Wong standing in front of you.

In recent years, the competition among major car manufacturers has expanded beyond size, power, and interior to focus on “luxury.”

When it comes to luxury cars, people often think of real leather interiors, spacious rear seats, extra-long wheelbases, and exquisite sound systems. But in the era of electric cars, has the definition of luxury changed?

As the first car under the General Motors’ Ultium platform, Cadillac is very confident in LYRIQ’s performance. Jamie Brewer, LYRIQ’s chief engineer, claims that “this will redefine users’ expectations for electric luxury cars.”

Founded in Detroit in 1902, Cadillac represents the history of American luxury cars. So, what makes this car brand with a 120-year history stand out in the era of electric vehicle transformation?

Immersive Sound System

During the test drive, we were invited to experience the AKG sound system installed in the Cadillac LYRIQ. LYRIQ’s sound system uses Quantum Logic virtual 7.1 immersive surround sound technology.

Quantum Logic is a surround sound technology used in top audio brands such as Bowers & Wilkins and AKG under Harman/Kardon. Through this technology, any audio source (even mono sound) can be reproduced with real authenticity.

In addition, LYRIQ has a headrest speaker system that is comparable to those of its competitors. The driver and passenger seats each have two medium-to-high-range speakers installed on the headrest, with a dedicated vocal range capability. The shape of the speakers is designed specifically for the seat headrests of the Hongguang MINI. Through Quantum Logic’s professional algorithm and acoustic tuning, LYRIQ ensures passenger comfort and audio immersion, bringing passengers a more immersive surround sound and a realistic experience.

Is Everything Decided by Parameters?

This year, various new players have launched their flagship products, including:

• Ideal ONE L9: 21 speakers, 2,160 W
• NIO ES7: 23 speakers, 1,000 W
• Xpeng G9: 28 speakers, 2,250 W
• IM L7: 22 speakers, 1,120 WLYRIQ, equipped with 19 speakers and rated power of 1,400 W from AKG, has reached a high standard of hardware among the new forces in the automotive industry. However, when it comes to assessing the quality of a sound system, tuning is more important than hardware!

This system also adopts Unity coaxial composite speaker design, which allows high and mid-range speakers to emit sound from the same point to avoid delay and phase interference, and to obtain music with a more hierarchical and detailed sense. The Acoustic Lens acoustic prism located on the central dashboard panel directly transmits delicate and detailed high-frequency signals to the listener’s ears, without reflection from the windshield, minimizing sound degradation and preserving the delicate texture of the original sound.

Hearing is Believing

Once you sit inside LYRIQ and close the door, the noise from outside is fully isolated, and you can easily feel the difference while listening to songs like “Tian Kong” by Faye Wong. The restoration of the vocals truly feels like the singer is standing right in front of you!

During this experience, I switched between several background music tracks. The sound of the high heels walking was particularly impressive and completely encircled the listener. Overall, compared to the Model 3 that I drove earlier, the LYRIQ sound system performed much better.

Final Remarks

The electrification of automobiles has brought us a more peaceful cabin environment, which allows the sound system to perform better. In the new forces of the industry, de-branding is appearing in more and more models; however, Cadillac has chosen a safe branding route. In the end, consumers will make the choice based on their real feelings. The reproduction of human voices by the LYRIQ AKG speaker system is impressive!

It is worth noting that the Chinese version of LYRIQ is highly localized, and the whole system from R&D to the supply chain to the market is well established, ensuring that the Chinese version of LYRIQ is a highly mature product. Moreover, in the current joint venture luxury brands, no one can truly compete with LYRIQ in product performance. Instead, new Chinese forces will pose greater competition to the LYRIQ.We are also looking forward to seeing LYRIQ’s market performance after its official delivery, as well as its ability to pioneer the development of the General Motors Ultium platform in China.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.