Bentley announces Naim high-end Mulliner car stereo system with Dolby Atmos
If luxury cars and hi-fi are two of your passions, Bentley’s latest offering should get your engine revving.
The Crewe-based carmaker has just launched its new Virtuoso collection, three exclusive, curated themes available across its range of luxury vehicles.
The Virtuoso is available in Soprano, Tenor or Bass form and sees the use of highly refined materials, unique embroidery and champagne gold details “inspired by high-end musicianship”.
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Mulliner’s Naim was originally designed for Bentley’s £2,000,000 Batur model, when it had an option price of £25,000, and is now sold for Bentley’s, shall we say, standard road cars.
Naim offers a lot of hardware, but the system also uses speakers taken from Focal’s Grand Utopia loudspeakers (don’t forget the two brands merged back in 2011), including two improved drivers invented by Batur, which provide a 20 percent increase in cone movement thanks to their unique ‘M’ shape.
They are light, strong and fluid and they say they have “great articulation” and a “wide dynamic range”. The system also features aluminum/magnesium tweeters, which also use patented ‘M’ cones, which help deliver “extremely linear frequency response with low distortion and better sound dispersion”.
These drivers also include newly designed speakers that provide 26 percent of “visual acoustic performance”.
Bentley sound engineers also used Frauhofer Symphoria translation technology to set the sound stage for each model in the range so that the driver and passengers get the best balanced sound throughout the car.
There are neat little details, too, like the use of soft Dinamica materials installed inside the door panels to reduce unwanted vibrations and waves. Thick Mulliner overmats also handle sound-absorbing duties.
The three Virtuoso styles available are Soprano (Linen and Gravity Gray hides, Portland Dinamica cloth and Open Pore Crown Cut Walnut veneer), Tenor (Stratos and Brunel hides, Ceramic Glaze Dinamica cloth and Piano Gravity Gray veneer), and Bass (Gravity Gray Pore, open Croca cloth and open Beluga Cut Walnut veneer); however, as with Bentley, you can work with its Mulliner division to create your own unique style if you wish.
Surprisingly, prices are only available on request.
Naim and Focal merged back in 2011, but recently, it was announced that their parent company, VerVent is being taken over by Belgian company Barco, so it’s an exciting time for both brands.
MORE:
Read ours Naim for Bentley premium audio system (2020 Bentley Continental GT) review
And ours Naim for Bentley premium audio system (2020 Bentley Flying Spur) review
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