Although the yearly Paris Le Bourget Tuning Show is much about your next 20” alloy wheels or how you can put a swimming pool inside a Peugeot 206…, it certainly is an excellent occasion to get a glance at the latest Audio and Video technology that many competing manufacturers are making available in our (next) car.
Tidal wave One , there is a consumer craze for products that are fully fitting the set of your second interior (that's what your car has gradually become, if you think of the total time you've spent in traffic jams!) but also for technologies that are largely inspired from the Hi-Fi and AV worlds.
Embarked Video
The ‘Car Audio' market has been booming since 4 years and most manufacturers are now proposing more and more embarked systems that are focussing on DVD and Multi-channel Audio encoding.
Tidal wave Two , brands come with ‘All-In-One' solutions that will soon leave you remembering of your old car radio like you do about horses as a way of transporting people… faded pictures of the past. Most solutions come with a single screen device that allows to read 16/9 DVD, MP3 files, enable GPS, or see through your rear camera…
Alpine IVA-D310R
Alpine and Pioneer both came with most innovating productions. Alpine has developed a whole range of multimedia sets organised around 16/9 screen-equipped car radios capable to read DVD-Video, DVD-Rom etc.
Pioneer is on the same line, notably with its new integrated Car Audio/Video AVH-5700 that comes equipped with a DVD reader.
Completing this, a number of models provide supplemental information like GPS positioning, or information about the behaviour of the vehicle –speed, Gs etc.
Pioneer AVH-5700
Other manufacturers – Sony, Panasonic, Clarion, Kenwood - offer a wide range of products that complete their TFT screen solutions in order to satisfy the demand, not only of the driver, but also that of rear passengers: ceiling or seat screens that all very performing equipments: high luminosity, excellent colours, all this at more and more affordable prices.
Sony MV-700HR
Kenwood XXV-05V
Blaukpunkt MoniCeiver
Embarked Audio systems
Embarked sound systems are now more and more elaborated like embarked Hi-Fi systems.. French manufacturer Focal introduced some heavy artillery, namely its new Utopia Be loudspeakers series, declined in Versions No 5, 6, and 7 which are directly derived from their Utopia Be speaker Hi-Fi series. Focal simply introduced this new range as the ‘ultimate Car Hi-Fi'… pardon their lack of modesty, all products are unquestionably stunning. Prices range between €2150 and 2750, with cross-over in order to obtain maximised result (this setting allows to take advantage of each vehicle local acoustics). All products are delivered in an aluminium case!
Focal Utopia Be N°5
Back on earth with JBL and its 30cm that are directly derived from the GTO range. 3 models equipped with rigid membrane coupled with a double coil.
Sub JBL GTO 1202D
Infinity's ‘Reference' subwoofer series are coping with today's consumer preferences. The brand is upgrading its Reference and Kappa series, which integrate new membranes and release a setting of the Tweeter level that is directly accessible on the speaker's dome.
Kappa 42.7
Reference 9612i
Most manufacturers had to integrate the iPod wave, thus most Car Radio sets come equipped with MP3 capacity. Alpine , which was already proposing an interface module last year, has shown a fully MP3 compatible Auto Radio device. Pioneer offers an external unit with an IP-Bus plug.
The Paris Tuning Show has demonstrated growing interest in car embarked systems that were regarded as elite productions only a couple of years ago. It also indicates a foreseeable decrease in prices in the next future.