LIVE FROM NEW YORK CITY WITH LAND ROVER AND MERIDIAN

Can a live performance sound better from the cabin of a Range Rover vehicle? It can if it’s equipped with the world’s first 3D surround system, writes Andrew Polsinelli, General Manager, Product Planning, Land Rover North America.

On stage at the Classic Car Club in Manhattan this week, we had singer-songwriter Chris Ayer give a live acoustic performance to a group of automotive, lifestyle, tech and audio media friends. We gave a brief presentation that highlighted the history and connection between Land Rover and Meridian™ before we let Chris get on with his performance of ‘The Infinite Abyss of Space.’

While Chris sang, sound engineers from our partners at Meridian Audio Limited were recording him, and pretty much before the enthusiastic applause had died down, they’d digitally mastered the track and burned it to a few CDs.

Then, we invited our journalist guests to take a seat in any of the three vehicles we had on display; the 2013 Range Rover Evoque, 2013 Range Rover Autobiography or the 2014 Range Rover Sport, to listen to Chris’ mastered song through each vehicle’s Meridian sound systems.

The general consensus was that Chris Ayer, played through the Range Rover Autobiography’s Meridian Signature Reference System, with its 1700-Watt output, 24-channel stereo/surround system driving no fewer than 29 loudspeakers, and incorporating Meridian’s Trifield 3D technology, was even better than hearing him live.

It makes sense though since the song Chris originally performed was played in the Classic Car Club’s cavernous reception area and the sound was getting absorbed by warm bodies and soft furnishings, bouncing off odd angles and mingling with the dull background noise of the large open space.

In the Range Rover vehicle however, the environment the music was being played in was highly controlled and perfectly focused. During the Range Rover vehicle’s development, over 4,000 man-hours of research by Meridian sound engineers went into perfectly positioning each of those 29 speakers around the cabin - including those key height speakers located in the roof lining.

The result is a sound that merges into a circle around you, and it literally is a circle. Like a live environment, you can hear elements coming from behind, in front, from the side and above. It really does make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. For each person, it’s like having their very own concert-like experience.

We’re pretty proud that this Meridian Signature Reference package was truly the world’s first 3D automotive surround system when it was introduced with the new Range Rover last December.

For this week’s Manhattan event, we also featured the all-new 2014 Range Rover Sport - the fastest, most responsive and agile Range Rover to date - plus a Range Rover Evoque to showcase another of our impressive Meridian offerings, the available Meridian Surround Sound. It features an 825-Watt, 16-channel stereo/surround system with 17 speakers, including a dual-channel subwoofer and the very latest digital sound processing technology. Again, the consensus from the assembled media was this too was a class benchmark.

In coming weeks the entire 2014 Land Rover and Range Rover model line-up will be offered with the 825-Watt Meridian Surround Sound system as an option. It’s already available in the Land Rover LR2 and will soon be offered in the LR4. It’s also available in the Range Rover Evoque, Range Rover and the all-new 2014 Range Rover Sport.

On the way to the office the morning after the Manhattan event I couldn’t resist playing our Chris Ayer CD on my Range Rover vehicle’s Meridian system. It was just like he was right there in the car with me.

Click here for photos from the Land Rover and Meridian 3D Experience event.