Who is Gonna Buy A New Jeep Grand Wagoneer For the MacIntosh Stereo?

Well I never bought a McIntosh without a jeep attached so there is that.

Ill buy one soon.

One thing which really adds to my enjoyment of music is road noise. Bring it on.

Right after I put my cart before my horse.

I’ll ask the dealership if they will install the blue meters in my Cherokee. Meters only though, I can’t part with whatever comprises the “premium” sound system it came with. So much low frequency. So so much. 

Hard pass on that one, Captain.

Nope bought a Lambo for the Sonus faber sound system. 

Just one feature… might break a tie. My Lexus has a Mark Levenson system. My eRunner JBL. They are all pairing up.

Does it have a tube engine? 

The brand collaboration makes sense from a marketing standpoint in that both companies are steadfast American brands (ignoring Stellantis for this discussion). 

While this thread is trolling for McIntosh hate, these premium collaborations are merely marketing exercises to improve sales for the vehicle manufacturer, and raise brand awareness for the audio manufacturer. When you're selling what is the world's most hideous, 7700 lb. $100,000+  soft-roader, you need all the bullet points you can muster. A 4-speaker AC Delco stereo only cuts it for the Venn diagram of those who have lots of money to throw at a vehicle, and are both visually, and audibly impaired.

The real question is if you would purchase the 911 Sport Classic for the 13-speaker Burmester system? Lower tow rating, but will fit between the lines of a parking space, and you wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen in it.

Jeep has to do something to try to justify their ridiculously overpriced vehicles. This won't hurt, I'm sure. 

I thought it was a bad trend when people bought cars based on how much they liked the headlights. Maybe this is Jeep's answer to all the luxury cars with their interior ambient lighting gimmicks. Now you can bask in that blue display.

All the best,
Nonoise

I'd offer above sticker if they'd get the Mac out.

Right after I put my cart before my horse.

Which tone arm does it go on?

MacIntosh doesn't make stereo gear ...  ;-)

Nor do they make car audio gear.  Just re-branded merchandise from another manufacturer with new exterior skin. 

Never pays to look too deep eh?

I test drove a Jeep with the upgraded system in the past 14-21 days. Not impressed at idle, even less impressive while driving. I blame the lack of deadening in the doors for the low end failure. Its possible if that issue is overcome it will greatly improve overall performance. Not a bad upgrade though. 

You don't buy the Jeep Grand Wagoneer for the McIntosh stereo, you elect to pay for the McIntosh stereo option for your Jeep Grand Wagoneer. Supposing that there was one. 

McIntosh marketed a line of aftermarket car audio 20 years ago.  Mostly amps…mono, stereo, and multichannel with built In configurable crossovers. They were very clean but didn’t deliver the grunt of Rockford or Xtant at that time.  So they have experience.  They now have Sonus Faber for the speakers, so I bet the system is quite good. No idea whose front end they are using.  And yeah, road noise is the enemy of music listening in cars, but most people do it anyway. 

No Italian mopars for me.

Any more 

The bad news with a Jeep is you never know when it’s going to decide to go into the dead zone. My wife ran with fully loaded Grand Cherokee’s for years until the last one started going into blackout mode leaving her with no steering or brake assist 3 times while driving it. After the dealership failed to solve the 3rd time she said she would no longer drive it. I wonder if a McIntosh stereo would have made all the difference then?

If your really listening to the stereo your not driving...

I get the opportunity to drive many new and pre-production vehicles, so I've heard many of the high end sound systems in premium vehicles. I spend a lot of time driving, and being able to listen to music on the road is important to me.  Of course, a vehicle is not a concert hall or even your living room, and vehicle sound systems face a plethora of challenges unique to each different car or even changing road conditions.  I have never heard a sound system in a vehicle that made me feel I was listening to a live string quartet, but taken on their own terms, I've heard a number of systems that are quite enjoyable:

The McIntosh system in the Jeep Grand Wagoneer L is pretty good, though I prefer the McIntosh version that is in the Grand Cherokee 4XE plug-in hybrid. 

Meridian systems can be enjoyable.  I like those in the Jaguar F-Pace and the Range Rover Defender.

Some Harmon Kardon systems actually sound good, but definitely not all.  Their quality varies considerably from vehicle to vehicle. After a lot of tweaking, I've actually made peace with the HK system in my Subaru Outback XT (which has a little thicker, sound absorbing glass in the doors than other Outbacks and so is a little quieter), I find it OK, good enough that I'm not going to replace or try to upgrade it.  But there are better HK systems. I have recently enjoyed the HK systems in the BMW i4 and BMW iX.  I've heard several B&W systems in BMW's and only one sounded decent, but I can't recall which vehicle.

The Burmeister system in the Mercedes S580 and the EQS are both pretty enjoyable.  The S580 has door tweeters that, when you turn on the system, begin to turn, screwing out into the cabin a bit. No way to A-B to see what difference it made in the sound, but it was fun to watch, and I liked the system.   But I did not like the Burmeister in the MB GLS450 and some of the other MB sedans.

I remember that I enjoyed listening to the system in the Chevy Sierra High Country but I can't recall the manufacturer, and only country music sounded acceptable. 

My very favorite vehicle sound system is undoubtedly the NAIM system in the Bentley Bentayga.  I recall that system sounded really good in the Flying Spur Mulliner, too, but I spent more time in the Bentayga so I got to know it better there.  Seriously good sound.  Hell, I could live in that vehicle.

Those are a few of my favorites.  Again, I'm not saying they stand on equal footing with a good home system, but then a good home system doesn't stand on equal footing with a live concert hall experience.  I don't approach vehicle sound with that sort of comparison in mind.  I'm just interested in whether they are enjoyable to hear, not annoying or distracting, and non-fatiguing, especially on a long drive.

Obviously, one key is a quiet vehicle.  A lower noise floor improves dynamics and relieves the need for over-compressed, brittle sound to be heard above the din. There isn't a sound system in the world that I'd care to hear in a Mclaren, Corvette or Charger Hellcat Redeye; for example, they are just way too loud. 

Most systems require a lot of tweaking, too.  The designers usually have a different idea of appealing sound than I do.  Almost all have too much bass, for example.  I appreciate systems that allow simple but comprehensive adjustment, and I change the settings depending on whether I am alone or have passengers, the type of music I'm listening to or the music's source.  Classical music is usually better on FM stations than, say, Sirius' classical station.  There's a lot of interesting music on Sirius, but the stations are generally way too bassy, compressed and have a sort of strident, metallic quality that is hard to tune away.  Streaming Quboz from my phone works well.

Bottom line is there are some pretty good sounding systems out there.  But it's hard to generalize.  Different systems from the same manufacturer often sound quite different.  Happy motoring!

I agree that a sound system should be the last consideration when buying a vehicle but I remember reading some comments by musicians, I think one was Neil Young, when some manufacturer released a luxury car with an SACD multichannel system, that the car was an ideal place for multichannel because the driver wasn’t changing his position relative to the speakers.

Another thing to distract you from the road.  Nothing against Mac, but I think it looks garish in a vehicle. 

Having actually spent time in the grand Wagoneer and the grand Cherokee, which have the McIntosh system it’s actually very very good. This is not theoretical, considering I’ve listen to Naim, Meridian, B&W, and all the other high-end systems in luxury cars. What I see is a bunch of you running your mouths just trying to posture. Try get off your ass and experience it versus posting ignorant stuff here but then again that is what the Audiogon forum is for. But, hat’s what it’s for bunch of people posting ignorant stuff. By the way, I have no dog in this hunt.

I own a Jeep Wrangler and I own McIntosh but I see no need for McIntosh in my Jeep. The road noise it too much to really enjoy the music. The only time you could really enjoy the experience is when you are parked and then I would rather be in my audio room.

FWIW, I had a 2003 Outback Subaru with a McIntosh stereo. While the car was too noisy when in motion to appreciate it, the stereo was actually good, for a car stereo.  And it was designed, if not built, by McIntosh.  I used to commute close to two hours each day, and I really enjoyed being able to crank my music as I flew down the Garden State Parkway at speeds approaching 20 mph.  

I now drive a 2013 Equus with a Lexicon stereo.  It's ok, but the car is so quiet that I can enjoy listening even at highway speeds.  Even the Bose in my old Infiniti was respectable sounding.  I would never go to car just to listen, but a good car stereo can be enjoyable, IME.

A friend has a 2008 Volvo S80 with the optional sound system where the speakers are labeled Dynaudio.  Sounds quite nice to my ears.  As it should, the original purchaser paid $1,500 for the upgrade in 2008.

I'm surprised there isn't an iPad app that turns your tablet into McIntosh meters you can put in front of your TV and call it a McIntosh.

I’m coming from a different direction here. I thnk the folks at Jeep know that that brand of awareness of McIntosh among their target customers doesn’t move the needle. Nor does Mark Levinson, Meridan, etc. with other luxury brands. It allows the manufacturer to attach an level of mystic to the product, thus allowing their marketing departments to define "luxury" in their own terms -- with beautiful marketing materials attached. All of the high end audio brands have an impressive "high end/luxury" back story (some even a current story) that car manufacturers are thrilled to attach to their (luxury) brands to elevate the customer’s perception of the brand. There’s no slight of hand here. Just smart, solid marketing from people who have also made other good decisions on what to include/exclude from their vehicles.

The Meridan system in my Rivian R1T gets a "pass". It does appear that the final sound tuning was performed by Meridan engineers, and not the vehicle manufactuer’s marketing team.

I find it interesting how brand attachment is still a "thing" among obsolete brands and folks are "attaching" all kinds of stuff to brands that were never involved in that discipline during their heydays. Dual (broad customer electronics), Jensen (pretty much the same) and, yes, Bell & Howell. I can’t wait for the Bose line of electric riding mowers to appear at Home Depot.

I love my big blue meters at home. Not sure I need them on the road, unless they’re integrated with the NAV system and indictating which direction I should be turning next.

Probably not the right forum for this but they can keep the crappy, unreliable Jeep & I’ll take the Mc. components any day. If you want a big 4 WD boat for substantial $, get a Toyota 4runner, Sequoia or the Lexus GX or LX ( w/ Levinson system) & be happy & trouble free for many miles w/ good sound too……

I have a dual engine Model 3 Tesla......Great sound system...don't know what company makes it...  ..crank it up and then do 0-60 in 3.1 sec......Fun.

The best car stereo I ever had was in a 98 LS400....just the standard stereo. A MILLION times better than the fancy Mark Levinson garbage in my 430.

98’ ls 400 one of the best cars ever built. The late 90’s to early 2000’s Lexus, Toyota, Hondas we’re some of the most reliable, well built cars of all time. 
It’s a shame they went 

I would never, ever buy a Jeep.  They consistently have terrible ratings, yet people still buy them

I'm surprised there isn't an iPad app that turns your tablet into McIntosh meters you can put in front of your TV and call it a McIntosh.

@erik_squires there is such an app 😀

@holmz  Well that's a lot cheaper than buying a Jeep.  😂

holmz  Well that's a lot cheaper than buying a Jeep.  😂

@erik_squires the app crashes occasionally, does that count?

@carlsbad 

Well I never bought a McIntosh without a jeep attached so there is that.

Thanks for the laugh!

I bet it sounds really swell, but I can’t see myself buying a huge 4x4 wanna be that costs more than my first house!

I hate Jeeps. They are always in my way, 

@mijostyn They're always in my rear view mirror.

@toddsyr , In a yellow 911 I always wind up getting reported to the constabulary for that behavior 🙃 

My nephew has one,  Great sound system but the car is a beast. It's huge and unwieldy. His wife refuses to drive it.  

Let's see, the worst rated car with an audio system labeled from a company that can't figure out how to make home systems after 73 years.

Yep.  Gonna jump right on it...can't get rid of $100,000+ any better way than that!

Cheers!

@mickeyb Absolutely agree!

Geez, does it never end here? It’s not enough that we are constantly exposed to hi-end dick measuring on this forum that we also have to also endure suggestions of who might  be afflicted with vehicle music shrinkage too? I drive a VW Passat, it has a no-name CD player (don’t care much what brand it is, just happy to have one in this present non-physical media world). I use the player to audition CDs I pick-up from thrift-stores, yard sales and Goodwill/Salvation Army stores. The player’s good enough for that. The better CDs will be promoted to my home system, the only place I enjoy listening to music. And that’s all I use that player for, as I never entertain delusions of dissolving into the music in my car. I’m too busy driving.

Oh my freakin g-d that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in a car.  Next to my wife maybe.  Those blue vu meters!!!!!   Gorgeous!  I think I’m going to cry…..