The honor of OEM Car Radio of the Year 2011 went to the Fender audio system in the Volkswagen Beetle 2.0T Turbo, announced CNET, claiming that the Fender system sounds better than the Bose car audio system.
CNET editor Wayne Cunningham added that the Fender system—also available on other Beetle and Passat models—sounds as good as the Mark Levinson system in the Lexus and the Harman Kardon system in the BMW.
When editor Antuan Goodwin first heard of the Fender system, he thought it was another branding gimmick. But he concluded, “For the money you pay, this is hands down the best affordable premium sound system you can get.”.
Additionally, CNET announced the Tech Car of the Year 2011 as the 2012 Audi A7. You may remember the A7 has one of the few car radios with built-in 3G. Editors liked the full 3G connection off the lot, and the Google Earth views in navigation (with Street Views to come).
“It’s the iPhone of cars,” said Cunningham in a podcast of the $60,000 vehicle.
A runner up was the Chevy Volt.
Source: CNET
BOSE = Buy Other Sound Equipment…
as we say….no highs…no lows… must be a bose.
Kudos to my friend Natan Budiono and the crew at Panasonic (the actual supplier of this system).
Saying that a factory system sounds better than Bose is hardly a compliment. But Kudos to VW for not being a sheep and going with an alternative brand partner. Looking forward to hearing one in the shop, then obviously tearing it apart and making it better. #MobileAVC