Volvo Cars is launching a cooperative venture with American audio specialists Audyssey Labs as part of the development of the next generation of audio systems for its cars.

Volvo Cars, which develops its own sound systems and components, aims to be at the absolute forefront of sound quality. Volvo's top-of-the-line system, Premium Sound, was developed with very high demands on sound quality and with the use of advanced technology.

"We have opted to work together with the very best in the audio industry, companies such as Dolby, Dynaudio, Alpine and Bang & Olufsen," says Lex Kerssemakers, Senior Vice President Brand, Business & Product Strategy.

To this impressive list of partners is now added US firm Audyssey Labs, which has developed a unique technology, MultEQ, to compensate for the listening room's negative effect on sound reproduction.

"In any listening environment, room size, speaker placement, furniture, materials and surfaces absorb and reflect sound causing distortion which degrades the listening experience.

MultEQ was developed through many years of research to remove the problems of sound distortion in a way that everyone in the listening environment will enjoy smooth tonal balance, clear and concise imaging and soundstage, and an optimal sense of envelopment.  We are proud to partner with Volvo to bring our technology to their car audiosystems", says Univerisity of Southern California Audio Engineering Professor Chris Kyriakakis, who serves as Chief Technology Officer at Audyssey Labs.

Volvo Cars will now work with Audyssey Labs  to utilize MultEQ to optimize the listening experience of the interiors of Volvo's various car models. "This will be the first time Audyssey's unique technology is utilized throughout the entire development process of the audio system in a car and we are naturally very proud that it is Volvo which leads the way. It is yet more evidence of our high ambition in the audio field," says Lex Kerssemakers.

With MultEQ, the Volvo customer gets a far more balanced and spacious sound experience by overcoming the limitations presented by the challenges of speaker placement and surface angles inherent in car interiors. Within a couple of years, the next-generation audio system from Volvo will be fitted to the company's cars in series production.