Most cars these days come with two sound systems from the factory – the upper level system more likely as not being produced by part of the Harmon electronics empire. Even in very premium vehicles, the standard is no more than two.

Chrysler has taken a different path in the revised 300 series.

The company that brought us in-car record players and in car cassette player/recorders has brought us FOUR choices in their 300 series. This past week, I test “drove” all four at Spring CJD, ably assisted by Russ DeLoit.

The base sound system is pretty standard – six speakers – dash, front doors, rear package shelf. The base model stereo has a comprehensive touch screen, SD slot, CD player and satellite radio. I didn’t have a chance to interact with the smaller touch screen, and you may find it challenging to come across a 300 that is equipped with it. In a quick review of local inventory, there are a bunch that reflect such equipment with a window sticker notation that a $1000 price credit has been applied, as the 8.4″ screen was unavailable due to parts shortages. According to Chrysler’s website (which frequently conflicts with their printed materials), the 8.4 touch screen WITHOUT Navigation is standard in the 2012 300 and Limited. Thus, once they get their supply chain issues worked out, it’s 8.4 actual inches in the 300, baby.

The base sound system is nothing fancy, but includes all of the convenience features you could wish for. Sound quality is acceptable, and probably more than adequate for the large majority of 300 customers. Sound quality is agreeable enough, especially if talk radio is your thing. The base sound system is only available in the base model 300 for 2012.

The Limited, 300C and the 300C SRT8 add Bluetooth phone and music streaming, and boast of a 276 watt amplifier for the six “premium” speakers. The 300C adds Navigation and a mini-jack for external devices. Sound reproduction quality is agreeable for most everyone that will consider this car. The 8.4″ touch screen is very easy to manipulate, and voice activation is standard. The voice activation is “trainable”, meaning that the more you use it, the more effective it should get.

If you are anything of an audiophile, this system will perform reasonably well IF you leave the volume low. The 300 is a very quiet car, and background noise that tends to compete with music reproduction is quite minimal. However, if you have a 300 with this or the base stereo system, NEVER loan your car to anyone under the age of 30. If you do, you’ll have nothing but speakers that buzz and whine the next morning – 276 watts is enough to ruin six speakers in a couple of hours of hard (audio) driving.

Now, we get into the wacky world of audio options for the 300.

For 2012, all versions get the 8.4″ touch screen.
Limited gets Bluetooth included.
300C and higher get voice activation and navigation included.
Limited and higher get the 276 watt “premium” six speaker system.

Check out the brochure, and it looks quite clear that the two “level up” systems are available on all of the models. This seems not to be true if you check out Chrysler’s own website (note to ChryCo – whoever did your website is stuck in 2003, and needs to be flogged. Repeatedly.), it’s quite clear that only one “level up” system available on the Limited, the 300C and the SRT8, that being the “19 premium speaker group”.

For 2011, there was a $650 “Sound Group I” option, which consisted of a 506 watt amplifier, and Harman Kardon 7.1 surround, must as you would find in a competitive Buick LaCrosse. This has been pitched out in favor of two ultra-premium systems – Beats by Dr. Dre, and the aforementioned “19 premium speaker group”. These two premium systems head down incompatible and divergent forks in the audiophile road and are both very different to the ear.

The Beats by Dr. Dre system is “tuned” by Dr. Dre, hip hop recording giant. The back end is produced by Panasonic, and features a chunky 8″ subwoofer in the trunk, and a system tuned for hip hop/rap music. This system comes standard in the 300S package (whether V6 or V8) and is sucking up most of the marketing muscle for the 300 this year.

In practice, if you listen to hip hop/rap, you’ll be thrilled. The system is very powerful, and throbs with low toned sound. However, just as with the guy going by in the old Buick on chromed 22s, you can hear the distortion from a block away. Mid tones and high tones are muddy, meaning that they’re not clear. You know that they’re there, but they are not distinct sounds for your ear to experience. Crank it up beyond 50% power, and the system is LOUD and the distortion begins to take over the mid/high tones.

By the Chrysler 300 brochure, the Beats system is available on ALL models of the 300. According to their own website and other reliable sources, it is only available in the 300S models. If you like to cruise, while listening to the latest hip hop tracks – this is your car. If you prefer something exquisite and rewarding, skip the S with your 300, and grab a Limited, 300C, Luxury Series or SRT8 with the “19 premium speaker group”.

Curiously, your Chryco store probably doesn’t know the difference between this system and the “19 premium speaker group”. After all, “Beats by Dr. Dre” is being flogged like a stepchild in the marketing, and is something you can wrap your mind around. “19 premium speakers” sounds like just that – more expensive speakers. As in, $1,995.00 more expensive. The truth of the matter is far more complex and worth your time if you’re an audiophile.

For 2012, Harman Kardon cooked up the first, factory installed, 32V audio system for automotive installations. So what? Well, the entire back end of this system (which is to say, everything that isn’t your interface with the gorgeous and massive touch screen) is running at 32V and 900 watts. With 32 volts, the 900 watts doesn’t have to push as hard as it does in the Dr. Dre system, and the results are amazing.

If you’d like to learn more about Harman/Kardon’s GreenEdge technology, check out their own description of it here. Notice the part where it says “90% efficiency from amplifiers, up to 55% improvement”.

From the Chrysler Corporation’s SRT8 product announcement, we get this:

The new system uses GreenEdge® speaker and amplifier technology to offer superior sound quality and high Sound Pressure Level outputs with minimum energy consumption. GreenEdge amplifiers alone outperform traditional amplifier efficiency by up to 55 percent, representing a net efficiency of more than 90 percent in some cases. The speakers are tuned for maximum efficiency and perfectly matched to the amplifier output.

The system’s 19 GreenEdge high-efficiency speakers include:
Seven 3.5-inch Unity Coaxial mid-range speakers with seven integrated tweeters located in the front dash, rear doors and rear deck
Two 6 x 9-inch subwoofers located in the front doors
Two 6 x 9-inch subwoofers in the rear deck
One 10-inch subwoofer in the rear deck

One of Chrysler’s window stickers tells you this:

18 premium speakers with subwoofer
900 watt amplifier

Most people would see that on the option list, or on a window sticker and question why they needed it – especially when there’s a Beats by Dr. Dre system in the next car in line that doesn’t (apparently) cost more.

Trust me, if you love music, if your car is your haven to listen to your favorite music, if you love to hear sound that is indistinguishable from being orchestra center, you have to spend the $1,995.00 on this system.

Whereas the Beats by Dr. Dre system has a very pronounced front presence, the GreenTech system emanates from all around you quite smoothly. There is no noticeable sound stage; it’s just everywhere at once. Turn it up, and everything gets louder and remains completely smooth. Separation is excellent. Tone quality is the equivalent of being there. Vocals are crisp and delicious, and you will hear every note, every grace note and every nuance of your favorite music. The sound is robust, there is enormous depth that is not boomy. You’ll find that you don’t want to leave the front seat.

You can roust a 300 Limited with all this sound out of them for $33,490 before incentives if you skip memory seating, adaptive cruise control and the patio door that they call a panoramic sunroof. A 300C can roll into your driveway for $39,490 with all of this aural beauty.

I’ve recently test listened the Bang & Olufsen system in the 2012 A7; it was a bit nicer than the GreenTech installation for the 300, but not $4700 worth of nicer. For the money, this is, hands down, the best car stereo money can reasonably buy you.