HARMAN equips the new Mercedes-Benz A-Class with a new style of sound

Geneva Motor Show – At this year’s Geneva Motor Show Mercedes-Benz unveils its new A-Class, the W176. In cooperation with HARMAN (NYSE:HAR), the global leading supplier of premium audio and infotainment systems, the car has not only an optical but auditory rebirth. The sound system by Harman Kardon, a brand of the HARMAN group, offers twelve high-performance speakers that are precisely positioned for maximum sound quality. Each of the four doors has a 165 mm ALumaprene low/midrange woofer. In the D-pillars two 80 mm ALumaprene surround midrange speakers were placed. Besides, in the front-panel is one 80 mm ALumaprene center midrange speaker, while in the mirror sails and the rear doors four dome tweeters are integrated, ensuring pristine reproduction of critical tones. The 168 mm double voice-coil subwoofer in a closed box ensures rich base tones at all times. And the Harman Kardon 450 watt high-performance DSP amplifier with Logic7 surround audio processing can be individually equalized via nine channels. Once again Harman Kardon and Mercedes-Benz combined excellent performance and quality, as well as first-class technology.

“Mercedes-Benz and our brand Harman Kardon are a perfect fit,” said Dinesh Paliwal, HARMAN’s Chairman, President and CEO. “With the Harman Kardon premium sound system Mercedes-Benz supports the new lifestyle positioning of the A-Class.”

Membranes and magnet systems in ALumaprene loudspeakers differ from conventional devices through their greater dynamism. ALumaprene offers similarly excellent properties to speakers with woven aramide fiber diaphragms, but consists of a specially developed, new generation polymer. The particularly lightweight modules have excellent damping characteristics, reducing resonances to a minimum. This facilitates an unusually well-controlled frequency response, which can only be achieved with high-end sound transducers. This produces powerful bass sounds, natural mid tones and crystal-clear top notes.

Logic 7 multichannel surround-sound technology has set a new standard for acoustic precision and authenticity, contributing to a completely new surround-sound experience in automobiles. This unique technology delivers authentic, three-dimensional listening pleasure to all seats in every car. Logic 7 uses a sophisticated matrix and specially developed digital algorithms to transform normal two-channel stereo recordings into realistic, atmospheric multichannel surround sound. Instruments and voices are reproduced with an impressive sharpness, body and localizability, allowing even the finest details to be heard.

About HARMAN

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,400 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.4 billion for the twelve months ending June 30, 2012. The Company's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYSE:HAR.

Nicole Mehr
HARMAN
+49-7248-71-1272
press@harman.com