Would you pay R600k for an in-car sound system?

Would you pay R600,000 for an in-car sound system?

This is how much customers of the rare, 18-model only Bentley Mulliner Batur can expect to part with if they want the new 2,200W Naim for Mulliner sound system for their exclusive chariot. The company says it's the most exquisite in-car audio system yet created and optionally available for £25,000 (R594,659).

For perspective, this is enough to buy two Volkswagen Polo Vivo 1.4 Trendline hatchbacks each costing R252,500, with about R91,000 to spare.

The Naim for Mulliner system is the result of 10,000 hours of development work, new hardware and a complete system recalibration. Naim Audio is a British hi-fi manufacturer for cars and homes and has supplied its wares to Bentley for 15 years.

The 20-speaker system comprises six tweeters, nine mid-range speakers, two woofers, two active bass transducers and one subwoofer, all encased in three-dimensional printed speaker cages. The highly-tuned single piece, rigid and lightweight and patented cones are said to be critical for high quality sound and equipped with a mass damper allowing better control and refinement of sound. 

All mid-range speakers and tweeters have new speaker drivers, while the woofers and subwoofer have been modified to improve linearity and dynamics. The tweeter, in particular, has been chosen to produce a silky treble and a distinctive wide-angle diffusion, said Naim.

While the Batur was being designed, further strengthening and stiffening was adopted around the doors and rear cabin areas, which has led to reduced distortion and improved isolation for the Naim for Mulliner system.

Sound settings can be accessed via a 12.3-inch HD touchscreen interface and customers can configure this in a variety of ways: as a single display, split 2:1 or showing three different functions at the same time. 

Naim for Mulliner’s audio system is compatible with Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL and Deezer, digital radio or spoken word media, such as audio books and podcasts.

The Bentley Batur is named after a lake in Bali, Indonesia. It's an ultra-exclusive Grand Tourer that previews the look of future electric Bentleys, powered by an upgraded version of Bentley’s 6.0l W12 petrol turbo engine. Outputs are 544kW and 1,000Nm and only 18 examples are planned, and already sold out.

Prices start at £1.65m (R33m).