Warwick Acoustics, a world-leading pioneer of electrostatic audio systems, today confirmed its role in the development of SV Electrostatic Sound for Range Rover. A world-first feature exclusive to Range Rover, SV Electrostatic Sound represents a revolution in the customer’s in-car audio experience, enabled by over 20 years of research, engineering, and development to bring the physics of electrostatics to the automotive market.

Announced in April, the SV Ultra—the most luxurious and technologically advanced Range Rover ever—has an array of immersive audio technologies that includes the SV Electrostatic Sound alongside BASS (Body and Soul Seats) and Sensory Haptic Floor.

“Range Rover SV Ultra is one of the finest expressions of Range Rover luxury we have ever created,” said Martin Limpert, Global Managing Director, Range Rover. “Its distinct character is defined by new and exclusive exterior and interior finishes, and by world‑first in‑car audio technologies that set a new benchmark for immersion and wellbeing. This is far more than Ultra in name.

“Range Rover is proud to be the first automotive brand to offer this unique and exclusive experience to its clients. The listening experience is a step change from anything that has been fitted to any vehicle previously, delivering a powerful, emotional and truly immersive experience.”

According to Range Rover, the SV Electrostatic Sound system features 21 lightweight thin‑film transducers integrated within redesigned winged headrests, seatbacks, and existing speaker locations—including those in the headlining—to deliver a consistent flow of audio, a seamless frequency range and coherent, uncolored clarity of sound. The electrostatic speakers are supported by five existing bass loudspeakers plus Body and Soul Seats to provide “unrivaled bass support.”

Designed to transmit natural, clear audio with detail and precision, each electrostatic speaker contains an ultra‑light, ultra‑responsive membrane just 1 mm (0.04 in) thick. The membrane sits between two perforated metallic plates across which an audio signal is applied, responding up to 1000 times faster than a traditional speaker, for the kind of immersive, crisp, and detailed sound stage normally experienced in a studio or through the finest headphones—with minimal vibration or distortion.

“This launch is pivotal for both Warwick Acoustics and, we believe, for the automotive industry as a whole,” said Gary Waters, CEO of Warwick Acoustics. “We have played a key role in helping to create an experience that is so perfectly transparent and real that listeners are transported to the artist’s recording studio or theatre, experiencing all the power, detail, and emotion of a live performance.

Electrostatic speaker technology brings additional benefits, requiring up to 90% less power and saving 90% mass compared to the conventional coil speakers they replace. Additionally, they are manufactured with zero rare earth elements and from 100% upcycled and recyclable materials by mass.

SV Electrostatic Sound has been put through the signature Range Rover testing and development program, with more than 1000 h of testing in extreme hot and cold weather conditions, from ‑20°C to +65°C (-4°F to +149°F).

 

Peak clarity and immersion

According to Warwick Acoustics, the electrostatics delivers two qualities that have long eluded in-car audio: clarity and immersion.

Clarity is the ability to hear every note, every nuance, every detail of a performance with perfect transparency as if the listener were in the same room as the performer. The ultra-light electrostatic membrane responds to the audio signal with a speed and accuracy a thousand times greater than a conventional speaker cone, preserving subtle harmonics and attack and decay characteristics that give instruments and voices their natural character. Listeners frequently describe the experience as hearing familiar recordings as if for the first time.

Immersion is the quality that makes the cabin feel far larger than it is. Conventional speakers produce spherical sound waves, which the human ear instinctively perceives as originating close by. In Range Rover SV, the SV Electrostatic Sound system’s electrostatic panels produce planar, near-flat waves that listeners’ ears interpret as sound originating up to 30 m (98 ft) away, far beyond the physical cabin.

Together, the effect is comparable to moving from a standard-definition television to 8K TV. The step change in experience is said to be immediately apparent, even to those with no prior knowledge of the technology.

 

Refined implementation

The Range Rover SV provided the ideal stage for the introduction of electrostatic audio to the car. Its meticulously crafted cabin and advanced acoustic engineering create an environment in which electrostatic technology can demonstrate its full, extraordinary capability: an experience that is powerful, clear, and immersive in ways that no prior in-car audio system has achieved.

Central to the SV Electrostatic Sound system are the electrostatic panels and electrical drive systems developed by Warwick Acoustics.

Inspired by the mechanism of the human ear, the ultralightweight membrane sits between two perforated metallic plates. A high-voltage electric charge is established on the membrane, while the audio signal is simultaneously applied across the two metallic plates. The movement of the membrane under the changes in electric field strength delivers waves of sound with a precision and faithfulness that no conventional speaker can match.

The complete audio chain integrates Warwick Acoustics’ software, hardware components, and acoustics expertise alongside contributions from the other SV Electrostatic Sound collaborators.

Inside the Range Rover SV Ultra, the 21 electrostatic panels house 55 individual sound radiators precisely positioned for optimum sound reproduction. Strategically placed throughout the cabin, these panels create an immersive, enveloping soundstage for both front and rear passengers.

“When this company was founded, our mission was always to bring electrostatic speaker technology out of audiophile home entertainment systems and headphones and into the car,” said Orazio Pollaci, Chief Marketing Officer of Warwick Acoustics. “Seeing the system in production in the Range Rover SV is a realization of the very reason Warwick Acoustics was founded. However, this is only the first step on our journey to revolutionize the audio experience for all travelers. Alongside the accuracy and spaciousness of audio reproduction inherent in electrostatics, the efficiency of this technology delivers material mass, power, and packaging benefits to a range of e-mobility transport markets.”

Those other opportunities include aerospace and commercial aviation, high-speed and commuter rail transport, marine transport and luxury yachts, and advanced air mobility and electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

Full‑body audio experience

In the special Range Rover, the SV Electrostatic Sound system works with the Body and Soul Seat and Sensory Floor technologies to bring a multi‑dimensional audio experience to occupants, allowing them to feel the music within their bodies.

The seat technology uses AI‑optimized software to analyze media in real time, generating in‑seat pulsations for a deeply immersive listening experience. Available in both first and second rows of Range Rover SV Ultra, it uses seat‑integrated transducers so occupants can feel as well as hear every performance.

First introduced on Range Rover SV Black and now available on SV Ultra, the floor technology adds haptic feedback through four transducers beneath the floor mats in each passenger footwell, working in concert with seat technology to extend the experience beyond the seats and fully envelop passengers in every performance.

Beyond pure listening enjoyment, users can select one of six BASS wellness programs for the ultimate in relaxation and focus. Body and Soul Seats and Sensory Floor can help calm and soothe occupants with one of six modes—ranging from Calm to Invigorating. Each program could offer measurable benefits for passengers’ heart‑rate variability, either helping to reduce anxiety or support improved cognitive response.