Music on the move

Whilst gazing enviously at one of the XJ6 Jaguars on show at Earls Court we were intrigued to find that within the glove compartment under the central armrest there nestled a neat and perfect fitting piece of equipment which after closer inspection was found to be manufactured by Philips Electrical Ltd. An agreement has been reached by Philips and Jaguar Cars whereby the Jaguar company will offer as an optional extra Philips stereo equipment for both the XJ6 and the Daimler Sovereign. This newly-designed option includes an AM/FM push-button radio which has stereo-audio output, and a cassette recorder with stereo playback. A microphone is also included with the installation together with four loudspeakers, an electrically-operated aerial, and a miniature control box.

The four-band radio is designed and manufactured to a high standard of safety, with the control knobs on nylon shafts which snap off in the case of impact, whilst the radio itself is padded on all forward edges. Medium, long and short wave reception is obtained from the set, which gives an output of five watts per channel, with a control which provides an even level of sound.

The cassette recorder, which fits snugly into the glove compartment, will record either direct from the radio or the remote control microphone with playback through the car radio, and has a stereo pre-amplifier through which pre-recorded Musicassettes can be replayed in stereo. A most useful feature of the recorder is that it is fully portable and can be used as a dictating machine either in the car or in the office or home. A further added attraction is that when powered by a stereo amplifier, the recorder doubles as a domestic stereo playback unit.

The four speakers, which come with the package, were designed jointly by Philips and Jaguar and are five inches in diameter and located in the front and rear doors. The front speakers are Hi-Fi back-pressure loudspeakers developed specially by Philips following attention to their location and the acoustics within the car.

We were not able to hear the equipment in action, but if the reproduction is as good as that experienced by a staff member who has one of Philips N2602 stereo playback units installed in his car, then it must be of a very high quality indeed.