The Pioneer Sphera adds Dolby Atmos technology to a car you already have

I fully believe that once someone hears Dolby Atmos music in their car, they won’t want anything else. The acoustic envelope transforms your car’s interior into an immersive and engaging experience. Every time I hear a demo—whether it’s in a Rivian, Cadillac, or Mercedes—it leaves me energized and excited. But up until this point, Dolby Atmos has only been available in luxury cars that have a full array of speakers.

Pioneer is changing that with the Sphera, an in-dash receiver with a 10.1-inch capacitive display that enables Dolby Atmos playback in Apple CarPlay. It works with at least four speakers installed in your car, creating an Atmos environment with virtualization.

The Pioneer Sphera head unit fits into a single DIN or double DIN slot in your vehicle’s dashboard. Once installed, initial setup involves placing an inline microphone in the driver’s headrest and leaving the vehicle for about five minutes to allow Pioneer’s processing process to calibrate the system to your vehicle’s interior. Once finished, you can select your listening position on the screen as driver, passenger or the entire cabin. I heard Sphera running in a 2017 Toyota Highlander with four speakers and a sub. For the demo, the stock speakers were replaced with Pioneer A-Series speakers that cost about $100 each.

The Pioneer’s virtual technology does an admirable job of properly filling the cabin with just four speakers. While listening to the opening song of Pink Floyd’s “Money”. The dark side of the moonthe cash register sounds were placed in their appropriate places throughout the cabin, and when it entered full range, the interior seemed larger than it was. Likewise, the Ohsand Ahhh“Rocket Man” boomed into the chorus and surrounded Elton John’s vocals.

The placement didn’t have the same privacy that you can get with more than four speakers, but that didn’t detract from the experience in a huge way. The Sphera still delivers rich, full landscapes that properly fill the space inside the car’s cabin. Pioneer’s Sphera will be available in the spring for $1,300. That’s not a small amount, but if you’re hurting to use Atmos in your car, it’s much more economical than buying a luxury car.