virtual

I just got a new ES350 with Luxury Package, (No Navigation and not Levinson Audio) and after driving for few days I noticed the Bluetooth had a problem. Also the sound system quality is really bad. The Bluetooth pairs correctly, but the sound transmitted to call recipient is distorted to the point that callers can't understand what is being spoken to them. The phone works correctly on another ES350. It is not the microphone assembly, as we swapped one and it wasn't that. We tried all possible codes to adjust the sound, but it didn't help. Does anyone have a problem like that? How to fix it? Asking because apparently the dealer here doesn't know.

Also - how is your sound system working?
On a scale from 0 to 10 how do you rate the sound quality of your HD radio?

bc6152

I have crystal clear speech transmission through Bluetooth. This is on a new smartphone and an old flip phone.
I've never adjusted any part of the sound system Bluetooth or radio. My opinion of the non-Levinson sound system is a 9 out of 10... I'm obviously very satisfied. Good Luck with figuring out the issue.

Jets

Mine works great. However I do have Navigation so maybe it is a different system. Play with the TRANSMIT button that is on the phone screen in call. Get a buddy to help you test it by giving you fedback using different setting levels. My guess is it s too high for your speaking voice. Play with air vent directions also, air flow across mike will cause distortion.
As far as the stereo, mine sounds great for a factory stereo.
Maybe the dealer will let you experiment with some loaners on the lot, or maybe even some new stock, so you can verify its just your car . Sit in another car and play the same music to see if it sounds the same. Test you phone if you can. If it sounds good, at least you know. Who knows maybe there is a defect in your system.

As far as HD radio..... HD radio is all over the place. Some stations sound great, some sound like crap. They switch in and out with SD so you dont lose signal like you would on XM. Its not a Lexus issue.

gemini6kl

I don't have any problems with my Bluetooth. The stereo sound is very good for a factory system in my opinion and I don't have the mark levinson. You cant really test a stereo properly with the radio. Get a nice cd and throw it in there or stream something in high quality from your phone . One thing I noticed is that the sound sounded much better with the setting of surround sound being turned on via the settings menu. also make sure the setting for the blutooth volume is turned up one or 2 notches below max volume on your phone or streaming device to get the best sound level.

virtual

Thank you for all responses. I got myself a third phone today and I paired it and again the resulting voice quality was distorted and incomprehensible. I am now even more convinced something is wrong with my system. The third phone was an LG. I made a call to a landline and compared it against the same phone with headphones. The difference is stunning.

I am worried my dealer will try to push me to accept the system as is. They already tried to convince me that it was normal for a car without the navigation. Does anyone here have a schematic or a block diagram for my car? I would like to learn how is that thing routed and which part controls the Bluetooth communication.

Niscur32

Our 2015 has no Bluetooth issues and sound quality it a 10...........now that I ripped out the terrible stock speakers and replaced everything and added a REAL subwoofer...... The stock stereo is absolute garbage easily a 0 in relation to the cost of the car. I've had several rentals while TDY, like chevy sonics and ford fiestas, that easily blew away this 45k cars audio.

virtual

"The stock stereo is absolute garbage easily a 0 in relation to the cost of the car."


Yes, kind of what I think about it. The stereo is so bad - it doesn't compare against rental fleet from Hyundai, Chevy or Dodge. It's a shock really.

virtual

Well, I just received my car from service. They replaced that radio head unit. The result is simply depressing. The problem didn't go away. The radio sound is as bad as you can get and the bluetooth is still distorted.
But the worst is that the guy tells me it is alright.
That everything is OK with my car.

It's Friday, end of the week, I should not complain, but this whole thing makes me sad. I mean not only they gave me better loaners to drive around for like 5 days or so total, but the loaners had good sounding stereos and the bluetooth worked well. And they are telling me my car is somehow a lower grade version. And its normal to have such a bad stereo.
That they are all like that. They even showed me another one from 2016 with same options.

So I am driving my new 350 with 700 miles on it and the radio is the worst radio I ever had in my car. And I am forced to use headphones to make phone calls.

Lesson learned here - do yourself a favor - DO NOT buy a 350 without navigation. Somehow that navigation unit makes it alright. Ignore the useless joystick that is difficult to operate on that navigation unit. Yeah, it may not be a dream option - but don't go with the non-nav style.

I am now contemplating what to do, I spent like 43 grand on a car that has a stereo that makes me cry. Total garbage. What a piece of *****.
How could I not notice? My gosh, I made such a mistake and now I am stuck with it.

gemini6kl

Yea I feel your pain the situation you're in sucks but u really should have at least tested the stereo out if u were so picky about sound quality. To me my stereo sounds fantastic. And it's the stock system . Did u try to adjust the settings on the stereo like some said. As far as the Bluetooth is concerned it's weird but it could be something tht is interfering with the signal . For instance a wireless camera we had outside the house intefeared with a bluetooth speaker we were plying outside also.You can always trade the car in but of course u would take a few thousand dollars loss.

Jets

Aftermarket.

gemini6kl

I can say 100 percent the stereo is not a 0 more like a close to 10 . I think some people like those artificial sounding system with lots of fake booming base and highs. Unfortunately no high quality stereo Is tuned to sound this way. Ofcourse u would like the chevy and all those budjet car stereos they are designed to give u that cheap fake sounds, come on man get with the program lexus represents quality and class and a classy stereo would never sound like a chevy or Honda or Hyundai or whtever.

gregjhonda

I have the 2015 Es-350 with navigation and the bluetooth sound is pristine. I run 320 bps music from my phone or Apple Music (less than 320 bps) and sound is crystal clear with no audible distortion. I imagine the non-navigation sound system is not quite as good but I can't believe that it distorts unless it's defective or someone expects it to push a lot of low frequency air.

I have done a lot of aftermarket sound systems in cars, the last one was with two 12" dual voice coil subs pushed by a true 1000 watt RMS amp. I also replaced all the door speakers and added some sound deadening. This system had no distortion, incredible sub sounds and most kids would say it was a "10". Absolutely tight bass with a well controlled damping factor. I've done other systems with 8" and 10" subs that were much more musical with perhaps better sound for non-rap material and better response in the bass guitar range. I would not expect a car manufacturer to provide a system close to this!

The sound system in my 2012 Chevy Avalanche (Bose) was the best I've ever had for being musical, powerful, great stereo separation but not enough RMS power or subs for those that like to get deep bass hits. It absolutely blew away my current Lexus ES system. My 2012 Nissan Maxima was not as good as the Chevy Avalanche but still better in all respects than my Lexus ES.

Still I have to say that I am pleased with my ES system for the type of material I like to play. It has pleasing sound at moderate levels for jazz, country, rock and pop. It is by no means a premium system and PERHAPS for the price of the car it should have more bass and sub-bass capability. As a side note, the sound system in my 2015 RX-350 with nav is about the same quality as the ES-350.

If one of us could listed to the OP's system and hear what he is hearing, know what volume levels are being used, know what bass response he is expecting, hear the distortion (is it at all volume levels indicating a pre-amp input level problem or is it only at high volume levels indicating a speaker or amp overload problem), we would be able to help a lot more!

Arty101

Could one of the voice coils be blown? Could have happened when playing distorted music too loud, and could have happened before you took the car.

virtual

Yes, I did all possible adjustments. It is the radio. I checked all speakers. They work. I will try to connect an external device to test the sound using external source - but I am right now pretty much convinced it is the radio - not the amplifier and not the speakers. I will have to confirm to be absolutely sure. To give you a better description - it plays like it wasn't playing in stereo. The sound feels kind of flat, there is no space there, like in the old days - you could switch between mono and stereo. Music sounds like in one of those portable small players, where you hear no depth of field, like there was just one source of sound.

And the blue tooth is just horrible. It doesn't work right in all locations, it doesn't matter where, I have 2 paired phones - people keep asking me to repeat sentences over and over, I have to use headphones. And that's not just me - my wife has the same experience - even her mom asks her to repeat. It is outright ridiculous.

Now after this issue - I am picking up other minor problems, that normally wouldn't bother me, but I am starting to hate this car.

virtual

Yes, this is what I am saying from the start- the navigation version sounds much better. It makes all the difference.
If I were to rate the sound quality from that Nav unit - I would rate it 9 out of 10. I loved it actually.
It is a good radio.

I think there was a misunderstanding here - I am complaining about 2 separate issues - one is the blue tooth, which we are using all the time and this feature is distorting the voice transmitted outside - while the inside cabin reception is very good.

The other issue - is the unacceptable music quality from the radio.
The system has the power, it does handle the load without distortion - but the music quality is beyond bad. It feels like there was no stereo.

When I purchased my car - I studied all options carefully and there was no distinguished difference between Nav version and no-Nav version. In other words - if you did not specifically ask for the Levinson - all other Luxury Package versions are being advertised as equal.

So - in my mind - there existed no difference between the stereo in your car - and the one in my car. But it turned out to be not true. There is a significant difference.

And the head unit is the part handling blue tooth and the radio.
It is a garbage stereo. And they can't fix it. It is engineering problem.
They designed it like this.

There are other issues with this stereo.
I noticed my satellite radio sometimes doesn't respond to change of channel. For instance - you are on 53 and you want to change to 55 to Utopia and the change doesn't come. It still plays 53 for like 30 seconds, before switching. And there are no clouds in the sky, reception should be perfect - but it doesn't work. So then - I drove those two nav cars, for like 5 days - and IT NEVER HAPPENED.

Not only the radio sounds like garbage - it occasionally doesn't change channels.