Myshkyn

Does that mean it sounds good from the back seat too? Do you know if it was MP3 or flac?

Moreygee

Having fun reading all these posts. Retired from the high end audio/video industry here and VERY happy that after years of listening to B&W, Wilson Alexandria, and K-Horns at "ELEVEN", I actually don't give a cr*p what the system sounds like , likely 'cause I'm half deaf! Party on, music lovers.

bc6152

I truly understand other members seeking Nirvana with an in car sound system and spending much money and time improving the ML system that they paid a premium price for. My complaint is that Lexus promised a premium system and when you spend $3000.00 for a sound system in a $55,000.00 car adding amps and speakers should not be necessary. Lexus promised a premium sound system and didn't produce one. And to be clear, this post is not criticizing those who spent time and money improving their systems.

Moreygee

I hear ya (no pun intended) bc6152! Since I spent 40+ years of my life seeking that audio Nirvana you mentioned, I completely agree! I'm just amused at myself for not giving a crap anymore. Although, my office system, which I listen to mostly, consists of a modified all tube Voice of Music integrated amp from the early 60's and a pair of Klipsch Heresys from the early 80's.

scubapr

What will be the demographics of those of us here in this ES sub-forum?

Moreygee

Well scubapr, not sure about the rest, but my demos are "aging boomer, car-loving, guitar-playing, music loving, old fart". Rock on, rock hard, rock till ya drop.
(apologies for going waaaay off-topic)
sub-signature: (LMAO)
Klipsch Heresys, Fortes
Artison spkrs
Dali spkrs
Yamaha audio x 2
Voice of Music Toobz Integrated amp
Gibson LP Traditional
Epiphone Dot w/Bigsby & Varitone
Peavey
Univox 100w/head w/Little Lanelei "rotary wave" speaker
Epiphone Valve Junior
10 more geeetars & assorted pedals

losiglow

The guy commenting was in the front passengers seat. I've sat in the back and I'm happy with the sound back there.

The music was from YouTube music, so whatever data they stream. Better than XM, probably not as good as FLAC. Guessing MP3 quality?

perryg18

Just a week from arrival of a 2022 ES 350 UL. Brand new to the forum. I’ve been an audio snob since the 70’s when I could still hear. Having said that I’ll give the ML a chance but have always been underwhelmed by stock car audio. Hate to admit to what I spent on a system in my 96 Volvo that I spent a full week of holiday sound deadening.

Having said that, am still interested in your OP. Great job BTW. I don’t think I would add the under seat subs but have a really good Fosgate 8" sub I would add to the rear deck and a 500w mono amp to touch up the bottom end. Had MB Quart separates before that sounded incredibly detailed and clean but power hungry. Your 3.5” speaker replacements seem like a great idea if the stock sound isn’t right for me.

I have a few questions. Where did you mount your sub amp? Did you use a signal reducer from the high level of the ML sub output to the input of your sub amp? How did you wire power to the sub amp?

Thanks in advance for your reply,

grp52

If you look up the owner's manual for the 500W Alpine mono-amp losiglow used, if I've got it correct it's this one Alpine MRP-M1000/MRP-M500 MONO POWER AMPLIFIER (pdf). On page 7 of that manual, there's this regarding head unit outputs:
where the head unit for the ES Mark Levinson system is the under driver's seat Stereo Component Amplifier Assembly. For Stereo Component Amplifier Assembly's speaker output wiring connections, see 1Priest's connector G11 hand speaker lead labeled diagram in his 7th GEN ES Audio Harness Diagram Question? DSP INSTALL HELP post #1 and my post #7 in the same thread for links into the lexusguide.net Lexus ES (XZ10) Service Manual for additional speaker system diagrams and additional connector G11 information.

On page 14 of the amp owner's manual, the specifications listing shows the speaker input (SP IN) has an input impedance of 40K ohms.

So, at least with the amp losiglow used for his subwoofer mod, no signal reducer is needed.

losiglow

Sorry for the late reply. I haven't been on this forum in a bit. And I've been spending most of my in-car time listening to audiobooks lately, not taking advantage of the time and money I put into the stereo. Although last night doing Uber, I had a gaggle of 40-something ladies in the car (yes, a gaggle. If there's 3 or more and they're drunk, they're a gaggle in my view). They wanted some 90's jams so I put on Mariah Carey. I had to crank the bass all the way down because her music is so bass heavy but it sounded amaaaaaaazing .

The back sounds good but it's different from the front. I've sat in the back, then messed about with the volume, EQ and amp settings for the rear sub. The front passengers definitely have the "front row" experience vs. the back seat passengers but after listening while sitting in the back seat, I haven't felt any need to make any hardware changes to port more sound to the rear door speakers (via the fader or by using different speakers, removing or adding resistors, etc.). The front speakers seem well placed enough that much of the sound deflects off the windshield then back to the rear of the car.

I thought about removing the crossovers from the rear speakers to give them more input vs the front, but decided against that. I think it would damage them over time.

losiglow

Correct. Or I hope so. Because I haven't used a reducer of any kind. Just connected the outputs to the stock sub directly into the speaker level inputs on the amp.

swfla

iTrader: (1)

I agree that an ML should sound fantastic. The reality and truth of the matter is any buyer should and likely has test driven the car, looked it over. Listening/testing the sound system should have been part of this. If the sound is not up to expectations, it shouldn't have been purchased. Regardless of what the option cost. The buyer should at least acknowledge this was their choice. Hoping to "fix" it after the fact is fine but not always possible. I do hope everyone enjoys their car before they buy it as well as afterwards.

perryg18

Thanks Losiglow and Pit crew. The high level input on that Alpine amp is a nice feature. For some reason the JL sub amp I have uses a high level switch on the RCA line in. Not such a big deal but would have been simpler the Alpine way.

Did you mount the sub amp in the trunk or under the seat as suggested by pit crew? I’ve pulled seats and entire car interiors before but don’t really want to do that with the ES if I don’t have to. Getting a bit lazy for that.

Did you run thick guage power cable from the battery or take power from the audio wire harness? (Thanks pit crew for that link).

grp52

If losiglow followed the manual's "Battery Lead" (on page 7) fuse size, "MRP-M500 ....... 60 amp fuse" direction as also implying the maximum power source supply needed, there isn't anything in the "audio wire harness" that can supply anything close to that maximum amperage.

If you look at the system diagram and G11 connector information I referenced in my previous thread posting you'll see the Mark Levinson system's Stereo Component Amplifier Assembly has two power lead inputs +B and +B2 (respectively, G11 pin 1 and pin 16) and the power leads are protected respectively by AMP NO.1 AND AMP NO. 2 fuses. After a little bit of searching, it turns out those fuses are located in the engine compartment's type A fuse box and the fuse diagram (printed on the inside of the fuse box lid) shows both fuses are 30A fuses. While there's some designed-in margin between actual maximum current usage and fuse ratings, a 30A fused circuit is a long way from being sufficient for supplying a 60A fused circuit.

You really need to consult your JL sub amp owner's manual/spec sheet/installation manual to see what the power supply line requirements are. If they're anything like losiglow's MRP-M500, a suitable for the amperage wire gage power cable to the battery is the way to go.

perryg18

Thanks grp52,

I'm going to pull the system out of my Volvo which will be donated to a good cause soon. I had 1G copper feeding the amp with a 100 amp fuse in line at the battery. I'll use that again.

I am assuming at least hoping that one of those B+ pins is switched. I would be able to scab off of one of those for the remote turn on for the amp. One of those connector adapters will be very helpful. The amp has an auto sensing feature that senses signal at the input and turns the amp on that way but for whatever reason it was designed to sense midrange frequencies and above. It won't sense the low end frequencies coming from the sub output from the car to turn on.