In looking at 400hs at the dealer, both 2007 and 2008, I realized that I never see Mark Levinson. What gives? I'd like to have it if I get a 400h.

 

You're most likely going to have to do a special order. ML is very rare in my area - I have NEVER seen an RX400h with it.

 

same here, i duno why, i just bought a new rx400h and its nearly impossible to get it with ML

 

I wonder if there are any 2007s with ML available. Did you try that?

 

n

no new 2007's left in black/black

 

I wish ours had it. The standard system is pretty weak in my oppinion. Not even an MP3 plug in. Even the $18,000 Impreza offers an MP3 plug in.

 

I spent one hour at the dealer yesterday testing a wide variety of music on purchased CDs and could tell ZERO difference between a 2008 RX w/ML and one w/o ML.

 

Well I just spent 12 hours in the car, 6 of which were in the back seat where you cant hear crap.

 

That's good to HEAR!

It's been cold and rainy since I picked up my non-ML last Thursday and I haven't even tried the audio system with CD's, yet. Since I don't HAVE to drive it right now, it's not going out on the wet roads.

BTW, I'll take your word that you didn't notice a difference between ML and non-ML, but would you call yourself an "astute" listener? I'm not an audiophile and my ears have been blasted by performing live music for 50+ years, but I can still judge the quality of a sound system pretty well.

The other thing is that maybe the ML is superior when you're underway. The Bose system in my '99 CLK320 was SUPERB when sitting still, but as soon as you were driving, the bass to mid-bass pitches were completely masked. If I didn't know the bass lines of the songs I was listening to, I never would have been able to pick them out. And, I'm not talking about wanting "boom box bass," just clean, defined bass lines.

 

Bose has been riding on their reputation for 10 years now at least.

 

I KNEW somebody would drop a BOSE BLASTING BRICKBAT.

Can't say that I disagree!

 

Yes, I think I am an astute listener.

I now firmly believe that the vast majority of Lexus customers in a blindfold test would not be able to figure which RX had ML and which did not. That said, if you think love ML and you are told that you in a car without it, you'll probably be unhappy with the sound. (If you are told it doesn't ML -- when it really does -- you may also be unhappy with the sound.)

Try the test I did someday with your favorite music and see if you can tell any difference. I bet you can't.

On the other hand, if you base your test on how you remember the sound sounding and your memory is more than a few minutes old, you may think you can tell the difference.

(On 20/20 recently that had people who swore they could tell the difference in their favorite vodka, but in a blind test they couldn't. Sometimes properly conducted tests will prove your assumptions false.)

 

I would think if you played something like concert hall classical music you might be able to sense a slight difference. I have a friend who I used to work with in Washington, DC who is an audiophile and when I go to DC for Christmas I'll have him tag along to a dealer that has one with it and we'll play a CD and see if he can pick it off without telling him which is which.

 

I'd love to hear the results (pun intended).

 

Do you live in socal? Because in socal ML in RX400h is very common, and I bought my RX400h with ML in SOCAL . Maybe it was just the dealership I went to. But I'm pretty sure ML in RX400h is pretty common around LA and Orange County. Good luck in searching for your '07 RX400h