After considering various options, I made my final decision today to get a fully loaded 2008 Matador Red Mica with Ivory interior RX400h. The only open question is whether I take the almost fully loaded one (w/o ML) the dealer found that comes in in less than 2 weeks or wait 6-12 weeks for one with ML.

Any thoughts on what I should do? (I listen to mainly classical music from CDs and -- in the future -- from XM sat.)

Help please.

 

hm...which dealer you going through?...I say get the fully loaded one with the ML system because you won't have anything to regret if you get the one without the ML system.

 

Lexus of Stevens Creek, which I always enjoy doing business with. I'll also be contacting a couple of other dealers in and near the Silicon Valley where I live. Thanks for your ML thoughts. I'm hoping others will chime in as well.

 

I find the ML system quite good, but mine was bundled with the NAV and RSES as well, so the whole package came out to an additional $7500.

However there is one concern that I have which may or may not have anything to do with the ML system. I find that the cabin noise inside the RX is quite loud at highway speeds so you might have to crank up the volume to drown it out. In fact it is a great source of irritation to me since my last vehicle had almost no cabin noise at all at any speed.

If somebody makes a sound system that utilizes active noise cancellation that would work in an RX, I would happily purchase it in an instant.

 

Steverhode:
Since you like classical music I regard the Mark Levinson as mandatory I have never heard classical music so clear and good in my life. I mainly listen to WQXR here in the New York area or CD's with the Ham Radio on all the time .Yes for the hams here I turn the ML off when on the Ham Radio ML is
No luck out there call Ray Catena Lexus of Oakhurst and ask for Greg Webb PS they ship nation wide.

 

I love to listen to downloaded MP3s of old radio broadcasts from the 30's, 40's and 50's.

http://www.rusc.com/

I doubt that a M/L system would make a diffrence

 

Hmm...
I am suggesting to all my friends to get Navi and better interior & sound package when buying new vehicles lately. Since I work at a repair facility, I frequently see new Altimas, Accords, Taurus, even domestic pick-up trucks (f-150, chevy-1500) that has Nav, DVD, and pop-down LCD.

These souped-up vehicles are comfortable and they make a 2-year-old base modle Mercedes like junk.

Factory options are expensive but their upgrade components fit the car perfectly without the extra wire or bracket sticking out.

My opinion only.

 

I agree with this...classical music usually benefits most from a better system, plus you can get DVD-A's of some classical material so that's another reason for the upgraded head unit on the ML setup. I was after an ML system but there were none coming in with it (something about keeping the sticker price below $50k so the dealers don't order the ML option any more) so I just went with the standard.

I'm pretty satisfied with it though - I listen to indie, electro, dance - nothing too taxing for a high-end factory install. The bass is good, vocals are nice and clear, not an unpleasant sound for a moving car. Not the best setup I've ever had, but then again I used to spend $3k+ on aftermarket install. Would be nice to have some more EQ options, but hey, you get what you pay for

Just waiting for the SL2Vi to support the iPod classic then I'll be getting one of those so I don't have to deal with these retro CD things...