tim817

I have the treble +3,mid +2, and bass vary from +1 to +3
the stock system sound pretty good to me. I want more bass thou. Thinking about add a Basslink to the car.

NINEZeRO

cmusic, since you are very knowledgable about car audio systems and you do like the stock system (from your thread) do you know why some people think the stock system is not too good?

cmusic

I think it is just their mindset that anything base stock is not good enough for them. “Why settle for stock when you can have the premium system for a few (relative) dollars more?” is probably what they think. I do think with some slight tuning the base system sounds really good. Currently I have the listening position set to driver, bass at 0, mid at +2, treble at +2, and fader and balance at 0. While it is far from the best overall car audio system I have ever heard, it is the best base stock system I have heard. However the best car audio systems I have heard cost tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of correct installation and tuning time have been poured into them. Any stock audio system should not really be compared to them. I’ve played several test CDs used in car audio competitions on my stock system and it did quite well. I can say it definitely sounds better than most aftermarket systems I have heard and judged (mostly because many aftermarket sound systems are not installed and tuned correctly).

The CD/radio is of excellent quality. The amplifier is slightly underpowered for my tastes, but more than powerful enough for the average consumer. The speakers are worst part of the stock system, but even they are better than most stock speakers I have seen from Cadillac, Lincoln, and BMW. They seem to trade some extremely high-end musical qualities for being able to provide a high level of use over the life of the car. However this probably won’t be evident to someone that is not a trained musician or sound technician.

jolly

This it the BEST post I have ever read. while (1) { thanks }

lexus27

iTrader: (1)

CMUSIC,

You stated,
Do you mean buy a better quality 7" sub (to be powered by the stock amp) or buy a boxed subwoofer with amp? I really do not want to get a boxed subwoofer and amp but if a better subwoofer in place of the stock will improve the bass, I'm for it.

Thanks,
Darwin

tim817

Are there any good 7" subwoofer that is best to replace the stock one because i'm interested also?

Bichon

I know that one should never underestimate the placebo effect -- and yes, even magazine writers and pros are so influenced -- but I don't think that's what is going on here.

My first few weeks with the car, I wasn't even paying much attention to the stereo. In my old car, I wouldn't have noticed the stereo, I would only have noticed the music. But that wasn't what happened here, instead I enjoyed the music less because it just didn't have the punch (or oomph as the other poster put it).


Do you drive in an area with difficult radio reception? Some of my favorite Philly radio stations, e.g., WXPN , which came in fine on my Audi and Maxima are almost impossible to listen to with this car. Does this radio have a diversity antenna?

P.S.
Also interested in hearing suggestions for a subwoofer replacement. I suspect that might help with the "punchiness" I crave.

cmusic

The factory 7" sub is good down to 30Hz or so. This will cover most bass sounds like from a bass guitar, oboe, and drums. Where it suffers is under 30 Hz, where the bass is felt more than heard. In one of the car audio organizations I compete and judge in there is a classical music track on the test CD that has a timpani drum roll that reaches down to 18Hz. The factory sub picks up the upper harmonics of the timpani but the sound is not felt. I'm not talking about "booming" bass that annoys most people, but true subbass that sends ripples through your skin. If the music you listen to the most does not have bass that goes that low then I would not worry about replacing the factory sub, especially if you don't want to take up trunk space with an aftermarket sub and amp.

It is hard to just replace the factory sub because it is specially designed to fit into the rear deck without any intrusion into the trunk or passenger compartment. I have not really looked at the sub yet, I have just looked at it in the service manual drawings. If I were to just replace the factory sub in its factory location to run off the factory amplifier (without modifying anything else) I don't know how much better the overall sound would be.

True sub 30 Hz subbass requires two things, subbass output and amplifier power. In my Is250 I plan on custom building a small enclosure to fit in the passenger side trunk over where the factory amplifier is located. I plan on using a JL Audio 8W7 8" subwoofer (www.jlaudio.com)powered from a 500 watt Alpine amplifier. The 8W7 is a special subwoofer designed to provide excellent sound quality down under 20 HZ while providing more subbass output than two normal 10" subwoofers. With the custom box covered in trunk matching black carpet I hope it will blend into the trunk and not be noticable. I am planning on building a custom amplifier and sound processor rack with will be mounted to the rear seat to save as much room in the trunk as possible. And of course I plan on replacing all the door speakers in the passenger compartment.

Bichon,

The lack of punch may be from the factory equalizer settings. I have noticed the bass control is centered around 100 Hz and leads to a muddy sounding bass. The saleman boosted the bass up to +5 during my test drive, thinking I would like it. I hated it. The bass boost at 100Hz drowned out all lower bass. Try lowering the bass in your car to see if some of the punch of the lower bass comes back.

I rarely listen to the radio, but from what I have listened to it, it picked up stations as good as my other vehicles. I live in the mountains of eastern Kentucky and it picks up stations as good as I want it too I guess. It does not have a diversity antenna as far as I have found. The antena is in the rear window, so that could affect reception.

Knox

This is good to hear. Can you get the ML without getting the Navigation?

Bichon

Thanks for the suggestions. I played with the bass control on the way into work today, and you're right, I prefer it flat, rather than +1. I suppose I must have pushed it up in the hope of restoring some punchiness to the sound, but all it did was make the bass a bit more muddy.

I'll have to live with it for a while, but I suspect that I won't be happy until I replace the factory sub with something a bit more beefy. I'm not crazy about losing trunk space to a speaker box, so if I go forward I'll investigate what can be done with mounting speaker(s) and amp on the underside of the rear deck.

Cypren

Yes, but you'll have to special order it and settle in for a very long wait. This option is not being mass-produced for any region that I've seen, nor is it likely to be -- most people who are willing to shell out for ML also want the DVD player that comes in the ML+Nav package.

Stanzilla

I have an appointment with Lexus tomorrow morning. My back sub seems to be blown. If I put any type of dance music in then the thing just makes a horrible clunking sound.
One thing I have noticed that people always seem to get wrong is the mid range setting. If you leave that at o or turn it up. It will just make the voices louder but more nasaly. Turn the midrange down and the system sounds much more like a home stereo.
If they get the sub in the back fixed, I think this is a great sound system. If that is the way the sub in the back is supposed to perform then I will have it disabled. I already have a JL amplifier and sub that I took out of my beetle before I traded it in.