clambros

Fellow 2004 LS430 owners (with a Mark Levinson sound system) ..

Has anyone noticed distortion of the front speakers (sounds like clipping) at high volumes (above 40) ?? Most noticeable with music that has moderate mid to low frequencies in the music (Pop / Classical).

After replacing the front speakers, my dealer could not solve the problem. They opened a case with the Lexus technical support desk, who claimed, after investigation, "unit operating normally".

The dealership also reproduced this clipping on other 2004 LS430 on their lot. The dealer's own tech and Lexus's own support desk didn't think it was normal, either. They also went on to say I was the only person to report this problem.

Anyone else having the same problem ?? Has it been reported to your dealer ??

This is my second LS430 (first was a 2001 LS430), and the 2001 didn't display this problem. It appears whatever changes they made in 2004 (I would assume navigation, as audio passes thru that sub-system) have affected the Mark Levinson sound system performance.

daryll40

Mine sounds fine but having had an '03 with the "base" sound system, I don't hear the difference. Mark who?

RajaReMax

I thought I was imagining the slight distortion from the front speakers, cause afterall, how could these cars possibly have distortion coming from an ML sound system...Speaking of, I can't tell any difference between base & ML either...

Also thought something in my glove compartment was vibrating and was not concerned, until now. I'll checkout my system today. Its going in for a 15,000 mile maintenence on Friday and will have the dealer check into it as well....