I just bought a 2001 IS 300 and the (stock) sound system is horrible... for radio and CD. I know it's not supposed to sound this bad... the speakers don't seem shot or anything so I have no clue whats going on. Can the entire unit be bad? I showed it to lexus dlrship and they just give me the run around and tell me it "sounds fine"... but i compared it side by side with another IS and there's a huge difference. in mind the sound is so uncrisp. any ideas of what it could be? also, there's lots of static when playing the radio as well. the antenna is on and looks fine.

 

speakers may be blown-- If you are totally against upgrading to aftermarket, you can check the resistance of the speaker-- (w/meter on resistance setting across +/- terminals) -- The resistance should be around 3.7 ohms for a standard speaker--

If you're getting more like 12 ohms, or more, or fluctuating readings instead of a constant reading near 4 ohms, that's a bad speaker-- also check two identical speakers side by side, any inconsistencies will point to voice coil damage (as in 9.4 on the right vs. 3.4 on the left --)

A better easier way is to just replace the speakers -- You may have some blown tweeters too--

Don't count out a faulty amp either, but it's doubtful it's bad if it's still workiing-- You can also test output voltages for each amp channel, and again, any fluctuations left to right will indicate something wrong (be sure to set the balance and fade to center) --