yakim

Oh, really?

Let us upgrade Mark Levinson standard with a JL Audio never-heard-of-by-anyone whatever....

brywhite

Since we are talking about sound systems in cars I guess JL Audio would be a consideration because they have been focused on car audio since the late 80's. I guess the company was actually founded in 1975. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JL_Audi

JL's only real "home" type product are the Fathom and Gotham subwoofers ranging in price from $4,500 & up to $14,000. Their low end "eSub" 12" starts at about $2,000. The Fathom and occasionally Gotham units are at times available for "used prices" on Audiogon and discussed in their forums 1000+ times.

hankinid

You'll find more people by far classed as "luddites" in the audio world than in any other group that comes to mind. Wait until you hear that speaker cables shouldn't be coiled as it slows down the electrons and causes distortion.

ClaytonW

I did a quick quality comparision with some good quality audio (CDs - Mozart etc.) between ML in my '16 LX and '14 LS. It looks that ML in LX is slightly better - when parked in a garage... Than I did the same comparision at highway speeds. Well, LS is far better when driving because much less noise. I suppose that replacing ML in LX has no sense. i would replace the vehicle first :-)

hankinid

Cars and truck-like cars especially are not really designed with perfect acoustics in the top-10 of design criteria. Sometimes, all you can do is turn up the volume to drown out the wind noise. Frequency response within a dB from 20 to 20K might be an unreasonable demand. As was posted, after a certain amount of money spent, you're beginning to imagine improvements.

yakim

I used to be an audio ludite (I don't quite know what it means but it sounds bad), but I've been restored and made whole again. No more cable risers, CD tweaks, my turntable is gone, fat hoses of a cable are replaced with thin wires from a no-name guy who works out of his garage... That said, I ain't messing' with Mr Mark Levinson in his honor, yet another shot of Stoli

lexusrus

Haha, I'm with you. 😊😊😊☺

After a certain amount of money and effort spent on the auto sound system, any additional money/effort can only be heard by dogs, cats, and bats!!! I just don't SEE (or hear) any point in messing with an already excellent ML system.

brywhite

Update: After a bit of time and testing I now think the Levinson system is actually quite good. Prior to testing, I had a School House Rock DVD in the unit for my kid to watch in the back seat. I hadn't used a CD in the vehicle (because who does that anymore?) so I foolishly assumed that since the fidelity of the School House Rock DVD and my primary source, SirusXM was so poor, I assumed the Levinson system was at least partly responsible.

I put in a audiophile reference CD of a recording I had which included a song called "Jazz Variants" by The O-zone Percussion Group. I know it's a weird selection but it has impressive dynamics. If you can sit through it for a couple minutes, you can get an idea of said dynamics (even compressed on your computer) with this YouTube Video of the piece:


Let me tell you, the Levinson System comes alive and really blew me out of my seat - I was scared that something would break - but the system handled it. If you can bare to sit through this song you'll see why. All those 19 speakers actually do something when this is played and YES! The subwoofer actually works! And very well I might add.

With SiriusXM it's as if only the front speakers on the dash are working and I guess the door speakers add some bass fill but it's not very good. I scrubbed around on the internet and found that SiriusXM compresses their stream to between 32kbps and 64kbps. Crazy! Our cheap downloaded music is better than that. A CD is 1441 kbps and a well recorded performance put on CD can be very impressive sounding.

In a post above I suggested seeking out a better source component like a Digital Audio Player which would play higher resolution formats and output its analog signal through the 3.5mm headphone jack into the AUX 3.5mm input in the Levinson system. These DAP's can be had for between $100 and $3,000 so depending on budget, there is really something for everyone.

So based on this I would encourage anyone who thinks the performance of the Levinson system is weak AND hasn't tried a better source, do so prior to attempting to tweak the Levinson system with aftermarket DSP or speaker drivers.

yakim

The summary: Do not mess with Mark Levinson. Never try to insert some boondoggle basement made whatchamacallit into the chain. Period.

Hunoval

I've been scouring the internet for an answer to this precise Q. To be transparent, I'm a bit of an audiophile. Just purchased my 2013 LX 570 this past week, on Thurs. For the OP: yes, you can improve the sound quality dramatically in the 570 with the ML platform. I'd guesstimate $1,500(ish) and a few hours of your time & you could transform it night & day. And if your rig is 8-10 years old, there is a near-100% chance that one or more of your speakers is blown and/or not functioning properly & if you don't notice it, then raising the bar and improving your audio experience by definition isn't all that important to you. That's not a dig; at all.

For example, while an aggressive AT might 'look' better on my rig, I have a Jeep JKU (lifted with MTs) for mudding. So I just put the new Michelin Defender LTX MS2s on my new rig yesterday. Best HT I've ever had the pleasure of having on any vehicle (first put them on my Ram Rebel 1500 8 months ago & was blown away). On occasion I'll go light overlanding & those Michelins will likely work just fine with the 570s advanced suspension & 4wd system (on 20s!!). If not, I'll slap a set of ATs on it. This sidebar on tires isn't about tires-- it is about what is important to you.

So yes, you can definitely improve-- markedly-- the sound quality dramatically in the 570 with the ML platform.

Reasons why outlined below.

Here's what almost no one understands / knows: OEM SPEAKERS/DRIVERS IN ALL HIGH-END VEHICLES ARE NOT VERY GOOD.

Hard stop. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Here's the skinny:

In the automotive industry, high-end optioned audio systems (B&W, B&O... and yes, ML) tend to have good amps & speaker design for placement (i.e., the location of the speakers to create a superb soundstage), but the actual speakers / drivers themselves are, well, generally crap.

That's because almost all of the name-brand automotive audio systems help with the design / layout for the speakers & use, and most importantly design the amplifier for said vehicle (here ML for the LX 570). But they have no say or input in the sourcing or quality of the OEM speakers sourced & installed at the factory (Lexus sources the speakers / drivers, not ML). Here's a fun factoid:Mark Levinson doesn't even make speakers to begin with. ML makes high-end amps, pre-amps & some headphones. ML doesn't make or manufacture speakers. At all.

So the speakers / drivers & sub in your rig have virtually nothing to do with ML. At all. Again, ML doesn't even make or design speakers. For car audio, for home audio, for any audio.

And this is also true of high-end brand auto stereos where the audio system nameplate actually makes speakers in addition to amps-- the speakers/drivers in those cars with those 'big' nameplates are far, far, far inferior to the speakers they sell retail. Bowers & Wilkins, Bang & Olufsen, Burmeister, Harmon Karden, etc. They work with Audi or BMW or Porsche or Mercedes and create / make the amp & overall layout/design (which are the strong part of these systems), but the actual speakers themselves in those vehicles-- not one of them, nada, zero-- come close to anything those companies actually make themselves for retail use. And if you dig into it further, you'll discover that all of the 'big names' that actually do make speakers for retail or direct-to-consumer use... the only speakers they make / manufacture & sell are all home audio speakers.

None of them make auto speakers. None of them... not one. Zero. Make. Any. Auto. Speakers.

Basically, in every single high-end vehicle with a high end nameplate on the audio system... it only applies to the amp & to having some input on the size of speakers & their location within the cabin of the vehicle in question. But the speakers themselves are all made by 3rd parties that have zero (0) to do with that famous brand name. And they're all sub-par to crap.

Coming back to the teaser re: if your rig is 8-10+ years old or older, you can pretty much guarantee that at least 1 of your OEM speakers is blown and/or not functioning properly. Just for starters: the cones in the OEM speakers appear to be made out of paper. Over time a paper medium will absorb ambient moisture, then dry, and then absorb moisture & dry out... over and over and over. That, coupled with the natural variation of temperatures over seasons & years, paper becomes desiccated, dried out & degrades... so little bits of the speaker cone will start to fall out & tatter. Holes and cracks in your speaker cone = crap / degraded sound quality. And even when new, the size of the magnets in the OEM speakers are all tiny vs. good aftermarket speakers & the materials used in good, modern aftermarket speakers (i.e., not paper, but synthetics like polypropylene, or Kevlar & ceramics, incorporated in the last 15-20 years into speaker design result in a better sound & exponentially better durability in varying climate conditions).

To answer the OPs Q: the single best thing you can do to improve the audio experience in your 570 is to a) replace 100% of the OEM speakers / drivers & add some sound-deadening material in the enclosure & underneath the speaker grill and b) for the sub., get a 'true' 10" shallow enough to fit in the box (might require slight modification, addition of a spacer, adding sound deading material to the inside and outside of said plastic box & stuffing polyfill into the plastic ported speaker box and then to add a dedicated & separate stand-alone monoblock amp that only feeds / powers the sub.

Low-end frequency speakers (lower mid-range & bass) eat the most power. So by powering a new sub with its own monoblock amp, you effectively 'free' a decent chunk of wattage from the 12-channel ML amp under the seat to 'feed' all other speakers.

HERE'S THE PROBLEM:

For reasons unknown, and I've now spent 20+ hours scouring the internet, the forums, have been on the phone with Crutchfield, it is virtually impossible to find any hard intel out there for the 570 so that you know the correct aftermarket solution to use (size, depth, impedence, etc.). It is bizarre. Two (2) examples: a) I'm still looking and have (finally) located a good sub solution and b) you can replace the front dash left & right speakers with 4" 2-ways with minor trimming (the corner where the windshield meets the glass gives you very little leverage / room to work), but a 3.5" 2-way will drop in just fine.

HOWEVER, those two (2) front dash 4" or 3/5" OEM speakers are rated for 2 ohm impedence & there are very few choices of higher-end aftermarket speakers rated at 2 ohms made by high-end aftermarket audio speaker manufacturers. If you know what you're doing, you might (might) be able to wire two (2) 4-ohm speakers in parallel, but I'd need to dive into the amp/wiring diagram to determine whether both are powered by the same single channel on the ML amp. If you just drop 4-ohm speakers into the ML solution made for the OEM 2-ohm crap from the factory, it'll 'work,' but they'll be playing at lower volume & the entire soundstage gets thrown off if all other speakers are at the proper ohm rating for the ML amp & design, but then you have 2 4-ohm speakers dropped into the front L&R dash.

But other than these 2 nuggets it took hours to uncover, I'm nearing the end of the internet and have come up with very little else. One can always pull the OEM speakers out (they do not appear to be marked or designated with their impedence, just the LEXus part #... not helpful) and measure the impedence with a calibration tool to determine what kind of aftermarket replacement to use for that location... that'll work, but it'll be time-consuming & a PITA to have to reinvent the wheel. That's why Al Gore invented the internet (with the seeming exception of being able to readily find out much re: the LX 570 ML audio specs / platform, that is).

Wish I could be more helpful, but I'm on the same journey & am finding very little out there in terms of good info / intel / suggestions / etc.

If you learn anything.... let me know!!

ragabnh

Now this is some post from Hunoval, you bet I learned a lot from your comprehensive research outcome so far. I am interested in the upgrade of my 2017 LX570 ML system. Let us know your progress in this regards, very interesting indeed.

psychodoc

What's interesting is that the factory ML system in my '15 LX570 is probably the best factory audio system I've ever heard
It was one of the things that sold me
& I have well >$15K invested in my home Audio Research / Magnaplanar system so I do have a decent ear...