jasone36

I had a repair shop change my speakers on my 2002 SC430 (because they sounded so poorly) for another set of OEM speakers which I got from Sewell Lexus. The repair shop are not experts in car audio, during the installation the mechanic called me and said "I am looking at the old speakers, they look perfect, are you sure you want me to replace them?" I said "Yes!".

After the work was done, I took a look at the 10 year old speakers which were pulled out and indeed they physically looked PERFECT, no tears, scratches etc. However, when I moved the part in the middle they made an awe full rubbing thumping noise, which is apparently where the problem was,

The moral of the story is that even if your speakers in the SC430 look PERFECT, if they sound poorly they are still broken on the inside and need to be changed out. I'm not sure if there is any repair job for speakers which look perfect but sound terrible since there is no tearing or shearing visible.

VVTiBob

So far I've replace both door woofers and the sub woofer...all three the cone has separated from the coil or the frame. If you get around to pulling the rear seat, you'll probably find the sub woofer is shot too. Our systems say Mark Levinson which is a division of Harmon Kardon for what it's worth.

jasone36

The system seems to sound fine now, I don't think I will pull the rear seat unless something strange happens and I have a need for it. But thank you for the information, it's good to consider if I ever do.

Pnuge88

iTrader: (1)

My rear four inch mid speakers blew out the other day. I cant find any aftermarket speakers to replace it with. Gonna have to customize the whole stereo system i guess. Factory sounds "good" but not great. Might as well spend money to get it done right. Plus a chance to get rid of that tae deck player for a double din

KBALL

I'm about to replace the door speakers on my 03 next month...but not with OEM. One was blown when i bought it. Replaced it. Then the other blew. Time for new and improved
SCDROPTOP suggested several including Polk, JL, and Boston Acoustic. I will go with one of these.

Seriously, what's better than an open road, top down, with your favorite music playing (and sounding great)?
...and no cops around.

cadzilla88

I had my door woofers replaced with 6x9 2-way Kenwoods 220w. Sounds great with no more buzz

sorka

Is this common on the SC430? If so, was it common on the later years to? I have a '95 SC400 with 315K miles on it literally thousands of hours on the stock Nakamichi sound system. I play it loud and all the speakers are still perfect. Doesn't seem conceivable that so many stock SC430s have blown speakers.

The reason I ask is I'm looking for a 430 to replace our 400.

VVTiBob

Yes it has happens all to much...so part of your due diligence will be to critically listen to the door woofers at the highest bass level. Unless the owner will let you take the door panel off the frame.

cadzilla88

There is an excellent write up by ZGone about speaker replacement in another thread. Click this link. Lots of photos and step by step instructions.


https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lex...all-sc430.html

VVTiBob

Unfortunately the SC430 did not come with Nakamichi components. I believe at the time, Nak was reserved for the flagship LS model if memory serves.
The head units were built by Pioneer, most of the the amps and speakers by Mark Levinson, however some systems also have pioneer amps. In addition, ML is not owned by ML and has not been since 2000-2001.

This is from Wikipedia: ( Wiki-link )
"Although Mark Levinson products were primarily targeting the stereo or home theater market, nowadays Mark Levinson branded products can also be found in high quality audio systems for Lexus automobiles. These are developed and produced by Harman/Becker Automotive Systems, the car audio department of Harman International, and while typically not sharing any components with Mark Levinson home products, are designed in collaboration with Mark Levinson sound engineers. Certain Lexus models have featured Mark Levinson sound systems as an option since 2001...."

There was great fanfare regarding the introduction of ML components and partnership between ML and Lexus at the time. Especially the integration into Lexus' "new" SC430 sports coupe. It's funny where cost cutting measures are implemented, yet marketed as superior, IMHO.