Mark Levinson Audio?
04-07-14, 03:51 PM
#631
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Can anyone help me out with my issue please? I have a 2009 gs 350, all my speakers work. When the stereo is balanced i cant turn the volume past 38 and when i do the sound just shuts down. But if i put sound all to the front then it plays to the max. Does anyone know what this is all about? Its driving me nuts lol. Thanks
04-07-14, 05:11 PM
#632
Lead Lap
You're in the wrong forum. This is for 2013-14 ES350/300...
05-28-14, 06:54 PM
#633
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It has been a while since I posted here. I was the first, or one of the first to have the new amp installed in the 2013 ES 350. I even had Harman engineers fly out to Riverside Lexus to fine tune the amp before releasing it to the public. Anyways. That was a year ago, and on that day everything was sounding great. they had pretty much eliminated the distortion of the rear sub by transferring the bass to the front door woofers. Whatever, it sounded 10 times better.
well last week I was listening to music near the max, and a song came on that I had used to test the new system one year back. Started from the bottom by Drake. anyways, now I hear the rear sub bottoming out again. I'm pissed to say the least.
My car is currently back at the Lexus dealer some standard maintenance and also to inspect my complaint. tomorrow I will have the dealers head tech listen to the distortion and he will then follow up with corporate I guess to possibly start all over again.
So here we go,... again... my amp is the 86280-0WA71, however I don't know if Harman made any changes to the official A71 amp after testing mine.
I'll re post if anything comes from this. My only thought is the engineer set the limit of the amp to just below where is bottoms out, and now that my rear sub is well broken in it now goes into the distortion frequency or something. any thoughts?
well last week I was listening to music near the max, and a song came on that I had used to test the new system one year back. Started from the bottom by Drake. anyways, now I hear the rear sub bottoming out again. I'm pissed to say the least.
My car is currently back at the Lexus dealer some standard maintenance and also to inspect my complaint. tomorrow I will have the dealers head tech listen to the distortion and he will then follow up with corporate I guess to possibly start all over again.
So here we go,... again... my amp is the 86280-0WA71, however I don't know if Harman made any changes to the official A71 amp after testing mine.
I'll re post if anything comes from this. My only thought is the engineer set the limit of the amp to just below where is bottoms out, and now that my rear sub is well broken in it now goes into the distortion frequency or something. any thoughts?
06-05-14, 03:02 PM
#634
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Where's the tag?
I just bought a new ES300h and am wondering if I have the new amp. Where in the car do I find the tag that's in your picture?
06-05-14, 04:44 PM
#635
06-06-14, 05:32 AM
#636
The amp is under the passenger seat. If you had the old amp, you would know it. Songs with any appreciable bass would cause noticeable distortion from the sub-woofer at volume levels 35 and above.
06-09-14, 02:51 PM
#637
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Thanks jollick. I'm not having the problem with the bass, but I'm going to get out there with a flashlight just to make sure.
When I first got my ES300h, the sound of the ML was terrible. To my ears it was overly bright and tinny-sounding and most of the music seemed to be coming from the front center speaker. I took it back to the dealer and an "expert" and I took a lot of time making adjustments. We were finally able to come up with an acceptable sound. For the USB and Disc, adjustments required turning off ASL and Surround, setting the fade almost all the way to the back (2 stops from all the way back), setting the bass up 3 stops, treble up 3 stops, and mid down 1 stop from flat. For the FM radio, turn ASL off, but leave Surround on. Set fade and tone the same as for USB and Disc. For AM radio, I left the tone controls at flat, but used the same fade with ASL off and Surround on.
I am amazed that all these adjustments need to be made for decent sound. My 2002 SC430 sounded fantastic right out of the bag, and I've never made any adjustments at all. It still sounds a lot better than the ES even after all the adjustments. I think ML could and should have done a much better job.
When I first got my ES300h, the sound of the ML was terrible. To my ears it was overly bright and tinny-sounding and most of the music seemed to be coming from the front center speaker. I took it back to the dealer and an "expert" and I took a lot of time making adjustments. We were finally able to come up with an acceptable sound. For the USB and Disc, adjustments required turning off ASL and Surround, setting the fade almost all the way to the back (2 stops from all the way back), setting the bass up 3 stops, treble up 3 stops, and mid down 1 stop from flat. For the FM radio, turn ASL off, but leave Surround on. Set fade and tone the same as for USB and Disc. For AM radio, I left the tone controls at flat, but used the same fade with ASL off and Surround on.
I am amazed that all these adjustments need to be made for decent sound. My 2002 SC430 sounded fantastic right out of the bag, and I've never made any adjustments at all. It still sounds a lot better than the ES even after all the adjustments. I think ML could and should have done a much better job.
06-09-14, 03:02 PM
#638
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Also, the volume goes up to just about where I like to listen when alone (I like it loud), but no higher at max 62. With my SC430, the volume goes down when the navigation system delivers a message. That's not the case with my ES. Result - I don't even hear the message. Dealer says people didn't like being distracted from their music so they changed it. Bad change as far as I'm concerned.
______________________
2014 ES300h Starfire Pearl, Parchment, Michelin, Ultra Luxury Package (just to get the Mark Levinson)
______________________
2014 ES300h Starfire Pearl, Parchment, Michelin, Ultra Luxury Package (just to get the Mark Levinson)
06-17-14, 07:59 PM
#639
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I guess I'll know by Saturday if the new sub fixes the problem. Like I said earlier my 2010 UL ES350 Mark Levinson sounded excellent- clean and tight no matter what genre of music or volume level. Maybe I did just get unlucky with this one. UncleBen the sound in my 2013 falls apart as I increase the volume just past 42. If I remember correctly the system goes up to a max of 62-63. If I turn up the volume to 50 or higher it's like an assault on your ears. The problem was there the day I took delivery 4 weeks ago. I never turned it up all the way or played any bass heavy songs- I did not damage the system as you suggest may be the cause. While listening to 1010 WINS news channel at around 40 on the volume, there are times the sub will break up- no music, just voice. This still happens with the newly installed sub which is a non Mark Levinson component. My first ES350 UL was a 2007 and after the second year that one needed 2 or 3 parts by a NJ dealer to get the sound back to normal. Those speakers literaly came apart. Is that acceptable to you UncleBen? Its not to me- If you order a steak and they bring you a hamburger, only a fool would keep quiet and accept it . I will not accept a defective sound system that sounds good only if I keep the volume under 40. If they cant "FIX" it they will be getting the car back. At least the Brooklyn dealer reluctantly acknowledged the problem and they are trying to correct it. However when I met their Lead Technician (week 3) he said was suprised that his dealership did change the sub the previous week because he said by doing that, they (Lexus) now had admitted there is a problem. I will post again once I get the car back (turning it in this Friday.) If anyone out there has similar sound quality issues with their 2013 ES350 Ultra Luxury please post about it. Good luck on your ES300h UL Jollick!
06-17-14, 11:53 PM
#640
I'm having the same problem with the ML system. I purchased a certified pre-owned 2013 ES350 UL. The subwoofer was bad and it was replaced today by the dealership. Unfortunately I'm still having the same problem with base distortion when the volume is higher than 30. Especially when listening to R&B music. Does anyone have any tips on next steps?
07-10-14, 02:16 AM
#641
It has been a while since I posted here. I was the first, or one of the first to have the new amp installed in the 2013 ES 350. I even had Harman engineers fly out to Riverside Lexus to fine tune the amp before releasing it to the public. Anyways. That was a year ago, and on that day everything was sounding great. they had pretty much eliminated the distortion of the rear sub by transferring the bass to the front door woofers. Whatever, it sounded 10 times better.
well last week I was listening to music near the max, and a song came on that I had used to test the new system one year back. Started from the bottom by Drake. anyways, now I hear the rear sub bottoming out again. I'm pissed to say the least.
My car is currently back at the Lexus dealer some standard maintenance and also to inspect my complaint. tomorrow I will have the dealers head tech listen to the distortion and he will then follow up with corporate I guess to possibly start all over again.
So here we go,... again... my amp is the 86280-0WA71, however I don't know if Harman made any changes to the official A71 amp after testing mine.
I'll re post if anything comes from this. My only thought is the engineer set the limit of the amp to just below where is bottoms out, and now that my rear sub is well broken in it now goes into the distortion frequency or something. any thoughts?
well last week I was listening to music near the max, and a song came on that I had used to test the new system one year back. Started from the bottom by Drake. anyways, now I hear the rear sub bottoming out again. I'm pissed to say the least.
My car is currently back at the Lexus dealer some standard maintenance and also to inspect my complaint. tomorrow I will have the dealers head tech listen to the distortion and he will then follow up with corporate I guess to possibly start all over again.
So here we go,... again... my amp is the 86280-0WA71, however I don't know if Harman made any changes to the official A71 amp after testing mine.
I'll re post if anything comes from this. My only thought is the engineer set the limit of the amp to just below where is bottoms out, and now that my rear sub is well broken in it now goes into the distortion frequency or something. any thoughts?
The issue was never fixed as I indicated before, All they did was mask the problem by sending the base or power to the other speakers. Yes I agree it made the sound more pleasurable but not a real fix. The subwoofer was always the problem not the amp, Harman just choose to take the cheap way out and Lexus aloud it.
If you listened to the music in the back of the vehicle, you would notice the subwoofer always bottom out but not as noticeable.
Have you made any progress with Lexus on this?
07-10-14, 05:14 AM
#643
No, I have not.
07-14-14, 11:27 AM
#644
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I replaced the amp, added an equalizer, replaced all the speakers and the subwoofer. New pieces include Kenwood X700-5 Amp, a free air subwoofer, Focal speakers, and the AudioControl's DQ-61 signal processor. Steaming, iPod and CD media all sound much better. But all over the air (HD Radio and Satellite Radio) still sound just as tinny and distorted as ever -- possibly worse. I get that Sirius uses highly compressed signals. But HD radio shouldn't sound this bad. I remain convinced the problems are in the head unit, but that's not something i can replace after-market because of integration with all the other car systems. .
07-14-14, 01:00 PM
#645
Lead Lap
I replaced the amp, added an equalizer, replaced all the speakers and the subwoofer. New pieces include Kenwood X700-5 Amp, a free air subwoofer, Focal speakers, and the AudioControl's DQ-61 signal processor. Steaming, iPod and CD media all sound much better. But all over the air (HD Radio and Satellite Radio) still sound just as tinny and distorted as ever -- possibly worse. I get that Sirius uses highly compressed signals. But HD radio shouldn't sound this bad. I remain convinced the problems are in the head unit, but that's not something i can replace after-market because of integration with all the other car systems. .