szilu

I have just purchased a 2013 GS450h, with all options and traded in my 2009 gs450h. Both had ML and I was expecting a step up from the previous ML, honestly hoped a bit to reach the sound quality of the 2007-2011 LS.

I am deeply disappointed with the quality, too much treble and bass, impossible to adjust to sound better, and even compared to the previous GS's ML the sound quality is poor and cheap.

The 4th GS ML sounds soo bad to me that I was wondering if others swithcing from 3gs to 4gs with ML have experienced anything like that.

Otherwise the car is fine, the suspension is far superior to the 3gs and the seats are comfy as hell.

hube

I was actually quite impressed with the ML system. I guess different strokes for different folks.

1111GS

I certainly can feel you. I have a 13 luxury with premium sound. I recently drove a 15 F Sport for a long period to see if it's the next car for me. This one is equipped with ML. I was so shocked how it sounded compared to the premium. I stream from my iPhone so the music is the same. I tried to play with the settings but no luck. I always read good feedback on here but it definitely is not what I was hoping it to be. Since you mentioned the LS. I also drove the 15 LS with Premium sound. To my ears the GS Premium sounds stronger. Not sure why but maybe the GS has less cubic volume. Maybe ML in the LS sounds better. This is just my opinion. So please don't stone me.

Im2bz2p345

Welcome to the GS450h club szilu! I sent you a friend request on CL. There are only a handful of us 4GS hybrid owners on here, so it's good to see another one join us.

Regarding the ML system, I'm actually surprised that you think it has TOO MUCH bass. I test drove a car with the premium system and felt that had much more bass. Treble wise, I would say the two systems were about equal in terms of impact after you made adjustments in the equalizer.

Anyway, I haven't heard the ML system in a 3GS nor the LS, so I cannot directly compare. I did like the ML system better in the GS over the IS. I thought it sounded better (if using a high quality source) over the premium system. Perceived sound is quite a subjective topic though, so I'm with hube on this.

All the best,

~ Im2bz2p345

FishBike

Do you by any chance have "surround" switched on in the audio settings? To me it sounds like fake surround sound and is terrible, and the audio quality is 100% better with that off.

ItzFilyO

Really? I thought it sounds better with the surround on but on some music it sounds weird, sounds like the sound is going back and forth.

My current ML setting is like this:

Treble: Center
Mid: Center
Bass: Full
Fader: Center
Balance: Center
Surround: On
ASL: Off

99alta

Does the ML system have a dedicated Sub Woofer?
Just wondering because there is no adjustment for it.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

the ml in the 4gs is not very impressive. it's still better than the 3gs ml system (which was simply bad for a ml), but there is no way it can touch the 4ls ml system. there's a reason why the ml system in the ls460 and lx570 are labeled as ml reference system. they are leap better

dchar

For some reason, the ML system for the LS on the Lexus website has worse stats than the GS. It states that the LS has 19 speakers but only 450 watts, while the GS has 17 speaker and 835 watts.

I do think that the ML system is a must when owning a Lexus. Since I spend hours listening to the system while stuck in traffic, I find the ML a good investment.

MEAHT

iTrader: (1)

I felt the ML system was not that great as well, after a few adjusments and some time in the car I finally really enjoy the music.
My biggest gripe with this music system is the fact that the tweeters are hidden near the front windshield, instead of the side (I came from a 2009 IS250 with regular sound system), this in my opinion is a big mistake, as the sound of the tweeter should definitely hit your ears from the side ( which im betting the sound engineers had a hell of an argument with the the head of interior design regarding this).

Another thing to consider is the type of music we listen to, for example some music genres are heavily dependent on those highs, while others need a bit more of the lows (hip hop) to have a good impact on your ears.

onexcite

Does anyone have opinions for the Lexicon on the Equus or Rolls? How does it sound compare to ML?

dseag2

Ditto for me when I owned my GS F Sport. It was much better than the Bang & Olufsen in my S5. I miss it everyday. Maybe the settings (or the expectations) need to be adjusted.

Afrosheen

Audio sources make a big difference. I've ripped some albums from vinyl to DVD and they sound great. Some mp3's, not so great. Surround sound setting does make a big difference too.

Just surprises me that anyone would think there's too much bass in the sound. Even with a dedicated sub in the rear shelf with the 4gs ML system, it could use more.

hube

The source quality is indeed a big issue. For example spotify on extreme quality still gets sometimes extremely bad quality. Maybe that is what "extreme quality" stands for

Try to finetune the system using lossless FLAC files or other high quality input sources.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

Is there any way to change out the speakers and amp to aftermarket stuff?