Is the Mark Levinson system worth it?
#47
Pole Position
Thread Starter
^^Since you ripped out everything what kind of set up did you end up going with?? Pics?
#48
I started out going with a small upgrade and ended up, a few years later ripping it all out.
I think im finally done with it for good.
Kenwood eXcelon DDX-8901HD dvd player
morel doors front and back
genesis sub amp
tru technologies amp on highs
bit ten sound processor
I started with a 12 morel sub....but I just took that out this year and replaced with 2x12 inch eclipse subs.
IM a bit of an audiophile so I went overkill.
My stock touchscreen has died on me once before and I replaced my self. My cd player has been replaced and it still kept eating cds....so I said screw it and put in a aftermarket touch screen. now I have two touchscreens.
#49
Pole Position
Thread Starter
Sounds awesome! I assume you can still control the HVAC functions on the stock touch screen still?
#51
#52
From personal experience, if the car didn't come fully loaded I'd go with a Pioneer Avic -8100NEX, an amplified subwoofer and some good speakers.
Last system I built was around 600 watts and was nice.
Actually will be building this in a few months once I move and buy a second car.
Last system I built was around 600 watts and was nice.
Actually will be building this in a few months once I move and buy a second car.
#53
From personal experience, if the car didn't come fully loaded I'd go with a Pioneer Avic -8100NEX, an amplified subwoofer and some good speakers.
Last system I built was around 600 watts and was nice.
Actually will be building this in a few months once I move and buy a second car.
Last system I built was around 600 watts and was nice.
Actually will be building this in a few months once I move and buy a second car.
#54
You're probably way more knowledgable than myself about these, but I like the Pioneer systems and had good experience with them.
The new one has the Apple integration with it, so your iphone icons appear on the screen, as well as Waze which I heavily use against police speed traps and accident scene avoidance.
#55
You're probably way more knowledgable than myself about these, but I like the Pioneer systems and had good experience with them.
The new one has the Apple integration with it, so your iphone icons appear on the screen, as well as Waze which I heavily use against police speed traps and accident scene avoidance.
The new one has the Apple integration with it, so your iphone icons appear on the screen, as well as Waze which I heavily use against police speed traps and accident scene avoidance.
#56
#57
Driver School Candidate
Your misunderstanding of the model line up is diluting your message. YES, nearly every IS F was delivered with sunroof and nav/ML. The few delivered without are considered rare, in fact, quite rare.
The IS F is no longer in production. Every owner in this forum is keenly aware of this fact. It's also bad form to mention F Sport anything in this forum. F Sport is a marketing term used by Lexus to make otherwise boring cars sound exuberant. F models (IS F, LFA, and RCF) are much more rare, truly sport oriented, and compete with the top of the class in their respective segments.
To add some perspective - I bought an '06 IS350 because it offered something hard to find in the segment. I did not buy, or even consider the IS250 because it would not outperform the Scion tC I already had sitting in the driveway. That measure has not changed, which is why I (and likely any other owner in this forum) would never purchase any of the 250s - new or old, plain, F Sport, or Crafted.
The IS F is no longer in production. Every owner in this forum is keenly aware of this fact. It's also bad form to mention F Sport anything in this forum. F Sport is a marketing term used by Lexus to make otherwise boring cars sound exuberant. F models (IS F, LFA, and RCF) are much more rare, truly sport oriented, and compete with the top of the class in their respective segments.
To add some perspective - I bought an '06 IS350 because it offered something hard to find in the segment. I did not buy, or even consider the IS250 because it would not outperform the Scion tC I already had sitting in the driveway. That measure has not changed, which is why I (and likely any other owner in this forum) would never purchase any of the 250s - new or old, plain, F Sport, or Crafted.
QFT.
#58
I have a 10' with ML but its just as good (if not worse) then the stock Bose I had in my 07 G35 sedan The ML volume is low when listening through Bluetooth (10+ has bluetooth) as well as on SAT (I believe its low because its satellite and very far away in outer space?)
But my friend's stock Harman Kardon in his E60 M5 blows both the ML and Bose away!
And for the sub, you can go the route of CPN83 with the Kicker Hideaway (looks dang good + more trunk space):
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/bui...00-my-isf.html
But my friend's stock Harman Kardon in his E60 M5 blows both the ML and Bose away!
And for the sub, you can go the route of CPN83 with the Kicker Hideaway (looks dang good + more trunk space):
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/bui...00-my-isf.html
#59
Pole Position
Thread Starter
The ML in my 08 was much better than my current 2011. I took my 11 in to see if something was wrong with the stereo and service guy told me the 08 was much louder and they were dealing with too many blown subs so they changed the stereo in the newer models. Not sure if he was telling the truth or not but my 11 is def a below avg system for a car of this sticker price.
So last night my buddy and I installed a shallow mount MB Quart 8" sub in place of the stock sub and the results were not what we were expecting compared to his 2009 Gen 5 Mark Levinson system with the exact sub installed.
Mine sounded like it had very little/not enough power coming from the stock amp to power the sub rated at 200W RMS. The sub has dual 4 ohm voice coils and was wired in series for a 8 ohm load on the factory amp.
His car sounded like it had double the power of mine and at first we thought maybe the sub had to be broken in still over the course of a week or possibly the wiring was done incorrectly because of lack of bass coming out of my car (Gen 6 Nav Mark Levinson).
On a hunch I called up the Lexus dealer by my house and had them look up the Mark Levinson amp for my 2010 and his 2009 ISF by part # according to the Vin. They came back with 2 different part numbers for the 2008,2009 ISF's with the Mark Levinson system compared to the 2010+ models with the ML.
2009 part number: 862800w550 ------------ price $1,698
2010 part number: 862800w750 ------------ price $1,164
-------------------------difference in cost = $534
My guess based on the above comments by Mrd916 being told by his service advisor that Lexus changed the wattage on the ML amp because of the amount of warranty claims they were receiving of blown subs in the earlier Gen 5 ML models. The price difference kind of supports this if the older models ML amp is $534 more expensive than the 2010+ models??
Any audio gurus want to chime in on this and confirm the change in wattage with the newer models to possibly limit warranty claims? If so this would explain my lackluster experience with the MB Quart sub I put in not having enough juice pumped to it @ 8ohms to sound like the 2009 model?
Thx guys
#60
Tech Info Resource
iTrader: (2)
There's more than just a potential wattage difference. You cannot interchange these amps. Lexus changed the whole way the system works, so they're not compatible at all.