consult350

Inside a 350 today and played with the Mark Levinson sound system with Nav ( YES a 350 with Mark Levinson and Nav.) It simply brought Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon to Life!! Compared to the base system it blows it away and is no comparison. IMHO worth every penny. To bad no Sirius till spring 2006 according to new Lexus web site.

GonzoBuggs

GonzoBuggs

I should probably explain the tears. I was really hoping people would say the opposite. I heard the stock stereo in the IS yesterday and it sounds no better than the stock GS. I'll admit that my ear is far from audiophile quality, but I can easily tell the difference between standard and ML.

This is exactly why I placed a special order. I agree that it is worth every penny and then some.

consult350

Yes it would not take an audiophile to hear the difference at all. The full range of sound if great to hear in this car.

GonzoBuggs

I was playing that new song by Black Eye Peas, something about junk in the trunk and lady lumps, hahahaha, too funny! The salesguy had it. Good bass and a great way to test both systems.

Prior tests I had done on the GS where with "My Posse's on Broadway" by Sir Mix-a-Lot (INSANE bass) and "No Scrubs" by TLC (highs and mids). It was an enlightening experience.

picus

I agree - the ML is one of the best "stock" systems I've ever heard in a car. Thank god they didn't go with Bose.

Maximus350

Damn! LEXUS, wtf is wrong with you!! WTF did you not allow ML on the 1st allocation of cars in the western region!!!

TheRupp

Ok, I'm not familiar with it since I haven't owned a vehicle with it in there, but why is Bose bad? They have pretty impressive sound in the home audio department, do their automotive products suck that badly?

upbull340

I also drove a 350 with NAV/ML today. Yesterday I drove a 250 without ML. I'm more a home threater kind of guy who never took music very seriously in my car. I brought some old rock and roll, classical and a little jazz. Plus a DVD movie. While I could care less about watching a movie while sitting in my garage I could tell the difference between the ML and nonML. More clarity and detail. I think I will make it something I have to have now that I've heard both.

GonzoBuggs

Please don't take offense here, because it sounds like you own some Bose, and others reading this probably do. I'm just going to tell it like it is.

Go check out www.avsforum.com and check the speaker forum. These people know more about home audio than anyone on the planet. They would rather use a tin can on a string than anything from Bose. In enthusiast circles, Bose is considered among the worst consumer audio on the planet.

Like I said, please don't take offense. I recently built a home theater, and did tons of research. Something I'll never forget is how much those people hate Bose.

That would be why the above poster, and myself, are thrilled that there is no Bose in this car.

GonzoBuggs

I should also mention that Bose has MASSIVE brand equity, and there marketing machine goes non-stop. This is why Bose is such a popular consumer brand. Those who research tend to find out that they bought a strong brand with weak performance.

Please don't shoot the messenger though. Take it up with the folks at AVSForum. I'm very far from an expert in the field and am just repeating what I read there.

jlin101

This topic is surely a big can of worms no matter which audio/car forum you go to. When Bose first developed the Accoustic Wave technology in the 80's, it was revolutionary in that it offer a "big" sound in a small enclosure; and Bose has been very aggressive and successful in terms of marketing. Having owned several Maximas and an Infiniti G35C, and listening to various automotive Bose systems in European cars, I , like many people, find the quality of its sound inferior (sounds muddy and dull to me). The bass is not all that great, either. The base system in my RX330 sounds far better than Infiniti or Audi's Bose system (I'll admit I haven't tried the new Acura system, whch is supposed to be excellent). Overall, I think Bose is mostly hype.

pelucidor

I am a bit of an audiophile and hence a natural BOSE hater. Pure marketing over content and using the cheapest materials whenever possible.

I haven't listened to any BOSE home audio stuff for 2 years so I won't comment on those systems now. I have the 'upgraded' BOSE system in both my current vehicles: 2002 Acura MDX and 2004 Infiniti G35. Considering I had to pay about $1000 extra for these systems (bundled with other must-have packages in each vehicle) they are unbeliveably bad. I would have preferred to pay extra to have the stock low-end system compared to the BOSE upgrade. To give you some idea - the typical basic rental car stereo (e.g. Pontiac G6) sounds WAY better than my G35 or MDX.

However I believe years of massive criticism over BOSE car audio is having an effect, and I think BOSE has improved of late. The BOSE system in my 2004 Mazda RX-8 was actually adequate, and the BOSE in the new Acura RL is pretty good.

STIG

BOSE blows and ML rocks!

Serene

Do you have to adjust the ML system for yourself when you first buy it? Maybe other types of music will play differently or everything is already tweaked out for you?