OsideTurbo

Hi Everybody!

2004 LS430 122,000 miles, Nav, ML Audio & Parking camera. (No lasers up front or masseuse in back.)

After a few months of lurking prior to, and during, the buying process, I finally made an account and look forward to sharing this great forum with you all. Forums like this that are full of info and extremely knowledgeable members are one of the true gifts of the internet age - way better than buying a Chilton's or Haynes!!

I am extremely happy with the purchase. Private sale. Car was elderly-owned and the lexus site shows full maintenance history and it was serviced at the dealer at every scheduled maintenance by the book - including timing belt change. No accidents, interior looks brand new. Passed pre-purchase inspection with flying colors. Except: it had some problems with the rear speakers which sounded like a wiring issue and the CD player doesn't work. I got it for $10.5k so I thought it was no big deal, no matter how bad the stereo was . . .

Then, I researched the audio issues in depth and realized it was a bigger problem than I thought (still happy with it - no matter what ends up happening with the stereo.) I've been through every Mark Levinson thread on this site and other forums as well. I'm praying that someone has figured out some solutions in the recent months who can share some tips. I'll start by telling you what is wrong:

Cd player does not play, load or eject. I get a "CD Error" message. I pulled the unit out to try to fix it with a youtube guide I found here, but the screws are in so tight, I can't open the box without grinding off the screws. Not knowing my solution yet, I decided to leave it for now while I attend to the bigger issue, which is:

The Amp. Apparently, a good percentage of ML owners experience amp failure around 100,00 miles or 10 years. I know the amp is bad because the sub makes no sound (I checked if the cone had deteriorated and needed to be glued - but it is in excellent physical shape.) Also, the rear speakers go in-and-out randomly and play static randomly. There is a loud electronic "POP" every time I start the engine. Static plays randomly whether the audio is on or off. So, after reading the problems with using aftermarket amps and the concern with the unusual high-ohm speakers, I decided I needed to start with a good ML amp.

Dealer said a new one would be $2650! No way can I afford to start with that expense (funny to think my car is worth the cost of only 4 of its amps!). So, I went with United Radio, who seems to be the favorite for fixing ML amps. They will receive my amp in the mail Monday morning (7/18) and I should have it back by the end of the week. I thought that might be the end of the problem . . .

However, when I went to pull the amp to mail it, I discovered that there was a second amp - a JL Audio 400w (previous owner failed to disclose this when we talked about the speaker problems). Worse, the installer tried to power the JL amp by soldering wires directly on to the ML amp board (under the cover) and cut the speaker wires from the plug leading into the ML amp and attached the wires to the JL amp. Since the sub and the rear speakers hardly worked, these two amps were essentially powering only the front speakers! (I suspect a second sub was attached at some point.) Knowing the owners of the car, I'm guessing one of their kids or a crappy stereo shop did the install for them.

Since the CD is broken and the cassette player was outdated when it was installed in 2004 and the Nav is equally outdated (and no match for my phone), I thought about ditching it all and getting a new head unit, amp & sub. Then I learned about the uber-integration of the ML amp and the head unit being tied to it and I couldn't find any clean solution that would ensure I'd still have use of my climate controls (touch screen only) and my parking camera. I'm also really concerned about the door speakers working with an aftermarket amp & head unit because of the high ohms. So, I mailed off the amp for repair and hope to get it back by the end of the week.

In the meantime, The wiring is over my head, so I've been trying to find a stereo guy to help me reinstall the ML amp and fix the speaker wires that are currently fed into the JL amp and hope the system works again (except cd of course). It would be a miracle if everything started working after the amp repair, but I have a strong feeling that I may have some wiring issues and that I'll need a new sub.

1) Anyone know of any other options (keeping in mind a limited budget and concerns about climate controls and rear camera)? I'm baffled that the aftermarket never came up with a work-around. I've seen the Beat-Sonic wiring/faceplate kit - but you don't get much for $400 and I'm not sure how much it would help since the factory speakers still present an ohm issue.

2) Is there a way to use the JL amp to power a second sub to add depth to the ML system? 3) If trying to integrate the aftermarket JL amp is too much work, would there be more options by using a powered sub? (Sorry if these questions sound dumb - I've never really been in to car stereos and the ohm issue and climate control/rear camera issues have me clueless.)

4) Instead of beat-sonic, is there a cheap way to unplug the cd-player (leaving it in place) and plug in a 1/8" auxillary (headphone) jack into the wires that plugged into the cd player that I could conceal? It would be nice to be able to connect a phone/mp3 using the cd functions. I don't want to use the dangling cord-on-a-cassette option.

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for any ideas!

TL;DR: ML amp is broken. Repair underway - not sure if it can be fixed due to PO crazy mods. Looking for a cheap way to use aftermarket head unit/amp/sub without needing to rip out every speaker and start completely over & a few other ideas.

Thanks!

Howzit

I'd just get that amp straightened out and not worry about the cd player. Check this website out:

http://www.vaistech.com/newsite/

OsideTurbo

That is what I decided to do. I shipped the amp out to United Radio in NY, which seems to be this site's consensus as to the best ML amp repair shop. I got the repaired amp back today. So far, I have been very happy with united radio's servicve. Despite all of the crap work done by the previous owner, United Radio fixed it for their flat fee of $475.

Tomorrow is the big day for installation, and the plan is to completely ditch the JL amp installed by the previous owner and re-install the ML amp to handle everything it did originally, except for the subwoofer. I am abandoning the original sub and attaching another 500w RMS amplifier to power a set of 2 10" 250w RMS subs in the trunk.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm hoping everything works well with the original amp.

For now, I'll deal with a FM transmitter to play music from my phone and update to VAIS, or similar, later. Want to get the sound straight first . . .

Eidt to add: I am not looking for "big" bass. I don't want it to be heard from the outside. I am more concerned about a good-sounding system hat has the punch when it needs it - not trying to vibrate my mirrors off or anything like that.

legend921

Does the CD eject button light up? I would assume that the previous owner may have removed it to do some changes behind the CD player and may have forgot to plug it back in. Hopefully no other damage has been done to the wiring and you're able to get it back on top and working again in tiptop shape.

Tom57

"Another 500w RMS amplifier to power a set of 2 10" 250w RMS subs in the trunk" ... and you're "not looking for big bass" and "not trying to vibrate my mirrors off..." This setup is designed to do just that.

lumpy85

One good 8 inch sub will be more bass than you need in a factory stereo car. An 8 inch won't even have to be turned up to hear it outside of the car. 2 10's is for 16 year old kids to rattle everything going down the road. At least that was my experience, having had both setups, many years ago.

OsideTurbo

Thanks for all of the tips!

The good news is that the installation went well and everything works. All door speakers/tweeters are in great condition and the repaired ML amp works perfectly and nav/climate/parking all work. My guy was able to have everything run off the ML amp as intended, except we cut the original sub (left it in place - it works fine, so it makes sense for resale to leave it in). Then he ran a 500w amp to power two 10" subs. (I don't know how he did it - the previous owner cut the plugs off the wiring harness and my guy had to wire everything back together - no plug-and-play).

Those of you who said a single 8" or 10" would do the job are probably right. It makes much more bass than I need. But, in addition to the controls on the amp, the original equalizer in the touchscreen still works and I can adjust the bass so that it sounds right. Also, one of the theories about the ML amp failures has been excessive heat in the trunk space, so it makes me feel assured that I'm not stressing either amp and hopefully they will stay cool enough. ("Next feature for the LS490 is an air-conditioned trunk for amplifiers and computers that now run more of the car than the engine . . . ")

I don't really use the trunk space anyway and the guy gave me the subs and box for free because they were (lightly) used and I traded him the previous owner's 4x100w amp that I had no use for. They are JL W3v3, so I couldn't turn him down. That said, if I was starting fresh with an install, I would have taken everyone's advice and gone with just one 500w 10". I may downsize later if I need to.

I haven't resolved the CD-player issue yet. No lights come on, but I can hear the motors running when it tries to load or eject a CD. I've taken it out and tried to open it up to fix the loading mechanism, but I can't get it open without a grinder due to stripped screws. Even though CDs can be convenient and have better sound than an mp3 (and I still have hundreds from yesteryear), I don't know if I want to spend money attempting to repair it. I think I've decided that I don't want the Beatsonic install package for an aftermarket headunit. I'll probably go with the VAIS at some point, but I'm using a cassette/aux converter in the meantime while I weigh my options on the head unit/cd player.

New question for you all: Do any of you have the newest (or recent) navigation DVD? Do you use it, or is google maps on your phone better? My Nav still has the original 2004 dvd in it and I'm wondering if it is worth the $160 to buy the new one, or if I should stick with my phone . . .

OsideTurbo

Does anyone know why some of my words get a blue hyperlink automatically attached? Like "wiring harness" in my post above. Is that an emedded advertising feature?

I frequent a fair amount of forums, but this is the first where I've seen my posts get hyperlinks

tallcaguy

Have an 04 LS Modern (105k) and love it. I'd appreciate suggests on the ML stereo. Had the sub woofer completely rebuilt and it sounds great. ML amp is new (past owner replaced just before he sold). I have a CD w/ solo acoustic guitar (good quality recording) and it's literally like being there. However the only way I get "surround sound" (balanced, fills the car at moderate volume) from something like a blues band is to push the forward/rear balance almost all the way back. Not into booming bass (and sub woofer works very well). Bring it forward and music sounds "flat".

I should probably start with the front door speakers. They do work. Sound quality issues because of age and use?

I did adjust the balance to test everything. With all the speakers, hard to ID specific quality problems.
Anyone have a map that shows where all the speakers are? Maybe repair/replace as time permits. Have some "scratchy sounds" from one of the dash tweeters. It's not worth the headache to replace. Disconnect?

We had an ML in my wife's old ES 300. It was just incredible "concert hall" quality. Right now, my 04 isn't close (altho the solo acoustic hints at same quality).

LOL here. Had my 01 Base (89) for 3 years. Did 5 service visits (90k, LC's, tires, trans D/F, brakes). Completely drivable from day one. Total Lexus quality ride and bulletproof reliable.

I've had my 04 ML Sports (105) for 4 months. One owner, full dealer service. It's been 12 trips to fix or get things fixed (sub woofer, NAV screen, multiple trans D/F, 17 vs 18 wheels experiment, multiple tire balance trips, replace fluids,etc). Now a PS whine. Maybe a good argument to buy a perfect low mileage 04-06 Base and add high end stereo.

tallcaguy

Still a nice car.

tallcaguy

Congrats on install. Good luck w/ CD. Mine was a little flaky after I bought the car. Maybe it had to get used to my choice of music. No problems now. No personal experience but sounds like it's possible to get latest DVD for a lot less. I bought a holder and use my phone. More accurate, can check traffic reports, etc. I had to fix the NAV display and don't want to go thru that again. I just keep it shut off. It will light up if I push climate, audio (or other) buttons. Push the button again after and it goes dark again. Automatically shows volume if I adjust then goes dark. Lets me know Bluetooth connect ok then goes dark. Etc, etc. Really don't need it.

tallcaguy

I've posted on "Mark Levinson everything". Sorry, should have started there. In that thread, someone mentioned A pillar speakers but don't see them on map (included in that post). If there are more speakers, hopefully I'll see a response. First step is completely redo (or replace) stock ML front door speakers and see if that helps.

LS430Lexus

I'm curious about the results of your proposed ML front speaker replacement. Please keep us posted. Thank you.

tallcaguy

Will do. When done, I'll post in the "Mark Levinson everything" thread.