xaper

Since I bought the car I experience the problem with my sound system. Basically the stereo works fine for some time, then only the front left speaker works. All the rest is still giving some sound, yet to hear it I have to go to the volume level I have never dared to cross (more than 3/4). After some time of this inconvenience the stereo would go back to normal. The time it doesn't work is no specific and varies from whole week to couple of minutes. The only thing I have noticed to somewhat reproduce the problem is that each time I disconnect the negative battery terminal the problem would occur and it takes about a day for the stereo to come back normal. The problem happens for all sources (CD, radio, casette). I have already resoldered the balance **** after some advice in another similar thread, but with no major success (it worked fine after that, but I suspect it was just the coincidence, as after a while it broke down again). Any help would be appreciated

Sc0pe

iTrader: (1)

Check the wire connections on the amplifier and the radio. I say check these first since it's not just one speaker that went out, 3 of them did, so it might just be a loose signal cable.

EmpPenguin

The Nakamichi sound system is junk compared to what you can buy at your local car stereo store. Go there and update your entire system (deck, amp and speakers). I spent $2800 and never looked back.

Kansas

First question: Does your car have or has it ever had a Lexus car phone. If so, make sure all the connectors are unplugged from the phone ECU under the false floor on the right side of the trunk. Then plug the two "car side" large connectors together and leave everything unplugged from the phone ECU. A grounding audio mute connection at the phone ECU is a very common cause of speakers operating at low volume. I've witnessed first hand the delight from an LS400 owner when his long dead Nakamichi (also applies to Pioneer systems) sprang to life after I performed this procedure.

I loved the Nakamichi in my 2000 LS400. Pay no attention to rookies. It was the best OEM audio system I've had in my nearly 50 years of car ownership. Did you happen to re-solder your balance control after reading about my experience? Mine was re-soldered in about 2008 by a Florida company to restore the right channel. The right channel started cutting in and out again a few weeks ago and I decided to give up on it this time since repair shops no longer want to touch Nakamichi due to no parts being available. No amount of soldering is going to fix a failing rheostat balance or fader control.

I don't know about the 90-94 Nakamichi but it has been obvious that, in the 95-00 LS400, the failure rate of Nakamichi amplifiers is substantially lower than Nakamichi headunits. So per post #329 in https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...thread-22.html , I recently had a double-DIN Kenwood DDX470 installed in my car using the Nakamichi amplifier and all the original speakers.

It works great - really great - particularly since I've learned to fine tune the equalizer settings. The Nakamichi subwoofer still puts out plenty of clear booming base with no "muddy-ness". It doesn't have quite the "warm analog sound" that was provided by the Nakamichi head unit and instead has a more "precise digital" sound. I've installed a lot of car audio systems over the years but I chose to have a particular Best Buy installer and LS430 owner do it for me this time - better him than me tap into all those tiny wires leading to the Nak amp, power source, etc. It took him nearly three hours total.

The price was stunning for what I got - $498 not including tax: $350 for the Kenwood DDX470, $14 for the Scosche dash kit from Amazon, $14 for a USB extension cable, and $120 for installation.

If you want to try to go the same inexpensive route I did, you have to determine if the problem is a phone mute problem, a head unit problem or an amplifier problem. If it is not a phone mute problem the easiest way to see if it is an amp or head unit problem is to test your amp in somebody else's similar 95-97 with Nakamichi. The amp can be removed and reinstalled without removing the front passenger seat - takes maybe five minutes to remove. You can do as I have done and unplug the cables from the amp in the "donor car", lay your amp on the rear floor of the donor car and plug the donor car's amp cables into your amp.

It's in the audio thread but here is the photo of the Kenwood in my 2000 LS400. It looks as good as it sounds - I'm still working on customizing the display colors to my liking.

xaper

Thanks Kansas for the input. Indeed, my car used to have the phone system, so maybe you have found the source of the problem. I don't have time right now to check things, but most likely next week I will do it. As for the soldering I believe it was your post that made me resolder my balance ****.
I hope it will be the phone system that causes the problems, as I really don't want to change the audio system in my car. I really like the sound and comparing to any other car (especially from that time) I drove Nakamichi in this LS is far most the best. Yes, I agree that spending some $ would make the sound better, but I am no expert in it and the sound I hear every day is enough for me, so I just want my Nakamichi unit to be reliable and this would make my (every)day.

I will try to check what is going on with the phone and will get back here with some more info.