Hi All,

First, I'd like to thank everyone for all the great info that has been posted on this site. I bought a 2008 ES 350 about two weeks ago and read pretty much everything posted prior to the purchase.

I owned a 98 ES 300 for the past 10 years and with 170,000+ miles it still runs great. My 17 year son is now the proud owner of this wonderful car.

I love the new ES, it looks and runs great. My wife is still nervous driving it because she thinks it is so much bigger. My wife is also not happy with the fact that the interior is mostly hard plastic as opposed to soft leather.

The only thing I am disappointed in is the sound of the radio. It sounds kind of hollow. I connected my mp3 player and have played cd's and they both sound great. We had the car in for it's 1,000 mile check up and the Lexus rep. didn't have an answer other than adjusting the bass and treble.

I verified that all the speakers were working. We do not have the navigation system which apparently adds features to the radio.

Am I missing something or is the radio just crappy?

 

BFWalls, I thought it was just me, but I feel the same way about the standard audio system in our new ES350. I have a 2007 Corolla ES with a basic audio system and it sounds better than the ES's! I think that Lexus really put one over on us with this radio. In order to get a good sounding system, you need to get the optional Mark Levinson CD-Radio! Oh, and you must get the navigation package with this wether you want it or not. The price of this option is pretty high, and I personally haven't heard the ML system. But I would have thought that Lexus would have provided a decent sounding system with the standard equipment. It probably sounds like I am ranting (I am).

 

The base radio is not the greatest. It's not you.

 

The ML is the greatest. Beats out most other OEM systems.

 

to ANYONE looking at this car...budget in the extra $$ for the NAV package which includes ML. the stock system is absolute crap while the ML system is astonishing to say the least.

 

There are stereo complaints going back as to the introduction of this model. I joined with this forum to find out how to upgrade the base system. Last year someone finally took the first step and swapped speakers. If you search for "Polk" you should find that post. My upgrade will be similar. First speakers, then amp and finally a sub upgrade.

I'm hoping that Scosche or someone will come out with a mounting kit for an after market radio. Even a cheap ($150) CD player and cheap ($50/pair) speakers are a HUGE improvement. I'm sure of that because that's the cost of the Pioneer system in my Nissan Maxima.

Finally, I have never heard the ML system but I have seen people post pictures of the speakers in the Audio section here. From the looks of them, they cost Lexus about $1 more per speaker to manufacture. Based on looks alone, they aren't even up to the pawn shop quality audio manufacturers.

-Robert

 

I have no idea what good speakers are supposed to look like, but I can tell you that if you use the ML speakers for listening to music they're awesome.

I think much of the incredible clarity comes from the speakers being designed for the cabin space. The front speakers bounce off of the windshield and a lot of design attention must have gone into windshield angle, high end compensation tuned for the "bounce" and placement. It's an excellent audio system.

 

I upgraded the factory speakers with JBL GTO 607C, 6.5 component -2 OHM (front) JBL GTO 627 (rear). Much improved. The deck isn't bad at all. Speakers are the heart of the system. No cuttimng was necessary.

 

you only have 2 ohm speakers... dont you run the risk of burning out your head unit or factor amp because the ohm loads arent the same??

 

Have had no adverse effects, yet. Don't anticipate any. Install was conducted by a professional/custom audio shop.

 

could you post the configuration of the stock system speakers? what size and where...also maybe a DIY on getting access to said speakers. i'm thinking starting with the speakers is the ticket as well and would like to give it a shot.

thanks in advance.

 

Scroll up to post #6 and it tells you where to find this information. To save you the time, here's the link https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...=280175&page=5

The last post as of right now has the speaker sizes listed. Other postings in there discuss how to remove the door panels to get to the speakers. Toyota speaker adapters from Crutchfield should make this a simple snap in. I would bypass the factory crossover and use the one that is supplied with the a quality component speaker system though.

-Robert