miltonlin

Ok, I am shopping for new vehicle and in listening to the ES sound system, I'm convinced it's not my cup of tea. To me it sounds terrible. I am not a hifi person, but the current two gens sound terribe - that is comparing Lexus sound system to other Lexus vehicles 10 years ago!

I understand sound is very subjective, and I don't mean to offend.

I will not hack a car stereo and retrofit with other products, but for a Premium sound system (not Mark Levinson) it leaves me much to be desired.

What do you think of the sound system?

Jimbo68

Not sure if anyone's opinion matters except yours. If you don't like it and that's what's most important to you in a $40K car, don't buy it. Me???? I like it. If you are listening only to the radio, FM or otherwise, you're not really listening to the capabilities of the sound system. Too many variables. MP3 player or disc.... another matter. I think $40K is too much to spend on a sound system. I prefer build quality, a good reliable engine and transmission, quiet and smooth ride. Sound system is a desirable but not a deal breaker.

jagtoes

You might want to look at the ford's or the buick's.

Lexus 1

The system leaves much to be desired in my opinion as well. I have had my ES for 3 years and the sound system has been unfortuneately a "daily" disappointment. I've had Hondas, GM, Chrysler, Mazda that have all had better sounding standard systems. As stated in an earlier post the ride, quietness and dependability are great. The sound system is just not befitting of what I expected in a Lexus.

overclock

Tell you what. You buy the 2011 and I'll trade you for my 2007. The sound is night and day better. At least the one in the 2011 loaner that Sewell gave me a couple of months ago had a way better stereo.

MadMax96

OP - I agree. The audio system in my '99 LS400 (non-Nakamichi) sounded sooo much nicer than what I have in my '07 ES350 (non ML).

I thought for sure something 8 years newer would have a standard audio system that sounded at LEAST as good as the older car.

I've had the car for 10 months now and don't notice it anymore... but for the first few months of ownership it was irritating.

parman

I agree that the stock Lexus "premium" sound system leaves much to be desired. I wound up special ordering a Ultra Luxury edition with ML sound system because I was sold on the Lexus brand, but was extremely disappointed with the quality of the standard sound system.

My Silverado pick up had a Bose system that blows the standard Lexus system away. Considering that even Hyundai offers a Lexicon system on their Genesis vehicle, Lexus should offer ML as a simple upgrade rather than requiring numerous add-ons to get it.

I can't wait for my 2011 ES350 to arrive in March!

Blueshark

I do agree too, i have the UL and the mark levinson is coming to the knee of my old audio set-up on my previous car, i had a pair of component and sub with 2 amplifiers and it gives a good wide range of sound. Aside the 5.1 sound of the mark levinson, it doesn't come close to my previous set-up.

Then again, the UL is more than a simple audio upgrade, so i have to live with it..... may be not, i'm thinking of upgrading the speakers on the car as the aftermarket sub is already in place.

ratucker3

FYIW, I've owned two Porsche with bose...four MB with HK, two BMW with HK.....all were simply outstanding, however for the much lower price my 2011 ES is really ok....certainly not as good as premium bose or HK.....but decent for the average person. My wife drives a 2011 Accord EXL.....reasonably good audio but not better than what is in my 2011 ES (Lexus calls is premium).......of course everyone has a different hot button. (I listen to an iPod 90% of the time). I agree that Lexus should offer an oem upgrade without requiring going to an ultra.

Macklin

My wife's F150 system is better than mine! It's really annoying when I think about it. So I try not to.

LexBob2

Since everyones preferences are different it's a good idea to throughly check out the sound system in a car before buying. If it doesn't sound good, keep looking. As others have pointed out, there are a lot of choices available.

bobsobi

I agree with the OP. My '99 ES had a beautifully musical stock system, albeit slightly underpowered. My '09 ML required me to re-EQ my DVD-As to address a terrible FR curve that could not be adequately corrected with the onboard tone controls. (CDs, with DSP enabled, are listenable, though far from perfect.) However, with the FR correction, 5.1 is definitely sweet, and I miss the '99 much less now.

Tazzman

I like my 11 sound, when dialed in has great clean sound, I can switch from Metal to Bach, Thumpin to clean. It wont wake the neighbors up but keeps me very happy.

safford197

I'm not an audiophile either but initially I had problems with the sound from my '07 ML system too. I later realised it was my source audio. I was burning CDs w/128kb/s MP3s and that seemed to reduce the audio quality on the ML system. I never thought to change this for quite some time and could never get the EQ adjusted to the point I was comfortable. Then I replaced my windows desktop with an imac and started to burn regular CDs with my music purchases and started to use my iphone as a source - wow, what a difference. I've found the ML system to provide very crisp highs and very good quality low tones.

To sum up, try a different audio source.

Good luck!

russellh

I own a brand new 2010 ES350 Ultra-Luxury with Mark Levinson, and the sound system is out of this world, utterly incredible. The most enjoyable car stereo I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying on my long and nightmarish drives to New York City everyday.