Stock stereo differences - regular vs. Mark Levinson
 

Hi All,

For 2001 to 2005 2GS car stereo : Can you buy a Mark Levinson stock head unit and swap it in for an existing standard (Pioneer) stock Lexus head unit?

I have a (regular) stock Lexus Pioneer head unit in my 2001 GS430, which looks old and LCD lighting is burned out on one side. I want to add Aux In for my smartphone. So I bought a Mark Levinson head unit on Ebay in near-mint condition for $130, it's bench tested and should work great. I'm planning to send it in to "FactoryRadioService" (as discussed on other threads here) to get the Aux In added. After that, I think the head unit will just plug and play into my GS430, right?

I've read several threads about the differences here on CL, and I know that the amp and the subs and speakers are all different. But what about the head unit itself? Are the two stock head units identical for 2001 to 2005 2GS except one has a "Mark Levinson" logo pasted onto the front? And maybe the difference is simply the amp/speakers? If so then I could probably just swap it in with no problem. Any advice is appreciated, Thanks!

- Joe in Los Angeles

So, you've already bought the ML head unit? Why not just plug it in and see if it works? 10 minute job (maybe 20, the first time), and you can let us know what you find out.

I don't see why it wouldn't work, from an input/output perspective, but the ML system's processing may not jive as well with the signal coming from the Pioneer head unit. As far as sound quality goes, I mean. How bad could it be though?

Hi there. Sounds like you are guessing the ML head unit has different processing inside it, and it's not just the amp/speakers that are different on ML systems. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it sounds.

The ML head unit will arrive in about 5 days, then another week or two to have the Aux Input inserted, then I'll go ahead and swap it in. If it fails, I'll send my current head unit out to have the Aux Input installed, and list the ML head unit with Aux Input installed for sale. In 2016, every one of these head units should have Aux Input anyway :)

I'll definitely post my findings back in this thread. In the meantime, if anyone has ever swapped a non-ML head unit for the ML version in 01-05 then please let me know how it worked out. Thanks!

Hi All,

I just spoke to the owner at Factory Radio Service, and he says that he thinks the Mark Levinson head unit is 100% identical to the regular (Premium Sound) head unit. He said the only difference is the logo printed on the front. This is surprising to me. However, the amp and speakers for the Mark Levinson system are totally different. I guess this means I could someday upgrade my stock (Premium Sound) amp and speakers and probably get really great sound, even though I'll have a smaller number of speakers compared to the full Mark Levinson system. So in summary : For 2001 to 2005 GS, feel free to buy ANY 2001 to 2005 stock Lexus head unit when you are replacing yours, whether it's Mark Levinson or not. Hope this helps somebody.

After I put in the new ML head unit I'll test the new AUX Input and post back here to confirm that everything worked, and confirm how the Aux Input sounds compared to my CD changer.

Joe in Los Angeles

That's good news for both non-ML owners who want to put in an ML unit, and ML owners who can't find an ML head unit replacement.

Thanks for digging into that for us!

I stopped reading after you said the guy thinks...

Hey deepdish. if you go the route of having an Aux input installed from Factory Radio Service can you review the process for us and how it all goes down. Factory Radio Service now offers Bluetooth Audio in place of the Aux input which would be something like the GROM setup I assume...something to consider.

I've read not only on Club Lex forums but also on Audi and BMW forums that Factory Radio does great work.

http://factoryradioservice.com/bluet...ion-p-229.html

Hi All,

Here's an update to my thread from January about stock radio replacement. My conclusions are:
- FactoryRadioService does a great job, added an aux input to the Mark Levinson unit I got on Ebay, and replace the backlights for the LCD panel. Shipping was easy and price was low.
- It was easy to remove my non-ML head unit from my 2001 GS430 and swap in the ML head unit with Aux input. I watched a few Youtube videos and then a friend with experience helped me, took 20 minutes.
- The Aux input sounds better than I thought it would. You leave your radio on FM, and when you plug in the aux to the port, the FM radio goes silent and audio from the 3.5mm jack takes over. You are restricted by the sound quality of your smartphone at this point, every phone sounds different because of the DAC (digital to audio converter) inside the phone.
- I'd say the ML head unit sounds 90% the same as my previous non-ML head unit, but the treble/high frequencies are more pronounced. On certain types of music I notice it. Even after fiddling with the treble/mid/bass I can't get it to sound quite as good as my non-ML head unit. I'm a musician and I'm not sure others would notice the difference. But it makes sense since the ML audio system and non-ML audio system are different. So now I'm considering having the aux input added to my original non-ML head unit and selling the ML unit on Ebay, since it has Aux and backlights replaced.
- I don't like that I need to physically pull the plug out and push it back in when I want to go to Aux and back to FM radio. If I did this install again, I'd have a switch installed to go from FM to Aux. Also, I didn't install Bluetooth since the sound from Bluetooth is not as good as physical connection.
- One drawback is if I charge the phone while I'm playing music there's an annoying hum, possibly from a ground loop? My Sony Xperia phone has battery life so good that I can play it for hours without charging, so this hasn't been a problem. But it WOULD be a problem if I still had my Samsung phone.

In summary, I'm really happy to have a working and reliable Aux input now on my 2001 GS430 that sounds better than I thought it would. I'm glad I didn't go aftermarket, because it would have cost 10 times as much and it would have looked worse. The location of head unit is too low on the 2GS to use for GPS screen, I prefer GPS higher up near the windshield. If anyone wants REALLY good sound then don't bother with this aux install, and go aftermarket. But for a quick fix this did the trick, and it's great on long trips, and for most people the sound is pretty good.

Hope this helps.

A bit of background:

On the LS400, the pioneer and nakamichi system are completely different. The pioneer is head unit powered while the nakamichi has an external amp.

It is possible (in this case), that the head units are identical other than the sticker and only the amps/speakers change in the levinson system.

Sounds like the AUX mod is exactly the same as this mod provided by another member.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...-headunit.html
I've done it on my headunit, you plug in a cellphone and radio cuts out.
You can add a bluetooth receiver with 3.5mm headphone jack and it would result the same.

Me personally would go for the pioneer set up , the ML is just to sensitive and made for old man ears.