Question all....my dealers in the area are having a heck of a time finding an 07 GS awd, WITH ML audio, so they're trying to get me to take it without. what are your thoughts?

could i live with myself?

Dealers always want sell whatever they have in stock. Their reputation in telling the truth is as good as lawyers (sorry, if I am offending anyone). If you insist thats what you want and nothing less, they will get you one. When I bought my car ML system was on bottom of my list. After listening to music in ML system, I can tell you it is the only feature which I have enjoyed and used the most in my car. If I buy another lexus in future, I wont buy it without ML system. IMO, If you can wait buy one with ML system, you wont regret.

It depends on quality of cd or DVD. I havent tried that high on any of my cd's.

IMO, the ML system is no better than the standard audio system without the ML package. Overall imaging with non-surround audio sources is poor. The soundstage is way too low and as a result, I feel that the system sounds like it's missing something. When I first got the car, I kept messing with the tone/surround settings to compensate but eventually I gave up. Imaging/soundstage is poor with surround off and the soundstage is at the right level but way too narrow with surround on (again, I am referring to non-surround sources), it's a no win situation. With surround audio sources, it's an entirely different story. The system really comes alive and imaging is greatly improved. If you have a lot of DVD-audio discs, then get ML for sure. If you have CDs and most of them are MP3 compilations, don't bother.

The only truly compelling reason to get the ML system is to have the ability to watch DVDs on the nav screen. If you do the hack, your passengers can even watch while driving. I got ML/Nav for 2 reasons. The DVD video feature and because it was basically a fully loaded version of the GS.

FWIW, the standard "premium" sounds sytem in my ES350 sounds just as good as the ML system in my GS350. Also, the above is my personal opinion so please don't bash me because I don't have any hard evidence to support the above.

Try "Reference Point" or "Cuban Heels" from the album Reference Point by Acoustic Alchemy. You can go to MAX which is 52+ and you will not believe the clarity and lack of distortion (same with non ML). Not my regular style of music but two excellent demo tracks.

I agree with you Rob.
Surround and the Video are the reasons I wanted the ML. Some may think they hear a difference, who can argue with what an individuals ears hear, but you can only hear so many different sounds at one time....the brain can only process so much.
If you care less about video, and you only have CD's save the $$, unless the car your looking at has it in a package. Maybe use this to negotiate....
Preference is up to you...
Good luck.

The current ML Surround decoder doesn't always do a proper job decoding on DVD-A. Dolby Digital and DTS surround seem to be okay but certain channels just don't decode properly on DVD-A.

It seems to be front center or rear channels... they just don't have anything coming out of them at all... i've posted a few things on this in the IS forum and it appears to be a decoder flaw. It was the same in the GS430, IS250, IS350, and ES350 here at the office.

Entire portions of the song just disappeared. Happened on my Nine Inch Nails: Downward Spiral DVD-A, Nine Inch Nails: With Teeth DVD-A, Frank Zappa: Halloween DVD-A, and Lamb of God Dolby Digital DVD.

Very frustrating because other than that the sound quality is AMAZING on DVD-A. and FWIW DVD-A sound is much much much less compressed in surround format than either DTS or Dolby Digital, compare a source that has both standard DVD-A surround and DTS on it and you'll instantly hear the difference. The clarity on DVD-A is unsurpassed.

Toyota F1....

I also have experienced the complete loss of audio from some channels
with DVD-A discs. It's like the speaker is unplugged for a moment.