Hey folks. Having perused some threads, it seems that I'm not alone in that my Mark Levinson sound system has definitely taken some hits over the years and is no longer producing very good sound quality. I was curious as to what my best plan of action would be to fix it. I've seen some repair kits online that are pretty affordable, but I may also be interested in improving the sound quality overall. I'm not the most handy, nor am I an audio guy but as far as I can tell, the 2004 GX470 (with the GPS system and flip down DVD player) is:
1) 6x9" woofer
2) 2" midrange
3) 1" tweeter
all 8ohm
... for the front doors.
I saw this system on Walmart's website and figure it's pretty affordable compared to buying components individually. Is Harmony Audio a brand worth investing in? If not, what other component speakers should I be looking at?
The thing that goes wrong most often with the ML system is the rubber surround deteriorates from age. For $50 and a couple of evenings, it's worth getting the Simply Speakers repair kit.
I did the subwoofer about 18 months ago, and it's been fine ever since.
For my front doors, I only replaced the 6x9s as the other speakers were fine. Replaced them with Dayton Audio 6.5" woofers. I've been very happy with the sound.
Dayton Audio seems to be a good replacement. If you are ordering several speakers, Parts Express may be cheaper. But this is what I put in the front doors:
I think what I'll do is maybe replace the woofers with the product offroad mentioned and then repair the rest (if needed) with the Simply Speakers repair kit! I really appreciate it, folks.
I just got done replacing all my speakers. Used 3" inch 8 ohm full range to replace the 2 inch factory speakers and trimmed the plastic factory mount to accommodate the new speakers. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of that one. Sorry if this is a resurrection of an older post, but as I had been searching old threadss to do this project, I am now trying to fill in any info I discovered along the way. And thanks to everyone in those threads, as the information there really helped.
ETA:
In one of the many threads I read, there were questions about the sizes of the cargo door speakers and the front dash speaker. As I can't seem to find those threads now, I'm going to throw these pics here in case they can help anyone who needs sizes.
By removing the inner rings and elongating the screw holes, it worked well to attach a 2.5 inch 8 ohm speaker, reusing the factory harness from the original speaker assembly. The perspective on the picture above makes the adapter look smaller, but it is the same size and bolts right in.
I would just like to add my 2 cents to this post for all who dare to work on their own audio system:
Mark Levinson system is a curated and matched system, designed for the audiophile. This balance becomes disrupted when you replace the speaker with the incorrect driver (aftermarket 6"X9" for the front woofers in particular)
Two important factors for a speaker are its impedance (ohms) and it's wattage. The crossover for the front speakers are tuned to this balance for an 8 ohm, 400W RMS woofer. When replaced by a typical aftermarket speaker of 4 ohm, usually 100 W, what happens is the woofer consumes more power and starves the high and midrange speakers.
I have attempted to purchase replacement speakers from Lexus and wound up being guided to a pair of over priced, Chinese manufactured 4 ohm speakers that would have been a waste of 3 hours to install in my car.
After much research, I have come to the conclusion that Chiph9 is exactly correct. The process of replacing the surrounds on deteriorated speakers is the best course of action, as it preserves the balance of the system and restores the performance of the speaker. The process is much easier than it looks but I would suggest you hold off on the beer until celebration is appropriate :-)
