Well I am a JL Audio fan boy, there are stuff out there that has the same SQ and cost for less but I always had good result with JL so I'm staying with them.

 

Have you tried an audio DVD yet and heard the 5.1?

 

Without getting into the ridiculous amount of bass that is routinely added (in the mixing room) to much of the modern music for "da thump" silliness, the ML system does a fine job on most natural sounding music. If you happen to listen to pipe organ music regularly then you have my sympathies (twice, actually)

 

It has enough bass for rock and r&b stuff for my taste. I really love ML when it comes to classical and jazz. I have mp3 cd with 60 or so of my favorite pieces, and I just want to drive and drive listening to music.

 

Has anyone compared Infiniti's Studio on wheels vs. the Lexus ML sound systems? I know the Infinity has less speakers.

 

The OP is missing an important point: Even if the Camry has better bass, you look ridiculous listening to dance music in a Camry.

 

I am very pleased with the ML system. I have auditioned most of the stock sound systems
in the other high-end cars and found the Lexus ML to produce
the most accurate and true music from a decently recorded CD.
I said accurate sound, not LOUD or BOOMING.
Though I am impressed with the loudness and bass too. I don't need it to shake my neighbors house.
Definitely worth the upgrade IMO

 

No comparison IMO. The Mark Levinson system is in a different [elite] league than mainstream Bose. There are people that do like Blose systems - I'm not one of them - very over boosted and unrealistic. The ML system is extremely accurate and has a great soundstage; although I would agree that the bass is a little slow and muddy at times. If I were to make an improvement in this area, I would elevate the crossover of the sub's operation range to tighten up the bass - and increase the output also.

Nevertheless, the only [factory] system that compares is the Bang-Olfson in the Audi S8 - it's an incredible system but at an incredible price [$6K].

 

very few people know and understand what accurate bass sounds like. Most people believe that bloated, muddy, boomy bass is good bass and the louder, the better. Nothing could be further from the truth. Let's face it, loud, deep bass sounds good with the right material but it's not realistic, is it? Modern dance music doesn't contain any musical instruments, it's all synthesized so it's very difficult to use as a gage to sound quality. When you pull up to a civic at the light and his license plate is rattling along with the thundering BOOM, BOOM, BOOM this is a perfect example of how NOT to build accurate bass. If this is what you're after then you're not interested in accuracy. The ML in the IS is one of the most "accurate" factory systems that I've ever heard.

 

Yup, one constant 30hz note, which covers all else in the frequency band is not good bass, or the way to judge the merits of a system.

 

LMAO I think the ML is superb! For a stock system, you cant get much better than that IMO

 

I felt the stock ML system had weak bass... I removed the stock sub (POS) and put in a 10" JL sub...

Sounds perfect now IMHO...