I have 2011 f-sport stock audio and its doing fine. The 08 IS I did all custom work and just haven't gotten to do my system yet.
But just traded my wife's g37 sedan for a 2014 IS f-sport with entry level or stock audio and man......this sucks imo ofc. This will get my audio installed first!

I believe lexus lowered the quality this time around cause not enough people were upgrading to mark levinson.
I wish I would have heard this system first, would've been with audio upgrade.

 

I've only had my 2014 a couple of days and my first impression is that it's definitely very bass heavy, even with surround and DSP off. Tone controls alone aren't really sufficient to solve the issue. Bass at -2 helps a bit. The system is probably software based, so maybe the firmware can be upgraded or hacked?

 

Hmmmm I hope so.

 

If you find anything out PLEASE let me know! I lease, so I can't make hardware changes.

 

I had the stock audio in my '08 IS and '11 CT and the first thing I noticed was how much improved the stock audio is on my '14, though not as good as my RX's ML.

 

The 14 system sounds like it has the potential to be better than the 11 system, but the bloated mid-bass is a complete mess.

I had the non-Nav ML system in my 08 and the stock 11 system was actually a bit better.

Those systems actually sounded pretty neutral. This is the first one that has unpleasant colorations (I.e. the bass). It sounds like it was designed for the hip hop crowd.

 

Plus the design of sound imaging, mids and highs coming from dashboard and a speaker in the door as a filler.... That kills me. I believe there too far apart. As far as the entry level system.
I googled the specs and only found it saying 8 speakers, nothing about sizes.

 

The 3IS sound system is actually pretty good. Better than the 2014 Mazda 6 Bose, 328i's Harmon Kardon system and VW Passat Dynaudio.

Peugeot 508's Bose is pretty awesome.

 

I am also not too impressed with the stock audio. My subwoofer rattles also & my bass is at +1...
I loved my 2012 Acura TSX ELS audio. I would have gotten the ML package for my IS but it is nowhere to be found in NYC.

 

The mid-bass boost I'm experiencing is so annoying that I'm wondering if mine is set up incorrectly.

Anyone know if the subwoofer is adjustable in any way? I would even consider disconnecting it entirely, but I'm concerned the boosted frequency may be above the crossover point.

If I can't find a solution I may be limited to talk radio for the next three years.

 

IMO, the speakers are decent. Music from pandora or straight from bluetooth sounds great!

The issue is the radio itself. I live on Los Angeles and the darm radio keeps switching in and out of HD and boy you can year the crap sound during this transition. My brother has a 2IS with HD stations as well and it sound so much better. Im talking about mainstream stations which should not be having this issue.

3 words for 3IS radio, piece of crap!

 

Agreed

This is what I'm looking into for starters but would like time alignment and better eq options.

http://www.sound-better.net/Support/...nd/LC8i_OM.pdf

 

Does USA version have subwoofer with stock audio???
EU version with no ML and no NAV (Lexus Display Audio System) has only 6 speakers (2 way in the front and one way back).
The sound is ugly... And there's no pre-amp out to use to have a good sound system...
I can only put an extraflat subwoofer under front passenger seat and hope that it works good enough...

 

One thing I saw wrong when i tore the rear deck apart was that there was a lot of metal and very hollow sounding when knocking on it.



after some sound dampening treatment



Not sure if it helped yet since i haven't put the car back together and drove it yet.

Mines is the ML system

 

Give a review!!

Would like to know if it makes a difference