From an unbiased passenger opinion standpoint, the ML impresses all of the guests who have been in my car. The depth of sound and bass response are usually what appeals to them.
I'd have to agree with the better sound richness than other stereos but I've found clarity gets muddled in the rear seats with the single free-air subwoofer. Harman Kardon mounts two subwoofers under the front seats; while bass frequencies aren't supposed to be directional I find that it just sounds better for rear seat passengers. Still doesn't have the depth of ML though.

 

I love the ML in my IS500 except when the front doors panels are not literally rattling out of the door. Can't believe I would ever mention the word rattle with a brand new lexus.

 

You should absolutely take it to the dealer. They should be able to provide something. The only persistent rattles I've had in my Lexus cars have been fixed by the dealer at no charge.

 

Funny thing is ML is a division of Harman LOL

I like the sub setup in our cars, i just think the IS needs more. Subs can be designed to run in infinite baffle (like free air in a trunk) and sound excellent doing so. The psycho home theater guys will put 16x 18" subwoofers in their attic and make you tap out in pain when the bass hits lol

 

Just a random point - Mark Levinson in Lexus cars is not super-related to Mark Levinson's standalone products. Those are uber-expensive high-end stuff. It's just a marketing thing for Lexus to use their brand name. Having said that, they are generally well-regarded as far as car audio goes, though other brands have caught up a lot. I will say my ML in the IS has been great, but nothing mind-blowing for sure.

 

Take the car in.

 

All 4 of our Lexus vehicles developed rattles... The GS rattled in the doors and dash which the dealer tried to fix several times and couldn't. The RX only rattles (dash) when I sit in the passenger seat, the ES only rattled (both doors) in the Winter, and my IS randomly rattles in the dash then goes away. I make excuses since our roads are absolutely horrible around here. We don't have many roads that aren't full of cracks, bumps. broken, massive chunks missing, etc. My $500+ I pay yearly for vehicle registration definitely doesn't go to fixing roads like it's supposed to. My mom's registration on the LS was $900 the first 3 years

My mom's LS is the only one that hasn't developed any rattles. My Corvette had a tiny rattle in the hatch, which I was able to fix myself and didn't make a squeak after that. Being honest, if a super stiff suspension Corvette doesn't develop rattles a cushy Lexus shouldn't either. They're 0/4 with us in that area of build quality.

 

The radio is off half the time so I can listen to the engine. When on, it’s just okay up to volume level #21. After that it starts to sound amazing (IMO), especially at 30.

 

So after you “fixed” the EQ settings you still have to turn it all the way up? Lol, me too.

 

Pretty much! 😞

My music catalog is extremely diverse and the results are the same, no matter the genre. The CDs (real ones, not the homemade), Sirius, and Pandora fair better at 21 but not by a ton. If it’s just me in the car it’s no biggie to crank it up, but not if there are passengers. Maybe I’m expecting too much and you can’t get that surround sound richness under 21. 🤷🏽‍♂️

 

I tried the EQ settings, and didn't really like them any better than having them at +1, 0, +1. I think volume is the real secret like you said. 20+ sounds gooooooood.

 

I turn off surround. Surround makes the voicing sound worse for me and overall volume is lower.
I think my trebble is at -3, it's so freaking bright for me even at 0. It is "only" going to be 91 degrees on Sunday, maybe I can do some scans and show a graph of what I'm hearing.

 

The system is pretty good, good frequency response, low distortion, speakers have good quality.

It is very good.

I wish it had a graphic equalizer with 5-7 bands, but it does not.

Anyways, I'm always on Android Auto and the phone itself has a graphic equalizer.

So I created one profile for the car and the end result is very very good. A pleasure to listen to.

 

My Panasonic bookshelf stereo from the late 90s had one of these. I always thought it just looked cool, I didn't know it had a real function.

 

I remember my dad's stereo had an equalizer with a particular setup... lowest frequencies in the middle, mid-lows higher, mids lower again, and then mid-highs to highs higher. Seems like he tended to replicate this setup in his cars as well. He was a big classic rock guy, and I think that setup lends itself to rock well. However, I tend to just pick flatter setups providing they actually sound good. Mark Levinson is slightly bright but not too much, and I think it mostly sounds pretty authentic.