RichKeagy

The thirteenth speaker is the engine.
I'm pretty sure I got that from Lexus.

lacemanjw5

I have experienced many car audio systems but expressed my dissatisfaction withML audio system in my LC500.Spoke with Lexus and dealer as I feel the system front loads all the music regardless of source.Surround is a joke with this system . There should be a fullness of sound with more from rear speakers and Subwoofer. Thought my amplifier might be defective but not the case. Local rep brought in 2020 LC to test but no difference in Mark Levinson. Dealership acknowledged and hope they can produce an update fix for this.
Would like to hear other comments regarding M levinson in LC500

web4488

Yep. This has been discussed previously.

hoonose

One reason I bought the LC was for the stereo.
If you want surround it does not seem to do that well. But that's synthesized for most sources isn't it? My Corvette trade in did do surround better. But I usually quickly tired of it, and went back to stereo soon in most cases.
I imagine you can mess with the front/rear fade with the ML and get more surround, but right now I'm happy as is.

lacemanjw5

The overall highs lack a rich, clear projection and the mid and lows are short on a strong, wide range contribution with a nice clear punch to this spectrum in the overall sound in any genre of music.
It wasn’t too long ago the Lexus theme was “the relentless pursuit of perfection “. I presume this still applies at least subliminally in “experience amazing
“.
Thought the music processor would take different formats and elevate them to rich, full sound but the ML system falls short in many areas vs so many other OEM car audios.

Puertex

I am curious what is the source material you are using.

I use high quality mp3 source material by ripping from a CD at 48000 hz and 320 kbps minimum and put the files in my mp3 player.

Most of the time, I connect using Bluetooth because the radio will pull the album data from the player.

But for the best sound it is best to wire the player into the radio Line Input.

You just will not get the album data but it will sound better.

I just use the stereo mode.

I think the stereo sounds pretty good on most of the tracks I play.

Good luck !

Puertex

MinhDo

Is it possible to install a custom aftermarket system in the LC500?

carcinoid

1. Using bluetooth to stream music will make it sound much worse than plugging it in through the USB port. If you want quality sound, do not use bluetooth.
2. If you are using a streaming service, the sound will be just as bad if not worst than using bluetooth even when using a USB connection. The bitrate is very low on most streaming services. For streaming music I use Tidal and pay for the premium membership that gives you master studio quality versions of the music. I toggled back and forth between a low bitrate stream and a master quality downloaded file and the sound quality difference was unbelievable.
3. Set your EQ to flat for treble, mid and bass. Turn off all of the surround settings. Use high quality downloaded music. You should be much happier with the ML system.

OFTRASH

"I have experienced many car audio systems but expressed my dissatisfaction withML audio system in my LC500.Spoke with Lexus and dealer as I feel the system front loads all the music regardless of source.Surround is a joke with this system . There should be a fullness of sound with more from rear speakers and Subwoofer. Thought my amplifier might be defective but not the case. Local rep brought in 2020 LC to test but no difference in Mark Levinson. Dealership acknowledged and hope they can produce an update fix for this.
Would like to hear other comments regarding M levinson in LC500"


The days of 6x9's in the back deck and music coming from behind you is so 1982. When you go to a concert the stage is in front as is a home system. 95% of all music is recorded in stereo R-L channels, not surround. Movies are processed in multi channel. I have competed in SQ car audio (single seat) on and off since the late -90s all the way up until last year. If any of us was to take this car to the lanes today, we would score very high technically from both seats. The processing used in this car is F'ing amazing. The stage is rock solid center from both seats. The rear-fill speakers provide an ambiance that feels like you are sitting in a room vs a car. The speaker placement that makes this car sound so big took ML sound engineers a crazy amount of hours. The subbase sounds like it's coming from in front of you even though it's in the backseat (done with DSP speaker delay). On the flip side of this, the ML process engineering that tunes our cars also had to find a base tune that would make everyone happy and not the preferred tune that would make only audiophiles happy. I mentioned our cars would scored good technically (stage deep and wide with vocals dead center). IMO, it wouldn't score as well tonality wise (with a short time with the car) because the midrange comes across a little thin and not natural and transparent. This could probably be fixed with midrange speaker swap.

The sound engineer that tunes our cars lives in Michigan and works for ML and with Lexus. He can be found on DIYMA forum and Strictly Sound Quality Facebook page, if you guys think he would add value I can have someone who knows him well reach out to him and invite him to this thread as he knows the ML like no one else.

flowrider

iTrader: (9)

^^^^^1982 Way before that. In the late 60s early 70s we had reverberation That coupled with a 6X9 in the back

Lou

Puertex

Good discussion about what affects the fidelity of the car audio system. This discussion also applies to home systems.

How they sound depends on the source material, the fidelity of the wireless transmission (Bluetooth) and how good the system is.

I agree with using Tidal, which streams lossless audio through the phone at a premium cost but this is something an audiophile may pursue. If I did this I would definitely connect to the line in.

I respectfully disagree with the general statement about bluetooth because new bluetooth formats have been developed that have greatly improved the transmission of the signal between devices. These formats are aptx, aptx HD and LDAC by Sony. These formats are lossy (you still lose some of the fidelity, but to some folks this is imperceptible).

However... To fully utilize these new formats, both the receiver (in this case the ML system) and the transmitter (mp3 player or phone) have to support the format. If the ML does not support any of these, it probably supports an older format that has more fidelity loss.

I have these formats in my Galaxy S10+ phone and in my mp3 player, a Fiio M11. But I do not know what format the ML supports. I am trying to find out.

All this said, nothing beats a direct wired connection to the line input of the ML system with the drawback that you will not get the album art and track information. But I get this info from the player screen which I mount in a convenient accessible location.

Also, when I connect with the line in, I can use the player equalizer to further fine tune the sound.

Great discussion !

Puertex

Exhilr8n

It will go pretty loud, but has a bright sharp digital sound with a totally flat sound field.

But that volume control **** is second to none. So smooth and solid. Wish it were knurled though.

TimboIS

Ha, forget the sound, it can’t even play tracks randomly. Plays them in the same order every time I start the car. And the border starts over each time the car is started. I hear the same track everyone I start the car. Massively annoying to say the least. The only way to truly hear each song is to turn off random play.

Puertex

That's weird and annoying.
I have my whole music collection in my player and it comes with me wherever I go.
That's 890 CDs.
I just connect the bad boy to whatever car I am using and it works flawlessly.
It has random play features and you can create playlists.
You can connect with bluetooth or direct line input.
Can you tell I like my player?

Puertex

TimboIS

The worst part is, if I’m only driving to the store, 3 minutes away, and it always starts on track X, which is 4 minutes in length. When I get in the car from the store, it plays the remaining 1 minute, then starts playing that same song again. Get home, go out the next time, plays the last 1 minute, then starts that song again from the start. Drives me insane!!! It’s not rocket science, you’d think Lexus would get such basics right.