I did a full system overhaul in my RC350 F Sport, and it was a pain to figure out, but we eventually did. It required an Audio Control DSP DSM-9, two amps, and 2 sets of components ( front / rear ) and a rear deck suspended sub enclosure with JL Audio 10W7.... it was worth the hassle,.... I also did something similar in my GX460, it has JL Audio Fix and TwiK DSP's, and 2 JL amps, with Focal 3 way components in front, 2 way components in rear, and two JL 8W3's in custom box in place of 3rd row seats. Both systems suggest it's doable,.... just what degree of effort to get it done.

I just got my LC on Friday with ML system, and I don't like it at all,... so, it will not be in this car very long.

 

What is it you don't like??

 

just wanted to say congrats on getting an LC! look forward to seeing what kind of audio system you shoe horn into it.

if you're used to great audio, the LC's ML won't suffice.

 

the separation and details are lacking. The mid range is very muddy, and low end is non existent. It is a boomy sound, but not accurate. I’m of the impression, for what ML costs, it would have been better. It’s not trash in comparison to other stock radios,… but from what I hear, MBenz has some stock upgrade systems that blow this away.

I create systems for studio grade listening experience, not to beat the block up with mega bass that’s unbalanced.

my RC and GX with windows up, are hard to tell that I have 2200 or 2600 watts pumping throughout. Inside is concert hall ( had both sound deadened ).

id imagine I’ll get to the audio after the exterior mods. Getting lowered and wheels / tires first.

 

After 1 year of thinking this ML was better-than-average but still not great I am changing my opinion after an experiment I just performed.

In my personal opinion this ML system was designed to play files >900kbps--AKA lossless audio.

The problem is that most people are playing a maximum of 320kbps--many even less (SXM, for example).

So yeah....I downloaded a couple different tracks with 3 different KBPS and listened to all three versions top up and top down whilst stationary and not driving.

For example:

Taylor Swift's 10-minute version of All Too Well

256kbps iTunes standard download
906kbps 16-bit ripped CD into iTunes
2,897kbps 24-bit FLAC converted to Apple ALAC

As I moved up from the 256k file the depth of music became so deep, the soundstage widened while hearing Taylor exactly centered and I can hear her breathe onto the microphone. The bass was more pronounced and the separation was simply amazing. I couldn't believe how much detail was missing from the 256k version. The ALAC version simply blew away both of the lesser versions.

Much of my 7,000 iTunes library is ripped CDs but I have about 30 FLAC files I test audio with.

This system is setup for hi-res audio--NOT SiriusXM or even Spotify's paltry 320kbps stream.

I am not an audiophile by any means...but I do run a Lyngdorf MP-40 at home with Parasound Halo A51 Amp driving Focal Aria 948 speakers. So I DO know high-end sound.

Figured I would chime in here.

 

I'm surprised those different formats/bit rates yielded such a large difference for you. In my cars I hear a mild improvement, my systems are fairly high end compared to most. I will say this, iTunes tracks are straight up terrible I think the problem is the encoder they are using. The format itself is good enough to sound good.

 

Higher end systems need quality content for it's full potential. Just think if you play garbage through 4 speakers in an economy car. But playing garbage through 20+ speakers just multiplies the garbage.

 

i use tidal with lossless and master files as available which is about as good as it gets. the result varies a lot depending on the music. it's rather odd.

 

You are correct.

The same test through Airpods wasn't nearly as profound.

Sadly, most of the general public doesn't have good enough equipment to discern large differences in higher resolution music. Apple, Spotify, SXM knows this.....so there hasn't ever really been a need to improve things.

 

I, too, use Tidal MQA (if available, of course) at home.

-Lyngdorf MP-40 in the living room with Parasound A51 Amp to Focal Aria 948s
-NAD C658 w/Bluesound to a Parasound A21 to Focal Aria 948s in my home office

I really do love listening to high-rez audio.

 

We've gone backwards. CD audio has been around since 1982(!) around 1985 is when it became usable and affordable enough. Now most people listen to audio that is not as good as tech from 40 years ago.

Speaking of Parasound probably the best purchase I have ever made I have two of them the 2200 and the 2205 both purchased new. Downside is they are ancient no digital anything. Good or bad depending on your view of things.
I am interested in these can't find anywhere to have a listen.

 

Doesn’t matter what the sample rate is on the source material played thru the ML system in the LC, ‘apples to apples’, it is still an average system at best. Doesn’t even come close to the quality of reproduction in the other Lexus models with larger interior cabins. The LC just doesn’t present the speaker placement options required to deliver a better than average sound stage. ML did the best he could in designing a system for this car where the priority was not on the quality of sound. At least not that sound but rather the Vrooom, Vroooom sound.

 

while a larger cabin certainly has advantages, the LC ML system is weak in several other ways. for example, the front staging bias is so huge that moving the balance rear makes the volume plummet, which is ridiculous.

what WAS the priority on then? also, "he" (Mark Levinson) hasn't been associated with the brand since the 1980s when ML became a brand of Harman International, which since 2017 has been part of Samsung.

 

Bit --- TMI ---You're taking some of my comments totally out of context.

 

The RC speaker layout is almost identical to the LC with exception of the subwoofer placement, and it too sounded petty pathetic. I simply changed the speakers, subwoofer, DSP and amps, and completely transformed the sound of that car. The only non-factory adjustment I made was place the component tweeters on the rear deck in the corners vs using a coaxial in the arm rests ( though the mid bass driver is still there ). So having said that, speaker position wasn't the biggest short coming of the car's sound, it's the actual equipment.

It's hard to argue the point if you haven't heard the comparison between one and another,.... my wife's RX350 F Sport is factory, and it is not even in the same universe as the GX or the late RC.... the LC has more bass than the RX, but tonal sound quality is not much better....