I find it interesting that more than a few people have mentioned that in the convertible, turning off Surround made a big improvement in the overall sound. When I was setting up my sound for the first time (back in September) in my coupe, I must have gone back and forth between Surround On and Surround Off a few dozen times trying to ascertain which was better. I ended up going with Off, but it was not a slam dunk; the difference between them was/is negligible, at least to my ears.

 

I also did not find any difference, to my ears, between surround sound on or turned off in the coupe. However, I am adjusting the bass, treble and fader (front, center or towards rear few clicks) for each genre.

 

I was out at the Lexus Performance Driving event on Saturday, and a rep from ML was actually there with some equipment. I went over and spoke with him a while, and it was interesting. I talked about this thread, and what people were doing to get the most of the system. He said that when they initially tuned the system, they do it with all the settings at neutral (bass, mid, treble, f/r), and the Surround on. He said that people should absolutely change the bass/mid/treble settings, as it was just the starting point. We then got into a discussion about Surround, and he said that is one of the most interesting debates. It is also a personal preference thing, and that if you like your music as if you were at a concert, with the artists on a stage in front of you, then surround should be off. Basically there is no right or wrong to this, just what you personally prefer. I have to admit that I tend to like it on, and was feeling guilty that I was doing it wrong. Oh, he also said something interesting that I didn't get to dive into as we got called out to the track, but he said that they changed the acoustics on the convertible based upon the top being up or down. I took that to mean that it did some baseline adjustments, but would have loved to understand that better. Anyways it was interesting, but not surprisingly, it all comes down to tuning it to whatever your preferences might be.

Ron

 

Cool info Ron, thanks for sharing.
I'm a "surround on" kind of guy, personally. 🫡

 

I had the exact same conversation with him, with the added point the rep made about the #1 thing you can do is play high quality media. That means lossless media hard wired in. He said the most practical way for people to achieve this is via Apple Music set to lossless (or other lossless streamer) and a cable. Wireless carplay/AA with Apple Music (or other lossless streamer) will be the next best option if you cannot hardwire.

I also mentioned to him that to me, the system really wakes up at higher volume, but unfortunately we also got called out to the track and I did not get to finish that part of the conversation

 

I fully agree and have made other post/comments about listening at the higher volumes. I'm usually listening around 50, 52, 53 when I really want to dial in to making the ML sound good.

 

I tried turning off the sound enhancement through the OBD2 using Carista. I don't think that made any difference at all.

I tinkered with the sound levels a bunch and the one thing I keep coming back to is speed. I could be wrong, but I concluded the bass is muted as the speed increases. I can't tell if it's some digital sound processing going on or somehow the air flow is affecting it. I would expect the bass to hit hard with the top down similar to the boost you get from cracking the windows a bit and the more compliant air mass.

Three problematic songs (which of course I totally love to jam out to) are below. Streamed via YouTube Music (forcing high quality). EQ in the app is flat, Atmos and sound enhancements all turned off.

Mean Street, Van Halen
Turbo Lover, Judas Priest
Gimme all your lovin, ZZ Top
Bark at the moon, Ozzy

Even at a stand still with the top down, the bottom end is mediocre even borderline rubbish. It's very much possible the recording just isn't good, but these songs sounded a lot better on the ML in my GSF. I tried streaming the video versions on YouTube to change the source, but that didn't help. The subwoofer is there and working, because I can immediately switch to KRS1, Step Into a World, and the bass hits, just not as punchy as when you're going slower or stopped.

I'll keep tinkering but if anyone can reproduce with these songs and tell me their stereo sounds fine I'd appreciate it. Maybe it's just me, byt I'll be upgrading the sub for sure.

 

I also stream from YouTube Music...some of the songs pale in comparison to the sound when I stream through Qobuz...just saying.

 

I'll give QoBuz a try in the car, but just listening on my sounbar and sub YT Music actually sounds louder.

 

Ah, ok ...

 

It's a good point though. I think the source definitely factors in.

 

Indeed, it does...

 

Could it be related to the ANC system (at least with the Convertible)? If ANC counters low frequency "booming", possibly its also counteracting the subwoofer. I've not seen what frequencies they are working with. Not sure how to disable ANC except by maybe Carista, it was discussed earlier in this Thread; https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lc-...hancement.html

https://www.dsf.my/2022/01/here-is-w...s-superlative/

https://newsroom.lexus.eu/cabin-calm...c-convertible/

 

I’m very much into audio and let me tell you, the ML on the LC500 is inferior to my GSF and my RX and especially my LS460.
My main problem is that it sounds harsh and bright resulting in audio fatigue after about 30mins.
You can try to turn off all the sound enhancements. But I’ve given up and accepted because it’s a coupe and space/volume is limited and probably will never sound as good as the bigger car stereo.

 

I concluded the same comparing the stereo to the GSF system. I wasn't planning any mods to the stereo, but I'm going to see what I can do using the stock sub location.