I'm not a big audiophile but to me the ML system is dissapointing. I remember when this generation came out and the reviews said this was the best OEM vehicle system in the world. Now granted time has moved on but I don't find it that special. The system in my 05 TL would blow it into the weeds. Even now I have an old Chevy truck with a factory Bose system that I only drive on weekends, but every time I do I'm always shocked that it sounds pretty darn good which shows how mediocre the ML system can be. Regarding BMW, I have a friend with a 2007 BMW 530i and his factory system also blows my ML system away.

My conclusion is the ML system is meant for "light" music like classical/jazz and also AM talk radio, all listened to a low to medium volume. IMO, music that demands more volume exposes the system as the louder you turn it up the worse it gets.

 

I guess different strokes for different folks judging from
the replies in this thread.

I've been listening to John Mayer's newish album
Battle Studies the last couple of days and find the audio
superb! Very clear and defined with great bass response even at ear shattering volumes. I took an hour highway ride to and from Grand Rapids with my fiancé last week so that we could enjoy just listening to the album. Now my fiancé is begging for an upgrade of her sound system in her Accord.

 

Quite agree with the above posts... Not the perfect system... Decent though, if...

For most music, it seems okay...

But for some, other (cheaper systems) seem to be making the music sound better at the bass range...

It needs quite a bit of fine tuning to get to the 'right' spot on the equalizer for your liking.

Tried sitting at the back, it sounds different all together or slightly better.

 

When I was shopping for my car, one of the requirements was the Mark Levinson stereo, but I really do think its crap. Ill be replacing the blown sub soon, but after that, Ill likely also be upgrading all of the speakers too even though theyre ok right now. After that, I hope Im happy and dont have to replace the amps too.

Its really an overhyped system and definitely overpriced when new. that said, I like the 6 disk in dash and nav integration but otherwise, its really not a good system.

 

@Jim_Chow: Thanks for the knowledgable reply. I didn't know the recording labels were so dramatically different (although to be honest I don't know that much about music overall). Most of the time all I have are laptop speakers or my bose headphones, so any car system is a huge step up. I feel like I've gotten a bit spoiled with everything in the LS, always feel like I'm picking out flaws in our other cars and comparing them to the LS (save the E60, that thing is very nice). I didn't appreciate the ML system as much until I borrowed my parents' Honda Odyssey (sp?). Wow what a difference! The sound system in the minivan was neither clear nor had bass.

 

It really all depends on your listening preferences, if you are looking for for a great sound processing and band separation then you would love the ML but if you are looking for a bass thump that you can feel in your back and loud volume, then you would not like the ML but I can promise you with confidence that you would hear certain instruments on the ML that you didn't even know it existed when you were playing it earlier on another system. The clarity and sound processing of the ML for me is one of the greatest systems I listen to.

 

Unfortunately the sub tends to blow in the ML and when it does the whole system sounds like #$@. There is a cheap repair process for the sub somewhere on this forum. The other speakers aren't very robust either and I ran into several while shopping for cars that had at least one torn cone, not apparent with all content.

For a car system it is very revealing and this is a mixed blessing. I can easily tell the difference in most content if I play LAME extreme-encoded MP3s, as I usually run lossless files through my iPod connection. I've never heard a car system where I could tell the difference in most songs before (except some where MP3 always falls on its face, such as Genesis' Ripples).

Some recordings, especially modern rock, are so bad it almost doesn't matter though and they sound like hash anyway with the total lack of interest and extra compression most recording engineers bring to the party these days. Nothing can save these recordings, and they certainly sound worse through the ML. Give it good content and it can surprise you (for a mobile system), give it crap and it kicks you in the face with it.