Thought I'd share. The best setting for me is:
BASS ON MAX
MID 1 notch below middle
TREBLE 2 notches above middle
SEATING POSITION 2 front seats
BALANCE in the middle
FADE 4 notches from the middle towards the rear


Try it and tell me how u like it.

 

Is there a way to store your personal settings? Or are they erased every time you turn the power off?

 

The audio settings (Bass, Mid, Treble) are "saved" once you select them.

 

Another set-up I like is the following. It isolates the deeper more subtle bass notes allowing them to sound even more pronounced. (I LOVE that deep subtle bass)
BASS ON MAX
MID 2 notches below middle
TREBLE 2 notches above middle
SEATING POSITION 2 rear seats
BALANCE in the middle
FADE 2 notches from the middle towards the rear


Try it and tell me how u like it.

 

Those are the exact settings I have. My 11 year old girl is not too happy when she has friends sitting with her in the back seats, so I fade it towards to the front. Or I drive my wifes RX 350 when I have kids to bus. Thanks!

 

My system resets my sound settings to default every time I start my RX, is there a way to save them?
is there a step I'm missing?

 

Yes, this is a LS430 forum and you have asked a RX question.

 

I've been keeping the bass at stock setting in fear of the famous 'cone rattle' and other Mark Levinson issues that appear all over these forums

 

Sorry, my mistake..

 

Not a problem, no offense intended.

 

Everyone has their own musical tastes in genre's and dB.

I have, in another thread, relayed just what spl's and at what frequency the stock ML system produces. For this topic.... The system as it stands in basic "flat default" mode is amazingly accurate with regard to artistic intent. What I mean is that if you play a decently recorded cd, what you hear is what the final mix that was intended by the recording studio and artists. That being said... Personal tastes, driving conditions, passenger count and other factors all may be adjusted "on the fly" to enhance (to the drivers ears) just what he/she wants to hear. Absolutely nothing wrong with that whatsoever.

The Mark Levinson system, when in peak condition in these quiet car caves, is damn pure. The dsp's ability to move the soundstage... In a car... Is perceptibly visceral. The tone controls are standard fare. When tested, the treble at center and the bass at center, produced the best measured results. (no major nulls or peaks) Puttering with these will allow for personal tastes to be satisfied but may well impinge on what was actually recorded. Is this detrimental? Not imo. It just changes the sound and potentially the imagery with use of the dsp, of the recording.

I recorded good response down to about 40 hz. During a 200 to 20 hz sweep, increasing the bass volume... by sliding the bass to max, did not increase the bass extension, it just made it louder. That is what the controls, bass/treble actually do. They do not increase the frequency range rather they attenuate or decrease the low or high frequency volumes or loudness. If you do desire deeper bass only one thing will help. You have to move more air. If you like treble, you had better have pretty young ears because after a age 30, we humans start to lose the ability to even hear the highest frequencies. By 50 hearing a 10khz tone may well be beyond your reach. Not a big problem as most musical instruments cannot reach any where near the frequency.

Summing up...

Make it play what you want when you want. Remember bass extension is not increased by turning up the bass control. Only a larger sub or two will help there and when done right(accurately) it actually won't be louder, it will just be a rewarding lower punch when a tune hits that very low (think large organ note) that you feel as well as hear.

All the best
​​​​​​​Doug k