I've not been impressed by the ML system to be honest. For all the fan fare the ML system has I was really expecting some phenominal sound and performance but really...my 06 imprezza with stock head unit and all new aftermarket speakers sounds better/louder, granted no sub. With all this talk of how "calibrated" and "researched" the ML system is I had higher hopes for the audio quality, it's really nothing special at all...more of a headache for used car owners than anything.

 

That is understandable. Some people have been "trained" to hear biased/colored audio as unbiased/uncolored, most notably the crowd that listens to more of bass-heavy music and less of piano, string, and other such instruments. Other people feed the ML system a poor quality input (e.g. lossy, compressed, and/or low bitrate music, such as MP3, satellite radio, Spotify, iTunes), which is then further degraded when using poor quality interfaces like FM transmitters, tape adapters, and maybe those cheaper iPod integration kits too, all of which obviously adds up to poor quality sound hitting your ears. To get a good output, you need a good input - that means commercially-pressed CDs, or lossless encodes of commercially-pressed CDs played through direct interfaces.

You can baseline your system using commercially-pressed CDs played through the factory CD changer. The ML system is meant to play audio accurately, not to clean up or enhance a poor input, nor to emphasize certain frequency ranges over others. Install signal analyzer software on a laptop and plug in an external microphone, record the calibration tones (or a short yet known musical segment) between your LS430 and your Imprezza, measured at driver seat ear level, then compare frequency response and impulse response across both cars for the entire audible frequency range, typically 20-20,000 kHz. I don't know anything about the Imprezza, but I would bet money that the LS430 ML system yields a more accurate sound stage and more accurate frequency response throughout a higher proportion of the audible/usable/useful frequency range than the Imprezza's stock system.

If you didn't buy the upgraded LS430 for the ML speakers and don't care for the ML system, by all means replace original components with cheap aftermarkets that "just work". Anyone in that category wouldn't even bother reading this thread on fixing the speakers. You'd have to really like the ML system to spend an hour scraping 17 year old glue off a frame and cone using a razorblade.

 

I'm with NetG on this one as well. For $6,500 I believe that was the cost of ML system to have in the LS, too me it was all highs and no bass- not impressed. The ML speakers that I replaced were all paper mache, same with the subwoofer. Plus the location where they put the ML amp is just ridiculous, it can't breath covered up like that. That's why I replaced all the door speakers with two-ways (connected to 4-channel amp) and added a 12" powered subwoofer. Added a double-din Pioneer head unit with a 13-Band Graphic Equalizer with was a night and day difference as well. I believe the max volume goes all the way to 45 on the Pioneer, I have it at volume 17 and its already super loud. My wife and me agree it sounded 1,000 times better than the ML.

I know everyone has different ears, but for me I'm happy with my aftermarket 5 speaker system.

 

Why do you assume I, or anyone, would replace the factory audio components with cheap ones? I don't buy speakers from wal-mart. There are far superior speakers out there to oem, just as with almost everything. It's just harder to find on this car due to the higher ohms...if you use the oem head unit and amp that is. And people looking for truely impressive audio won't be sticking with the oem...the impression I got of audiophiles is that they never use oem anything, not even luxury oem. I'm no true audiophile, sure, but I do appreciate quality audio and I know how my yo-yo ma, robert alagna, and metallica should sound and this car just doesn't do it. But you're right I CAN, and will, replace the components with SUPERIOR quality audio components eventually to get the sound I want, the sound this system doesn't seem capable of producing. just my .02

 

StanVanDam is correct. The ML system isn't about getting "the sound you want". It's about accurate reproduction. And at that, it does a phenomenal job for a system that was designed in the late 90s.

 

Mark Levinson has not done any work with retail consumer or car electronics in over 30 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_L..._Audio_Systems

The "high end" audio in LS430 is produced by Harman (Harman is now a wholly owned sub of Samsung) under the label Mark Levinson and has virtually no connection to Mark Levinson audio. Harman Kardon purchased the defunct (bankrupt) Mark Levinson brand name apprx 25 years ago. They also bought many other high end boutique sounding audio brand names - Infinity, JBL, Lexicon, Revel, Crown, Arcam, Soundcraft, and several others - all for purely marketing purposes.

All the "boutique" brands are marketed and sold using Harman electronics produced hardware - nothing special, just different labels pasted on mostly the exact same units built in the exact same factory in China/South Korea/Indonesia/etc.

The most esoteric and complex part of the process is the audiophile marketing hype gobbledygook they cook up for the sales brochures.

Most Harmon produced components themselves are mostly pretty close to generic built to maximize profitability - some units are better than others (the ML gear sounds pretty good especially when brand new) but a lot of their stuff is not great, a classic example is the Mark Levinson speakers. Anyone that has ever worked with actual high end audiophile quality speakers can see in 15 seconds examining the ML speakers in the LS430 that they are pretty close to bargain bin junk. The VC, cone materials, cheap foam surrounds, driver basket, magnet structure - all generic low end material.

 

i can vouch for this being a sub standard system in a very expensive car for it's time. I listen to everything from Metallica to Jazz to some classical. It's good, but not near great. For what i need it for it does the job but i've had better in worse cars.

 

So all car audio systems are basically trash? Some just sound better than others. The Pioneer in my 91, Nakamichi in my 98 and ML in the 05 and 07 all sounded fine to me. I not an audio person by any means just the average consumer like most ppl driving cars today.

 

Really? Because the 430 ML system was universally/unanimously considered the benchmark for factory audio for a long time and really one of the first factory systems that some of the car audio mags would even consider comparing to aftermarket systems.

 

i put a mid grade aftermarket system in my 1994 Cadillac STS. Kenwood deck, Rockford Fosgate amp, Alpine speakers. I could crank that crap out of it and it sounded better than my LS. What i do like about my LS is that the sub really thumps well at low to mid volume. Putting it on SiriusXM Pitbull really makes it work. BUT for a car worth this much money new at the time, my $1000 aftermarket system in my Cadillac beat it. Not arguing, but take it for what it's worth. I'm too old now to really care too much about it as i don't crank it too high anymore as my hearing is done after year sof riding a motorcycle, snowmobiles with aftermarket mountain exhausts and listening to air tools.

 

And possibly listening to excessively loud music? You wouldn't be the first one!