The base audio here is loads better than the Bose in my RL. That's why I was curious about the specs for comparison purposes because my previous car's stereo is ingrained in my ears from ten years of listening, but alas those specs are not listed anywhere. I can understand why it's not listed as 250 or so watts isn't anything to crow about, but that's better than the 235 watt Bose I previously had.

I'm sure the ML is heaps better, but to me, this suits me just fine. I don't listen to Mozart or classical and I'm not a picky audiophile by any stretch of the term. It's loud, much more clearer than my Bose at volume, and sounds just fine.

Had to get use to the volume quantity, though, as 40 here is equivalent to 30 in my previous car. My Bose maxed at 40, so the increments are a lot different.

 

Yeah the ML audio has never impressed me, our 430 had it but I never felt it was as strong as the Nakamichi audio that was in our LS400. The 430 had the ML and my 03 ES300 had ML, but past that I've never really bothered to get it.

 

So who's first to upgrade the sub and external amp in our 4th gens????

 

Just like the HIDs, you get to go first LOL

 

Darn it!!!

 

Dooo itttt! I look forward to the results, Dr! Lol

 

Just curious what settings people are using for those with standard or, as Lexus puts it, "Premium" audio? I've been fiddling with it non-stop for a while.

Here's mine:
Treble: +2 above center
Mid: +2 above center
Bass: -1 from max
Auto Audio Level: OFF
Surround: OFF
Position: I left it dead center. The car is big and any positioning towards to the front really drowns out any sound from the rear for me.
Volume: typically 30-40, sometimes more.

There's some variance in the settings between sources, like for CD I'll max bass and turn down treble/mid one notch.

I don't like the SURROUND feature and turned it off. While it does seem to increase volume at equivalent levels, it just sounds too unnatural and "tinny." I don't like the auto level feature either. Turned that off.

I will say that the bass level is low from the rear sub. Not sure if it's just a characteristic of the car volume and speaker level, but the front door bass drowns out the rear dedicated sub. It still sounds great, but I wish the rear-deck dedicated subwoofer had a higher level.

 

I do the same for my ML system but only have the bass +1. I hear you on the sub. Seems to have been the same for the last 25+ years if you ask me. All my LSs worked that way.