While shopping I was really interested in hearing a Levinson Stereo in an RX, and no dealer in a 100 mile radius had one. It was the only premium option I was interested in and would have paid extra for.

The dealers had all manner of rear DVD players and other options that I didn't care about.

I wound up with the regular stereo which is massively better than my deluxe rig in my BMW X5.

So am I missing anything?

 

I have the Mark Levinson and Luxury package and Nav. You should ask the dealer to look it up in his dealer computer to see if he can he locate one for you. But, with ML you have to get the NAV for sure.

 

With the ML you can also watch DVD's while in park on the NAV screen. With the Prestigious Society override you can watch them in motion too.

I'm sure the sound is probably better if you're an audiophile, but if you are already happy with the regular 9 speaker, or the premium 12 speaker system, then it shouldn't be a problem. I have the 12 speaker system and I think it sounds great.

As a matter of interest, anyone know where are the 3 extra speakers are in the ML system?

 

Are you happy with the sound? Did you happen to compare it with the other systems while you were shopping?

The base stereo clearly needs some help in the low end, and it lacks advanced DSP features and an equalizer.

When I bought, there wasn't an ML anywhere in the region, and my X5 was running out of miles.

 

I was told at our dealer the Mark Levinson is a special order only and very difficult to find on a lot anywhere.

 

I have the Mark Lev sound and am happy with it, but its not perfect. The clarity is beautiful, but I don't like the sound balance. Sounds too flat to me (Yes, I've messed with the equalizer). Only when its set at louder volumes do you begin to hear bass comes in and then really the beauty comes in. Sounds great at about 45 and higher.

Its almost as if they missed the sound equalized balance across the volume range.

If you don't care for deep base I believe you would be very happy with it. And it plays DVD and VCD's as well.

 

thanks. I probably should have pushed harder for the Levinson. Oh well, next time.

 

I hate to say this, but out of all the Lexus I have owned or drove, the RX's sound ssytem is probably one of the worst. The newer gen RX is a slight improvement over the last gen.

 

Which system do you have in yours?

 

It's still waaay better than the X5 system, including the upgraded stereo. Germans really struggle with cup holders and sound systems.

 

Germans don't think you need either when driving a car on the autobahn.

 

Very true, but their cars all have ashtrays. So listening to music isn't good. Enjoying a beverage on the road is distracting. But lighting up is OK.

Oh well.

 

You mean BMW really struggle with cup holders and sound systems. The B&O system in the new Audis are simply amazing and it has decend cup holders too. I hear that the new 5 series finally have normal cupholders intead of those stupid pull out from the dash. The BMW Logic7 audio system have also improve, but it should be better considering the price.