The rear speaker volume in my 2010 RX 350 is very low. They produce sound but can only be heard when I put the balance almost completely in the rear. I prefer not to pay hundreds to the dealer and then possibly be told that I need to go to an audio specialist.

 

I actually feel like I've got the same thing. The audio balance seems to be all the way forward. I have a trunk full so i figured it was because the rear sub is slightly covered......

 

Thanks for the reply. However, my trunk is empty and the speakers in the mid of the truck are also low. It seems that only the front cabin speakers have full output.

 

Depending on your in-service date and mileage you may still be under warranty. If so, I would just take it to the dealer. If out of warranty, I might still take it by there and ask their opinion. Might be something they can take care of in a few minutes.

 

OP, I've been thinking about your post. I agree if you are still in-warranty, you should take it in and have it checked... but, there is another consideration. There are 3 different sets of speaker setups depending on options you purchased in the 3rd Gen RXs. You and other posters don't specify what you have -- 9 speakers, 12, or the 15 with Mark Levinson.

See this post of mine for locations of the speakers in each configuration that I found in TIS. Of particular note is if you have the basic 9-speaker setup, 7 speakers are in the front and only 2 in the back on the lower rear door panels -- nothing else in the rear exists. If you have the 12-speaker upgrade you get 3 more -- all in the back including the addition of a subwoofer that would also help with perceived volume levels I suspect.

It's been a number of years since I listened to a 9-speaker RX, but it was awful to my ear when I sat in the rear seats -- front wasn't too bad in a relative sense -- but I opt for the Mark Levinson version (relative merits have been debated elsewhere). In any case, you may want to check what you have option-wise, and take the number of speakers you should have into consideration with your problem determination if you've not done that already.

 

Same issue with ours. We just keep the fader slightly to the rear.

 

Yea, me too. The perceived volume is significantly less when faded to the rear. To hear balanced sound (as in, the sound is coming to me equally from all sides, I have to fade back 75-80% and turn up 5 to 10 on the volume. I typically leave it only one or two lines faded to the rear though normally, as this system is already volumetrically challenged at the top end to have it faded this much to the rear all the time.

PS 12 speaker non-ML

 

This is normal for RX's.....the sound system just isn't that good, and I have the 12 speaker job. Perhaps ML is better. You'll have to balance it towards the back to get some semblance of balance but you'll never get a true balanced sound. Chalk it up to the large volume in the cabin and so-so system.

 

This is totally normal. As they focus more on the front stage. Most pro competition guys don't even run rear speakers.

 

We are now having to do exactly the same thing on our 2013.

The thing is, it wasn't this way before we had the radio replaced last week to fix the crappy AM reception problem.

I gotta tell you guys, this is my first Lexus, and I'm really underwhelmed with everything electronic on it. The nav system is straight out of 2005, the radio replacement just swapped problems, the remote start is finicky and kills the motor when the door is opened... This is luxury? The Kenwood system I have in my Excursion works better in every way.

Mark

 

Here's another vote for setting the fader mostly to the rear, even with 12 speakers.

I complain about the quality of the stereo in every survey they send out. Falls on deaf ears.....

 

Irritated as I am, that's still funny.

Mark

 

The 2010 we just bought does exactly the same thing--low volume & poor sound quality from the rear speakers. BTW-we have the standard 9-speaker stereo. I may try upgrading the rear speakers with some better quality speakers. Shouldn't cost much & may make a difference.

Re: the electronics. Our RX has MUCH better displays than the 2008 GX we traded in. We don't have NAV on the RX, and the radio info display (on XM: channel, song title & artist) is woefully inadequate though. Looks like something from 20 years ago. Lexus can do better than that, I'm sure.