Swami101

This is great news. I am really surprised that Lexus has allowed the sound quality to drop between model years. I guess I foolishly assumed they had someone from Mark Levinson who helped them engineer it and then signs off on fantastic sound. Whoever signed off on the radio quality of the RX hybrid plus had no sense of what music should sound like. Streaming higher res files from my phone is substantially better sounding, in some ways comparable to my Mercedes, but not as good as some of the earlier model years, especially in bass. It is almost like they just dropped the rear woofers for weight or something.

Rancherman

Great Keep us posted!

Bluemus

If this works for you, it would be great if you could post some picks showing how/where it all gets installed, although I'm still not happy about folks feeling like they need to purchase/install new equipment.

landonm86

I drive a 2021 ES with the base Pioneer sound system. I recently spent a week in a loaner which was the new RZ450e with a ML sound system and it was significantly worse than my base system. I was really surprised. I couldn’t wait to get my ES back. Even if they cost the same I would choose the base system, let alone the four digit cost to “upgrade”.

mhoran89

sound on ML in the TX is really really good through the phone with apple carplay (spotify). It is just about as good as the bose in my 2017/2018 Q7. through the HD FM radio it is not the greatest but the car only has 850 miles on it and I also have not played around with the EQ all that much...

more info to come but I am not disappointed in the ML by any means yet.

DriverMan

I have had ML in all my Lexus cars but I noti that in my RX vs LS500 the RX is poor. The sound is not very good compared to the LS500. I have tried different settings wondering if the sound system is working correctly. I was wondering how you test the speakers to see if they are all working. It just does not sound anywhere as good as the LS that even my wife noticed it.

ems09

I just got a new Lexus TX 350 with the ML sound system, and agree with many of the comments here. I do also think that it sounds much better on Spotify, with both system tuning adjustments and EQ settings. It seems its strength is in its clarity for things like vocals. HD Radio performance isn’t that great.

A couple of questions:

I’ve noticed that the upper speaker in the driver door next to the handle (and I’m assuming the passenger door as well) barely put out any sound, if at all. Is that normal function? When I put my ear to it, I can’t discern any audio coming from it, and everything seems to be coming from the speakers on the dash. I have sound center/center or just one back. This is the case in both surround and non-surround mode. I imagine the system would sound more full with these speakers outputting meaningful sound. Can anyone else confirm how their system performs in this regard?

There is a speaker (or is it a sub?) in the trunk on the left side labeled JBL instead of Mark Levinson. Is that how everyone else’s system is?

stunt66

No go fellas. Dropped it off last week and the installer called to say it wouldn't work because it would just rattle everything apart. I posted on the TX FB group and some other members said my amp was too powerful for the sub even though thats what a Kicker rep suggested when I contacted them. I might go with one of these and try to fit it under a seat and worst case mount in the trunk somewhere. Id rather not have anything in the trunk but at this point im desperate haha.

LoweTX

I am having the exact same issues. We have had our TX500h for not even a week and the ML system is a joke. We had it in our 2023 GX and absolutely loved it, and that's why we decided to get it in our new TX. I asked the dealer if they have heard any problems or issues with it, and they seemed shocked. I find that a little hard to believe, but I do know they are very new vehicles. I'm following this feed for any info I can get. This is really disappointing. I'm hoping it's just a software update or something simple like that.

Swami101

Yes, it is so bad, especially the radio, that it is like something is broken. There is no way that anyone who even slightly cares about sound quality would produce something that sounds this anemic. The idea that they sell it as a "premium sound system" is hard to even comprehend. I was wondering if the hybrid plug in system forced them to cut some corners and they haven’t disclosed it.

mhoran89

I just prefer to listen to FM stations through wireless apple car play through the iheart radio app and it sounds tremendously better. same thing with sirius xm app versus directly tuning through the head unit. has anyone tried that?

Swami101

Great suggestion, I will try this. I had no luck with XM radio though.

vmomo

I test drove a premium TX this past weekend and I immediately noticed the sound was awful (weak sounding, no base). I saw the ML branding on the interior but I assumed maybe it's the stock version. I'm pretty disappointed to find out that I was listening to the "upgraded" system. I'm curious what people think about the stock speakers? Paying an extra grand for the ML seems ridiculous.

vmomo

How's the bass on the stock system?

mhoran89

I meant if you use the sirius app through your phone through apple car play it is much better. bitrate of satellite radio in cars is horrendous...