I don’t like the sound of the 21 speakers Mark Levinson system on my TX350. It sounds cheap, shallow and without a base. Has anybody noticed the same? Maybe it’s the Sirius XM, or local FM radio, low quality connection? I’ve increased the base to max in the TX sound settings, and it sounds acceptable, but far from the high quality they supposed to be. My old CRV sounds better.

 

Several people have voiced their concern with the ML in the TX. I on the other hand have opted for the base system and am pleasantly surprised at how good it is, being that it's a base. This was after I test drove with one with and without ML, and I have also noticed the ML to be "off" and not worth the upcharge.

The car is still new, so not much info or action in the TX forums. I suggest you join the FB groups, much more on there for now.

 

Agreed, Bose system in my Cadillac is far superior’s

 

Are you all talking just radio and XM stations?

Trying running the sound source via USB or Bluetooth audio…the levinson in our RX is great

 

Agree as well. Just got my TX350 today and was disappointed with the sound quality and the limited EQ of the Mark Levinson setup. I also own a Q7 with the Bang & Olufsen 3D sound system and it is much superior. If someone find a better EQ setup, please share. Thank you.

 

The ML sound in the TX 350 is so disappointing. Feel like it was all a big hoax as multiple people at the dealership were talking up how good it was. Will rethink buying another Lexus.

 

While the Mark Levinson is not to the level of the ML in my 2021 RX 450h, I made some changes that seem to improve the sound quality in my opinion:

Treble: Move the treble slider to the right to about 7/8ths of full scale

Mid-Range: Move the mid-range slider to the left to about 3/8ths of full scale (a bit below the center line)

Bass: Move the bass slider to the right to about 3/4 to 7/8ths of full scale

Front / Back: Move the slider down 1 click to the back / rear

Everyone’s preferences will vary of course but hopefully these changes will improve the sound quality for you.

I like to use the following songs to check sound quality between audio systems which may be helpful in setting your personalized audio settings:

Framed by Funk – Spoonbill

Fast Car – Tracy Chapman (used by JBL Labs for speaker comparison research. It was found to be the single best song by multiple blinded testers for differentiating sound quality between speakers).

Landslide – Fleetwood Mac

 

I have to say that I'm disappointed by how poor the sound quality is with the ML system, for my preferences. It sounds very tinny to me and frankly irritating to the point that I'm not sure I'm going to be able live with the sound. The Sony system in my prior Ford Explorer was considerably better. This is a disappointing downgrade for us. It's almost as if no one checked the sound while building the system. Doesn't make any sense...

The only way I can tolerate the sound is by turning the treble all the way down, the mid one notch from the bottom, the bass a couple of notches from the top, and shifting the balance a couple of notches to the back of the car as was suggested above, but I still find the sound annoying.

Frustrated... This is my first Lexus. Does Lexus ever release software updates that include updates to EQ settings? I'm not sure if more flexibility with the EQ would help.

Update 1:
​​​​​​I just tried playing music from my phone where I can use my phone apps' equalizer and the sound is way better. Lexus needs to fix the EQ in the ML system. Still not enough base, but definitely better.

Update 2:
Here are the equalizer settings that my wife and I applied in our Samsung phone settings in case this is helpful for anyone else to see, appreciating that everyone's listening preferences are different.

 

The 21 speaker Mark Levinson system on my TX350 is a failure. It sounds cheap, tinny and without no base. There is no enjoyable full body sound from any source to listen to while driving. 1800 watts shouting at you is not music. You can remove most of the treble and midrange but still very poor sound. The sound is focused on the front and the 2nd row you hear predominantly symbols and some of the lower spectrum if played loud and the third row I can only describe as worse than the plastic 8-track wedge speakers you put in your dad’s car. The original TX350 I tried out had the standard audio system and it was ok so there was never a thought about optioning up to the high end Levinson system - what a mistake. I have 5 other vehicles from a Corolla Sport to an Armada Platinum and even the Corolla audio sounds better. I travel and rent cars regularly and this system is an anomaly and it's being confirmed on the web as the deliveries are starting to increase. So we need to find a solution. Lexus needs reach-out to Mark Levinson for a fix. i know its early to start looking at aftermarket solutions but something needs to be done. if anyone has looked at alternatives please let me know. Thanks to all.

 

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Totally agree! Very poor quality sound for an $1,100 option!!! Guess now I’m stuck trying to get an aftermarket fix to the lack of bass issue. It’s all about that base!!! :-)

 

Is it possible these issues are software related could be solved with a future radio firmware update? Or is it hardware and would require aftermarket fixes?

 

Even with the Android equalizer adjustments that I made above, the base is still not great. I don't think any type of software fix will address this. Lexus bungled the ML speakers in this model. It seems they installed super cheap speakers. Lexus should offer to install new speakers free of charge, similar to a recall. We shouldn't have such a cheap stereo system (particularly when it's supposed to be an upgraded version) in such an expensive vehicle. It's truly unacceptable.

 

Agree. Not sure how they can fix this except with different or additional speakers. I asked two dealers to point out the 21 speakers and they couldn't. I assume Lexus are counting a coax or triax speaker as 2 or 3 speakers instead of one. Almost 100% of suv's have a larger set of speakers in the lower part of the 2nd row doors...not the TX350, just smaller ones at chest level that have no low range. The third row have no low or mid-range in those speakers...just high range...no fixing these except replacing with a full range speaker...but they are very small. I believe there is a sub in the very r-h side of the cargo area...but it seems like it isn't amplified as there isn't much base coming out of it and none that seems to get out of that cargo area. I reached out to Harmon (parent company of M-L as the M-L phone number provided does not work. Of course will be redirected to the dealer, but this is a difficult challenge for a dealer. I will keep moving forward.

 

I just got the new Rx Hybrid+ and agree with everything here on the TX. Playing the ML radio, the sound is retched. As bad as it can possibly get. Tinny, weak. It sounds like someone surrounded me with transistor radios,

On the other hand, the streaming quality is infinitely better when I play uncompressed music off my phone. Has anyone tried this on the TX?

 

I’ve read of a couple tx owners adding a new sub and amp so I’ll be doing that next week hopefully. I contacted kicker and they recommended the CXA400.1 amp and the 50CWCD84 sub so I have those and just waiting for the kicker bass remote. I’ll update once this is installed.