Mark Levinson 21-speaker audio sounds terrible on the GX 550 Luxury +

[nopantz]

I have had my OT + with the ML system for a month now. I have noticed full sound, all ranges, at lower volume levels, but as I am a 60's and 70's rock n roller and love to feel my music as well as hear it, when the volume goes up the bass and low mid ranges fade out somewhat and then I notice it seems to come back some and go away and come back and on n on. Tried listening to Sirius in Lexus mode and Android mode with the same results. Kind if disappointing. Thought all ranges would amplify equally as the volume went up. Almost as if there is a governor set up in the low ranges.
My input on the ML system.

Just fyi, audio quality on Sirius is awful, terrible, horrible. Very overcompressed. Bit rates in the 60KB/s typically vs 128K-192KB for typical mp3s or higher that you can get with Spotify or TIDAL. I won't even touch the XM trial on this vehicle.

I only have 500 miles on my ML system so far and I'm somewhat neutral on it to date.

 

[cloey701]

I own a 23 GX and a new OT+, the difference is insane between the two. I can’t wait to find out why the new GX is so bad!

Right? The 23 GX has amazing sound. I think people like us who have both understand the difference

 

[sschreib]

Same! Let’s hope they notice something

They are keeping my car and will check the speakers, but they did recommend turning the Auto Sound Leveling off + not using Surround Sound option. It did get a little better. The sub is that lower speaker in the back tailgate, which wasn't making any noise when I showed them.

If they can't fix, I want to see about potentially adding a sub in the rear side storage compartment.

 

[cloey701]

They are keeping my car and will check the speakers, but they did recommend turning the Auto Sound Leveling off + not using Surround Sound option. It did get a little better. The sub is that lower speaker in the back tailgate, which wasn't making any noise when I showed them.

If they can't fix, I want to see about potentially adding a sub in the rear side storage compartment.

Keep me posted! And tell them there are many of us with the same problem

 

[sschreib]

Keep me posted! And tell them there are many of us with the same problem

Well, not my favorite news. Dealer said all speakers are working as designed. They did help me mess with the settings where I would have never guessed would have improved the overall sound. I also made them give me the speaker map, so that others can see where each is located, etc. At this point, I would give the ML upgrade a 5-6 out of 10 score. I am having another call with Lexus Corp support Monday and will report my issues with their design.

 

[cloey701]

Well, not my favorite news. Dealer said all speakers are working as designed. They did help me mess with the settings where I would have never guessed would have improved the overall sound. I also made them give me the speaker map, so that others can see where each is located, etc. At this point, I would give the ML upgrade a 5-6 out of 10 score. I am having another call with Lexus Corp support Monday and will report my issues with their design.

Good job! Can’t wait to hear what corporate says because that’s where I was going to go.

 

[AnthemAVM]

Well, not my favorite news. Dealer said all speakers are working as designed. They did help me mess with the settings where I would have never guessed would have improved the overall sound. I also made them give me the speaker map, so that others can see where each is located, etc. At this point, I would give the ML upgrade a 5-6 out of 10 score. I am having another call with Lexus Corp support Monday and will report my issues with their design.

Thanks for sharing, any comments on the settings?

 

[cloey701]

Thanks for sharing, any comments on the settings?

Shut surround off and levelizer

 

[jclaffee]

Well, not my favorite news. Dealer said all speakers are working as designed. They did help me mess with the settings where I would have never guessed would have improved the overall sound. I also made them give me the speaker map, so that others can see where each is located, etc. At this point, I would give the ML upgrade a 5-6 out of 10 score. I am having another call with Lexus Corp support Monday and will report my issues with their design.

Curious, if you set any/all fade settings all the way to the back what happens?

 

[SFOvertrail]

Well, not my favorite news. Dealer said all speakers are working as designed. They did help me mess with the settings where I would have never guessed would have improved the overall sound. I also made them give me the speaker map, so that others can see where each is located, etc. At this point, I would give the ML upgrade a 5-6 out of 10 score. I am having another call with Lexus Corp support Monday and will report my issues with their design.

Well this is just not making any sense and I think Lexus needs to address this. According to the speaker map you posted, it looks like there are supposed to be working low range speakers in the rear door panels AND a working subwoofer in the rear hatch. Both are non-existent in my OT+ and my dealership also told me everything is working as designed.

 

[cloey701]

Well this is just not making any sense and I think Lexus needs to address this. According to the speaker map you posted, it looks like there are supposed to be working low range speakers in the rear door panels AND a working subwoofer in the rear hatch. Both are non-existent in my OT+ and my dealership also told me everything is working as designed.

They are trying to make us seem crazy. I have a 2014 GX and the 2024 GX side by side you can tell the difference in the sound systems. The 2014 is way better with subwoofers and the 2024 seems to have no sub woofers

 

[jclaffee]

Lots of issues with the 550 that are starting to make Lexus look pretty bad. Things happen in the first MY after a complete re-design. Wind noise from roof racks, the roof gutter thing, the paint damage from protective shipping film...But it's a problem when there are significant things like the vibration issues and the sound system, and the dealers essentially say "that's how it's supposed to be". Sounds like there needs to be some tweaks for the next model year. Doubtful.

 

[Redline]

For those that had the previous GX, did the ML system sound better?

One interesting thing my dealer said when we were taking delivery is he said the speakers are made out of a bamboo material instead of a traditional cloth type material so they can get splashed with water and not get damaged. Not sure if this has anything to do with anything but thought that was interesting.

Absolutely*

*comparing to the 2014 GX and the 2023 GX.

 

[Redline]

Well, not my favorite news. Dealer said all speakers are working as designed. They did help me mess with the settings where I would have never guessed would have improved the overall sound. I also made them give me the speaker map, so that others can see where each is located, etc. At this point, I would give the ML upgrade a 5-6 out of 10 score. I am having another call with Lexus Corp support Monday and will report my issues with their design.

Is it me, or am I only counting 18 speakers (instead of 21) across both of these maps?

 

[Bluegill]

View attachment 2553

The "A" dots are two speakers each (1.6 cm tweeter + 9 cm midrange). Total adds up to 21.

I have a base Overtrail and the stereo sounds "fine". Not superb, doesn't blow my flip flops off, but sounds fine. I'll probably upgrade the speakers at some point. I can definitely hear the bass and the sub in the back, particularly when listening to the Bob Marley channel on Sirius.

All I've heard about the ML system is that it sucks.

 

[DanDanTMM]

Well, not my favorite news. Dealer said all speakers are working as designed. They did help me mess with the settings where I would have never guessed would have improved the overall sound. I also made them give me the speaker map, so that others can see where each is located, etc. At this point, I would give the ML upgrade a 5-6 out of 10 score. I am having another call with Lexus Corp support Monday and will report my issues with their design.

My overtrail+ with ML matches what is on this diagram. There are only two speakers in the back doors. There is no sound coming from the third speaker area down low in the door that doesn’t have the ML cover treatment on it. I believe those are only used for the non-ML setup. It would be nice if they were supposed to be working though.

 

[WWoodyWood]

I already traded my GX550 in due to suspension chatter (dealer agreed it was a lemon), so I can’t run this test myself, but it would be interesting to use a simple online tone generator as the input and see where the crossover for the sub is set and also see how low the sub will go. The sub may seem to not be working, but maybe there’s a very limited range and I’m guessing it won’t go below 80 or 60hz. (The Meridian system in my Defender blew the doors off the ML system playing the exact same songs from same sources.)

 

[JustinB]

Interesting post. Now I'm curious to see how the $1,800 ML upgrade sounds when mine arrives.

Is there an actual subwoofer and just no separate controls for it in the audio settings?

While I think the ML sounds good, I wouldn’t pay for it as an upgrade. It’s nowhere near as good as the stock stereo and my wife’s Tesla model Y.

She got in in GX and played me a song the other day and at first she thought she was playing a different recording of this song only to realize it was the difference in sound system quality compared to what she’s used to.

 

[Franz]

Update from dealership. They opened up the rear door panels and confirmed that there are no speakers in the location of the lower rear doors. This is the reason if sound is faded all the way to rear, bass is not existent. Dealership said this is all correct and working as designed. I have to say this is the worst audio upgrade option I’ve personally come across.

I just came back from the dealership and they removed the rear door panels and showed me the "dummy" speakers in the bottom set of speakers in the rear doors. They claim that this is how it is supposed to be and said that another Lux+ with ML also had the same setup. The speaker map shows that they are speakers in that location.

 

[AnthemAVM]

When you say dummy, they actually didn't work.