Door mounted speakers sound VERY low on 2023 ES350

[J James]

The speakers mounted on all the doors sounds VERY low compared to the sound from the dash board speakers.

Also the rear speaker has no sound at all.

 Anyone had similar issues?

 

 

Edited April 4, 2023 by J James

[Richard marano]

yes i have the same problem and back speakers  are also so low 

[Richard marano]

The speakers in the rear shelve have almost no sound at all going to bring it in next week

[Les Lex 2018]

Hi Richard! From what you said, the rear speaker are connected up properly.

So what happens when you go to setting - Sound, and adjust the front/rear balance to send all the sound to the rear?  Do you lose vol to all speakers?

 

[Richard marano]

Fading to the rear speakers helps the rear door speakers the rear shelf speakers still very low they should be as loud as the front speakers 

[Les Lex 2018]

I tested the 22 300h and everything works perfect with auto-level eq. on and Surround sound either on or off. So off to the dealership.  Some vehicles use a separate multi-channel amp for the rear set.  If so, it is not user adjustable, and it may have been adjusted incorrectly at the factory.

Could you let us know what they find?  I get frustrated with TMC because they do NOT like to discuss the working schematic-level details of their sound systems.

But I presume the Toyota and Lexus call centers are the same support group.

It just seems that way.

[J James]

Richard,  This,to me looks like a design issue.  Don't understand Lexus's logic behind  this.  I found the same issue on 2 other ES350 .

I just lodged a complain to  lexus at https://support.lexus.com/s/questions-comments

You should also do the same.

 

[Richard marano]

Taking it in we’d see what they say and go from their thank you

[Rick marano]

when i talked to them at the dealer  he said they all sound like that , even the Mark Levinson , 

thats the way they want it to be like a concert hall the music comes from in front of you  

[Habenero]

My 2024 ES350 behaves the same way. I have to adjust the balance so its almost 100% towards the rear for the speakers behind the door to wake up and to hear much from the rear speaker.

[Rick marano]

going 100% to rear  screws up the sound to me , called Lexus  they say thats the way it is ,  great car radio sucks , i have another car its front bias but rear speakers are larger and much louder , i do  not no what to do ,  wish some one made a different amp, i would buy it  ,  

[Habenero]

I moved my rear balance ALMOST to 100% rear. Just a tick away from 100% made all the difference. This is not how a balance control should work but in my case it made a huge beneficial difference.

[JMSC]

I have the same problem.  When I go to the screen to adjust the front rear fade, it is greyed out and cannot be adjusted.  Do I need to turn something else off to gain this function?

[Rick marano]

nothing that i no of ,  i have adjusted my front to rear  the best it can be ,  the rear speakers are to small , even with the fader set 3 clicks to the rear ,  just a poor system , 

[Rick marano]

was in my car  the screen on left lower looks like a gear then sound and media , next sound tuning  , equalizer and balance and fade ,  balance and fade i went 3 clicks down , and volume now around 20 , 

[JMSC]

Thanks!

[RHamHusker]

I am looking to replace factory 10 speaker system and looking for recommendations and results from others that may have replaced factory speakers or added Amp or Subwoofer. As others have stated, all the sound is directed from dash speakers no matter how you balance front/Rear balance. 

Seems Crutchfield may have replacement options so I will contact their specialist for advise and options.

Edited July 27 by RHamHusker

[Rick marano]

hi  so far i have not come up with anything , i have balanced the system to the  rear  3 clicks down,  i think some of the better speakers may sound better  but not louder ,  Crutchfield  seams the best to talk with , it is just a poor system , the  amp  needs more output put to the  rear ,  sad lexus will not do anything .  and also the speakers are to small  3.5 "   our mazda  has much larger rear door speakers ,    its Bose , and sounds great ,    i was in a  Audi Q5 and has the same front  bias sound ,   if you come up with anything  let me know ,  thanks Rick 

[Les Lex 2018]

I presume that you guy have checked with Lexus to see if altering / tampering with the audio system will NOT void your warrantee.  I see here on the forum that replacing that system outside of the warrantee can be a shockingly expensive proposition. Get it in writing!

The Mark L in my 300h is not designed to be a boom box, but I still have to crank it down when driving thru the ally in the morning to avoid a possible complaint and a ticket.

 

[Rick marano]

hi  i have not checked with lexus  with the warrantee  , but i sure  it will void it .  yes changing the system will cost a huge amount .  i have the ultra luxury , and the only option it did not have is the Mark Levinson .  i was afraid i could not 

get the  color i wanted and they were so hard to get so i took the car ,   amazing machine , just not a great stereo  ,  it should have more adjustments ,  our Mazda  has so many adjustments .   Audi has bang olfson   way  better  in my son's   s5 .  guys say to take it to a radio shop you can spend thousands .  be cool if the back door speakers could be  5.25  or 6.5  inch   speakers ,  not enough room from what i see , i did try the 3.5 "  infinity  speakers  but  no difference .  its sad .  wish  some one made a amplifier  with more rear volume , i would buy it ,  just a sad system ,  

[RHamHusker]

Hey LesLex2018, You have the ML System, does the music in the car sound as a true surround system or do you hear mostly the front speakers? Also, in my 2024 Standard 10 speaker, whatever music I listen too just doesn't sound like a great balanced sound. My Tundra stock sound system with 7 speakers just sounds so much clearer and the high and low rangers are crisp. I don't need to play the music super loud, I am just looking for a great balanced sound level throughout the car and a bit better bass and tweeter. 

I will check with Lexus on Warranty if I replace the stock speakers just to be safe. 

I love my 300h, car is the quietest and smoothest car I've ever owned, but the sound system is definitely not up to par. 

[Rick marano]

i feel the same with my es350 with the quiet wheels , amazing makes my old infiniti  sound like tin can was so noisy , fast , nice radio  ,  worst seats , bad back ,  lexus is amazing machine, except the radio  , did 36mpg v6 on road trip , amazing .  let me know about the warranty  and  the speakers  you use ,   thanks    

[Habenero]

I'm not that picky as far as audio goes, but even I noticed the poor rear speaker balance.

I honestly can't believe Lexus allowed this.

[Rick marano]

yes  

3 minutes ago, Habenero said:

I'm not that picky as far as audio goes, but even I noticed the poor rear speaker balance.

I honestly can't believe Lexus allowed this.

 

3 minutes ago, Habenero said:

I'm not that picky as far as audio goes, but even I noticed the poor rear speaker balance.

I honestly can't believe Lexus allowed this.       so so true , everyone  is !Removed! with them they should listen ,  amazing car  crap radio  tiny speakers , 

 

3 minutes ago, Habenero said:

I'm not that picky as far as audio goes, but even I noticed the poor rear speaker balance.

I honestly can't believe Lexus allowed this.

i feel the same with my es350 with the quiet wheels , amazing makes my old infiniti  sound like tin can was so noisy , fast , nice radio  ,  worst seats , bad back ,  lexus is amazing machine, except the radio  , did 36mpg v6 on road trip , amazing .  let me know about the warranty  and  the speakers  you use ,   thanks    

[Les Lex 2018]

I have not experimented with surround sound since my USB only supports Mpeg.

I don't yet use the CD player, but I will test it out with surround sound if I can dig up an album that supports surround sound.

Other setting: Auto sound leveling = ON.

Base Treble, equalizer all set to middle. Even with base set at center, it produces too much base for me.

Fader set to 3 click up from the bottom (Rear).  If I go any closer to Rear, I lose all fidelity and only hear base.  That sounds like a BUG to me?

Result: I can't tell where the music is coming from except for the stereo component.

Balance set to one click to the right.

On a tune with base, the main base output is coming from the rear deck and front door speakers.  The least base is coming from the rear doors.  BUT the fidelity out of the rear door speaker is excellent at these settings.  Small speaker, is the reason, as you noted?

The design makes sense if you think about it.  It's NOT a family car.  Most people stepping out of the 300 are older folks.  Back seat will never get used.  So they pump the Watts everywhere else.