New Lexus Owner ES300h Mark Levinson Subwoofer Question

Van Denton · August 26, 2023

I just picked up my car today, a pre-owned 2021 ES300h with the Mark Levinson 17 speaker system.
I have heard the great stories about ML and am a little disappointed in the sound, mainly the bass.
My previous car G90 had the Lexicon Sound System and the Sub seemed more powerful
My other car is a C8 Corvette and it has an improved Bose with a great Sub

Is this a common issue with the ML. Inferior Sub. I have an option to buy a 3rd party Sub and my do that. I want the best sound I can reasonably get.

Thank you for any advice.

Lexus-CT · August 26, 2023

You have a newer ML and a larger car than we so answer may be less than great for you. Do not know if the car you have has a problem with audio; best way to find out is to try another similar and listen if it sounds different.

The CT we have has a close to neutral sound meaning that what is put in is amplified and reproduced rather close to perfect. A car is a difficult place to get perfect sound stage for all in it – it is too small. Listening to classical music and jazz I find the audio in our car close to a perfect compromise. Can hear the difficult to reproduce sound from the double bass when the bass player is sliding fingers on the fret, and drums also sound close to natural.

A more powerful sub could be able to reproduce disco and heavy bass music more efficiently, but the more filters you put in the car in order to get more dedicated speakers to perform their best the more difficult it will be to keep natural sound of instruments and voices.

No car will probably ever be able to sound as well as the old Quad home stereo with electrostatic speakers, there is no way to have such a large volume in a car.

The price of a perfect home stereo is maybe a bit higher than the price of a car.

I think Lexus has chosen a good compromise for audio: https://www.maerklevinson.com