I recently purchased a 2011 Lexus IS 250 with the Mark Levinson option (factory ordered as the option wasn't available in stock). I've had the vehicle for about a month now and from listening to various audio sources (CD, SAT, FM, USB) I noticed that sound is biased towards the center+right channels, even though the balance setting is at exactly center. Does anyone know whether this is normal?
Since the ML option has a real physical center channel in the middle of the dash, I figured maybe if I sat in the front right passenger side, then I should hear the opposite with bias towards the center+left channels instead. That wasn't the case. While sitting in the front passenger side, sound seemed perfectly balanced between the right door and center channel.
From reading various topics on the internet, I'm thinking my left front channel is out of phase, causing it to be less audible when all the speakers are producing sound. So what I did was bring it in to Lexus for service and all they were able to tell me after looking at it for a couple of hours is that since all the channels are producing sound (which they are, technically), then there's nothing they can do. They can't go in and rewire, since that's how it came from the factory. They even advised I take it to a third party audio shop to take a look, or even try rewiring it myself!
One of the reasons I chose to order this audio-upgrade from the factory rather than aftermarket was the convenience of having Lexus honor its warranty should anything be wrong, but it seems like this situation is an exception. Anyone know how I should proceed with this? Any input would be greatly appreciated.
By the way, during the couple of hours Lexus had my vehicle for service I was given a loaner vehicle with the stock audio (non-ML) configuration. I listened to the same sources on the loaner vehicle and noticed that there were no balance issues, confirming my suspicion of balance or phase issues on my vehicle.