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Mark Levinson..Worse then Bose

2K views 27 replies 12 participants last post by  brad 
#1 ·
I checked out a GS430 last night and the audio system was pretty weak. No bass and was not very loud at all, What up???? Thats some stupid money for that POS, on the other hand, thought the Nav was pretty great...
 
#2 ·
that's odd, toyota stereo systems (in the upper half of the product line) are usually pretty cutting edge and very nice. toyota does have a habit of putting better stereos as the car changes years, but stays the same model. give a year, it will probably be better next year.
 
#3 ·
Originally posted by Doug:
I checked out a GS430 last night and the audio system was pretty weak. No bass and was not very loud at all, What up???? Thats some stupid money for that POS, on the other hand, thought the Nav was pretty great...
No stock stereo system can compete with BOSE sound systems plain and simple. The get excellent sound quality and frequency response from the smallest of drivers. But no true audio enthusiast would settle for a stock system anyway
.
 
#5 ·
Dude I went through it cause I thought it was not adjusted properly, the bass, mid and treble were all maxed, it sounded better after I adjusted it, but still no bass and not very loud, both the Bose system in my Vette and Mercedes sound better.
 
#6 ·
Hey, how does it feel to talk out of your ass? Get educated and tell me what Bose stock car system is better than the Levinson.

Originally posted by BLUEBYU:
No stock stereo system can compete with BOSE sound systems plain and simple. The get excellent sound quality and frequency response from the smallest of drivers. But no true audio enthusiast would settle for a stock system anyway
.
 
#8 ·
Okay_now_you_did_test the Levinson system? Right? Because the first GS 430s that I saw didn't have it yet?

Originally posted by Doug:
Dude I went through it cause I thought it was not adjusted properly, the bass, mid and treble were all maxed, it sounded better after I adjusted it, but still no bass and not very loud, both the Bose system in my Vette and Mercedes sound better.
 
#9 ·
The Bose in my TT is better than the Bose in the E55... I'm assuming because of the small cabin and Bose factory sub in TT produces less distortion than the one in the MERC... However neither system comes close to that of the NAKAMICHI in the GS400 I had

Eric....
 
#11 ·
That's not true Doug.... Previously in the GS400 you could get the NAV or the NAK, but not both..... In the GS430, you can get the Mark Levinson with the NAV, you can get the NAV without the Mark Levinson and you can get the Mark Levinson without the NAV...
Eric....
Doug, you know the BOSE in my father's 2000 S500 is better than the BOSE in my E55.. wonder why? I've never heard the BOSE in the ML
 
#12 ·
The Bose in the ML sounds pretty good, big ass cabin, decent bass, not great though.As you probably know, these systems are next to impossible to upgrade without pulling the entire system and putting in all new components. Same with the Vette.

It was definetly a Mark Levinson, it is clealry marked on the lower right side of the radio and also has an obvious speaker on the dash.
 
#14 ·
I'm going over to LA tomorrow to hang with my bro, he is an orthopaedic surgeon and is doing a fellowship for the next year with a sports medicine practice. He is the team doc for the Long Beach Ice Dogs LMAO, are you out of school doing residency yet.
 
#15 ·
Some people think the only measure of a good stereo is how much the doors rattle when you max out the bass and the volume.

I know the IS300 has a _pretty good_ stereo because when I have people play their CDs in the car, they say stuff like "I have listened to this CD 50 times before, but I never noticed that guy way back in the left tapping on the tamborine before." Having "imaging" that lets you hear the direction of all the discrete instruments is one attribute I find only in high quality stereos. I have been in many a rental GM car with BOSE stereos that could shake the rear deck due to their bass enhancements, but the sound was still very "muddy".

Maybe you guys are in a different league, since I am not comparing top-of-the-line E55 stereos to GS430 stereos, but my point is that bass response is not the ultimate measure of a stereo.
 
#17 ·
Originally posted by Doug:
are you out of school doing residency yet.

No Doug, Still in Medical School. My father is a Radiologist, so he has been a strong influence. I want to get into a general surgery residency then do a fellowship for specialization in cardiovascular and thoracic surgery... I'll be an old man when I'm done.. lol
Eric....


[This message has been edited by EricK (edited November 20, 2000).]
 
#19 ·
That's strange Doug. I tested the Mark Levinson in the LS430, and it was the best system ever. I wonder if they have a different one in the GS. Although, judging from what they had in the LS430, I would have to say that you're wrong. I don't know of any Bose sound system that's as good as the ML in Lexus. Not even the one they put in the S500.
Loudness does not determine the sophistication of a system, if that's what you're looking for.

black/ivory
17"
 
#20 ·
What is up with you guys???? Do you like to listen to music quietly??? Geez, any decent sound system will deliver clarity and accuracy in reproduction throughout its power range. If it doesn't do that than its the system not my ears. The bass SUCKED are you listening SUCKED!!!!!!!! If you think the system rocked buy one,I think it was weak! I listened to the non-ML stereo in the LS430 and that sucked too. How could I be wrong??????? LMAO
 
#21 ·
Originally posted by Doug:
I checked out a GS430 last night and the audio system was pretty weak. No bass and was not very loud at all, What up???? Thats some stupid money for that POS, on the other hand, thought the Nav was pretty great...
Yeah, I listened to Van Halen Diver Down on the LS and it sounded like crap, whereas Sugar Ray on my IS sounded pretty tight... so that must mean the Levinson stereo is a piece of dog doo doo.

Not to pick on you, but:

Could people please understand that there is a big difference between your inner monologue -- which has the luxury of inputs of sound, smell, vision, etc. -- and what you write on a PC or on a piece of paper? We don't know what you listened to, and whether the music (assuming a CD) you used to compare was pressed from the same master or not. So how do you expect to justify your opinion?

My personal take on the Levinson is that it sounds very, very close to the way I hear music on my Sennheiser HD600 headphones. I hear musicians breathing. I hear clikity clacks of various instruments. I feel as if I'm at the concert. I hear the limitations of the master source especially if it's analog. I always thought the Nakamichi was excellent, but after the Levinson, there is no comparison.

However, I will refrain from making comparisons with other stock systems because I simply haven't heard enough to make an opinion. But do this: When you sit down and listen, turn the bass/mid/treble to middle (flat) position. Listen to how accurate or inaccurate the sounds are, from the same source (preferably a high quality CD). I'm no audiophile, but 3 sentences don't tell most people here anything.


[This message has been edited by AntiCt (edited November 20, 2000).]
 
#23 ·
Originally posted by chromaplast:
do lexus cars still come out with Nagamichi stereo? how are those?
The RX and ES still offer Nakamichis.

On the RX, I would say (my personal take here, don't be offended) don't waste money to get the Nak -- the speakers are horrible.

On the ES (what I used to have), subjectively it seemed to be better sounding than the IS, but not having the car anymore, can't say for certain.
 
#24 ·
Originally posted by AntiCt:
On the ES (what I used to have), subjectively it seemed to be better sounding than the IS, but not having the car anymore, can't say for certain.
I went straight from an ES to the IS. The ES did NOT have the Nakamichi system and I still thought it was pretty good. Compared to the IS system, I think the IS has more punch, clarity, stereo imaging and presence, but a tad less bass (the ES had a dedicated sub). My reference is the Event 20/20Bas powerered studio monitors in my office...



------------------
Tony
'01 Spectra Blue
'94 Turbo Miata
 
#25 ·
Mark Levinson makes the very high-end stereo components like power amp, pre-amp, etc and they are very expensive, too. So I am so surprised to hear such a negative comment about the unit in Lexus GS430 built by them.

For the comparison b/w the stereo system of IS and ES, I would have the similar comment as AntiCT and the webmaster. They are good at different ranges. It's not one is better than the other in every way.
 
#26 ·
Personnaly, I think the "stock" stereo in my 2001 RX300 sounds just a little better than the one in my IS. The RX seems to have more punch (not just because of the subwoofer), but I would agree that I preceive more "imaging" in the IS. Maybe it's because the IS's cabin is smaller. But I think they both sound great!

Originally posted by AntiCt:
The RX and ES still offer Nakamichis.

On the RX, I would say (my personal take here, don't be offended) don't waste money to get the Nak -- the speakers are horrible.

On the ES (what I used to have), subjectively it seemed to be better sounding than the IS, but not having the car anymore, can't say for certain.


------------------
Bob
----
2001 Graphite Gray IS300
2001 Millennium Silver RX300
 
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