Hifi Quality

[funkey]

Folks, I have been driving an IS200 since 2005 and loved every minute of it (when I wasn't refueling!). I have recently taken delivery of a new IS300h F-Sport with premium Nav.

I have probably been institutionalised with my IS200 but the hifi in it SOUNDED so much better! It had a small power amp and, granted it was "old-skool" (with no MP3 or USB capability), but the sound quality was impressive for a stock system. I really hoped the new car's hifi would be equally impressive :-(

Has anyone else found similar?

[Zood90]

I've got the Advance which has the "regular" Nav on it, the hifi took a bit of getting used to but the big thing for me was changing the balance towards the rear as someone here suggested before, made the sound more natural for me and now I love it.

[rayaans]

Yes, the equaliser and balance has to be adjusted. I got the ML system on my RX and it definitely needed adjusting

[Steve44]

Try boosting the midrange a lot, with a small tweak on bass and treble. You can set these for each input.

Also try swapping between surround on and off, (I prefer surround on) to hear the difference.

[funkey]

I'll try changing the balance towards rear of car tonight.

Unfortunately I find the bass to be very wooly and lacking in definition (but not volume :) )

Has anyone tackled any upgrade projects yet?

[michaelH]

I went from the 200 sport to the 250 SEL with Mark Levinson sound system and then to a 300h lux without ML but with the same sound system (premium nav) as yours. I recall the ML system on the 250 being a decent improvement on the old 200 and the system on the 300h being only a little inferior to the ML on the 250, so it may be a question of adjustment and of getting used to a different set of limitations and foibles. I have never heard a car system that was genuinely hi-fi but plenty that sound OK within their limitations, and I would put the 300h premium nav system into that category. I wonder what the top end systems in Jags and Range rovers sound like? I use high end Meridian kit at home and I think Meridian provide the sound systems for them. One advantage of the 300h is that it is quieter on the move than a 200. That should help a lot. I tend to use the radio or plug in my Iphone rather than use the CD. I know that the files on the phone are (usually) stored at a lower resolution, but in the moving car environment, I don't think this matters as much as it would on a big home system. A clean undistorted recording is useful, but the delicate nuances of sound and atmosphere that matter so much on home hi-fi tend to be lost at 60-70 mph anyway, even in a quiet car like the 300h.

[Zood90]

Something I would point out is that certain ways of listening do sound better than others. For example, plugging in my iPod via USB port sounds better than the auxiliary cable, which sounds a little weak, but that could be down to the iPod classic being known to lack volume.

[Steve44]

Yep, CD playback is better than IPod on USB and that is better than streamed Bluetooth.

Radio Is a mix depending on the station, band and quality of broadcast.

[chris_fletcher]

I went from an RX300 to a CT200h both with standard sound system and the difference was a massive drop in sound quality and bass. My recent change to is300h premier with ML intially left me somewhat underwhelmed........however, adjust bass one below half way, increase mid range to ~3/4, reduce treble to 1/2 or maybe a bit less and shift balance one step to rear, surround on and then INCREASE the volume a lot and the system really comes alive. The first time I did this was with ACDC on R2 with Thunderstruck and it didnt half make me grin a couple of weeks ago. Normal volume is just OK IMO as sound systems go but its damned fine at higher levels, in fact its probably the best sounding of any car I have had.

[ganzoom]

I cannot really complain about the ML system on our Premier either. But as mentioned, even with a car as quite as the IS300H wind noise will always mean sound quality is never going to be that good. Though the our current cars are the only cars I've owned where you can actually listen to classical music, and have it sound half OK.

[rayaans]

Agree with comments about high volumes - I usually listen at 35-40 and the clarity is unbelievable. The details are lost at volumes under 35 and it really does come alive when pumping the volume up