10 Speaker premium or 13 Speaker Mark Levinson reviews?

red-lex · April 25, 2016

Hi all.

I've not posted on here in a while but considering changing my IS200 for CT in the near future. The difference in running costs makes the CT seem very attractive, I don't think my IS200 is particularly fast anyway.

I know the specs vary on early cars and I've decided on the features that I definitely want in the car: Memory leather seats, power folding mirrors and reversing camera - this limits my choices to either a Premier or F-Sport. I would also like a decent sound system as the amplified 8 speaker set up in my IS200 sounded great.

I love the look of the F-Sport's subtle body kit, but disappointed that it was never available with the Mark Levinson package. The only option is a 10 speaker system and these only came with the HDD navigation package.

I'm sure the Mark Levinson package sounds great, can anybody confirm? Does anybody have any experience with the 10 speaker package, is it just as good?

I was hoping to avoid having a built in sat nav with my next car, as I know the map updates are expensive and smart phone apps seem to work better. How is the HDD navigation system in the CT?

The other option I have is an to find an F-Sport without Nav, then fit an aftermarket amplifier with upgraded speakers.

rayaans · April 25, 2016

The 10 speaker system is OK. The ML is better however.

The navigation system is actually pretty good. Easy to use and gives clear instructions. Never had an issue with it myself.

bobmc · April 25, 2016

Having recently acquired a 2007 IS-250 SE-L with ML audio and having a owned what might be termed a 'decent' home hifi system for many years, I would offer the following critique

I was originally quite underwhelmed by the ML audio system as fitted. This was possibly due to heightened expectations on my part - I had certainly made ML-Audio a must-have feature during my search.

However, I am now becoming impressed by how the ML audio deals what audiophiles refer to as 'detail' - the ability to resolve not only sound of an instrument, but the timbre as well, the attack and decay of struck notes, vocal inflections and so on. It's also apparent that the system can produce a pretty good amount of bass but only if the volume is turned up pretty loud and the source material contains it. I don't play a lot of bass-heavy tunes so it took me a while to appreciate this.

I'm less impressed by the 'spacial' presentation - personally I find the soundstage to quite focused but very narrow.

Cracksta · April 25, 2016

what bobmc means is, he is happy with his ML audio.

I think unless you get to hear a 10 speakers system vs ML (13 speaker) side by side, you wont know what you are missing. Much like if you've never had a proper 5.1 home theatre compared to a 5* soundbar, you wont know until you experienced it.

I doubt you live in the car so i would look for the other gadgets and maybe ML audio as a bonus, for F sport, i think the suspension on the CT will be different (more stiff). The CT is tempting, i might go hybrid for the next car.

rayaans · April 25, 2016

Yes it is worth noting that the suspension on the CT F-Sport is jarring. Its pretty stiff even on standard suspension.

steveledzep · April 25, 2016

I had the ML set up in my previous IS250-SEL saloon. Yes, it's very good.

I have the "standard" sound system in my IS250 convertible. It's very good too.

Like bobmc, I'm a bit of an audiophile too.

My conclusion is that both systems are more than adequate for music reproduction in the noisy environment of a car travelling along the road.

As Mrs ledzep drives the car a lot too, memory seats is far more important to me than the sound system.

Wass · April 25, 2016

19 minutes ago, steveledzep said:

I had the ML set up in my previous IS250-SEL saloon. Yes, it's very good.

I have the "standard" sound system in my IS250 convertible. It's very good too.

Like bobmc, I'm a bit of an audiophile too.

My conclusion is that both systems are more than adequate for music reproduction in the noisy environment of a car travelling along the road.

As Mrs ledzep drives the car a lot too, memory seats is far more important to me than the sound system.

Whilst driving without a sound system I marvel at the sounds I hear from outside the car. It leads me to believe that any fine tuning of a car sound system is like bailing out the floods with a teaspoon... somewhat pointless.

red-lex · April 25, 2016

6 hours ago, bobmc said:

Having recently acquired a 2007 IS-250 SE-L with ML audio and having a owned what might be termed a 'decent' home hifi system for many years, I would offer the following critique

I was originally quite underwhelmed by the ML audio system as fitted. This was possibly due to heightened expectations on my part - I had certainly made ML-Audio a must-have feature during my search.

However, I am now becoming impressed by how the ML audio deals what audiophiles refer to as 'detail' - the ability to resolve not only sound of an instrument, but the timbre as well, the attack and decay of struck notes, vocal inflections and so on. It's also apparent that the system can produce a pretty good amount of bass but only if the volume is turned up pretty loud and the source material contains it. I don't play a lot of bass-heavy tunes so it took me a while to appreciate this.

I'm less impressed by the 'spacial' presentation - personally I find the soundstage to quite focused but very narrow.

That is a fantastic review

red-lex · April 25, 2016

Thank you all, I guess both 10 & 13 speaker versions will probably sound great. Interetsing point about the F-Sport suspension, I'll try and drive both versions to compare.

MrMuksBlu · April 26, 2016

Hi there,

As the owner of a brand new 2016 CT200h F-Sport with Premium Navigation I can confirm that it is a cracking car with awesome ride quality and a very responsive firm chassis that is rather fun to drive!

I'm a novice 1st time Lexus owner and therefore, I cannot give you a detailed comprehensive review like others have.

I've had my car for a month now and the Prem sat nav is spot on!

😃

stormchaser · April 26, 2016

Hi I have a 2011 SE L Premier with the Nav and ML sound system. As said the Nav is great and very easy to use. The sound system is awesome I think. I've never heard anything like it before. I'm very impressed at the way there's no distortion at any volume with the music I play. Well worth getting a CT with both of these.

Sent from my Iphone using Tapatalk

red-lex · April 26, 2016

9 hours ago, MrMuksBlu said:

Hi there,

As the owner of a brand new 2016 CT200h F-Sport with Premium Navigation I can confirm that it is a cracking car with awesome ride quality and a very responsive firm chassis that is rather fun to drive!

I'm a novice 1st time Lexus owner and therefore, I cannot give you a detailed comprehensive review like others have.

I've had my car for a month now and the Prem sat nav is spot on!

😃

That looks really amazing, I love the colour! i believe the facelift cars have a revised suspension set up, unfortunately my budget won't stretch to a new one :(

8 hours ago, stormchaser said:

Hi I have a 2011 SE L Premier with the Nav and ML sound system. As said the Nav is great and very easy to use. The sound system is awesome I think. I've never heard anything like it before. I'm very impressed at the way there's no distortion at any volume with the music I play. Well worth getting a CT with both of these.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's really helpful, thanks for that. Does the nav take postcodes? Have you had to update the maps at all? I think they look great in white as well!

stormchaser · April 26, 2016

Thanks [emoji4]

Yes you can put in postcodes too. I believe mine is out of date and needs updating. Haven't done it yet as I've only had it a month.

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rayaans · April 27, 2016

23 hours ago, stormchaser said:

Thanks

Yes you can put in postcodes too. I believe mine is out of date and needs updating. Haven't done it yet as I've only had it a month.

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The updates are quite expensive at £150 each!

stormchaser · April 28, 2016

Wow. Didn't know that. Thanks.

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red-lex · April 28, 2016

15 hours ago, rayaans said:

The updates are quite expensive at £150 each!

You're right, a dealer just emailed me with a quote for the same amount. For my IS200 I was able to find nearly new DVD updates on eBay for a lot cheaper, however the dealer has advised that HDD nav updates have to be done by them. I know you rarely need to update the maps, but it still seems extortionate when compared to the price of smart phone apps or portable sat navs!