new(ish) is300h premier

[michaelH]

I have traded in my old lux model (with premium nav) for a premier. After having previously driven a mark2 is250 SE-L, I had missed the luxurious electric leather seats, but otherwise had been very pleased with the Lux, which didn't miss a beat in three years. Am I right in thinking that the seat backs and armrests /door trim in my new premier are made from the same synthetic  tahara material as in the lux? it doesn't matter really because that material always looked good and proved very tough, but the soft leather in the seats seems much  nicer to the touch. The new car has covered only a fifth of the miles of the old one and drives and rides beautifully, despite the  bigger 18" wheels. The ride quality seems if anything better - and my wife, who has spinal injuries and is very sensitive to such things, agrees. Overall the new car feels more luxurious and special. But I am not yet quite convinced by the Mark Levinson sound system. Some seem to praise it to the skies, but I would only say that it is okay for a car system, like the one in my old is250.

[steveledzep]

Lovely car Michael.  Mentioned this before on here, I too found nothing special in the ML sound system.

[rayaans]

17 hours ago, michaelH said:

I have traded in my old lux model (with premium nav) for a premier. After having previously driven a mark2 is250 SE-L, I had missed the luxurious electric leather seats, but otherwise had been very pleased with the Lux, which didn't miss a beat in three years. Am I right in thinking that the seat backs and armrests /door trim in my new premier are made from the same synthetic  tahara material as in the lux? it doesn't matter really because that material always looked good and proved very tough, but the soft leather in the seats seems much  nicer to the touch. The new car has covered only a fifth of the miles of the old one and drives and rides beautifully, despite the  bigger 18" wheels. The ride quality seems if anything better - and my wife, who has spinal injuries and is very sensitive to such things, agrees. Overall the new car feels more luxurious and special. But I am not yet quite convinced by the Mark Levinson sound system. Some seem to praise it to the skies, but I would only say that it is okay for a car system, like the one in my old is250.

Looks sharp in White - but then Im biased. Id personally remove the PPF on the rear door though, stands out to me a bit too much and you'll find it a pain to clean.

I would suggest playing with the ML settings before making a conclusion and also understanding that USB or CD is the best source - its rubbish for radio. However, I had a similiar car as a demo and there wasn't much difference (if any) between the 12 speaker premium nav setup and the ML

I believe that Lexus used genuine leather in the UK. Only Tahara trim is synthetic

 

[ISJason]

 

Very smart car in White , well done. I've got Mark Levinson in my RX but I think that unless you're a stereo aficionado or have it on bone shaking volume you're not going to hear much difference.

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[J Henderson]

Great looking car 

My previous car had the Mark Levinson system and the only time it sounded anything special was if I was listening to a DVD that had a DTS soundtrack.

[Eire Lexus]

I think the biggest issue with Lexus sound systems is that the standard systems are of very high quality. Many of the Lexus standard sound systems would put other manufacturers premium sound systems to shame. ML is great if configured right but can be hard for most ears to distinguish the difference due to the high quality of the standard system.

[DanD]

The ML system is very good... but you have to take the time to tweak the settings independently for each source. Sounds better the louder it is too!

[TechyD]

I don't have the ML, just the standard set up...My Mazda 6 that I've just come from had a Bose system which was excellent - extremely good sound quality at any volume.

Bluetooth audio source is a poorer quality because of the transfer rate but USB or CD was great.

 

in comparison to the Lexus, the standard setup is very poor, my wife's Polo is better to be honest. It's my one real complaint about the car, everything else it excels at though I've only had it three weeks!

[rayaans]

16 hours ago, TechyD said:

I don't have the ML, just the standard set up...My Mazda 6 that I've just come from had a Bose system which was excellent - extremely good sound quality at any volume.

bluetooth audio source is a poorer quality because of the transfer rate but USB or CD was great.

 

in comparison to the Lexus, the standard setup is very poor, my wife's Polo is better to be honest. It's my one real complaint about the car, everything else it excels at though I've only had it three weeks!

Depends which standard setup you're talking about -

the 6 speaker which comes on models without premium nav is dismal. Its more because of the size of the car inside than anything else

The 8 speaker system is top notch for a standard setup.

[200h]

i have the 8 speaker setup in mine and it sounds fab i wouldn't change or upgrade any of it

for a factory system it has clarity , good bass & has a decent volume level, the system is loud 

enough so you dont have to go more than 1/2 way on the volume ,sound distortion is more apparent

when you are nearing the top of the volume range so staying mid way distortion in minimised.

 

[Rabbers]

Because its inclusion as an optional would have involved a long wait and a less attractive purchase deal, my present RC300h F-Sport

is the first Lexus of six, all bought new, I have had without ML audio.  And, although the 10-speaker Pioneer unit you automatically get

with the Premium Navigation package is satisfactory - indeed very good - its performance falls short of that of the ML in an IS300h.

This impression is based not on a side-by-side comparison of the two systems (which would be ideal) but on the playing of a sampling

of favourite tracks of music in various genres that have become so familiar to me over the years that I can easily and objectively judge

degrees of quality in their reproduction - and there is no doubt in my mind that the Pioneer loses some detail and clarity in respect of 

the ML.  Whether this is sufficient to justify the high, indeed exorbitant, value Lexus attaches to the ML is a matter of personal choice.

 

Never having expected that the audio system in any top-spec Lexus model would be less than good, I took the ML units in my IS200s

and 250s largely for granted, and it was really only with my IS300h that I first came to consciously appreciate the high level of 

performance compared to standard Lexus audio or, usually as a passenger, to the standard offerings in some other quality cars,

mainly German but also Jaguar and Volvo.  I judged this to have as much to do with the car's quietness as a hybrid and its better

isolation from outside noise as with improved technical specifications and the number and quality of the speakers in the system itself.

 

As pointed out in some posts, ML does require a fair amount of adjustments in order to find the best settings for individual sources -

and I would say this also applies to some individual types of music.  I carry my entire music library imported from CDs on an almost

full 128GB iPod Touch, but rather than play entire albums, I tend to prefer a number of single-genre playlists for which I established

"optimal" settings (for me, that is, since "my ears are my own and nobody else's") on my home system, committing them to memory

so as to minimise the amount of fiddling with the controls I ever need to do in-car.  Almost invariably, I play the iPod via USB, which

not only gives more detailed sound than BT but also keeps the device charged.  One noticeable difference between the ML and

the Pioneer, for which I have no explanation, regards the balancing of the speakers which, with the ML was automatically centred

between driver and passenger and front and rear and normally required no adjustment, but which, with the Pioneer, needs moving

one mark towards the passenger and two towards the rear in order to obtain a similar "symmetry" of sound.   I initially thought there

was something amiss with the speakers or that I was going deaf in one ear, but have found no evidence of either.