Audio system manual

[Cadmaster]

I have just acquired a 2015 CT200h Premier that has a Mark Levinson audio system, but the handbook in the car only covers the standard installation. Is there anywhere I can access the appropriate user instructions for the ML?

[Las Palmas]

The big difference between a standard audio system and the MarkLevinson is the quality of the music, the number of loudspeakers, the quality of the amplifier, and the sound is really good.

Adjusting sound output is up to your personal preference and no handbook can help there.

Lexus has installed a great audio system in the car, but have not allowed it to import lossless audio in the Bluetooth only in the line in. The best quality audio without having a wire you can get from a DVD with music converted to m4a 512kbps, which will give you around 20 hours of reasonable quality music. MP3 can give a little more because it only has 320kbps as maximum and that is far better than Spotify that is a disgrace with the 160kbps streaming.

I have installed audio systems to cars on exhibition where the audio components were costing as much as a car (stopped 2003) and the best of these were quality sound not much better than the ML audio, sound output much louder, but pure quality not much.

Enjoy the silence of the car and the music ML audio can give.

Best tyres can enhance the sound a lot more than most people will believe as the CT is not really soundproofed as much as some of the bigger cars from several companies.

[Las Palmas]

One thing you hopefully will find out sooner or later is that Lexus hardware, as good as it is, should not be blamed for the lacklustre software.

Also, the manual is so malfunctioning that it can be believed that it has been written in Japanese (fair enough) but then for some stupid reason translated with Google into first Chinese, then a couple of other languages till it finally is in the language you want to read it in.

Infotainment is something that is being mentioned as not very good and that is mildly said.

Navigation is also made so complicated to use and expensive to update, that there is no reason not to use the navigation system in smartphones.

The ML is so well put together that it can fill a complicated and small area with sound that is pleasant to not just the driver, but to all in the car. Few other companies manage to do better even in far more expensive cars.

[Cadmaster]

Las Palmas - many thanks for the comments, I traded in a Toyota Auris T-Spirit for the CT200 and the audio in the Auris was distinctly inferior, though it was battling against far worse road noise.

I read somewhere (online manual, I think, - can't find it again) that the audio system has inbuilt memory capable of storing a lot of music, but the manuals in the car do not mention how to load any, or even if the memory is actually there. Hence my query about manuals.

Currently I use a mini USB memory stick with many of my favourite albums on it, though it means the cover of the USB slots and the outer lid have to remain open.

I have updated the navigation maps from the original 2013 SD card to 2022 (I think) from satnavmapupdate.co.uk for £34.99, but I still tend to use Waze for the live traffic updates for some journeys.

[Las Palmas]

Do not know of any memory to store music on in the CT, but if you do not like the USB stick (neither do I like to have the lid open) then a DVD can contain more than 4Gb music (the one we have will not read a dual DVD with 8Gb) and you can have MP3 files on there or far better quality m4a. If you convert from lossless, I recommend dbpoweramp (www.dbpoweramp.com/) in the computer to convert. The difference between 320kbps (MP3 maximum) and 512kbps is worth it.

[Moleman]

1 hour ago, Cadmaster said:

Currently I use a mini USB memory stick with many of my favourite albums on it, though it means the cover of the USB slots and the outer lid have to remain open.

SanDisk 128GB Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive, up to 130 MB/s Read 

I use one of these, you can put on pretty much as much music as you like and the cover and outer lid can be closed.

[Las Palmas]

3 minutes ago, Moleman said:

SanDisk 128GB Ultra Fit USB 3.1 Flash Drive, up to 130 MB/s Read 

I use one of these, you can put on pretty much as much music as you like and the cover and outer lid can be closed.

Your 2019 model must be able to read bigger USB sticks. The one we have will not accept a 64Gb unless parting it and then only read half of it. 16Gb is stable, 32Gb sometimes disconnect.

[Moleman]

1 hour ago, Las Palmas said:

Your 2019 model must be able to read bigger USB sticks. The one we have will not accept a 64Gb unless parting it and then only read half of it. 16Gb is stable, 32Gb sometimes disconnect.

That said you can put a lot of albums on 16GB, 16Gb versions are available.

[Las Palmas]

Just now, Moleman said:

That said you can put a lot of albums on 16GB, 16Gb versions are available.

I prefer to use the disc, so I do not have to keep the lid for the USB stick open. 4Gb is enough to have 20 hours of music in m4a 512kbps which is twice the sound quality of maximum for MP3, which is 320kbps and the disc play more discreet not having the USB lid open, plus it never disconnects even on very rough roads. USB stick will not let me play m4a compression only MP3 play well in USB. Then again MP3 is 10 times better than the streaming from popular Spotify. Lexus put a fine audio system in the cars, so why chose poor quality music source?