Good afternoon everyone. I am totally confused but then again as I get older it seems to get worse. But, are there two different systems of Mark Levinson audio system fitted to the 450h and if there is how on earth do you tell the difference. I have seen cars advertised with a 10 speaker system and others with a Mark Leveinson audio on different se-l of the same year and month.

I have listened to a number of systems fitted to different 450h's and the sound is always the same....thin with very little base, I have adjusted the base and treble but with little noticeable difference. Sop if anyone can throw oany light on the subject....Thanks a lot

I think it's only the SE-L that has a Mark Levinson sound system, the other models have the standard system, which is made by Pioneer I believe.

If the ones you heard were not that impressive, then I'm pretty sure that it wasn't the ML system as that is stunning. Also I think the ML system in the 450h has 14 speakers, it's the standard system that has 10 speakers.

and the GS450H Sport. Yep, the Mark Levinson sound system is amazing!! And im sure they are also owned by Harman kardon

[quote name='nedsram13a' post='693571' date='Oct 8 2009, 06:31 PM']and the GS450H Sport. Yep, the Mark Levinson sound system is amazing!! And im sure they are also owned by Harman kardon[/quote]
Didn't mention the sport as the OP was talking about 2006 cars, but yes that's correct.

Yep Harman International own both Harman Kardon and Madrigal Labs, who in turn own Mark Levinson.

I've got a May 2006 GS450h SE and that has a Mark Levinson sound system which sounds excellent to me, far better than the Bose system that I had in the latest shape Audi A8.

Prior to the 450h I had the GS300 SE, that didn't have the Mark Levinson system but was still pretty good and if my memory serves me right I was told by the dealer that Mark Levinson was standard fitment on all 450h's from launch.

I thought the Mark Levinson system came with the multimedia pack?

My Oct 2006 SE has it and I have to say it's excellent....even on Radio 2 lol

BTW, if you look in the boot and lift the flap on the right hand side you should find a thumping great Mark Levinson amplifier with more wires coming out of it than you can shake a stick at.


Malc

My mistake then, I knew the system in the 450h was different to the rest of the GS range but didn't realise that there was a multimedia pack like in the IS.........fair enough then, I'm not sure why the system was disappointing then

[quote name='Roy and Val' post='693551' date='Oct 8 2009, 04:53 PM']Good afternoon everyone. I am totally confused but then again as I get older it seems to get worse. But, are there two different systems of Mark Levinson audio system fitted to the 450h and if there is how on earth do you tell the difference. I have seen cars advertised with a 10 speaker system and others with a Mark Leveinson audio on different se-l of the same year and month.

I have listened to a number of systems fitted to different 450h's and the sound is always the same....thin with very little base, I have adjusted the base and treble but with little noticeable difference. Sop if anyone can throw oany light on the subject....Thanks a lot[/quote]

I've noticed that too. Current cars of SE and above all have the 14 speaker system and base models have 10 speakers. I think that has been the case since September 2006. However, I've seen a number of late 2005/early 2006 GS advertised as having Mark Levinson 10 Speaker audio, both 300 and 450.

I had a 300SE-L at the weekend that definitely had the 14 speaker system. It was brilliant with vocals and acoustic music, really brilliant with some medieval music, however it didn't handle the thumping bass lines of the latest Prodigy album as well as the Bose system in my Audi.

Russell

The GS300 and GS430 didn't have the same ML system as the 450h to begin with, they did only have 10 speakers whereas the 450h had the 14 speaker system that was in the IS. Also only the 450h plays MP3 CDs whereas the 300 and 430 didn't.

They did align the systems at some point, but not sure when, as a guess I'd say it was at the point the 460 was launched but no idea really.

[quote name='Roy and Val' post='693551' date='Oct 8 2009, 04:53 PM']Good afternoon everyone. I am totally confused but then again as I get older it seems to get worse. But, are there two different systems of Mark Levinson audio system fitted to the 450h and if there is how on earth do you tell the difference. I have seen cars advertised with a 10 speaker system and others with a Mark Leveinson audio on different se-l of the same year and month.

I have listened to a number of systems fitted to different 450h's and the sound is always the same....thin with very little base, I have adjusted the base and treble but with little noticeable difference. Sop if anyone can throw oany light on the subject....Thanks a lot[/quote]

My GS300 SE-L has the ML sound system, it is usually very easy to tell if it is fitted since the ML systems have 'Mark Levinson' printed in small letters on the front of the unit itself. If it is not printed on the front chances are it is the standard system.

Thank you all once again, excellent replies, the car I am thinking of buying has ML written on the bottom near to the cassett player, I was just disappointed with the sound. Thanks everyone. I will keep you posted after negotiations with the dealer.

Aw Well, 300 miles round trip, the search goes on, the car wasn't for us today, but at least I now understand about the Mark Levinson Audio system and know how to check if it is fitted or not, so I suppose in that sense the journey wasn't a wasted one. We will keep looking. Thanks for all your replies

Did the sound system at least perform better this time round?

[quote name='Parthiban' post='693950' date='Oct 12 2009, 10:53 AM']Did the sound system at least perform better this time round?[/quote]

Hello, Yes the sound system performed much better, I looked in the boot and the amp was there as was suggested. Also, the front of the cd player had the words "Mark Levension....premium surround sound 5.1" I did notice on the previous car just the words "Mark Levinson sound system" so perhaps there are two systems fitted? but yes this one was very very good. I have found the sound system I like and all I have to do is find the right 450h Cheers Roy

[quote name='Roy and Val' post='693551' date='Oct 8 2009, 03:53 PM']Good afternoon everyone. I am totally confused but then again as I get older it seems to get worse. But, are there two different systems of Mark Levinson audio system fitted to the 450h and if there is how on earth do you tell the difference. I have seen cars advertised with a 10 speaker system and others with a Mark Leveinson audio on different se-l of the same year and month.

I have listened to a number of systems fitted to different 450h's and the sound is always the same....thin with very little base, I have adjusted the base and treble but with little noticeable difference. Sop if anyone can throw oany light on the subject....Thanks a lot[/quote]

Well my Mark Levinson has plenty base.At half volume i can make the interior mirror vibrate and at full volume can hardly see out of the mirror for violent vibration.
If wife in car this does not happen as volume is left around the 8 mark.