Six speaker sound system - good/bad? UX 250h

[N GJ]

Hello all,

I would like to know your opinions on the standard six speaker (Panasonic?) sound system in the Lexus UX 250h. How is the bass and overall clarity of the system? Do you find it to be underwhelming in any aspect?

Regards,
Neo

[nivlem]

Its good enough for me to listen to music and radio. It depends on how you want your sounds to be, do you want it banging and booming then its not the right system for you as its oppose the car to be calm and quiet on the road. But would like to have more control on the sound system in which i think only available on higher trim which is the mark levinson system. Lexus could have added it all to all trim. 
 

[Don C]

There’s a YouTube video where he claims it’s surprisingly good.  

[Lmafudd]

Personally I find the sound system superb. I play everything from classical to heavy metal and have tuned the bass to my preference. My only irritation is radio broadcast companies using any old crap recorded on a smartphone or over a dodgy internet connection. Studio news readers are loud and clear but their interviewees may as well be Martians. I can't blame the car system for that!

I've coupled mine to an Android Dongle and use amazon music. Sounds great. Don't ask Miss Google to play a certain track of music though, results are a lottery!

[N GJ]

13 hours ago, Don C said:

There’s a YouTube video where he claims it’s surprisingly good.  

Do you know which one?

[Bill Dawes]

I have the Levinson one in my Takumi and to be honest it is wasted on me.

I have always wondered if a high spec sound system in a car is a waste of money anyway unless you are stationary, all the background noise even in a quiet car must drown out all the discrete tones and quality.

Bill D.

[Don C]

3 hours ago, N GJ said:

Do you know which one?

Took me ages to find it!  About 15 minutes in…..

 

 

[Don C]

1 hour ago, Bill Dawes said:

I have the Levinson one in my Takumi and to be honest it is wasted on me.

I have always wondered if a high spec sound system in a car is a waste of money anyway unless you are stationary, all the background noise even in a quiet car must drown out all the discrete tones and quality.

Bill D.

I might have said that until recently but with the surround sound and the sub, I’ve never let my music rip so much since I’ve had the ML system.  I have a 25 mile commute through mostly sticks where I won’t disturb anyone.   

[Bill Dawes]

Personally I find loud music when driving very distracting.

Bill D.

[nivlem]

It all depends to the listener, the six speaker is enough but could be better if only Lexus could have added some control to all trims not just with ML system. My previous Corolla has it why cant Lexus. Anyway, its good enough as well to hide the tyre noise from those Runflats. 

[Don C]

12 hours ago, Bill Dawes said:

Personally I find loud music when driving very distracting.

Bill D.

Yes it is.  I’ve got to be in the right place and in the right mood.  I nearly always turn it off if I’ve got somebody in the car.   

[Mike KL]

I have it for a month and decided to swap out those 2 front 3.5" speaker under the windscreen. The difference is day and night, the original speaker is very flat and dull. Its a 30min job pretty straight forward

[Rizzoe]

I found the 6 speaker system surprisingly decent, in my experience all stock sound systems sound terrible but i found i was able to enjoy 90% of my spotify playlists. The BOSE system in my old S3 and the "Premium" Audio in my E are much better, this is missing some kick but nothing a subwoofer couldn't fix.

I have some light, but equally noticable and annoying rattles in the door, close to the arm rest with certain frequencies. I'm close to installing sound isolation or wrapping all the wires in felt. 

9 hours ago, Mike KL said:

have it for a month and decided to swap out those 2 front 3.5" speaker under the windscreen

Interesting, what speakers did you swap them with? Was it plug n play or did you DIY some mounting holes?

[Mike KL]

1 hour ago, Rizzoe said:

I found the 6 speaker system surprisingly decent, in my experience all stock sound systems sound terrible but i found i was able to enjoy 90% of my spotify playlists. The BOSE system in my old S3 and the "Premium" Audio in my E are much better, this is missing some kick but nothing a subwoofer couldn't fix.

I have some light, but equally noticable and annoying rattles in the door, close to the arm rest with certain frequencies. I'm close to installing sound isolation or wrapping all the wires in felt. 

Interesting, what speakers did you swap them with? Was it plug n play or did you DIY some mounting holes?

I swap them with JBLs, once I swapped I found out how small and slim the stock speakers are, no wonder they feel so flat. But as you say, they are not that bad as stock, I just want some upgrade.

It's basically plug and play but you need to buy a cable harness as the stock socket doesnt fit those aftermarket plugs. 

[Rizzoe]

4 hours ago, Mike KL said:

I swap them with JBLs, once I swapped I found out how small and slim the stock speakers are, no wonder they feel so flat. But as you say, they are not that bad as stock, I just want some upgrade.

It's basically plug and play but you need to buy a cable harness as the stock socket doesnt fit those aftermarket plugs. 

What JBLs did you swap in? Did you by any chance take some pics while installing? Thanks!

[Mike KL]

1 hour ago, Rizzoe said:

What JBLs did you swap in? Did you by any chance take some pics while installing? Thanks!

I forgot the exact model, its JBL Club something Coaxial Speaker. Unfortunately i didnt take any photo , sorry about that. But I remember there's a topic here that got some simple instructions with pics on how to install. 

Basically, you use trim tool to open those 2 grill covers that located at the left n right corner at the front of the dash, then unscrew the stock speaker, plug in the new harness and connect the your new speaker. Screw it back and that's it. You might need to remove the driver side A pillar trim for easier access on the drive side speaker. 

[Mike KL]

Other than JBL, you can also have a look on Rockford, Focal, Pioneer or Kicker. They have some good 3.5" too. IMHO, if you only aim to replace those 2 front speaker, anything under $100 will gives you a big improvement. You dont need those expensive ones as you got road and tyre noise while driving anyway.

[Don C]

Those thin speakers with the plastic cones are not regular speakers.   Somebody gave an explanation of what they are but they are significantly more powerful than a standard speaker of the same size.   Beware of placebo too, the mind is a powerful weapon.   

[Rizzoe]

On 3/12/2024 at 6:16 PM, Mike KL said:

JBL Club something Coaxial Speaker

Figured you meant the 322F or 422F

 

Im not familiar with the stock speaker dimensions, but i assume there are no clearence issues with these