Need Some Advice, Distorted Radio

[lexusn1ce]

hi, i just wanted some advice about the radio in the ls 400, when i got the car it wouldnt find any radio fm or otherwise just kept cycling round, i have now replaced a section of aeriel cable just behind the radio and im now recieving mw/lw great, but on fm im getting the st indicator and the rds info but still the sound is very distorted when there is any bass in the music but talking sounds ok, on cd and tape it is perfect, does anyone elses do this (sounds like its not tuned in properly) trying to decide whether its the radio or a broken wire elsewhere.

also i have the pioneer stereo, and i changed the woofer for a new one same spec as the old one had no foam edge left and rattled, its sound ok now in this department but the door speakers dont seem to have much stamina at volume it will only go to about 10oclock with the bass set at 3oclock before the speakers start to fart (for lack of better description) all the door speakers look ok no foam gone or anything, does anyone elses do this or is it just me, im used to my last car which was a vectra and the stereo was fantastic for bass withought a sub, it seems my lexus system is seriously lacking considering how it has a sub too is this normal?

[david_hornet27]

hi, i just wanted some advice about the radio in the ls 400, when i got the car it wouldnt find any radio fm or otherwise just kept cycling round, i have now replaced a section of aeriel cable just behind the radio and im now recieving mw/lw great, but on fm im getting the st indicator and the rds info but still the sound is very distorted when there is any bass in the music but talking sounds ok, on cd and tape it is perfect, does anyone elses do this (sounds like its not tuned in properly) trying to decide whether its the radio or a broken wire elsewhere.

also i have the pioneer stereo, and i changed the woofer for a new one same spec as the old one had no foam edge left and rattled, its sound ok now in this department but the door speakers dont seem to have much stamina at volume it will only go to about 10oclock with the bass set at 3oclock before the speakers start to fart (for lack of better description) all the door speakers look ok no foam gone or anything, does anyone elses do this or is it just me, im used to my last car which was a vectra and the stereo was fantastic for bass withought a sub, it seems my lexus system is seriously lacking considering how it has a sub too is this normal?

Not sure if there is something wrong. My car has totally standard and original set up and it is crystal up until your ears can't handle it anymore and can feel the bass through the front seat with CD. FM always seems a bit less 'crisp' than it should but not to the degree you are experiencing (I don't think), I am going out in a bit so I will check and let you know...

There have been topics on here before lamenting the poor performance of FM tuning in the LS...

[david_hornet27]

hi, i just wanted some advice about the radio in the ls 400, when i got the car it wouldnt find any radio fm or otherwise just kept cycling round, i have now replaced a section of aeriel cable just behind the radio and im now recieving mw/lw great, but on fm im getting the st indicator and the rds info but still the sound is very distorted when there is any bass in the music but talking sounds ok, on cd and tape it is perfect, does anyone elses do this (sounds like its not tuned in properly) trying to decide whether its the radio or a broken wire elsewhere.

also i have the pioneer stereo, and i changed the woofer for a new one same spec as the old one had no foam edge left and rattled, its sound ok now in this department but the door speakers dont seem to have much stamina at volume it will only go to about 10oclock with the bass set at 3oclock before the speakers start to fart (for lack of better description) all the door speakers look ok no foam gone or anything, does anyone elses do this or is it just me, im used to my last car which was a vectra and the stereo was fantastic for bass withought a sub, it seems my lexus system is seriously lacking considering how it has a sub too is this normal?

Not sure if there is something wrong. My car has totally standard and original set up and it is crystal up until your ears can't handle it anymore and can feel the bass through the front seat with CD. FM always seems a bit less 'crisp' than it should but not to the degree you are experiencing (I don't think), I am going out in a bit so I will check and let you know...

There have been topics on here before lamenting the poor performance of FM tuning in the LS...

Just got back. Put the FM radio on and the sound is rubbish when you have it up loud (half way), bass is there but very muffled and hasn't got the kick you get from a CD. Luckily I only ever listen to Talk Sport on the radio, my music comes from CD which is perfect sound wise.

[lexusn1ce]

thanks, so im not sure if i have a problem or not now, i suppose this comes back to what sort of music it is, i listen to a lot of club music so its heavy in bass, to replicate what you said i cant have my bass set any higher than about 1,2 oclock otherwise i cant get to the half way on volume without distortion (cd) and even if its set in the middle on bass i cant get much further on volume than half and its not bassy sounds like a cheap stereo.

as for the fm bit it sounds like when you have a dial tuner and you knock it of the station a bit, its still clear but distorted if you know what i mean, i have tested antenna and wire today seem fine, also this is worse at night.

[SteveLS400]

Touch wood, I have a beautiful Lexus Premium Sound System with a fully functional radio.

In order to assist, I seached "radio" and got 12 pages and have just spent an hour reading through them.

There are too many links to post here but try the same search.

[lexusn1ce]

Touch wood, I have a beautiful Lexus Premium Sound System with a fully functional radio.

In order to assist, I seached "radio" and got 12 pages and have just spent an hour reading through them.

There are too many links to post here but try the same search.

thanks, now looking.

regarding you premium stereo i done a web search and found a website (us) that lists specs for ls radio and the standard is 10w times 4 and 25wx1 sub and the premium is 12wx4 and 75wx1 sub but it has a high fidelity amp for each speaker and i would imagine the stereo itself is built to a higher standard but wattage wise there isn much in it really and the speakers are the same number and size just with i more durable voice coil to handle the extra watts.

but since you have one whats the difference in sound quility to a working standard radio?

quick update i did the search and found one that matches my description for fm and says its a bad earth on the antenna fittings to the body so will try that and post back.

[Manc]

hi, i just wanted some advice about the radio in the ls 400, when i got the car it wouldnt find any radio fm or otherwise just kept cycling round, i have now replaced a section of aeriel cable just behind the radio and im now recieving mw/lw great, but on fm im getting the st indicator and the rds info but still the sound is very distorted when there is any bass in the music but talking sounds ok, on cd and tape it is perfect, does anyone elses do this (sounds like its not tuned in properly) trying to decide whether its the radio or a broken wire elsewhere.

also i have the pioneer stereo, and i changed the woofer for a new one same spec as the old one had no foam edge left and rattled, its sound ok now in this department but the door speakers dont seem to have much stamina at volume it will only go to about 10oclock with the bass set at 3oclock before the speakers start to fart (for lack of better description) all the door speakers look ok no foam gone or anything, does anyone elses do this or is it just me, im used to my last car which was a vectra and the stereo was fantastic for bass withought a sub, it seems my lexus system is seriously lacking considering how it has a sub too is this normal?

Hi,

yes my radio was crap too, now i broke 2 new masts trying to fit new ones. In fact mw was better than fm b'cos i could get more than 2 stations :tsktsk: fm just scanned and scanned and....

But look in the wheelarch (strip interior) and sometimes the aerial assembly can be rusty as i read some LS hold water down in the wells there instead of draining it, worth a look as rusty connections or housing will lead to bad signals

you can fit one of those £80 dab radio devices and then just tune your radio to that. My mate did it in his van, and you dont have wires hanging around if fitted correctly