Premium Sat Nav

[Lardypants]

Hi, New to the forum so hello to everyone.

I have a new IS300h Luxury on order for July but just wanted some clarification to the Premium sat nagv option my local dealer said that you get the Mark Levinson audio with this option is that correct?

Cant wait to pick up my car gone for Luxury model with Electric Leather, Premium sat nav in Satin Silver.

Thank in advance

[Steve44]

I don't think you do. If you request and download the Lexus pricelist from the website, it shows the ML audio as a further £1k option. ML audio is std on the Premier model only.

[LiCkWiD]

Steve is correct. ML is a further £1000, on top of the advanced sat nav/multimedia.

I wanted the Levinson system, so was forced into spending 2k on the sat nav. Feels as though the ML cost me 3 grand... ughh..

Standard on the Premium, though.. unless you've negotiated some sort of deal! :D

[Steve44]

How do find the ML audio? I demo'd a GS300h with ML and I didn't like it. It all seemed too bright, too much top end, not enough richness and bass. Good for Classical/Jazz I guess, but not so nice with rock/pop. Personally I didn't think it worth the extra, especially after I tested a car with std audio.

[LiCkWiD]

How do find the ML audio? I demo'd a GS300h with ML and I didn't like it. It all seemed too bright, too much top end, not enough richness and bass. Good for Classical/Jazz I guess, but not so nice with rock/pop. Personally I didn't think it worth the extra, especially after I tested a car with std audio.

Overall, I like it.. but it's far from perfect. I agree... far too much top-end and not enough bass response, I think. It's clear and crisp at high volumes, but for £1000, I wish it handled lower frequencies better.

Hoping the speakers will loosen up a bit, a lot of my music (320Kbps MP3 or VBR) is far too bass-driven for this system, which is a shame.

For what it cost me, as I explained above, I could have stuck a shed-load of Rainbow and Velodyne stuff in this, driven by an Alpine or something, and it'd have sounded better... but there you go.

I've not heard standard, but I'm not sure I could have gone for it anyway. Last car had the Logic 7 setup, and prior to that some horrendous B&O system.

[Steve44]

interesting - I was shot down in flames at the dealer when I said I didn't like it! They looked at me as if I had cotton wool in my ears.

The std audio, gives up a bit of clarity at high volume, for more middle and bass. Functionality wise it is identical. You still get the surround dsp, DVD functions, same options on bass/middle/treble etc. The ML bit is the speakers and amp. I preferred the sound from the standard system and when I saw you lost no functionality that was decision made.

I believe the std audio setup is built by Pioneer.

[LiCkWiD]

interesting - I was shot down in flames at the dealer when I said I didn't like it! They looked at me as if I had cotton wool in my ears.

The std audio, gives up a bit of clarity at high volume, for more middle and bass. Functionality wise it is identical. You still get the surround dsp, DVD functions, same options on bass/middle/treble etc. The ML bit is the speakers and amp. I preferred the sound from the standard system and when I saw you lost no functionality that was decision made.

I believe the std audio setup is built by Pioneer.

Hmm. During the demo I was impressed, but then again, the salesman had his choice of CDs. I didn't bring anything. He had London Grammar, Disclosure, and a few others which all sounded pretty good. The system is designed to suit the tastes of the mainstream, I suppose. Not too bassy, nor too crunchy. Just a nice clear tone with a little warmth... something to suit the majority. Poor thing just doesn't know what to do when I hit 50+ volume with some albums. But, I doubt it was designed for this, so I wind the bass waaay down and am left with the original problem - too much high.

Mark Levinson isn't exactly known just for his audio. He's more a designer, from what I've read. I'm not doubting the quality of the components used or the time spent "tuning" the system in.. but I think Pioneer would probably sound better, if the same cash was spent on speakers and amps.

[ColinBarber]

Mark Levinson isn't exactly known just for his audio. He's more a designer, from what I've read. I'm not doubting the quality of the components used or the time spent "tuning" the system in.. but I think Pioneer would probably sound better, if the same cash was spent on speakers and amps.

Mark the person hasn't had anything to do with company for many years. The company is part of Harman

[LiCkWiD]

Yeah, I wasn't suggesting Mr Levinson himself sits at the workstations putting this stuff together.. I'm talking more about the brand. My use of the word "he" probably did nothing to help my point.