Mark Levinson in Lexus?

Angela, congrats, nice ride ya got! When I bought my Acura 3.2 CL Type S last year I thought..."oh jeez, the damned car has a Bose system". Many 'philes may wonder...why buy a car if it has a Bose system in it???? Size does count.. 265HP in a car weighing roughly 2500lbs, for one. Hehehehe..Before I even took delivery I was planning out my aftermarket system to replace the vile stock unit. Got the car, and truth be told the system really isn't all that bad. Bear in mind a car is not the ideal listening environment so it tends to be a lot more forgiving. Why carve up a real nice interior if it's not necessary? Find a car with a decent system, throw on your favourite driving tunes, and sing along at the top of your lungs like an idiot while those around you wonder what kind of pharmaceuticals yer on. And oh, watch out, speeding tickets can really eat into your CD/LP budget. Jeff

aj-On the ES it isn't that much($)but on the LS/LX/SC/GS it is big money, or at least it used to be! I too was impressed with the system on my 99 cadilliac catera it was bose and very good(it even played upside down while the car was on fire!) But now the monsoon nonsense in my GTi is JUNK! but it was only $300. After spending 30k on a car system and still not being happy with it I gave up, a loosing battle, the 12 volts D/C is a great idea but that's where it ends, IMO.

~Tim

FYI, Harmon-Kardon and Madrigal are both part of the Harmon Group. Therefore, it is quite possible that H-K makes the system for Madrigal.

Tim, I was breaking the price out for the sound system ONLY. It is true on all Lexus cars, not just the ES. THis is the one that I am familiar with. The ML system does not come ALONE in any package. You know how the options work, that includes leather interior, special lights, heated seats, etc. You can't just order the ML system. Lexus doesn't make cars that way, so if you want it, you have to get inside of another package. You know what I mean? So if you looked at the entire package price, yeah, it's over $3K, but not just for the ML.
off to the salt mines and the ahhhhh COMMUTE ahhhhhh
aj

mergers mergers mergers.... everywhere..... I work for HP - for now- and am really sick of mergers :)

I'm not sure where the people I know got their information but I do know one thing for sure...When I was in College, car audio was the thing to be in to. I had a number of friends that entered and won IASCA trophies(international auto sound competition something or other)Back in the days, alot of the spoiled rich kids would go for the full Nakamichi systems back when Nak stuff was better. Later on, some of these car stereos seemed to have alot of their own tweaks similar to what I read about here on Agon. Also, as an insurance adjuster in Seattle from 93-00, I had the opportunity to handle numerous claims for the systems on the Microsoft kids cars...man oh man. McIntosh from what I understand is making some prtty good car audio gear and alot of the people are using focal and dynaudio drivers in their car. Just as speaker placement etc in a home set up is important, so is the quality of the install in a car. The best installs I have ever seen were done by a place called Innovative Audio in Bellevue WA. Magnolia Hi-Fi also has a good selection of equipment, but aren't quite as custom as their installs. Now that I live in central Missouri, there doent seem to be any high end car stereo places like in Seattle...but then again, I've had toooo many decks, amps & speakers stolen in my day to want to put another one in...& on a final commentary on the Lexus system....IT IS SUBPAR....When lexus put the Nakamichi system in their cars (yes I have listened to those too) It didnt even come close to the Denon/Nakamichi system that I had in my own car...go figure. I have a feeling that alot of the people who are being sold cars with these so called "high end systems" are people that are in an age bracket that missed the car audio explosion and really haven't hear a true audiphile auto sound system. They are rare, but they are out there..you just cant get it at circuit city.