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- #21
2013 LC Audio Upgrade
- Thread starter UnFadeable21
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Thanks for the photos. I suppose a 200 forum is not the place to back and forth about driver design, but I would note that there is more to a quality driver build than cone material. Like voice coil quality, surround material, and magnet type. A paper (not really paper, but rather layered fiber) can be an outstanding cone material, imparting a wonderful warm tone to sound. In fact, some of the finest vintage drivers ever built by Electro Voice, Altec, and etc are paper cones. In vehicle audio drivers the paper has to treated for humidity reasons, but they can sound really good. Granted, many folks refer the potentially brighter and sharper sound of plastic or metal cones, but personal preference doesn’t mean other choices are junk. I’d be interested to see front/back photos of the OEM drivers when you pull them.
Likewise had a similar journey to yours with previous cars.
Where I am with the LX is 90% satisfied. If there's something I'd like to attack is to improve the source streaming audio chain. With CDs the ML system absolutely sings. Would love a better chain with quality DAC. BT A2DP of my existing setup leaves something to be desired. Even analog jack relies on the cell phones mediocre DAC. Thinking to maybe try a audiophile external DAC with some of the newer high def streaming services.
Not sure I'd be happy with any setup that relies on translating high level outputs. With all the losses upstream still of compromised source chain. Sure big amps and sharper speakers accentuate and bring audio excitement (absolutely agree with @Sandroad ), perhaps at the cost of purity.
@grinchy might have pointed out my future upgrade which is a wholistic upgrade of the LX headunit (a la Tesla style), amp, and audio chain better aligned for streaming sources. LC may have similar options too.
Here is a device from GROM that I think simulates the CD player in the MOST ring and can drop audio onto it. But not much luck finding a device that can pull the audio stream out.
possibly some sort of DAC with higher (2v+) gain could improve the 3.5 adapter.
I also agree I’ve never used a high level input stereo interface and question how well it would work. A lot of companies make devices to do it though, so can’t imagine it’s the worst, and if you want to keep the OEM functionality, in most cases it’s really the only way to go.
I try not to get too hung up on ultimate fidelity in a vehicle when there is already a baseline of how much ever road noise when listening to muddy up any aspirations of very high fidelity.
If you’ve never been to ASR. There are a few users who have some pretty fancy test equipment and they verify manufacture specs on Amps, DACs, speakers and headphones. Decent place to start to find a good DAC to test. I suppose if you had anything in your house with good output, you could test the theory before making any purchases for installing.
You hit the nail on the head in regards to noise floor. With AT tires, it's not as quiet as it once was and any incremental improvement may not be worthwhile. Like most, I seldom sit in the car stationary. That's what the home systems is for, and yes, that's another hobby I've indulged in. And because of the noise floor, is likely where a system like the OP is building may still be the ticket, to bring more dynamics and excitement to the sound, rather than for critical listening.
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- #26
First car wash since I bought the car. Going to tint the front windows to 35% next week.
Love this beast. Happy to be apart of the LC fam
Love this beast. Happy to be apart of the LC fam
Maybe something like this for your aux in.
TOPPING BC3 ES9018Q2C Digital to Analog Convertor (DAC)
TOPPING BC3 is a compact Bluetooth decoder that supports Bluetooth 5.0 and LDAC transmission, while outputting digital optical fiber, headphone jack and Line Out interface, and built-in battery. It can be used as a complement to the Bluetooth input of the decoder, can be used as a portable...
shenzhenaudio.com
Topping BC3 Review (Bluetooth Receiver) & BT CODECs
This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping BC3 Bluetooth receiver and headphone amplifier. It was sent to me by the online seller, Yaoyaotiger HIFI Audio Store and costs US $69. This is a follow up to our previous tests of Bluetooth receivers and investigating performance of...
www.audiosciencereview.com
Maybe something like this for your aux in.
TOPPING BC3 ES9018Q2C Digital to Analog Convertor (DAC)
TOPPING BC3 is a compact Bluetooth decoder that supports Bluetooth 5.0 and LDAC transmission, while outputting digital optical fiber, headphone jack and Line Out interface, and built-in battery. It can be used as a complement to the Bluetooth input of the decoder, can be used as a portable...
Topping BC3 Review (Bluetooth Receiver) & BT CODECs
This is a review and detailed measurements of the Topping BC3 Bluetooth receiver and headphone amplifier. It was sent to me by the online seller, Yaoyaotiger HIFI Audio Store and costs US $69. This is a follow up to our previous tests of Bluetooth receivers and investigating performance of...
O man, brings me back to that rabbit hole. That bc3 unit looks great! Has a nice balance of features, price, and compactness. I'll say the only thing holding me back is that I like my steering wheel controls and by using an aux connected unit like this, I'd loose that functionality. Hrmm...I'll stew on it and my just try for kicks?
I am also stewing on this unit that @grinchy posted. Would solve some other things like multi-channel input streams (maybe), display, and some other enhancements. To my eyes, it cheapens the console a bit, but the real holdback is I'm not sure I have the time to be a guinea pig on that just yet.
601.8US $ 49% OFF|12 CH Optical Car DSP Amplifier Audio and Video Upgrading for Lexus LX570 (2007 2015) Car GPS DVD Multimedia Player|Car Multimedia Player| - AliExpress
Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
www.aliexpress.com
100% plug and playO man, brings me back to that rabbit hole. That bc3 unit looks great! Has a nice balance of features, price, and compactness. I'll say the only thing holding me back is that I like my steering wheel controls and by using an aux connected unit like this, I'd loose that functionality. Hrmm...I'll stew on it and my just try for kicks?
I am also stewing on this unit that @grinchy posted. Would solve some other things like multi-channel input streams (maybe), display, and some other enhancements. To my eyes, it cheapens the console a bit, but the real holdback is I'm not sure I have the time to be a guinea pig on that just yet.
601.8US $ 49% OFF|12 CH Optical Car DSP Amplifier Audio and Video Upgrading for Lexus LX570 (2007 2015) Car GPS DVD Multimedia Player|Car Multimedia Player| - AliExpress
Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
I saw when he originally posted that. If the plastic color is a closer match in reality, maybe not so bad, but the screen will need to be impressive to make up for that large swath of blank plastic in the lower portion.O man, brings me back to that rabbit hole. That bc3 unit looks great! Has a nice balance of features, price, and compactness. I'll say the only thing holding me back is that I like my steering wheel controls and by using an aux connected unit like this, I'd loose that functionality. Hrmm...I'll stew on it and my just try for kicks?
I am also stewing on this unit that @grinchy posted. Would solve some other things like multi-channel input streams (maybe), display, and some other enhancements. To my eyes, it cheapens the console a bit, but the real holdback is I'm not sure I have the time to be a guinea pig on that just yet.
601.8US $ 49% OFF|12 CH Optical Car DSP Amplifier Audio and Video Upgrading for Lexus LX570 (2007 2015) Car GPS DVD Multimedia Player|Car Multimedia Player| - AliExpress
Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
TDA7850 is class AB 2-Ohm stable chip amp. Spec sheet shows cleanish 25w/ch at 4 ohms, but I saw some online reviews that didn’t agree with that (I’m sure implementation limited, so maybe irrelevant to this amp). I suspect it’s similar power to the ML amp. Would you skip the amp? I wonder where the radio controls are migrated to if factory amp is removed? If the head unit can manage volume contol and interfacing with steering wheel controls, might be best to use a custom dsp/amp behind this head unit.
The Mark Levinson amplifier is on the canbus and the Radio, CD Player, Aux sources etc will lose these functions without the factory ML amplifier.
Volume control (and steering wheel volume)
Nav Audio (one could probably patch this in if they cared to)
Rescue phone (one could maybe patch this in, it's more complex than Nav)
CD recordings to hard drive
Fader
Balance
Surround sound
The steering wheel controls for mode, seek, etc (functions unrelated to audio) continue to work.
I didn't try to rescue the audio controls on the steering wheel, but since they are available to the android units via a canbus adapter, its technically feasible.
What that kinda ugly medium size android unit does is it removes the need to have a WORKING ML amplifier, as it comes with it's own amplifier unit to drop in. More and more ML amplifiers will fail as the LX570 ages - capacitors simply don't last forever. It is possible to rebuild them, but it may not be cost effective to do so in all situations.
Sorry OP if we went way off course.
There's yet another variant that seems more up my ally. A PX8 10.5" version that likely uses hte ML amp. Looks a bit more classy with the factory 6-disc, albeit that superfluous at this point. Few more buttons
719.81US $ 38% OFF|10.5 Inch Android 10.0 Car Stereo Radio For Lexus LX570 2007 2015 Multimedia Player Carplay GPS Navigation Auto Audio Receiver|Car Multimedia Player| - AliExpress
Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
www.aliexpress.com
One other thought, a working ML amplifier may be worth more on ebay than the $1100 LX570 andriod top of the line. Another $400 in amps and $200 in a subwoofer and you'd only be $600 or so on a fully modern system.
I just put a $120 Double Din Wireless carplay generic Android in my Minivan. It's pretty good! They've fixed the boot time issues (instant on), clear screen, resonable touch response. It is only 1g/16g and works fine (not flawless, but fine). It replaced a four year old Android that was about 80% of a good solution. This new one is 99% (just lacking a touch of performance, but I knew that going in).
I just put a $120 Double Din Wireless carplay generic Android in my Minivan. It's pretty good! They've fixed the boot time issues (instant on), clear screen, resonable touch response. It is only 1g/16g and works fine (not flawless, but fine). It replaced a four year old Android that was about 80% of a good solution. This new one is 99% (just lacking a touch of performance, but I knew that going in).
Does the dsp/amp module replace all the CAN features if you were to want to keep the OEM head unit?
my thought was that if the dsp/amp is only that, then any dsp/amp that can accept the output of the new head unit could be used. Sounds like you may be saying you need their dsp/amp to maintain CAN functionality between the new head unit and new dsp/amp to retain volume and fade/bal controls.
This is my 2nd favorite after the model that mirrors OEM the closest with 8” screen and similar OEM layout. But this one has more updates than that one.Sorry OP if we went way off course.
There's yet another variant that seems more up my ally. A PX8 10.5" version that likely uses hte ML amp. Looks a bit more classy with the factory 6-disc, albeit that superfluous at this point. Few more buttons
719.81US $ 38% OFF|10.5 Inch Android 10.0 Car Stereo Radio For Lexus LX570 2007 2015 Multimedia Player Carplay GPS Navigation Auto Audio Receiver|Car Multimedia Player| - AliExpress
Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
Well someone needs to buy one of these newer ones before I pull trigger on Grom vline2.
Most of the LX570 Android solutions have a CANbus adapter for the climate and steering wheel and use the ML amplifier for amplification. I am assuming they pass the 'control' signals to the ML using CANbus as well.
This one unit REPLACES the ML amplifier, so it has an 'optical' (per the marketing) connection to the head unit. The plugs look to me like they are mirroring the plugs on the ML amplifier. I'm sure they have a CANbus adapter to get the climate and steering wheel into the picture as well. No one knows how well (or if at all) this works, but several have done the Android replacement and it is working fine, really isn't much of a leap to have the separate amp be part of the package.
IT would be great to see the 13.6" screen combined with the separate amplifier. That would be more compelling.
- Thread starter
- #36
Lol all good broSorry OP if we went way off course.
There's yet another variant that seems more up my ally. A PX8 10.5" version that likely uses hte ML amp. Looks a bit more classy with the factory 6-disc, albeit that superfluous at this point. Few more buttons
719.81US $ 38% OFF|10.5 Inch Android 10.0 Car Stereo Radio For Lexus LX570 2007 2015 Multimedia Player Carplay GPS Navigation Auto Audio Receiver|Car Multimedia Player| - AliExpress
Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
If anyone can help themselves by upgrading their car and being more happy, more power to them
- Thread starter
- #37
On a side note
I just upgraded and changed out my stock in cabin air filter. Holy crap, I didn’t think they have changed it since the car was sold in 2013. There was so much crap and debris in there. Literally a fist full of wool was in there. Probably a small mouse nest the size of a baseball.
Put in a K&N in Cabin air filter replacement.
The Heat and AC is blowing 10x stronger now even on the lowest setting. It’s a lifetime replacement that you clean but I’ll probably change a new one every 3-4 years. Well worth the price.
I just upgraded and changed out my stock in cabin air filter. Holy crap, I didn’t think they have changed it since the car was sold in 2013. There was so much crap and debris in there. Literally a fist full of wool was in there. Probably a small mouse nest the size of a baseball.
Put in a K&N in Cabin air filter replacement.
The Heat and AC is blowing 10x stronger now even on the lowest setting. It’s a lifetime replacement that you clean but I’ll probably change a new one every 3-4 years. Well worth the price.
- Thread starter
- #38
Here’s the video if you have never done it before.
My recycle air button didn’t raise the cover so I just manually did it and shut it afterwards. No issues.
2020 Toyota Land Cruiser5.7L V8 Gas Cabin Air Filter
The K&N Lifetime Washable CABIN AIR FILTER for the 2020 Toyota Land Cruiser with a 5.7L V8 Gas engine is washable and reusable.
www.knfilters.com
Or you can get it from Amazon same price and free shipping. Part Number VF2000. Fits all our land cruiser models all years.
Here’s the video if you have never done it before.
My recycle air button didn’t raise the cover so I just manually did it and shut it afterwards. No issues.
2020 Toyota Land Cruiser5.7L V8 Gas Cabin Air Filter
The K&N Lifetime Washable CABIN AIR FILTER for the 2020 Toyota Land Cruiser with a 5.7L V8 Gas engine is washable and reusable.
Or you can get it from Amazon same price and free shipping. Part Number VF2000. Fits all our land cruiser models all years.
If you were able to "move" your cover with your hand, then it's broken. Search the forum. This is super common to the point that it's comical (assuming you aren't the one fixing it). Usually gets broken when you take your truck to the dealer/oil change place for allotted service and the tech doesn't know he's suppose to use the button in the dash to move it, so they force it open and brake the pivot point. Lots of threads on how to fix it, depending on where it broke.
Also, hopefully you don't still have a mouse(mice), and if it's gone, lucky for you it didn't chew any wiring. Apparently the wire insulation has a natural base material that mice like to eat. Some people have put a screen of some sort over the hvac air intake (under the plastic cowl cover between the hood and the windshield. It's a big opening (maybe 12"x5").
- Thread starter
- #40
Yea, someone probably broke it.
No more mice inside.
The dealership told me the previous owner was some big time realtor. Traded this one in for a 2021 Hertiage LC.
It has all its service records in the glove compartment in a Manila folder. No mention of broken vent cover, sneaky bastards lol
