G2 Lexicon Sound System

[hokie1525]

I've read many folks have said some of the older model years had a better sounding system than the newer gen, even on the 17 speaker upgraded system. My question is, short of going aftermarket on the entire electronics console, has anybody found any mods to help mitigate some of their sound quality issues, such as speakers, subs, preamps, etc?

FYI, I'm not there yet as I just got my Genny and whatever is in there is 10x better than my previous car. At some point, however, I may decide a tweak here or there is in order.

 

[ksoze]

Audio quality is very subjective. I would forget what others say and listen and experiment with settings on your own. There is no qualitative study which says the G1 system is better than the G2 and for everyone who says is it's is lackluster, there are those who say it is excellent.

I think it pretty good. In general, I have found the mids to be heavily boosted and need to be lowered. Would a larger sub help? Sure, but for much of the material I listen to (lossless), it is fine with some finagling with the EQ (albeit limited). The quality of the source input is also a factor - crappy audio in means crappy audio out. For many ears, years of listening to over boosted, suspect MP3 files have clouded their ability to discern audio as the performer intended. I think it is a quality system and would not spend money chasing anything (plus it's leased).

 

[hokie1525]

The quality of the source input is also a factor - crappy audio in means crappy audio out.

That's a great point. Most of what I listen to is XM because it gives me the variety I want to listen to. I could switch to a Pandora like option and go blue tooth, however I would think audio quality would be worse and I have to pre-download music or pay higher data costs, etc.

The highest quality option would be to rip CDs at high quality or download from Amazon at high quality (if even possible) and fill up the jukebox (is it 32 or 64gb, I forget).

 

[ksoze]

The highest quality option would be to rip CDs at high quality or download from Amazon at high quality (if even possible) and fill up the jukebox (is it 32 or 64gb, I forget).

One caveat - the files copied to the jukebox are 320kbs MP3's. It will not copy lossless files, so playback will be compressed files (for some, the quality difference is negligible). Other options are playing CD's or using an iPod with lossless files.

 

[hokie1525]

One caveat - the files copied to the jukebox are 320kbs MP3's. It will not copy lossless files, so playback will be compressed files (for some, the quality difference is negligible). Other options are playing CD's or using an iPod with lossless files.

Interesting that it won't copy the full file that is on the drive. I could invest in a high capacity USB stick and just play off of that.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

Having had a '12 R Spec with the 17 speaker system and now a '15 5.0 with the 14 speaker system, I think the 14 Speaker system sounds just as good, or even a little better than my old system.
YMMV.

 

[Mark_888]

Because of the higher than normal rate of failures on the G1 audio system, some people have theorized that they have cut back the maximum gain (volume) on the G2, and that accounts for some of the complaints. But it probably depends on how loud you play the music as whether you think it is a problem.

As far as replacing the system, that is probably not feasible without major rework of the dash, and then you will not be able to use the existing controls from the steering wheel or other controls. It would have to be a completely different system, with different music source (CD-MP3 player).

There was a custom stereo installer who built a high-end show car competition sound system for a G1 Genesis sedan about 4-5 years ago. He documented it on this forum. He got a lot of stuff donated by equipment manufacturers and he did a lot of custom fiberglass work. It was one of those deals where the trunk was filled with equipment. The estimated retail price of his system was about $25K. At first he tried to use the existing Genesis preamp/headunit but ultimately concluded that it would not work out well and to get the competition sound he wanted, he needed to replace everything in the signal path.

 

[rogerlange]

I have the 17 speaker in my genesis, It's Excellent. y 2014 cadillac srx4
had a bose system, I find this system performs as well is or better than the bose.

 

[losboricua]

I have the 17 speaker and the system sound great minus the low end. I'm an audio junky and the stock subwoofer just doesn't cut it. If you tweak the bass then you mids get distorted. I'm finally going to start building a fiberglass box for my RE Audio SEX12D2.

 

[srobak]

I have the 17 speaker system as well, and am also a bit of an audiophile. I have designed and installed several 2 to 7/7.2/7.2.4 home systems, designed and built speaker cabinets, worked for MacPherson audio building & installing a few of their pro audio cabinets, worked in live audio production in mid and large concerts and also do quite a bit of post production audio work at home on a nicely equipped Genelec workstation.

The 17 speaker does a very respectable job for what it is. Replacing that system from the head-unit perspective would not be possible due to the level of integration it has into the car. Tweaking is about the only option.

Some points to consider for anyone trying to get the best audio they can out of the system:

* Bluetooth isn't going to give it to you. The protocol does not have sufficient bandwidth to send full-spectrum audio over the air.
* XM isn't going to give it to you. Most channels are 192k or lower. This equates to mediocre MP3 quality. A very select few channels are higher bitrate and are more listenable.
* Pandora/spotify/iheartradio etc aren't going to give it to you either. All their bitrates are reduced and if you run it over BT you lose even more of the spectrum, as mentioned above.
* On board hard drive and USB will not play FLAC or WAV. It will only play MP3 and WMV with a max bitrate of 320k. Same with the CD player.
* Either of the above formats loaded on the drive or USB, local CD player with a factory made disc, or else another high rate, full rate or flac from a media player of your choice cabled in to the aux are the only means of getting the most out of this car system.

Anything less than the above for input means garbage in = garbage out, no matter what other components are in the signal path.

Since the signal going to amps is digital over fiber - I am looking into possibilities for a DSP which could allow for the breakout to individual component amps.

Without going that far though - the 8in free-air sub in the back deck does a decent job, but can get a little muddy when pushed and loses some punch as a result. It also misses out one some of the lowest notes which is much more common in today's music than that of even 5 years ago. A single 10 or 12in sub in a properly measured enclosure, properly crossed and powered will add some very good supplement & reinforcement to that area. Dayton, JL, MB Quart, etc come to mind for drivers to use.

When pushed - the front tweets can sound a little harsh - though not very bad. I am toying with the idea of replacing them with something smoother like some spare Genelecs I have... or possibly picking up some Vifa or JBL's better soft domes or Infinity Kappas.

The mids can also lose a little bit of detail when pushed and I am again toying with using some spare old Genelec drivers I have laying around. I am also considering some drivers out of extra Klipsch ProMedias I have and some drivers out of old Tannoy monitors.

These last few options give me some ability to massage the sound a little without going all components, amps and the DSP - so I will probably try some of those first. But the limitations of the 3-band tone adjust may necessitate the DSP route. I am pretty impressed overall with the factory sound however - and have some high hopes that just some different tweets and mids plus adding the sub and crossing it at 40Hz will take care of the issue.

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[ksoze]

* On board hard drive and USB will not play FLAC or WAV. It will only play MP3 and WMV with a max bitrate of 320k. Same with the CD player.

I don't think you are implying the CD player downgrades to 320Kbps when playing a CD.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

The only issue I had with my '12 system was the surround sound would not stay enabled. But a quick SW update fixed that. The system in my new '15 actually sounds louder than the system in my '12, even with less speakers. So not sure where Mark got his info. Unless maybe they lowered the max gain on the 17 speaker system and not the 14.

 

[srobak]

I don't think you are implying the CD player downgrades to 320Kbps when playing a CD.

No... I meant if using the CD player to play audio files (not recorded audio) - those are the only formats and bitrates it will support. Pardon my lack of clarification.

 

[Mark_888]

The only issue I had with my '12 system was the surround sound would not stay enabled. But a quick SW update fixed that. The system in my new '15 actually sounds louder than the system in my '12, even with less speakers. So not sure where Mark got his info. Unless maybe they lowered the max gain on the 17 speaker system and not the 14.

My info is based on quite a few other members posting their opinion that the G2 system was not quite as good as the G1. I have no personal knowledge of this. Several members guessed that the G2 system was throttled back a little to prevent overload and to make it more reliable than the G1 system (a lot of head units and amps had to be replaced).

When comparing two different sound systems, the one that sounds louder than the other "may" actually have more compression of the dynamic range, because a compressed dynamic range allows the average level to be played louder without the peak levels clipping. This is sort of counter-intuitive, but it is actually true.

Any sound system in a car has to have its dynamic range compressed somewhat compared to the best home listening environment, because otherwise the softest music passages would be masked by the ambient road noise.

Note: dynamic range compression has nothing to do with the compression of music that is used for reducing the amount of space needed for the recording.

 

[Crusty Old Shellback]

So in usual Mark fashion, you have no actual experience with the issue, only posting what you've read on the interweb.

 

[amartz]

the 8in free-air sub in the back deck does a decent job, but can get a little muddy when pushed and loses some punch as a result. It also misses out one some of the lowest notes which is much more common in today's music than that of even 5 years ago. A single 10 or 12in sub in a properly measured enclosure, properly crossed and powered will add some very good supplement & reinforcement to that area.

While an enclosure may be the way to go, I don't want to give up any trunk space. I've often wondered whether or not replacing the 8in deck sub with another brand could yield any improvements. A more efficient sub, or maybe a 10in sub?

 

[Mark_888]

So in usual Mark fashion, you have no actual experience with the issue, only posting what you've read on the interweb.

I think it is sad that you have no respect what other members of this forum have said about this subject, especially those who have owned both a G1 and G2 Lexicon system.

Since I have been here since Jan 2009, and have a fairly good idea what has been said by others, I was just alerting others to what I recall some others have posted here. I certainly would encourage people to find the actual posts of other members on this forum about the subject and not take my word for it.

 

[gbxk86a]

I got one of this low profile USB drive. It is compact enough that it is easy to take in and out and is inconspicuous in the USB compartment. Music is played smoothly with more than adequate transfer rate.

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruze...&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

Interesting that it won't copy the full file that is on the drive. I could invest in a high capacity USB stick and just play off of that.

 

[NewGen]

I've been happy with the 14 speaker Lexicon. My previous car had the THX system in the Lincoln MKS. It was OK (9 or 11 speakers, can't remember). The 2G Genesis is a little brighter than the Lincoln. The Lincoln had a large subwoofer that took up space in the trunk. The problem was it reduced entry space into what was already a poor design for trunk entry.

With respect to those using USB drives I have found 32 GB to be the optimal drive size, unless you listen to tracks that are very long, such as those found in classical or jazz. For the average rock listener you will reach the maximum number of tracks you can listen to before you reach 32 GB (I rip at 320, so I have large rock files).

 

[Shady_panda]

I test drove a 2015 model last year, and honestly I thought the sound was not as good as my 09, granted my 09 got more speaker but the sound just isnt as good for some reason. I'm not sure if I drove a lower model one but it was V6.

Side note, that new cadillac CT6 got 34 speakers O_O