So there's absolutely no way to play a CD in a new car without a phone?

I find it strange that my 08 Lexus Levinson had a aux input but the version from the ES for the same year did not. It had the cassette like you mentioned, and of course mine dose not. I'm getting close to getting a 2020 LX-570, and mainly because of the Levinson system.

 

Just got a 2020 Subaru and it comes with a CD player in the dash.

I am guessing I will just end up playing music off my connected iPhone though. I have always had problems with CDs dying in the car, due to crazy temperature swings.

 

2020 Audi Q8

 

What about it?

 

Less then a 2020 LX-570?

 

So are most cars.

As I pointed out earlier, my main concern is the sound system. It's by far the most important factor for me and much more important than the price or the lousy mileage.

 

I believe it's right there with the Levinson. You may want to compare. Just say'n. Same with Jaguar With Bowers & Wilkins.

 

But the Lexus is a quality no drama vehicle unlike pretty much *anything* else on the road. Audi and Jag? No thank you.

 

I don't think either have AUX inputs. Until I can get BT to sound better than that no AUX is a deal breaker. USB could be an option as well, but so far I've not been able to get any of them to recognize external drives full of FLAC files.

I've compared them all at the auto shows.

The other reason I'm headed towards the LX is because it's replacing my Grand Caravan. I want a similar sized vehicle. The LX is almost the same exact size, though it's got less interior space since it has a larger engine compartment cutting into size.

This will not be a daily driver. It's too large and unwieldy for that and gets lousy mileage. It's purpose will be mainly for long trips to National Parks and other points of interest. I still have my smaller Lexus, and will most likely replace it in about 5 years. That will be it for me, as those cars will most likely outlive me.

 

I don't get it. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere, any reputable car audio installer can install ANYTHING. If you care so much about car audio you wouldn't care about this and go get a real system installed. There are harness/conversion kits available for any make and model to keep everything functioning as is.

 

I'm not an "0ff-roader" per se in that I don't go try to run trails and do crazy stuff but I moved to Idaho all those years ago (from California) to take advantage of the outdoors. Driving the Land Cruiser/LX off road into back country areas is an amazing experience - absolutely no drama. I've been amazed at what my LX can do and it's now 17 years old. The new ones go to 11 (Spinal Tap reference for any who don't get that comment).

That they have an incredible audio system is icing.

 

Yes, I can see that.

 

From the reviews ...
"Wouldn't pair with car's bluetooth -
Paid extra for bluetooth on the assumption that this would pair with my car. Alas, it did not, and now I have a cute little useless gadget."

 

What don't I get?

 

With all due respect, do you really think I could go to a car stereo place and have them put in system that sounds better than the Levinson system?

And if so, how would you know that? Have you heard the Levinson system in the LX?

And what if I bought a car, took it to somebody only to discover that their sound system didn't sound better once it was installed? Would they uninstall it and give me my money back and restore the vehicle to how it was before I brought it to them? What about the fact that I'd lose my interaction with the touch screen and computer and destroy the warantee?

Where would the components be located? Are you talking about something that mounts below the dash, like back in the 60s?

How can you evaluate a system you've never heard? Nobody can tell you how a custom designed system will sound in a car until it's installed. Do you realize that the speakers were specifically designed for the Lexus system and located precisely where then need to be?

I've evaluated most of these high end car system and know how they sound.

There is no chance of me trusting anybody I don't know from a car stereo place. Why would you think they know more about what sounds good than I do?

Funny thing is that when I got my Lexus, I did take it to a highly rated car stereo place, but just to have them run some wires for me. They also told me that they could put a much better system in the car, but I just laughed. They showed me some of their higher end systems and they sounded horrid to me.

Those guys did't know much about high quality audio. They mostly seemed to know about competition audio. That was their thing and they had won awards for being louder than their competition. For the most part, that's what the after market auto stereo business has turned into.

Oh yes, their systems could play louder than the Levinson system and to them that meant it was better. That's fine if that's what you're in to, but it's a whole different deal than what I'm after.

And, I used to work with one of the best high end car installers in the state, who did many installations for high end celebrities. One of them was my client and that's why I had to interact with him. That was back in the 90s, but I did talk to him after my interaction with the above mentioned company, and he's in complete agreement with me.

That said, we're all different, so I'll never try to convince anybody of any of this. It's all my opinion, but I'd be a fool to trust somebody over myself. After all, I've designed many car systems starting back in the 60s. I just wrote about some of that on another thread here recently. Perhaps you should check it out.

 

The rum was delicious...

Back on topic, my car does have a CD player, and I do still buy CDs, but I haven't played a CD in my car in years other then when my 3 year old grandson found his mom's stash of CDs and would come out to greet me with one when I was dropping my son/his dad off after work. Shania Twain, oh boy. Glad that phase passed!

For years I used my Fiio X5 as my primary mobile music option. It has both a headphone jack and a line out jack so it was fairly convenient to swtich back and forth and with two 512 GB Micro SD cards has plenty of capacity for lots of FLAC files. But honestly I've found the convenience of a phone + bluetooth to be easier to deal with in the car. I still use the Fiio when I I travel and around the house, but commuting or running errands it's smart phone only these days.

 

Exactly. Imagine being in your living room with a high quality sound system and over 8,000 albums, all in high quality as well, but travelling wherever you wanted to go. That's what I'm looking to do. I'm not sure how much off roading I'll do, but I want to be able to go wherever the road takes me.

I can do that now to some degree in the small Lexus, but I want to be able to take a lot of comforts with me that I can't really do now. Driving down the open road listening to whatever I feel like is extremely awesome for me.

 

I hate my 2018 Grand Cherokee does not have a CD player. But I get by with thumb drives, Bluetooth thru my Android phone, and a 15 year old CD walkman thru the aux port.

 

You must be kidding, most new cars have proprietary touch screens, many of the vehicles functions are routed through the same system, it is not that simple to replace an audio system anymore. I have a 2014 Impala, it has a touch screen that slides up and down with a motor, there is an unconventional sized storage bin behind it. All the vehicle settings are done through the same system as the audio system, heat & A/C also appear on the screen as well. There is no way to install an aftermarket system in this car with out loosing a lot of vehicle functionality, and most cars built in the last five years are like this, and it will get worse as newer models come out.

 

I’m wondering how Paul Evans would feel about this. Would he have been happy to leave those seven girls sitting in the back seat with Fred if he’d had access to 8,000 albums and a superb car stereo?

Also, would Fred have been more interested in the music than the girls?

Having said that, and of far greater socio-political importance, with seven girls in the backseat, and putting aside the problems of seat belts and space, did he survive their demands on that fateful journey with Paul Evans?

 

The Uconnect system in my 2018 Charger Scat Pack has only two USB ports and an aux jack in the console. Luckily it will play lossless files via USB. So what I did was take a used 500GB laptop HDD and fill it with all my CD rips, and lossless downloads and put them on the drive. SInce it's SATA, I bought a USB adapter. Laptop drives are low power so the USB port will power it. I just leave it in the consol connected and I have access to all 6000+ songs via the touch screen.

 

I'm not so sure about Paul or Fred, but at this point I'd take the music over the girls. Girls can come and go, but music never lets me down. Actually, you can pretty much change 'girls' to 'people'.

 

You must be talking about CDRs.

 

It really bums me out that Lexus forces you to get the three row seating in order to get the Levinson system. If I needed that much seating, I'd buy a minivan.

 

Are you sure about that? I know you can get the LX with 2 row seating which leaves a bit more storage room in the back. I've seen nothing to indicate that you have to give up the Levinson system to get it that way.

I'd prefer a minivan actually if I could find one that had the luxury that the LX has. Believe me, I've been looking. I loved my Grand Caravan but I can't find a van like it. It was a deluxe model with upholstered panels, while the new vans are all full of plastic. That makes a big difference in the sonics.

If you could get a Sienna van with a Levinson system, I'd probably go for one.

Hmm, you may be right. I just found this from their website.

It's the difference between listening to music and being enveloped by it. Engineered by a company world-renowned by audiophiles, the available 450-watt Mark Levinson®* Reference Surround Sound Audio System was tuned for more than 4,000 hours to optimize the acoustics of the vehicle. As a result, it features 19 speakers and 7.1-channel architecture, and enough clarity for listeners to identify the spatial position of each instrument in play.
OPTIONAL ON: LX 570 THREE-ROW