Poor Quality Sound from THX Sound System

[GlennA]

Has anyone else found the Infotainment System disappointing?  Not crisp, low quality sound?  

I was disappointed to see they dropped the jukebox, but willing to accept that if the system had the incredible system I thought I was getting.

Boy was I wrong!

 

Share your thoughts.

[SteveB_TX]

Sounds fine to me.  Of course, I am not an audiophile, so anything more than 2 speakers sounds great to me.  :)  I agree it sounded weak until I found the limited EQ settings.  I do wish the system had stronger bass. 

[Darrink1]

I have the THX Premium upgrade.

It sounds fine, but its missing the ability to have multiple EQ settings. My CTS allows me to cycle through 5 user defined EQ settings.

Current music typically has too much Base, but older music typically no Base, etc. etc.

So it would be nice to have a quick way to change EQ

 

[Robert Iggy Cerami]

I also have the THX Premium.. It sounds great .. Go to settings and switch to surround sound it really increases the sound quality....

[ieatfishburritos]

I have the THX premium and was dissapointed at first.  Once I turned to Surround mode and turned the midrange eq setting to almost off and bass to -2 and treble all the way up, It's much much better!  I am an audiophile as well lol, the system doesn't sound as good as it should, but is serviceable.  

[michaelinokc]

I've loved THX system from the moment I got my car.  It's crisp and clean, even at max volume.

[Rusty Boltz]

I like my THX. I use the all seating positions setting. Never have tried full volume. I listen to satellite radio almost exclusively, but occasionally play my phone playlist via Bluetooth.

Edited December 6, 2013 by Rusty Boltz

[robertlane]

My how the THX system has developed over the years.  THX in the Lincoln must go back several decades.  It's great to see that Lincoln has struck with it and continued to develop it.

[lowfatdog]

Comparing the standard 2013 MKZ stereo to the 2013 THX stereo, I feel the regular stereo sounds better with today's music. I couldn't believe it considering the THX stereo is supposed to be so much better. I didn't notice much of a difference switching between the two DSP settings. If I had my choice, I would go back to the regular stereo.

[Driver]

I love the THX too and as stated previously, if I took the bass down to minus 2 or 3 and turned the mid range up a few notches it sounds much better. Of course different music requires different settings. I guess I am an audiophile LOL

[cliff]

Just had my MKZ 2.0 awd delivered to me last Thurs. Still trying to figure things out. How do you change the seating positions on the THX radio? Also, can you play Pandora through this system?

[keo1050]

I personally think the THX system in my 2012 sounds slightly better than the one in our 2013. Seems to have a little better sonic clarity and tighter bass definition to me. I also think the juke box feature is one of the coolest features EVER put in an automobile. Currently have over 100 hours of music on mine and still adding every week.  I did find the surround setting on the 2013 improved the overall sound greatly though as stated prior in this thread.

Edited March 14, 2014 by keo1050

[keo1050]

Cliff,

I play Pandora in both my cars using the Bluetooth on my iphone. Simply pair your phone and go to user device on the entertainment system in the vehicle. Select your phone as the source on the menu.  Start the Pandora app on your phone and you should be in business.

[cliff]

Cliff,

I play Pandora in both my cars using the Bluetooth on my iphone. Simply pair your phone and go to user device on the entertainment system in the vehicle. Select your phone as the source on the menu.  Start the Pandora app on your phone and you should be in business.

Thanks. I have found in my previous car that Pandora keeps losing its signal, is it better in this car?

[keo1050]

Your signal in the car will only be as good as the data signal to your phone if that is your source.

[Scats]

Hook up a portable DVD player to the system, buy a audio dvd disc and the sound will blow u away

[Davisjl]

If you're listening to the Sirius/XM source it's a very compressed signal and sounds muddy... Listening to High Quality digital music (no compressed WMA) sounds pretty dang good... High quality setting Pandora sounds good along with iTunes version.  CD's sound good too.

[Eric McDonough]

Agree with Davisjl - found that whatever Sirius/XM receiver they're using is garbage - on most channels you can hear how lossy compression is, which is unfortunate because I love the Sirius/XM music selection. Using CDs, or an iPod via USB, or Spofity/Pandora via bluetooth on your telephone, or a good HD radio station produces much better results. Heck even the Sirius/XM app on my phone sounds way better then the onboard receiver...

 

I also found I had to set my fader back to almost halfway between the back and neutral/balanced position, crank the mids and set the bass and treble to approx. 3 bars (it's tough to tell because it seems like each bar has like 3 or 4 positions before the next bar lights up or disapears) to get optimal sound from the system in all 4 seats. Took me like 45 minutes or tweaking settings and switiching seating positions or so to get it all dialed in. Now I think it sounds pretty good. It's not the best system I've ever heard, but in my humble opinion it does sound better then the base MKZ system - I drove a base MKZ rental on a 5 day business trip - so I did have some basis for comparison.

 

Just wish they would use a better Sirius/XM receiver.

Edited September 24, 2014 by Eric McDonough

[4N1M4L]

I love my thx system, but I have a 2010. The newer version sounds tinny to me, one of the reasons I won't upgrade for a while

[Jim Ayres]

I have the THX  system in my 2015 MKZ and am also disappointed. I've only listened to Sirius and AM talk radio so far, but there are a couple of problems. On both Siriius and AM radio the volume increases and decreases by itself about every 10 to 20 seconds. The other thing is that no matter how I set the bass, mid range or treble, voices are not clear, they sound somewhat muffled. Anyone else experience this? I've only had the car three weeks, so have not returned to the dealer yet.

[Brian V]

Hi Jim!   I also have the THX in my Hybrid, got it two days ago, and although I love the car, I am dissapointed with the sound on the satellite radio.  Voices are definitely where the issue is most evident- there's plenty of deep clean bass and great extension with the highs, but they really didn't do justice to the capabilities of the system with the EQ tuning. It sounds like there's a bump in the 150 -550hz range resulting in the muddy quality of voices- or instruments in that range.  

 

(See my next post for an update)

 

I was able to fix the sound in my 2013 Fusion Hybrid SE using the tone controls: Bass +2, Mid -6, treble +4 and selecting driver's seat mode, but it seems that the tone controls don't fall in the range that needs to be adjusted in the Z.  Since cutting the midrange back didn't help, I tried boosting the bass +5 and mid +5 with the treble +6 and that seems to be somewhat better.

 

By far the best auto sound I've ever had was in my 1994 Continental with JBL sound system- it was amazingly clean and had great bass and treble extension- sounded as good as a really good home stereo system.  The sound in my 2008 Sable Premier was also very, very good (the audiophile sound system).  Satellite radio was excellent, as it is with my other receivers- so it's not a problem with SiriusXM. 

 

I asked a friend who works in Ford Design about this, how they equalize the sound, etc. and he said he'd ask around to try and find out some info on it. I know that when they were setting up the JBL sound in the Continental, they had a very high end listening room set up (Magnepan speakers, Crown or McIntosh amps, etc) and compare the sound in the room and then duplicate it with the car's EQ to get it right.  

Edited April 18, 2015 by Brian V

[Jim Ayres]

Thanks for your feedback on this issue Brian! At least I know I'm not crazy. Overall , I'm still in love with my MKZ!

[Brian V]

Okay, so I did some more listening, with CD's, and as someone had mentioned earlier, that the problem may be with the Sirius receiver.  For CD's I got very good clean and transparent sound with the following settings: Bass +3, Mid -2 and Treble +3.  FM HD also sounds very good.  My next experiment will be to hook up my XM Roady XT to the Z and see if it sounds better than the factory Sirius tuner.  Jim, try listening to some good CD's with those settings and see if you agree. 

 

Other than that (and the location of the brake release) I really love the car.  It's incredibly smooth and quiet (I have the suspension tuned to comfort for our atrocious Michigan so-called roads) and am  getting right about the same MPG's as my Fusion Hybrid: 39+mpg!  Hard to beat that combination of great looks, comfort, space and luxury with the gas mileage of an econobox!!!

[Jim Ayres]

Thanks for the advice Brian. I haven't listened to any CDs just Sirius and an AM station on the HD radio. It's the talk station on AM that's the most objectionable. I've noticed that when it's "acquiring the signal" the volume gets louder, and the gets lower again as soon as it's finished acquiring the signal.

[2015mkzhybrid]

Very helpful thread.... My THX II setup is much better now, especially when reducing bass and mid-range. The surround sound setting is an essential part too.

 

Thanks to all.