JBL Sterio upgrade "speakers"

[Rangerdavid]

On a long trip recently i had a chance to experiment with several things in my new Pruis. One was the JBL "upgraded" sterio system. The nine speakers to be specific. As I fooled around with the "fade" front to rear button, I noticed the front speakers (two in bottom of each door, two tweeters in the A pillar, and the front center speaker) sounded entirely different than when I "faded" the sound to the back speakers. Not only were the back four speakers about half the volume, but they sounded like crap, even when compared with the front speakers, and this was equalizer enhanced sound from my mp3 player.

So my question is this: is this normal? or did they just put the JBL speakers in the front of my car? Does anyone else with the JBL option have rear speakers that sound like this? I was happy with the sound from the front speakers, but the rear speakers really suck in comparison, so I was thinking perhaps they were the base speakers I've heard so many complaints about.

I was thinking about taking the covers off and looking to see if they indeed are even JBL speakers. Does anyone know if the JBL upgrade is an option installed at the port'??? or does it come from the factory?? I''ve got to get to the bottom of this one........... hmmmmmm......... thanks all.

[Bill Merchant]

The speakers in the rear doors are JBL. They have very small magnets and a hard-wired crossover in the tweeter. Disconnect the tweeter, the lower speaker goes silent.

I recently added sound deadening material to the doors (a very good investment of time and money) and the JBL system sounds better, but it's still Just Barely Listenable.

[Rangerdavid]

thanks Bill, saved me the time of having to look and see. I was searching on Crutchfield last night for aftermarket speakers, a midrange and tweeter for the back doors, but I hadn't thought about adding the sound deading material. Did you do it yourself or take it to a shop? If you did, was it difficult? The speakers I found on Crutchfield, either the Boston Acoustic or the Infinity were basically plug and play, they used the factory mounts and covers, so i'm considering doing it myself, but adding the sound dampening material may be more than I bargained for. What brand did you use? thanks..........

[PA]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rangerdavid @ Aug 15 2006, 07:41 AM) [snapback]303430[/snapback]</div>

...but I hadn't thought about adding the sound deading material. Did you do it yourself or take it to a shop? If you did, was it difficult?[/b]

If you can replace your speakers yourself, you can add sound-deadening material yourself. I just finished replacing speakers and adding Dynamat Xtreme in my doors. Don't know if that was the best product, it's just what I used and it's easier to type than "sound deadening material". It's basically "stick & play" (OK, it's really "measure & cut & stick & play").

[NuShrike]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rangerdavid @ Aug 13 2006, 09:54 AM) [snapback]302571[/snapback]</div>

Does anyone know if the JBL upgrade is an option installed at the port'??? or does it come from the factory??[/b]

Our pseudo-Audio FAQ. Look at the JBL section where Tom did a lot of exploration of the exact details.

[Bill Merchant]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rangerdavid @ Aug 15 2006, 04:41 AM) [snapback]303430[/snapback]</div>

thanks Bill, saved me the time of having to look and see. I was searching on Crutchfield last night for aftermarket speakers, a midrange and tweeter for the back doors, but I hadn't thought about adding the sound deading material. Did you do it yourself or take it to a shop? If you did, was it difficult? The speakers I found on Crutchfield, either the Boston Acoustic or the Infinity were basically plug and play, they used the factory mounts and covers, so i'm considering doing it myself, but adding the sound dampening material may be more than I bargained for. What brand did you use? thanks..........[/b]

Sorry, I hadn't checked this topic in a while. I used RAAMmat from RAAMaudio.com and did it myself. It's a butyl rubber with sandwiched foil material. Not difficult, just a bit time consuming; don't rush and it's easy, you can do one door at a time. It really makes a world of difference to the sound.

Think of it this way: there is always sound in your car when it's moving - noise from rolling over the road through the tires and suspension, wind noise through the windows and roof, road noise through the doors. All this motion-noise creates a floor that the stereo has to rise above to be heard. Anything you can do to lower the floor will make the audio system sound that much better. Getting Goodyear ComforTred tires helped a lot with the first source. Can't do much about sound through the windows. The doors and sheet metal are pretty easy.

I followed Rick's advice and only put enough mat on the inside of the outer skin to keep the doors from sounding tinny. I completely covered the interior side, under the plastic inner skin, sealing every hole where sound could intrude.

The other thing to do is to pop the center speaker (lift up the edge furthest from the windshield with a butter knife or spatula and pull gently toward you) and disconnect it. That really cleans up the sound stage. You can also add a bit of foam to the corners of the speaker - it's a notorious source of rattles.