aftermarket speakers w/o an amp

[superjew1492]

so i'm gathering that throwing a jbl unit in is almost pointless. im good with adding new speakers but an amp's power draw on the battery and the risk of it voiding any part of my warranty give me pause. anybody know if i'll get improved sound by putting in aftermarket speakers, or will the low level 'quality' from my stock speakers be better than a speaker that is better but requires more watts than the OEM head unit can provide?

[jelloslug]

Originally Posted by superjew1492

so i'm gathering that throwing a jbl unit in is almost pointless. im good with adding new speakers but an amp's power draw on the battery and the risk of it voiding any part of my warranty give me pause. anybody know if i'll get improved sound by putting in aftermarket speakers, or will the low level 'quality' from my stock speakers be better than a speaker that is better but requires more watts than the OEM head unit can provide?

Changeing the speakers is always a good upgrade for an OEM system. You won't break anything by making the upgrade.

[zenMachine]

Originally Posted by superjew1492

so i'm gathering that throwing a jbl unit in is almost pointless. im good with adding new speakers but an amp's power draw on the battery and the risk of it voiding any part of my warranty give me pause. anybody know if i'll get improved sound by putting in aftermarket speakers, or will the low level 'quality' from my stock speakers be better than a speaker that is better but requires more watts than the OEM head unit can provide?

Thank your lucky star that you don't have the integrated JBL amp.
Without it, adding an amp and replacing the stock speakers is a really straightforward operation that even non-Prius experienced installers can do (i.e. Best Buy/Circuit City etc.)

If you are handy and patient and good with running wires, there's not much to it. You won't void the warranty by adding aftermarket sound systems to any car, so no need to worry about that.

[nspeer]

Originally Posted by zenMachine

Thank your lucky star that you don't have the integrated JBL amp.
Without it, adding an amp and replacing the stock speakers is a really straightforward operation that even non-Prius experienced installers can do (i.e. Best Buy/Circuit City etc.)

If you are handy and patient and good with running wires, there's not much to it. You won't void the warranty by adding aftermarket sound systems to any car, so no need to worry about that.

I just took home a 2009 Package 2 Prius and I'm very disappointed in the sound quality. Can anyone recommend which aftermarket speakers (specifically) might improve the without changing the OEM head? What size?
thanks,
Neil

[F8L]

The problem with installing aftermarket speakers on the OEM stereo and NOT adding an amplifier is the fact that there is generally not enough power coming out of the stock unit to run a decent component set (speakers with separate tweeters).

There shouldn't be a huge los in MPG with a small to medium powered amplifier. IMO I'd rather enjoy the sound system and the overall enjoyment of the car rather than freak out over a 1mpg loss.

I drove 74 miles to work today on the freeway at 70mph average and still parked with the MFD at 52mpg and I run two huge amplifiers totaling 1800 watts RMS. <shrug>

[hyo silver]

Hey, F8L, what do you think of working as a travelling Prius stereo installer?

[F8L]

Originally Posted by hyo silver

Hey, F8L, what do you think of working as a travelling Prius stereo installer?

If you only knew how much I despise installing stereo equipment....

Actually, I'd do the stereo portion no problem, it's the amplifiers and speakers I don't like messing with. lol

[hyo silver]

Originally Posted by F8L

If you only knew...

I had no idea.

In that case, any sites you could recommend for learning more about it? (Other than this one, of course.)

[F8L]

Originally Posted by hyo silver

I had no idea.

In that case, any sites you could recommend for learning more about it? (Other than this one, of course.)

I really don't hang out on the car audio forums. Most of the stuff I get is from my 2nd job (car stereo shop).

The only sites I've checked out were DIY Mobile Audio - Technical, Advanced & Informative and Sounddomain.com . I don't know how they rate in quality though. The info on Elitecaraudio.com was pretty good but I don't know if that site is still up. As with most other forums they are generally populated by young know-it-alls that enjoy trash talking or making you feel small.

[maseace]

When I replaced my speakers with Polk Audio components, it sounded WORSE than the stock speakers until I added the aftermarket stereo. I guess there wasn't enough power in the stock stereo (non-JBL).