2010 Prius Audio Specs

[Tideland Prius]

Originally Posted by mlibanio

If you don't care about sound, Toyota systems seem not too bad at all. However, if you are a true audiophile and truly enjoy listening to music, you would do better to spend that money on something else. While I test drove the 2010 Prius, I had a chance to hear that JBL Non-nav radio, and its okay. Not great though. Hardly sounds any better than my 2002 Prius. I had to install a subwoofer in mine to get any semblence of clear, solid bass. I also upgraded the horrific 20W speakers in the door to Alpine's, and they are MUCH MUCH better. It even had some silly Equalizer presets that you can change from SEDAN, COUPE, MINIVAN. Believe it or not, the MINIVAN setting sounded the best! The bass got stronger and clarity improved somewhat. Though it seemed challenged on Lady Gaga's Pokerface song.

You also have to feel the weight of Toyota's stock speakers to believe it. I threw it up in the air for fun and thought I would knock the International Space Station out of orbit! It seems to defy gravity! Its virtually weightless! I mean my Keyless entry fob weighed 0.001 grams more when I put them both on my digital scale!!! And I am referring to my speakers, not the 2010, which probably weigh even less! HAHAHA!!

That JBL option is expected to be about $500-$800!!! And despite all of that cash, it still sounds awful! Its truly amazing that Toyota can make the world's greatest hybrids and yet a simple thing like an audio system completely elludes them. Toyota stock stereo's are among the worst if you are a true audiophile. There is no spatial imaging, as in, you know the sound is coming from the dash and doors. Chrysler has insane audio systems. My 2002 Chrysler Neon has factory Nav with over 350 watts of power, and each Infinity speaker is rated at 200W! I have never had to upgrade it at all. And yet, the most impressive part, is that when you are listening to music, it sounds so clean and yet so strong. The system even has DSP and sets an "audio stage," and it sounds like an orchestra is performing right in front of you rather and surrounds you with sound. I love listening to classical music in it, when you can clearly hear the instruments, and yet you can hear some goof in the background coughing. You can hear instruments that are simply background noise in my Prius and dad's JBL highlander hybrid.

My dad paid over $1200 for the JBL system in his Highlander and has regretted it ever since. For $1200 he got a 60W JBL amplifier!!! Are you kidding me! The sound is awful too. You can get a 300W amplifier from Walmart for $100!!!

But I am not complaining though. Actually in my opinion, I am likely to go with the base model radio, get an Eclipse Navigation system (which is the same as the factory nav anyway and will plug right in so my friend at Eclipse just told me a few days ago!). Plus it comes with over 250 Watts of power anyway.

Give the Camry's JBL system a listen and let me know how that sounds.

[nthach]

Originally Posted by mlibanio

Though it seemed challenged on Lady Gaga's Pokerface song.

Rap, R&B, "bubblegum" pop or anything bassy is a challenge for stock systems - I played Paramore's crushcrushcrush on a 2nd gen JBL system, a Lexus Mark Levinson Reference Surround system on a LS460, and on a Pioneer deck connected to a set of Focal K2 Powers on a demo board. All the systems did fine on the mid-range and most of the vocals. The JBL had a challenge with bass - the ML was a touch better. Both stock systems, however sounded "muddy" when compared against the Focals.

[WPWoodJr]

Originally Posted by mlibanio

If you don't care about sound, Toyota systems seem not too bad at all. However, if you are a true audiophile and truly enjoy listening to music, you would do better to spend that money on something else. While I test drove the 2010 Prius, I had a chance to hear that JBL Non-nav radio, and its okay. Not great though. Hardly sounds any better than my 2002 Prius. I had to install a subwoofer in mine to get any semblence of clear, solid bass. I also upgraded the horrific 20W speakers in the door to Alpine's, and they are MUCH MUCH better. It even had some silly Equalizer presets that you can change from SEDAN, COUPE, MINIVAN. Believe it or not, the MINIVAN setting sounded the best! The bass got stronger and clarity improved somewhat. Though it seemed challenged on Lady Gaga's Pokerface song.

You also have to feel the weight of Toyota's stock speakers to believe it. I threw it up in the air for fun and thought I would knock the International Space Station out of orbit! It seems to defy gravity! Its virtually weightless! I mean my Keyless entry fob weighed 0.001 grams more when I put them both on my digital scale!!! And I am referring to my speakers, not the 2010, which probably weigh even less! HAHAHA!!

That JBL option is expected to be about $500-$800!!! And despite all of that cash, it still sounds awful! Its truly amazing that Toyota can make the world's greatest hybrids and yet a simple thing like an audio system completely elludes them. Toyota stock stereo's are among the worst if you are a true audiophile. There is no spatial imaging, as in, you know the sound is coming from the dash and doors. Chrysler has insane audio systems. My 2002 Chrysler Neon has factory Nav with over 350 watts of power, and each Infinity speaker is rated at 200W! I have never had to upgrade it at all. And yet, the most impressive part, is that when you are listening to music, it sounds so clean and yet so strong. The system even has DSP and sets an "audio stage," and it sounds like an orchestra is performing right in front of you rather and surrounds you with sound. I love listening to classical music in it, when you can clearly hear the instruments, and yet you can hear some goof in the background coughing. You can hear instruments that are simply background noise in my Prius and dad's JBL highlander hybrid.

My dad paid over $1200 for the JBL system in his Highlander and has regretted it ever since. For $1200 he got a 60W JBL amplifier!!! Are you kidding me! The sound is awful too. You can get a 300W amplifier from Walmart for $100!!!

But I am not complaining though. Actually in my opinion, I am likely to go with the base model radio, get an Eclipse Navigation system (which is the same as the factory nav anyway and will plug right in so my friend at Eclipse just told me a few days ago!). Plus it comes with over 250 Watts of power anyway.

One issue is that since the Prius is a hatchback, it has no rear deck to install speakers on and that causes the audio to suffer.

[green curry expert]

Originally Posted by HTMLSpinnr

I'm a kid in a candy store w/ the newly released NCF @ techinfo.toyota.com.

Here's the low-down on the audio specs - more specifically speaker specs.

Base unit:

• AM/FM Tuner
• CD Player: Compatible with MP3 and Windows Media Audio (WMA) Files
• Unit Manufacturer: Panasonic
• 6-speaker System (Panasonic)
• Stereo Jack Adapter

JBL Unit Non-NAV:

• AM/FM Tuner
• XM Satellite Radio Tuner
• In-dash 6-CD Changer: Compatible with MP3 and Windows Media Audio (WMA) Files
• Bluetooth Hands-free System
• Unit Manufacturer: Panasonic
• 8-speaker System (JBL)
• Stereo Component Amplifier Assembly (JBL)
• Stereo Jack Adapter

JBL w/ NAV:

• 7.0-inch Wide LCD
• AM/FM Tuner
• XM Satellite Radio Tuner
• In-dash 4-CD Changer: Compatible with MP3 and Windows Media Audio (WMA) Files
• Bluetooth Audio System
• Bluetooth Hands-free System
• Unit Manufacturer: DENSO
• 8-speaker System (JBL)
• Stereo Component Amplifier Assembly (JBL)
• Stereo Jack Adapter

For 6 speaker systems:

Location 1 is up in the dash near each lower corner of the windshield. Note, these are ~2.5" tweeters.
Location 2 is the lower front doors. Note, these are 6x9 speakers.
Location 3 is the lower rear doors. Note, these are 6" speakers.

For 6 speaker systems, there are 4 channels, and there appears to be a passive crossover for the front two speakers on each front channel.

For 8 speaker systems:

Location 1 is up on the dash near each bottom corner of the windshield. Note, this is a 2.5" sqawker (upper midrange per definition).
Location 2 is in the front door. Note, these are 6x9 speakers. I suspect 28W is a typo and would be more inclined to believe 40W.
Location 3 is up on the rear door sill just behind the driver's seat. This is a 2.5" tweeter.
Location 4 is the lower rear door. Note, this is a 6.5" speaker.

For 8 channel systems, each speaker has a dedicated amp channel.

I find the 2 ohm impendence quite low, and hope that THD doesn't suffer as a result.

The XM receiver appears to be under the driver's seat.

Bluetooth audio - For devices that support AVRCP 1.0, you get basic track up/down, play/stop/pause. For devices that support AVRCP 1.3, you'll also get Album Up/Down, Repeat Single, Random, Scan, Music Info (Track #, time, track name, artist name, and album name), and remaining battery info.

Thanks for putting this up!

Is it possible to replace the JBL non-nav headunit (Panasonic) with the JBL w/nav headunit (Denso)? Any information on the TIS website for this? I don't have a US address to sign up, unfortunately...

If it's doable what parts and harnesses are needed?

[HTMLSpinnr]

No info is provided via Toyota for this type of swap that we've seen yet.

[green curry expert]

Originally Posted by HTMLSpinnr

No info is provided via Toyota for this type of swap that we've seen yet.

Any clues on what connections are at the back of each headunit?

[miketee]

Thanks for the audio specs...I've been leaning towards the Prius III but after seeing your post, I'm not so sure it's worth an extra $1k. I'm thinking for less than that, I could do an after market upgrade on the speakers. As for bluetooth, I can just continue to use my headset.

I think you just saved me some $$$!