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JBL Audio System Quality Question

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by Geoffe, Jun 26, 2012.

  1. Geoffe

    Geoffe New Member

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    So I have the JBL 8 speaker system on my 2010 Prius with the Navi. The sound really seems to be all coming from the front. I have the fade adjusted in the center correctly, as well as left/right centered. I guess I was expecting a more dynamic sound that filled the car. I have to say I am not overly impressed with the sound quality. Are there tweaks? Am I missing something? Doing something wrong? Are there hidden settings?
     
  2. has been

    has been vote for anyone except Trump

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    Fade to rear until you like it.
    With the non-JBL in our 2012 Prius 3 we have the fade at almost 30% of the rear available.
    And it's not too bad.
    One more little tick towards rear and it's useless.
    This is a much-talked-about issue in the GEN III.
    The sound is ok for us but it will be the first thing I will change once the funds become available.

    It's a bit surprising that the systems overall (JBL and non) are not that good.
    But I've never bought a car for the stereo.
    Especially one like this.
     
  3. Jonny Zero

    Jonny Zero Giggidy

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    I noticed that the sound is front centered too in the default setting. At first I thought the factory left the rear ones disconnected. :p
     
  4. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    Same problem here. The fader setting sucks, some premium system eh?
     
  5. Big Steve

    Big Steve ramblin wreck

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    I've also been informed that once I set the fade far enough to the bck for front seat passengers, rear seat passengers get blasted out. It's good the norm is just 1 or 2.

    Is there a fix?
     
  6. tach18k

    tach18k Member

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    I put new 6-1/2" Polks in the front, the rest are OEM. I move my sound to the front 100%.
    It sounds much better than 30-50% to rear. I dont drive in the rear so why have sound there.
    A new amp would help. But at least I can here the front dash speakers now.
     
  7. Big Steve

    Big Steve ramblin wreck

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    Front dash speakers or front doors?
     
  8. kknguyen1168

    kknguyen1168 Member

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    Big Steve

    6 1/2 is the front door speaker, surprise that he changed the front door speaker why not go for 6x9, all you need is adapter.

    V/r

    Khoi nguyen
     
  9. Prius Guy

    Prius Guy New Member

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    I have the JBL with Greenedge, I agree, I took the car to the dealer...he said the speakers are normal. I thought my JBL system in my 2010 that I traded in sounded so much better. The bass is not very good.
     
  10. tach18k

    tach18k Member

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    Front dash speakers. Front door spearker are fine, other than I have to push the volume to 40 to hear the music, and it only goes to 55 I think!
     
  11. tach18k

    tach18k Member

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    The 6-1/2 are far more than I need. I had 6x9 on my F150 and it was fine for that. The 6x9 in my truck, 4 speakers, and when I took it to the edge, I popped the window seal in the rear, caused it to leak in the rain. Yeah, 6-1/2 just fine in a the little Prius.
     
  12. Three60guy

    Three60guy -->All around guy<-- (360 = round) get it?

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    A tip from a retired Broadcast Engineer. From the same screen where you center the audio left and right/top and bottom go set the treble and bass controls to almost maximum. Leave the mid range alone. It will seem counter intuitive but the audio will sound so much better. You will need to do this for each device (radio, cd, dvd, bluetooth etc) I use it that way constantly and it sounds so much better than factory defaults. Try it, you'll love it.

    Hope you agree.

    Cheers
     
  13. Big Steve

    Big Steve ramblin wreck

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    I am 60 with moderate hearing loss due to my youthful listening. 30-33 is LOUD.
     
  14. Fore

    Fore Don't look back!

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    Are the 6-1/2" Polks easy to put in and where did you get them? My system is stock no navigation.
     
  15. has been

    has been vote for anyone except Trump

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    360guy - Gonna try that on my non-jbl 2012, midrange in middle then or all way left?
    interesting input, tks
     
  16. Three60guy

    Three60guy -->All around guy<-- (360 = round) get it?

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    Maximum on treble and bass. Midrange in middle.
     
  17. has been

    has been vote for anyone except Trump

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    got it, thanks!
     
  18. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    Isn't it bad to run max boost on the treble and bass settings like that? Would it accomplish the same thing to boost the treble and bass by a certain amount and lower the midrange a similar amount?
     
  19. has been

    has been vote for anyone except Trump

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    the guy was a broadcast engineer, just try it
    (proper modulation)
     
  20. Three60guy

    Three60guy -->All around guy<-- (360 = round) get it?

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    It actually makes no difference. Just lowering the volume control will do the same thing. How much increase you provide in the treble and bass is personal taste. I would just start from a low volume and raise it when you first use it. I think you will like what you hear. Again, this is on the JBL's. But the same principle will apply to most any equalized system. Having 3 bands to control (treble, midrange and bass) is just a simple equalizer. In professional systems you can have 16 or more bands. But even on those systems creating a "V" shape in the equalizer will improve the perception of good sound. This is usually only done at the last stage (the consumer end) of hearing because at the recording studio we keep everything as flat as we can with no modifications. Hope that helps.