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Is the stereo in my package five really this bad?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by alleyooptroop, Jul 30, 2012.

  1. alleyooptroop

    alleyooptroop New Member

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    I've read a few of the threads on here about the stereo and after living with it for the last 3weeks I think the sound is worse than whative read here. The sound stage is way too far forward even when sound is set to the middle. Even when I set it further rear it still sounds like its mostly coming from the bottom of the windshield. There's also barely any mid bass no matter how much I mess with the mid and bass settings. What I've deduced is that the speakers in the front doors aren't "pulling they're weight." you'd think that since they're so close to you you'd get a good range of sound from them but when I open the door with the stereo on and put my ear near them the volume coming from those speakers seems low. I've even tried different sound settings.

    What's most frustrating is my wife's Prius v 3 stereo sounds 10 times better. One of the reasons I went with the package 5 was because I thought the stereo was going to be better. Is there something I'm not doing? Thanks in advance for any replies.
     
    #1 alleyooptroop, Jul 30, 2012
  2. jganvick

    jganvick New Member

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    I bought a Prius V 3 last month (June 2012). I expected that I would be able to hear the radio in the backseat. You only hear sound from the front. Even in the front seats, most of the sound (90%) comes from the front. I can only state that I have the same problem, no solution. I did not expect a great stereo, but I did expect a useful stereo, one that could be heard from the backseat. Toyota dealership and Toyota says it is designed that way. What a crappy "feature". The solution seems to be replace the system from the other posts. I wish there was a less inexpensive solution.
     
    #2 jganvick, Jul 30, 2012
  3. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    Have you checked how the sound is distributed by the system ? If I remember right, each speaker's volume can be set. Crack open your manual for instructions.
     
    #3 SageBrush, Jul 30, 2012
  4. Erikon

    Erikon Active Member

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    No, you can use the fade control, but it does little. Unfortunately the audio is centered on the front seats, and it seems the only thing one can do is replace the factory JBL system.
     
    #4 Erikon, Jul 31, 2012
  5. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    'little' is probably in the eyes of the beholder. I thought the differences were obvious when I played with it. My experience is with the G2 Prius and a Lexus CTh.
     
    #5 SageBrush, Jul 31, 2012
  6. Erikon

    Erikon Active Member

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    do not know, in my car trying to fade the audio to the rear just results in no volume. Someone once said the sound was designed with the window as the stage in an amphitheater, that this was intentional.
     
    #6 Erikon, Jul 31, 2012
  7. alleyooptroop

    alleyooptroop New Member

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    glad i'm not the only one experiencing this. is there any upgrade or tweaks that can be done at the dealership?

    what i'm now thinking about doing is replacing the front and rear door speakers and having a small amp installed to balance out the sound. or is there anything else that can be installed that would achieve the same thing? in my limited knowledge i thought you could install some kind of crossover to do this?
     
    #7 alleyooptroop, Jul 31, 2012
  8. alleyooptroop

    alleyooptroop New Member

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    found this from member donaldhall:

    sounds like a good solve. i'd consider something like this minus the sub
     
    #8 alleyooptroop, Jul 31, 2012
  9. Erikon

    Erikon Active Member

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    Yeah, but not cheap!
     
    #9 Erikon, Jul 31, 2012
  10. tach18k

    tach18k Member

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    For the time being on my 2012 mdlII, is move all the controls to the forward positions. that sounds about the best. then adjust the treble, bass and mid. Til you figure out how much and what you want to spend. I'm doing Polks in the doors, I like their sound for what I want to hear.
     
    #10 tach18k, Jul 31, 2012
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