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Horrible speaker upgrade - four months n counting - help appreciated

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by timothevs, Nov 12, 2019.

  1. timothevs

    timothevs Junior Member

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    Having had enough of the tinny speakers in my 2019 Prius LE, about four months ago, I decided to have the stock headunit replaced with the Pioneer AVH 4200NEX, and all six speakers replaced at the same time.

    For the Component I got JBL CLUB6500C 6.5" 360W Club Series 2-Way Component Car Speakers

    And for the Coax I got Kicker DSC650 DS Series 6.5" 4-Ohm Coaxial Speakers - Pair.

    I checked on Crutchfield, and these were marked as compatible with the 2019 Prius, and not really expensive at all. In any case, I expected the experience to be better than stock.

    The headunit works well, but the speakers have been nothing but trouble for the last four months. Immediately I had noticed that the soundstage was all over the place. I am not a trained audiophile, but I know what sounds good, and what doesn't. This did not. The sound was way too loud, and not centered in the car, but all from the dash.

    I made do, till about 2 months back, when the front right speakers just cut right out. Taking it back to the shop they said that they needed to re-solder the connections for the front right tweeter.

    And for the last two months, the front right speakers cut in, and out while I am driving. And of course nothing is reproducible 100% of the time. I left the car with the installer and they couldn't reproduce the audio issues.

    What do you guys think the problem could be? Bad install? Bad wiring? Bad speakers? I just need these fixed - I drive nearly 2 hours every day, and not having a good sound system is really making me loathe driving the Prius :(
     
  2. Chris Wolfgram

    Chris Wolfgram Active Member

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    I wish I could help more, but that really sounds like install issues. Honestly, I'd think replacing the factory head unit, would be a lot easier than trying to keep it, and making it sound great, like I'm working on with mine right now. I just wanted to keep everything "looking stock" nothing for thieves to bother with, and for all of my integrated stuff, and steering wheel controls to work the same.
    So I had to buy a DSP (digital sound processor)

    I'm also replacing all of my factory speakers with Kicker coaxials, and one of the most rediculous 8" subs I've ever seen, in a perfectly tuned and ported enclosure.

    Of course the biggest (most important) thing, is the amp... A 5 ch Kicker 4 x 50, and 1 x about 460.

    I'm not expecting my system to be rediculous loud, like my truck, but I'm thinking it should be super clean, full, and sufficiently loud.....
     
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  3. Gas Mizer

    Gas Mizer Member

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    I agree with Chris on it being install issues. And personally, I never use solder in anything that has vibration. Circuit boards being the exception.
     
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  4. timothevs

    timothevs Junior Member

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    Thanks, I am not sure why they did that either. Of course, being a bit green around the gills when it comes to audio tech, I assumed they knew what they were doing. It is a very reputable audio place here in Tampa, too. :/
     
  5. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    From your description, they wired it incorrectly and also did a poor job of it.

    Spin the wheel, try another shop.
     
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  6. timothevs

    timothevs Junior Member

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    Interesting, so you are keeping the stock HU, but adding a DSP, and swapping out the speakers, and sub? I thought about using an amp, but got worried about the draw, and the hit on MPG that I read about.

    As for my install, I have a date fixed for Friday for the installer to take another look, and try and reproduce the problem while I am in the shop. Just tired of the back, and forth at this point.
     
  7. timothevs

    timothevs Junior Member

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    Aye, I will - but having spent a pretty penny having them install stuff, I want to make sure my money doesn't all go down the proverbial drain. So, I am giving them one last chance to fix things this Friday, else I will ask for my money back (partial refund).

    To the best of my knowledge, it really should've been a simple upgrade, replace the stock speakers with the new ones, without running additional cable (right?). If so, the problem could be in the crimp/solder?
     
  8. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Poorly crimped or poorly soldered connections are almost undoubtedly the root of the cutting in and out problem.

    A mistake in deciding which wire gets crimped to which (potentially multiple) is the likely cause of the poor soundstage.

    I haven’t done a stereo in a liftback Prius, but from what I’ve read the dash speakers are wired in a manner that can cause confusion and mistakes when upgrading.

    Good luck!
     
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  9. Dave Taylor

    Dave Taylor New Member

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    it does sound like a bad install job. For those that want upgraded sound without a new head unit, I installed an LC7i 6 channel audio controller in my Jeep. This cleaned up the sound and allowed me to run an amp for the newly installed speakers and a sub/amp combo for the rear. All hidden behind the dash....and it all looks like the crappy stock unit
     
  10. Chris Wolfgram

    Chris Wolfgram Active Member

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    Yes. And the only part of this whole thing that I'm a little nervous about is the DSP, mostly because I have never used one. But it is going to give me SO much sound control.... Including a 31 band EQ
    I'm already trying to figure out how I'm going to use some sort of a listening device to level my system completely out (get rid of all the peaks and valleys) ....... For the baseline of course, then I can add back some more bass and treble where needed
    But hey, if that doesn't do a 110% job, that was only $279.... And head unit replacements are pretty cheap. I just really don't want to lose all my factory and steering wheel controls, or attract extra attention in my rideshare car.

    As for a MPG hit, honestly, I'll be completely surprised if I lose 2mpg from the stereo, and I already gained that much going to 40 lbs in my factory tires.

    And besides all that, nothing makes as big a difference in sound quality, as wattage.
     
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  11. thomassster

    thomassster Member

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    Any new news? If the speaker wiring is reversed on the speakers, then the polarity will be off and the sound would be shifted. There are adapter connectors to adapt to your new speakers and that should be plug and play without any fuss for audio installers unless these are really not true audio installers. The factory head unit was tweaked for the old speakers and it can’t be tweaked for new speakers. A DSP would definitely solve it but is an expensive add on for just replacing speakers. A new decent head unit has time alignment which corrects your issues as well as an equalizer but I’m assuming defeats making a cheap speaker upgrade.

    As i relook your first post, you picked component speakers which created a more complicated install since a more plug and play approach would be to pick coax speakers. The front and dash speakers are wired in parallel so it gets quite complicated if you are trying to fit in the tweeter wiring. Chances are the crossover wiring needs to be checked out since that is one area that required a lot of extra rewiring.
     
  12. timothevs

    timothevs Junior Member

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    Thank you, everyone for your replies. So, I visited my installer last week, and once again was given the runaround. They tried to have me pay for a whole new set of component speakers, a new amplifier, and sound deadening etc. A hefty invoice of $1,200 to "fix the sound" - which was my cue to run.

    I decided to get over my reluctance to getting my hands dirty, and opened up the dash. To my chagrin, I found that the crossover was attached to the tweeter, and hanging by the speaker cord - swinging free. What I assume was happening was that as I would drive, the crossover would swing causing the connection to get loose - thereby leading to audio from the front right cutting in, and out.

    I velcro'd the crossover to the inside of the dash, after tightening the connections, and lo, and behold - no more audio dropouts! To think that professionals installed this, it just makes my head spin.
     
  13. timothevs

    timothevs Junior Member

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    Thank you for your reply - I did get a new head unit at the time of install - Pioneer W4400 NEX. I realize now, after having educated myself over the last few days - that I did choose to make my life more difficult with component install. If I had to do it all over again, I would probably choose to keep the factory tweeters, and change out the door speakers for coaxial units. The sound I get out of the JBL's is a bit too high, lacking in any kind of mid-range. :/

    The wiring on the crossovers seems to be OK - from what I can gather. The first time they just taped the connections together. I had them crimp the connections, and that seems to be faring better now.
     
  14. timothevs

    timothevs Junior Member

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    Thanks! I managed to fix the cutting in/out problem (see above), and now I am all ready to tackle the poor sound quality. For some reason, the sound seems to all come from the dash (not surrounding me), and maybe that's a feature, and not a bug. But man does it drive me crazy - the vocals also seem way too high, lacking in any mid-range, or bass.

    Now all that may just be the speakers I bought, and the fact that I chose to go without an amp. But figuring that out will be my next all-encompassing endeavor.
     
  15. Montgomery

    Montgomery Senior Member

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    Thought I would jump in. I agree with most in here. Installation is the key. One has to really pay attention to the wiring! Head units today require specific wiring. If it isn't followed, the sound can be distorted on one side and hardly audible on the other, or, as in your case, a horrible mess. Glad to see you have recovered. Should I decide to take the leap in my car, I will keep my head unit and amplify in the output areas. Usually you get better results.
     
  16. rain27

    rain27 Junior Member

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    This thread is a bit old, but...as far as the sound being a bit harsh coming from the dash, I thought the same thing. Even with a dsp, I had a hard time taming the sound (with or without an aftermarket head unit). I think it has more to do with the speaker location and the crossover point. The harshness in the aftermarket tweeter coming from the factory dash location disappears if the crossover is higher. I ended up using a point source in the door so that I could raise the crossover in the tweeter on the dash higher.