middle speaker on JBL

Best way to describe the difference is to do a hearing test using your own ears.

Listen to your favorite CD with it and without it. If you don't like what you "hear",
plug it back in. No harm done.

If, however, you can't hear any difference then we have a different issue altogether...

 

I just remove it with the sound controls for most of my CD's

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lowbone @ Jun 28 2007, 07:55 AM) [snapback]469317[/snapback]</div>

In my opinion, by adding the center speaker to an environment which is narrow, it overwhelmingly muddles the stereo effect which is already affected by the fact that the driver sits close to the left channel speaker while the passenger sits by the right channel speaker. When I lifted the center speaker, disconnected the wire (it's a modular clip), dropped the speaker back in place and turned the system on, the stereo effect not only improved DRAMATICALLY, but the "messy noise" that the center speaker created was eliminated.

I have a 2004 model and am not aware whether JBL/Toyota has since modified the specifications on their audio system since 2004. However, I would agree with the other poster here, try it and you be the judge.

Tim

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TimCarlos @ Jun 28 2007, 02:48 PM) [snapback]469673[/snapback]</div>

I think the JBL "premium" sound system improved between my 2005 and 2007, but I disconnected the center speaker in both. One problem with the center speaker was that its volume was summed for the front speakers and was too loud; it could not be adjusted correctly to balance the imaging.

As others say, it's easy to test to see if disconnecting it pleases your ears.

 

I have the JBL. Unable to get the grill up. I read about it here and tried a butter knife on the edge closest to the MFD. No luck. Any suggestions?

I think that JBL is junk. The low end is muddy, the mid painful and the upper mid is not bright enough. You can EQ til you are blue in the face, but it doesn't make it good. Bringing up the treble will help brighten the upper mid, but the real high highs are too much then. I'd like to remove the center and add some dynamat. Start there, replace the speakers if no luck there.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sounds_great @ Jul 2 2007, 10:41 PM) [snapback]472037[/snapback]</div>

I got mine out on the first try. I used a credit card to lift up near the front corner then used my fingernails to pop it out. Quite easy. Perhaps your clips are stuck?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sounds_great @ Jul 2 2007, 08:41 PM) [snapback]472037[/snapback]</div>

Try it again when the car has been in the sun and the plastic is softer. A credit card is a good idea. I think I used a cheap plastic-blade putty knife. DO NOT LIFT BY THE CORNERS! You can bend the speaker grill up so it won't fit right when you put the speaker back.

There are two bumps on the rear side (toward you) about an inch in from the sides that pop under the edge of the dash. The side closest to the windshield has actual hooks that hold it down, just friction in the rear.

 

The JBL 9-speaker stereo is certainly not as good as the system in my Element was, but it's far from being as bad as many make it out to be. Radio tends to be rather muddy because that's how much of it is transmitted, but on a good station or CDs, the stereo is quite lively, dynamic and clean. Bass isn't punchy in the way those used to sub-woofer systems would expect and usually want, but it's solid and powerful enough with the volume up, and treble is clean, if a little 'tizzy'. Midrange is the problem, and backing off a couple of points on the EQ helps, as does setting the balance one or two points toward the back. Disconnecting the center speaker seems to widen the sound-stage and slightly soften the sound, though the effect isn't dramatic.

All in all, I wouldn't characterize this as a 'premium' system in any way, and with the JBL name on it it is a little disappointing, but it isn't a poor system by any means.

 

Mine seemed to rattle when sound went through it. After disconnecting it it fixed the rattle/buzz.