2006 JBL audio sounds okay to me

I haven't really spent that much time listening to the 04-05 stereo, but my 2006 actually sounds pretty good. They may indeed have changed the equalization. I also find that I keep the ASL turned off.

 

My brother in law's 05 Prius sounds awful. Very muddy bass. I'm picking up my 06 on Monday so I hope that's fixed.

 

I have th 2006 with JBL, too.
It sounds okay, but I am still going to replace the speakers and add a subwoofer (I think).

By the way, quick tip for those who have the 2006 with JBL speakers:

If you are driving alone in the car, recline the front passenger seat a bit (so you can see the rear passenger-door tweeter from the driver's seat).

This creates a better "stereo" field and sound.

Try it...and let me know what you think.

 

Originally, that was my first impression when I went from the sound of my Eclipse system using stock speakers in my 95 Honda Accord to the 2005 Prius. It sounded terrible like maybe I was listening to something closer to an old AM radio system.

However, after dialing back the treble just right I got a sweet spot where the bass felt strong. Now the sound is much better than my Eclipse system. The key thing is to dampen the volume in those treble speakers that are closest to your face. I'm happy.

If in 2006 it sounds better I doubt it's much to do with the hardware just better equalization between the bass and treble. It just means that in 2006 you may be able to accept the factory default settings of the bass and treble more than in the 2005.

 

DH tweaked the sound in our 05 for me, i know little of stereo stuff and he used to do car audio for a living. it sounds fine to me, but my hearing isn't exactly perfect after all those hours in front of the big speakers at hard rock concerts.

 

I have the 06 model and have done what some have suggested: unplug the front dash speaker. It does make a difference.
I got the little audio wire to connect my iPod to the system thru the AUX plug and was really surprised how good it sounded. I also found that in the AUX mode to play the iPod, there was a seperate sound setting that does not affect the radio settings. I set my iPod up to different sound settings and the volume almost to the highest then adjust the car audio volume.
Now I have been rethinking getting a subwoofer for the car since it sounds so much better this way. Try it out.
olcorral.

 

I can't compare it to an '05 but I ended up with the exact same EQ settings to get the best sound in my new '06. The bass is too strong and muddy. I try not to be an audio snob but I have a decent ear and I'm familiar with good home audio equipment. I think the JBL is pretty typical for "premium" factory systems. It's not crap but it's not great either. It's about as good as the Bose system in my prior Audi (a car that cost a lot more).

 

The Bose system in my '93 Nissan Maxima is also the best car stereo that I've ever heard. The balance is absolutely perfect (the sound doesn't seem like it comes from the doors -- it sounds more like it emanates from everywhere! Psychoacoustics, indeed.), and the sound is very "full" (strong midrange, solid bass, clear treble).

The sound got better when I replaced the OEM headunit (it died... twice!) with a nice Alpine unit. Though now at higher volumes, the sound clips badly at midrange frequencies due to a amplify-attenuate-amplify pipeline to the speakers (nothing can be done to avoid that in a Bose setup, unfortunately).

Anyway, the Maxima will be sold by May, when I get my Prius, Pkg. 7 (very excited!). I stupidly forgot to bring a CD with me to my test drive to see how I liked the JBL audio system (obviously the radio isn't the best test to hear how good the system is...). Not like it would be a deal-breaker for the Prius, but I wanted to check it out anyway. Maybe I'll go back some time.

I'm sure the Bose will be missed... I am not overly impressed by the JBL system in my mom's Avalon, and the JBL system in my dad's Sienna downright sounds like crap. Oh well...

 

Well, the speakers look different, so that might be something. I'll be surprised if the amp is any different.

 

So they added ASL to the 2006 audio system ?

Why do you turn it off ?

 

i found that after adding a subwoofer the JBL system sounds even better. i tried the KSC-SW1 then decided on something with a little bit more power. i'm definitely much happier with now than before, minus the lack of trunk space!

 

Bump :-p

 

Yes the 06 JBL has ASL. I actually think the 05 has it as well (or at least my manual seem to say so).

I've had it on and it's very smooth as you don't notice it bumping the volume up/down but I think it does it's job up to highway speed. At highway speed I wish it bumped the volume a little more

 

:blink: Question, I've got an 06 with the JBL 7-speaker system (package 6 I think)

Does anyone notice very little volume coming out of the speaker in the pylon by the drivers head? Maybe its a perception thing but it seems like I get blasted by the passenger side and get nothing from the driver side.

I've played with the balance and the fader and there is volume coming out, it just doesn't seem to be enough to balance the "surround sound"

 

Olcorral,

Can you tell us what this setting did?

 

Here's how you can check.

Set to only forward speakers and seat in the back seats in the middle.

If you notice a difference (and you hearing is not impaired) then there's a problem.

Best thing to try is a mono or mono-stereo track.