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Garbage Audio Sound

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by hyp3rmil3r, Dec 17, 2019.

  1. hyp3rmil3r

    hyp3rmil3r Member

    Joined:
    Dec 6, 2019
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    Location:
    Northeast
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    One
    Hey everyone. I just got an ‘05 with 224k (see my $875 auction prius post). The car is total base model but has the jbl logo on the radio, a dolby logo/button in the “sound settings” which I’ve enabled, and it does have a center speaker on top of the screen. So I take it I’m equipped with jbl?

    That said, the sound is horrible, on par with my friends 01 base model civic. Theres almost no bass, everything rattles. Sounds the same on fm/casette/cd. Is it possible the amp isn’t working? Perhaps the speakers are just totally blown, they do rattle a lot.


    iPhone ?
     
  2. oldtechaa

    oldtechaa Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2018
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    Location:
    NZ
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius Alpha
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    N/A
    Strange. On mine with the basic sound system, I had to turn my bass all the way down to make lyrics audible over the beat.
     
  3. egg_salad

    egg_salad Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 2015
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    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    My personal opinion is that EVERY 15-year-old speaker in a Japanese car sounds like butt. They're just not designed to last that long. Unfortunately, with JBL you can't just replace the speakers - they use a weird impedance IIRC.

    Assuming you're handy, the best and cheapest option is to replace the whole shootin' match and bypass the JBL amp.
     
  4. hyp3rmil3r

    hyp3rmil3r Member

    Joined:
    Dec 6, 2019
    120
    93
    0
    Location:
    Northeast
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    One
    When I was learning to drive, it was on a 2007 Camry Hybrid. The JBL audio in that car was phenomenal, for the roughly 8 years my family had it. I’m just confused why the Prius audio is exponentially worse.

    I confirmed this morning hitting the “dolby” surround sound looking logo in my sound settings does absolutely nothing at all. I’m thinking the amp is shot or a fuse is. I’ll keep investigating.


    iPhone ?