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JBL front crossovers??!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by wbredin, Mar 28, 2008.

  1. wbredin

    wbredin Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2008
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    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Guys,

    I have a few technical JBL questions:

    1. I have on 08 with the JBL system. I can't believe how muffled the tweeters are...that said, where are the crossovers located? are they within the amp? If the are in the door, has anyone tried switching them out with something nicer (and more adjustable)?

    2. Why do people tap the rear signal to power aftermarket amps...that seems like that would mess up the phone system since it seems to come from the front left speaker....if that were no longer active, the handsfree talking would be impossible right? Also, wouldn't you forfit any sort of front to back sound processing?

    3. What is the deal with the center speaker? It almost seems out of phase from the front tweeters since it has to bounce off the glass first...couldn't this be another reason why the tweeters sound so muffled? It also seems to be very low quality...has anyone replaced this and seen improvement with sound quality?


    THANKS
     
    #1 wbredin, Mar 28, 2008
  2. priusenvy

    priusenvy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2004
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    Location:
    Silicon Valley, CA
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    I'll give this a shot, but keep in mind that I have a 2005 which is a little different than a 2008 when it comes to the JBL amp and how BT/Nav is integrated.

    1) The crossover is inside the amp (not sure if active or passive). If you want to install new component speakers and utilize the new crossover, you need to feed it with a full-range signal.

    2) The rear seat speaker signal is full-range. Due to how the Nav/BT is integrated into 2004-5 models, you can tap this rear seat signal for front and rear and not lose BT/Nav, just fader control on the head unit. So by doing this you don't need to spend extra to combine the split signal for the front speakers. For a 2008 you're pretty much forced to combine the signals if you want to retain BT/Nav output.

    3) A lot of people (me included) just disconnect it.
     
    #2 priusenvy, Mar 28, 2008
  3. wbredin

    wbredin Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2008
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    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    OK, thanks for the help. This is all new to me since i've only had the car for a week, but it is beginning to make sense. I am wondering how weird it would be to take apart the amp and see if I could actually locate the crossover components...that would be ideal.

    Few more questions:

    1. So on the 08's, The BT/Nav goes through ONLY the front speakers? I will play with it more...but I can't tell for sure.

    2. If I were to buy a JL Audio CleanSweep or the Alpine equivelent, would it have enough crossover capability to 'undo' the damage that the JBL crossovers are doing? In other words, if I installed the processor before the JBL amp, would it over compensate for the crappy JBL crossovers? Would installing it after the amp work better? Is either even possible?

    Thanks
     
    #3 wbredin, Mar 28, 2008
  4. bayareakirk

    bayareakirk Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 3, 2007
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    Location:
    bay area, ca
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    For #2: Banjoman successfully installed the Alpine PXE-650 unit before the JBL. I have successfully done it after the JBL. Both of us also added a 4-channel amplifier. I think you can answer your crossover questions and more here: http://priuschat.com/forums/audio-electronics/38972-wow-what-improvement.html
     
    #4 bayareakirk, Mar 29, 2008
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