My version of the ultimate stereo for the Prius

Hi guys,

Today, I thought I’d devote a few minutes to write up and share my journey to a high end audio install on my Prius. Labelling my $2500 system as “high end” actually is not always accurate as I have just found out that you can get JUST a pair of car speakers for $5400 which totally eclipses the total price I’ve spent on my system. Don’t believe me? Here is the link for a pair of Focals: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_091NO7/Focal-Utopia-Be-No-7.html?tp=106

Anyhow, not to stray off topic here is why I decided to do an audio upgrade:

1. I was fed up with the “alarm clock” quality of sound in the Prius’ stock system
2. The lack of variety in the music played by the radio stations in my city (to the point of me not even turning on the car stereo anymore).
3. My handheld plug-in GPS is inconvenient to use + a hassle to put away every night since I was weary of thieves breaking in. There must be a better way!

This is when I decided that money must be diverted from the home mortgage, the wedding ring that the GF expects as well as any surplus money leftover from the monthly paycheque. I wanted a good sounding, reliable navigation-equipped head unit with an intergrated OEM look. Also I didn’t want to loose the practicality of the Prius' hatchback so I had much research to do in terms of a proper subwoofer.

Here is a list of everything I’ve purchased:
Alpine INE-Z928HD
Alpine PDX-V9 5 channel amp
Alpine Perfect Fit Prius Faceplate
TR-7 module to override head unit parking brake lockout
Sirius XM add-on receiver
JL audio C3-650 Component speakers x 2 pairs
JL audio 8’ Microsub
Foam speaker baffles x4
Tweeter mounting plates x2

Pictures speak louder than words so here are some shots with commentary:

The sound system with all the works - I wouldn't do it any other way! I feel like a little boy at Christmas time whenever I look at all these goodies. It took a lot of hard earned money to aquire all this


The Alpine head unit is a massive 8' LED screen. This was the most expensive piece of the system and I was cautious of buying it from private sellers on ebay or amazon. After all, if anything could break down in a sound system, it would be the head unit or amp. Luckily, I found it on Crutchfield.com (a reputable dealer) on clearance for $1099. Usually internet price is about $1299 or more. There is a FEB 2014 manufacture date on it which makes me happy as the unit is quite recent. It was on clearance because Alpine is releasing their generation 2 8' display this month. I am happy with Crutchfield's customer service and business ethic. I am really looking forward to using the GPS on this system as well as take advantage of it's DVD playback capabilities. Most importantly, I will conveniently have music from my portable plug-in USB drives so will have access to more music on the go.


This is Alpine's PDX-V9. A very slim class D amp with more than enough oomph to power the entire system. It came from Amazon by a reputable merchant including warranties.


In case you are wondering about the specs, here is the birth certificate of the amp.


Here is the JL audio 8' microsub. Very slim profile. I am not a kid anymore so don't need two 12's in the trunk. Also I don't listen to gangster rap and I am not one of those idiotic college kids that roll down their windows so everyone down the street can hear their bass. I usually relax with classical music and occasionally some trance; a very odd combination. LOL. Nevertheless, I just need a small sub to reinforce and underpin the bass notes in the music....Not wake up the neighbors and set off car alarms in the parking lot. The slim profile of this box will let me tuck it away underneath the trunk lid; away from prying eyes. Perfect.


The JL audio C3-650's are beautifully made. It's a pity that these won't be visible once they are installed.


I will have to deal with installing 4 crossovers into the car.


Here is the star of the show and the icing on the cake - This faceplate will allow the fitting of the huge 8' screen and tie everything in; making the stereo look OEM.


I have installed the entire audio system on my previous Honda but I will leave this new system to the professionals to work on. I have an appointment at the middle of June and I will be sure to post my experience and detailed review of the new system for all to read.

Thanks for watching

 

Dropping my car off tomorrow morning for the 2.5 day install of this system. Will post pictures and review on Sunday. I never had an install go smoothly with my previous cars - it was always "we can't do this" or "this is not compatible" or better yet, "we lost a nut." Keeping my fingers crossed that everything will go on without a hitch.

Excited yes...but high hopes in life always set you up for big disappointments.

 

Hi JGI,

Yes, the trim replaces those buttons beside the screen. Those buttons control stereo functions like eject, radio tuning, skip tracks etc. Alpine screen is touch sensitive so you can tap the screen to access the same thing.

I will report more on the system once I get my car back on sunday!

 

Thanks for the grammatical lesson. No, did not leave out the tweeters. They are included in the component set.

Cheers,

 

Hello again folks,

As usual, some major roadblocks on the way to a great system - A day into the install, I get a call from the shop that the Alpine head unit is not compatible with the OEM backup camera. Somehow it worked mysteriously after a few hours of tinkering; according to them. I did not receive a call again, so I prayed that everything would go without any more troubles. The day after, I get another call from the installer and I am disgusted to hear that the head unit's front buttons are not functioning (unit appears to be a semi-lemon).

Anyways, here are some pictures of the things done up to now:

I had the black Alpine bezel color-matched to the same shade as the gunmetal trim - it is almost a 100% perfect match. It is depressing at the moment to stare into that gaping hole in the dash.


The GPS antenna is hidden underneath the plastic trim at this location. It still faces up towards the sky and the installer said the plastic trim won't affect the GPS signal - lovely! As I am looking for a nice clean install.

Tweeters integrated nicely onto rear door trim. The tweeter surround color matches the interior trim and the low position of the tweeter relative to the door makes it less visible to thieves. Although less closer to the rear passengers ears, the instruction manual states that when the tweeter is closer to the woofer, there is better integration of stereo sound. Good job here too! Regarding the front tweeters, they are mounted into the stock squaker locations for a tidy install.


The head unit has USB connections for a thumb drive etc. I requested the connectors be routed thru the upper glove box. It's a seriously long cable and the whole setup is the only eyesore in this install but it will have to do. At least it is hidden from view when the glove box is closed:


Originally I requested the crossovers to be in the trunk where they could be seen. Then the plans changed and the units were supposed to be mounted into the door frame behind the vapor barrier. Without consulting me, the installer ingeniously mounted them hidden away in the body of the car somehow (which is a very good thing) I found the two front ones sitting in a pocket at the front corners of the car. I am pretty amazed how this was done. Two thumbs up! Now I don't have to worry about moisture damage for units. I have yet to see where the rear ones are located. Also I see that connectors are color coded and decent quality wires are used in the install. More thumbs up


The included alpine bluetooth mic was installed in the original location of the OEM mic. This is WAY better than having the mic visible on the dash or sticking out of the headliner. Kudos to the shop for keeping it clean and tidy. Apparently, the OEM mic could not be re-used due to performance concerns


I requested the Sirius XM antenna to be located behind the factory AM/FM antenna. The headliner had to be removed so this added much more cost to the install job. Looking tidy and seamless here.






Here is the sub and amp hidden in the trunk. The amp is reinforced with MDF on the back. A hole was cut out in the plastic trim to accommodate the sub. The sub can wiggle around by a few millimetes but can't slide during hard cornering. I would have liked a custom shelf built to fit the spare tire area perfectly with carpeting, a plexiglass panel to see the amp and crossovers to display but that alone would have costed thousands for the work to be done. This will have to do.


All wiring neatly wrapped and routed through the car:


The subwoofer pulls out easily in case the spare tire needs to be accessed. Then the whole OEM shelf can be tilted upward. Pretty simple.. pretty rudimentary without any bling, but does the trick. It will have to meet my goal for cost, practicality and functionality.


And here is with all the panels back in place. Neat, tidy and out of view. Perfect.


The OEM speakers are just totally awful. I have never ever held in my hand such cheap and lightweight speakers in my entire life!!!!! The magnets are ridiculously small, surrounds are foam and the cones are paper. True, the Prius is an economy car and probably all the R&D for the vehicle went into the Hybrid drivetrain but I am just having a silly guess that the speakers here probably costed Toyota less than $5 each unit:


When I got home, I noticed that my LED side sills were not working. Oh oh! Did something get shorted out during the time the car spent in the shop? I ripped out some panels to have a peek - I installed the side sills myself so can look at this mix of wires and see what is going on.


It looked like the cheap OEM connection here wiggled loose from the head of the connector. I may somehow tape or shrink wrap this connection since I don't want it wiggling loose again in the future.

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Another thing I wanted to mention is that I hear a buzz from what appears to be the passenger side tweeter everytime I power up the car into ready mode. I'm not sure what would cause this since the amp is not even turned on and the stereo is missing...lol. I will tape up the tweeter panel before my next drive and see if I still hear the noise. Through the process of elimination and problem solving, I am sure I can find out what is wrong.

The good news is that I got into contact with Crutchfield and they will be sending me a new Alpine head unit ASAP (Crutchfield is awesome!!!) so all I need to do is plug that into the pre-wired car and tune the system.

Overall, nothing on the inside was scratched, the install was very clean + tidy and decent wires, cable and connections were made (all soldering). Once I find out where the buzzing is coming from, I will update again for others to know.

 

Thanks Burna J,

Your are right, I need to approach any install on the Prius with a different mindset - it's normal if it's not working on the first try...lol.

 

Update: I covered up the front passenger tweeter area with tape and drove the car today. Didn't hear the faint buzzing noise anymore. Although the amp is not powered on and the head unit is not installed, I believe that the high powered electronics of the car is somehow causing the tweeter to come alive and make noise. I will probably ask the installer to relocate the passenger side crossover when I visit the shop again at the end of this month.

Phew...just small problems to overcome in a very big job. I am glad nothing else is wrong with the car...knock on wood.

Thanks for reading.

 

Thanks JGI.

It took a lot of money to get here. I powered up the system today for the first time with my replacement head unit and without even basic tuning, I am blown away by the imagery and precision of the midrange and tweeters. It gives me a good feeling that all the money spent here was worth it.

 

Progress has been slow here and the system is not fully functional but getting there! Just been too busy to devote all my time to fixing some issues. After doing some trial and error testing of the system, I have finally eliminated the buzzing noise coming from the front passenger tweeter. I dismounted the crossover powering that tweeter from a black frame rail of the vehicle and this did the trick. It looks like the area where the crossover was installed has a lot of EM energy floating around so was interfering with the crossover and giving the tweeter ghost noise. It is darn good again to be driving around in the relatively silent interior of the Prius instead of hearing a buzzing noise (similar to a fly) everywhere I commute to.

I have found two more problems now that the head unit is installed. The DVD playback is not showing an image (although there is sound) and the steering wheel controls don't work correctly when the car is on ACCESSORY mode. In ON mode, they work fine.

Will post another entry in a few days time where there is progress.

 

Hi everyone,

Thanks for bearing with me on this repetitive entry - After receiving a replacement head unit from Crutchfield, The system is up and running, and complete! The PAC TR-7 video bypass which I bought for $17 on ebay was defective which did not allow my unit to play a DVD.



Another PAC TR-7 was swapped in and everything is working fine:


Just a note that I don't intend to watch DVD's while I drive but it is meant for long road trips where passengers get bored!




I hope this will be one of my last entries and everyone who is considering a system knows what will be involved. I experienced the frustration dealing with two defective units (1 head unit, 1 bypass unit). There were install headaches (back-up camera not fully integrating with new head unit, mounting brackets of head unit need to be shaved for perfect fit) and you really have to do your own diligence with install shops. Often they will find a way to make the most profit from you and do the least amount of work.

While it is great to have awesome sound in the car, those looking for the most value are probably best off to spend a few thousand dollars on a HiFi system for the home instead. No install costs, no complexities and less variables to deal with.

I still have a very, very slight background noise from the system when I turn the volume down to zero and while it is hardly noticeable to most people out there, my home HiFi system is totally silent during times between music tracks or quiet movie scenes. Apparently I was told that all hybrids using aftermarket amps will experience this because of the high voltage system in our cars. However, the Prius w/JBL system in has an amp to my understanding and it would be very interested to compare with that car.

Good luck in your quest for the perfect audio system for your Prius !