New Proud Prius Owner... Something I regret about :(

If you like the actual car itself, then that is great. I bet you could find a really good sound system out there. Congratulations on your new purchase! After a few months you will notice how much you have saved on gasoline.

 

Within what is now refered to as "The Prius Family" The Prius II or Prius Two, I think is the greatest value.

There are things as you climb the ladder that I think I would enjoy but Toyota IMO quickly zaps the value...

It's too bad you are already having regrets as my experience is that if you buy a vehicle and "immediately" have a regret? It's only going to get worse.

I'd explore options. Otherwise, every time you turn on your stereo, the thought that it's not good enough is going to haunt you.

Whatever the challenges of upgrading might be? I'm sure it's possible. Good Luck.

 

Stereo system on a shelf, but what will it take to put it in?

How much fun is it going to be to pull off brand new door panels to upgrade speakers? will a shop be able to reinstall panels properly (Toyota cracked a brand new driver's door panel for my 2009 first try, they had to buy a whole new one, and that's a Toyota tech).

Tell you what, those production line assembly techs know their s%^t about assembing these cars. They do it all day and are specially trained. Try pulling off the panel inside the rear hatch and reasembling it. Good luck.

How about pulling up trim and carpets to wire in an amp into the system? Can you plug into the head unit and use it?

Toyota will not upgrade the audio in any way. And who are you going to trust working on a new Prius?

Others around here might know how to upgrade.

 

Not sure about your Accord's system, but my 3rd gen JBL system is more refined with a much better soundstage than my wife's Acura TSX base. The Acura TSX base sound system consists of 2 tweeters, front door woofers (6"), rear deck speakers (6"), and an 8" subwoofer. Amplifier power is 360 watts...according to Acura. The problem with the Acura is that the tweeter can't handle any midrange (despite their somewhat larger than 1" size)...so, all the voices and "beef" of the midrange is down at your feet. You can actually hear the separation of frequency b/w the tweeter and the midrange...and i tried changing the settings to no avail. The rest of the system is OK...sound stage is kinda shifted towards the closest door you're sitting...and as i said, it is kinda low around your chest area. I think that Acura reserves the best tuning for the ELS system...to better differentiate the base and ELS??

The Prius is more refined in the music...and the soundstage is much better and centered. Strangely, the worst sitting position is the front passenger in the Prius. The rear seats sounds really good...with proper staging!

Sorry about going off-topic.

 

Agreed, the 3rd gen JBL is pretty good. I know the bass blurs the standard rearview mirror. I always found it to be pretty clear and present with a good source.

Accord is the 270W 'premium'. It's good. 4 spk in front, 3 on rear deck w/ sub. It goes, but needs to over the tire noise on highway.

btw, sales party starts on the CT, hitting W coast now. We'll see
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back to show...

 

Uh..... Thanks cycledrum I feel a whole lot better if I need to tackle a stereo upgrade. Seriously, its to late for me (DIY'er). NO Toyota assembly line can replicate my slowwww installs and quality control.

 

edited.

 

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