Standard vs JBL stereo sound system?

Prior to purchasing my Prius, I rented one that had the standard system for a weekend. I wasn't too impressed with the sound, so when I bought one, I opted to go with the #9 package because it was the only one that had the 3 things I really wanted (SSE, airbags & the "premium" JBL sound system, which I thought would be a great improvement over the standard). When I got my car, I was disappointed to find out that the sound wasn't really any better, it just had the 6 cd player instead of the one CD player and a few more speakers. In fact, it's the placement of some of these extra speakers that bother me, and without the ability to control the speakers outside of the usual balance and fade, I think I actually preferred the standard system over the premium. Could've saved myself $3000 and devoted some of that money to making the standard sound system better. Now I'm trying to decide if I want to lay out more $$ to make the "premium" system better. I'll probably wind up doing so because a lot of my music listening time is when I'm driving, and I really enjoy it. I think those of us who are disappointed by the sound system are hoping somebody else will figure out just what to do about it. By the way, while I didn't think I needed the other bells and whistles that came with the number 9 package, I must say the navigation system has already come in very handy on several occasions. However, I'm sure I could've lived without it. I *love* my Prius! The only thing that would make it better for me is better sounds.

 

It seems my purchase of a base-model (no packages) is a better and better decision everyday. Although I wanted all the extras, the more I thought about it, the less I needed them--and the less I wanted to pay the dealer prices to have them. As such, I'm happy as a clam with my base 04. Heck, all I really wanted:

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  I've already got or will get soon enough. Saved a bit of dough, too. Heh. Go figure.

 

There are certain songs playing on the radio where I notice fidelity differences from previous stereos I've had. "Hotel California" this morning seemed much richer during the acoustic guitar opening than I'd heard before.

Unfortunately, when I crank up "Enter Sandman" off a CD I burned (CD -> MP3 -> CD) I don't hear as much fidelity. It's there at home, with the decent speakers on my computer, so I'm losing it in transfers. However, I like a bunch of different songs so I'm stuck making the CDs like I do until a MP3 player for the car becomes feasible again...

 

There are days I want to chuck the NAV out the window, and there are days it saves me time and effort.

On the downside, it thinks there are still Bank of America ATMs at Wal-Marts. On the up side, when I have no idea where I am, I just tell it to guide me home and it gets me there, eventually...

 

you will never get the fidelity from a burned cd (from mp3's) that you got from the original cd. you would get better fidelity by doing a CD COPY from the original CD, so that it never has to go through the encode/decode process. anything over 128k bps is wasted in the encoding translation process.

so as you say, for better fidelity, you can use your mp3 player with higher encoding rates, or copy the audio files in their original format.

i'm lucky in that i listen to mostly spoken word and comedy in the car, so fidelity is not as big an issue

 

I thought about upgrading to a package 9 but really all I wanted was the air bags and the SS/SE system. So Package & covers it. I have a Garmin Streetpilot already and i can always add an amp and new system later if I so desire. Saved me 3 grand!

I really want to know if anyone has upgraded there standard system yet? Put in an amp or swapted out recievers ect.

My bet is a better amp will make a world of difference.

 

I have recently finished a major upgrade to the standard radio and am pretty pleased with the results.

I stayed with the original head unit and bought the XM kit from Jon at PriusXM. Then I added an external amp under the passenger seat - a Kenwood KAC8401 60Wx4. Fits very nicely under there. I replaced all of the speakers. Diamond Audio M661's in the front and Kenwood KFCX178's in the back doors. I also bought a 10" subwoofer box that sits in the Hatchback - a Kicker CompVR sealed box. This thing is connected with speaker wires, so it can be moved around or removed completely if you need to put something else in the hatchback.

The amp is wired to use one channel for each of the two front doors, and two channels bridged to power the subwoofer. The rear doors are driven directly from the head unit. The amp power to the front doors and subwoofer can be adjusted at the amp to balance each other and balance with the rear door "fill". I can use the fader to adjust the front door / rear door balance if I want to, mostly for the benefit of back seat passengers.

I'd never had a subwoofer in a car before, and I highly recommend it. My front door speakers are pretty high end, and I think that's where to put your money. The angle of the speakers in the front doors are not really optimal (they point down toward the floor a bit), so I like to turn the volume up pretty high to get the mids to come out. The imaging is not perfect, but not bad.

I listen to a pretty wide variety of music, and overall, this thing sounds great. It is truly awesome for jazz (Stevie Wonder's "Too High" from "Innervisions" is remarkable) and for rock with open arrangements (No Doubt sounds great, as does Danny Gatton). Really full, thrashing rock can be a bit harsh. Maybe look into softer tweeters if you like to listen to that a lot, mine are aluminum and pretty bright.

That's all I know. Hope its useful. All of that stuff including the XM kit installed cost be around $1,800. From comments posted on the JBL system, I think this was a better way to go for a music fan than Package #9. For those of you in the Baltimore / DC area I had the work done at DSI Mobile in Laurel and they did a very neat job.