Prius v Three - Weak Rear Speakers

LOL...I sat in the back of mine today for the first time and noticed the same thing. I think sound in the front seats sounds lovely, in the rear.....lacking. Most of the sound, I've found, comes from the front door speakers. I hear little from the fronts by the windshield and just slightly more from the rear doors. I guess since what you describe is simliar, it's normal.

 

I plan to open up the car and see if I can replace the rears.

 

Noticed the same thing this weekend. It's actually my kid that made me notice it since he wasn't stopping telling me to raise the volume!

 

Same thing in the v5. I'm not sure what that's all about. W

 

Could be the sound balance is not what the system things it is. If I remember correctly, it is a 6 speaker system, 2 in the dash, 2 in the front doors, 2 in the back. It may be confusing 'center' as where the front door speakers are at 'center'. I would see if adjusting the 'balance' to further rear and see if the rear passengers hear it better.

 

Keiichi I did in my v5 and it's still pitiful. I'd have to have it at least 150% volume to hear them at all.
W

 

I think all the versions of the v will have the same issue unless you have ATP that includes the JBL system. My base v had the same issue and I thought maybe it was a balance issue at first but even pushing everything to the rears didnt solve the problem. My guess is its an underpowered head unit issue that cant get enough power to the rears. Whatever the issue, I replaced front and rear speakers and added an amp. Greatly improved the sound and yes, I can actually hear the rear speakers now.

 

ATP system still has the same problem.

 

Mac tell us (or link to thread) about your amp. I'm sure I'm not the only one that would like to correct this eventually. W

 

I went with an Image Dynamics i4500 460 watt 4 channel amp to run the front and rear doors. Dash speakers running off of head unit. Amp installed under passenger seat. Make sure the amp controls face out toward the passenger door so you can easily get to them for adjustment. You will also need a line output converter to interface with head unit. I used an AudioControl LC6i. I also changed out the door speakers with German Maestro 6" in the front and 5.5" in rears. Make sure you adjust the amp properly.
Almost forgot, also put Stinger RoadKill sound dampening around the speaker wells.

Really happy with the results. Next will be adding an 8in sub woofer custom fitted for right rear section of cargo area.

 

From what I've read the 4 back speakers act as a subwoofer for bass response, so sound will not be as great as normal speakers. The huge speakers in the front doors are the main speakers for the system; all the others are just fill in as per the following article.

Harman - Harman GreenEdge audio systems deliver more with less for 2012 Toyota Prius Family

 

I have the display audio system. The one linked is for the ATP. Is it the same for this system?
W

 

I think the JBL GreenEdge is for the ATP only.

 

Hi Guys! Just got a v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon) the Basic Entune. Yes, the rear volume is an issue. I guess the ATP doesn't address the issue either. If Harmon makes the ATP model. who makes the basic? Fujitsu or maybe Panasonic? Does the head unit have RCA outputs? What else? My guess was that the ATP unit had a outboard amp and better/more speakers?

 

I took a look and I think I know what the problem is. It might not be just 'weak' speakers, but placement. Remember, the speakers for the rear is placed in the front part of the rear passenger doors. Unfortunately, most people are used to sedan cars where the rear speakers are usually 'behind', not in the doors in front, hence you get more 'volume' as you are closer to the speakers in the back.

For the front, you have the 2 on the sides, but also the two right behind you and the two mounted in the front near the beams.

 

The rear's don't put anywhere near the volume level of sound that the front's do. On reflection, I'm thinking that each set of speakers is designed and intended to handle only certain frequencies. It's almost as if you're sitting inside of a three way speaker, with mid ranges and the majority of frequencies coming from the front doors, highs from the windshield and lows from the back doors. Occasionally, I seem to hear volume coming from all angles, other times, mostly from the front doors. I do feel, sitting in the front, the sound is quite good. I've not spent any time in the rear though, other than to see how good or bad it was back there, soundwise, and so far, I'm not impressed.

 

Which I think is part of the problem. The focus of the sound isn't properly distributed. I remember with my old car, the speakers were set for the front door sides, and back pair behind the rear passenger area. The problem is, the speakers are not placed for all passengers, but sounds like it was setup for the front passengers.

 

While placement of the rear speakers does effect the sound field, bottom line was that the rear speakers were either weak or severely underpowered or both. After switching out both front and rear speakers and adding an amp, the sound from the rears are night and day better than original. Again, placement of the rears does affect the sound field but at least now I get much better fill from the rear speakers and dont have to turn it up as much now that there is actually good sound coming from the back.

I would be interested to hear the results if someone just added an amp without changing the speakers. But someone mentioned the JBL system had an amp but yet the rear speakers were still weak? Can anyone confirm? Where is the placement of the two extra speakers in the JBL system and does anybody know what the output of the amp is and where is it placed?