Definitely Consider Upgrading Speakers

I have a very new 2013 Prius Three Liftback. I love the car but I felt an immediate need to upgrade the speakers. I went to a professional installer and he replaced the chincy factory speakers (and THEY WERE, he showed them to me after taking them out, lightweight materials, small magnets) with 6 x 9 Pioneer oval speakers on the front doors and 6 1/2 Pioneer round speakers on the rear doors.

In short, I felt like I was in a different universe! When listening to classical music, the piano and violins were much more clear and distinct. When listening to rock music, instead of a fuzzy jumble with muffled voice, all parts of the spectrum, treble, mid-range, and bass were much more pronounced and separated.

The factory speakers really sell the head unit short. Satellite, Bluetooth, and internet (Pandora) along with music from an IPOD sound SO MUCH better. Voice from the radio sounds true instead of distorted and muffled.

 

Yes. It makes the factory head unit sound so much better.

 

Pioneer TS-A6975 R and corresponding Pioneer speakers for the rear door. They fit perfectly in the 6x9 front door footprint that the factory speakers came in (no problem with hitting the door structure) and they tremendously enhance the sound of the factory head unit. They left the factory tweeters on the dash in place. The installer said that they are good enough. The bass/mid/treble sound is balanced and the vocals sound much clearer instead of sounding like gargling sometimes on the factory speakers.

 

Everyone's tastes and sensitivities regarding sound are individual and often different. I had traded in a 2009 Corolla when I purchased the Prius and the stock speakers in the Prius sounded TO ME to be unsatisfactory compared to the Corolla speakers. For me, the upgrade brought the sound to where it should be. I have no need for an amp or subwoofers. Just normal listening.

If you are satisfied, it might not be worth it for you to spend money to upgrade the speakers.

I noticed a huge improvement in the range and clarity of music and voice. Some of the vocals sounded to me through the stock speakers like the person was gargling. Now the vocals are true, violins and pianos in classical music sound clear and distinct and not muffled. There's more bass in rock music and the individual instruments stand out more distinctively in my opinion.

 

Just a minor update. The Pioneer speakers are now "broken in" and they sound better than when first installed. To my ear, the muddled sound of the factory speakers was not acceptable. The factory speakers definitely sell the head unit short.

 

When the sound is muddled, the lack of discretely separating out the bass might to some, give a sense that it is stronger. It is not that way to my ears. I will agree that with the new speakers, there is greater improvement in the high end than in the bass, but there was more room for improvement to begin with. Guitars, violins and pianos sound so much better now. The bass is more discrete to me after the upgrade.

 

It's all individual taste I guess. The OEM tweeters and the pioneer speakers do the highs more justice than when the tandem was factory door speakers and the factory tweeter in my opinion ("muddle muddle, toil and trouble"). The installer (who could have sold me parts and labor on replacement tweeters) told me that the factory tweeters were better than the door speakers (which I agreed with after having had the benefit of having the "before and after" experience) and they are "playing well" together with the new speakers in both doors. Pretty good balance.

I will stress that I am not a sub-woofer guy and I don't need everyone within a mile of me hearing or feeling me driving by. Bless those who need that much bass. I hope they keep their hearing. I just need it to be in balance. With this setup, it is for me.

 

The 6x9's in the front doors that I upgraded to are three way: TS-A6975R - 6" x 9" 3-Way Speaker | Pioneer Electronics USA

Since the factory speakers handled voice and midrange so poorly in my view, I would take a guess that they are two way but I have no solid basis for that. Does someone have a better source of info for that?