Turning down the subwoofer

Hey guys. I put a few Prii stereos through their paces today on a set of test drives (a 2015, a 2016 Three, and a 2016 Four Touring without the PCP). Not at all impressed with the 2015's sound, and other factors in that car made me rule it out for purchase in general. But in both 2016s, I LOVED the sound on CD, iPod and HD radio - it was really quite good, maybe even a little better than the upgraded JBL system in my '07.

One problem though: The Three's subwoofer was apparently turned up way too high, such that even with the bass setting in the receiver turned ALL the way down, the bass was seriously overpowering the rest of the music in almost every track I played. (I tried techno, acoustic rock, and even some classical.) For some reason, this wasn't a problem in the Touring - its sound system was very well adjusted.

Given that both cars have the same sound system (remember, the Four Touring in this case didn't have the 10-speaker upgrade), I gotta think this just means the amp for the subwoofer was turned up too high on the Three. Does anyone know where the amp is for the sub and how to adjust it? Is it something I could do myself, or would I need the dealer to do it for me?

 

So far, it's been an issue in every Three I've been in, though I did test one Three where it wasn't quite as bad as the others.

 

Just bought my Three, and it unfortunately also has an overpowering subwoofer. Even with it turned all the way down in the audio settings, some music is still unlistenable because the bass is literally shaking the car. No info on where the amp is or how to adjust it?

 

I wrote Toyota about this, and after 3 days, they replied and basically said "Your car doesn't have a sub or an external amp. Everything is in the head unit. We recommend turning the setting down on the screen." Which doesn't address the fact that I have it turned down as far as it'll go and it's still literally shaking the car.

Also, I find it hard to believe there isn't a sub in the car - those speakers should not be able to produce the extremely low frequencies that some of this music has, let alone at that volume.