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gen. 4 JBL

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by civicdriver06, Jul 15, 2016.

  1. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace 2025 Camry XLE FWD

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    You will need to get one to retain your Prius Expert title.
    Just sayin' ...
     
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  2. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    But that means I have to transfer my Prius Expert badge to the new car. No guarantee that the badge will stick with new adhesive (I might end up just keeping it at home. Can't risk it falling off on the road if I transfer it).
     
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  3. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace 2025 Camry XLE FWD

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    I meant the title on the forum. I did not realize you had a physical badge.
    Cool!
     
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  4. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Ohh. Right. Haha. I try to keep up with all the Prius models :)


    Yeah. I mount mine on the back. Excuse the dusty paint.

    DSCN4499.jpg
     
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  5. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace 2025 Camry XLE FWD

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    Was that an "award" from Toyota?
     
  6. tucatz

    tucatz Active Member

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    My US 4 touring has laminated glass windows. The cabin is very quiet, but I'm hearing a buzz in the door frame, usually in cold weather when the stereo is on. It stops if I crack the window open, close agsin, and then bang on the door frame w my elbow.
     
  7. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    It was more of a "thank-you". Each of us with the Prius Expert title has one.
     
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  8. tucatz

    tucatz Active Member

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    I'm really enjoying the upgraded JBL system in my 2016. My last Prius was a 2010 and I chose the base sound system - huge mistake. I always felt it was a weak feeble head unit and paper thin door speakers. the new car seems to have the same head unit as the premium gen 3 but with HD radio and a better antenee. The green edge speakers sound crisp and clear. I can hear fm radio without turning volume up to level 40. The Bluetooth conectivity improved. I'm very happy with the system.
     
  9. Seaulater

    Seaulater Junior Member

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    Good quality badge.
    Did you try the other trim without laminated glass, by chance? Could you hear the difference?
    The buzz you hear, could it be the window up/down mechanism part resonating when you listening to music?
     
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  10. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Took the Gen 4 out this evening. Played music through my iphone via BT audio (I do the same in the Gen 3). The BT settings are: Bass +1, MID -1, Treble +1. Same as my Gen 3 (although sometimes the bass is +1, sometimes it's +2).

    Playing current pop music - At low volume, it sounds ok. (below 20). At medium volume (just 20-28), it feels like the Mids are strong. The spoken words are clear but the instruments are lacking punch. Bass seems to vary depending on the song. It ranged from decent to having a little punch. It's not overbearing. The dashboard speakers sound tinny. Again, this is the base Gen 4 stereo system, not the JBL.

    On my Gen 3, it has JBL's Distributed Subwoofer System where the front doors are woofers and the rear doors are mid-range/woofers. It basically spreads the low frequency around the car rather than having a single point source subwoofer. It does have more punch but I leave the bass setting at +1 at the most if my volume is louder as the bass can get a bit muddy at louder volumes. The spoken words are clear without sounding hollow.
     
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  11. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Yep, it has some heft to it.
     
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  12. Seaulater

    Seaulater Junior Member

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    Tideland, if I understood it right..all Canadian trims have the same base stereo?
     
  13. tucatz

    tucatz Active Member

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    Settings on my '10 speaker' JBL system are +4 treble +3 mid +5 bass, with the fader almost all the way to the rear. I've found this to be the sweet spot to really enjoy indie, indietronic, and chamber music Spotify playlists from my iPad. I noticed that the premium head unit remembers distinct volume levels for each music source .. fm, Bluetooth, xm, et al. And resumes volume at the place I last left it. Cool.

    The JBL 10 speaker claim is a bit of a lie: they count the woofer and tweeter assemblies as 2 speakers. For each of the 4 door mounted speakers. So (2) dash mounts + (4) doors = 10 speakers. Hmm....
     
    #33 tucatz, Mar 7, 2017
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2017
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  14. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Yes. All trims have the base stereo in Canada.

    It's 10 speakers in 6 locations.

    The rear speakers have a full range and tweeter.

    The dashboard speakers are midrange and tweeter.

    Check out the PDF for more information.
     

    Attached Files:

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  15. tf4624

    tf4624 Active Member

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    USA here. It does suck. Folks are tone deaf. Go get some Focal Audio and JL amps. w7 subs


    the bat cave
     
  16. Harters

    Harters Active Member

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    I was fiddling with the fader on my JBL unit as it seems very front heavy and if I put the fader all the way to the rear the volume level is really really quiet. Is this normal?


    iPhone ?
     
  17. tucatz

    tucatz Active Member

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    Thanks for the JBL brochure, Danny. Speaker placement fooled my ears, and it sounds good.

    Fade the JBL to the rear, and turn it up LOUD. 32-40. Enjoy the ride.
     
  18. iamvietdang

    iamvietdang Member

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    I never got why people fade to the rear (unless you just want it to be mainly heard by your rear passengers). Surround is meant for movies/shows. When you're at a concert, where does the music come from?


    2016 Prius 4T Premium Convenience Pkg
    2016 NX200t F Sport
     
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  19. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    I've been using -2 (two clicks to the rear) on the fader on the Camry, Prius 2 and Prius 3. The front speakers do seem louder so to balance the volume, I will push it back a touch.

    I'm speculating here but the front sound stage on the Gen 3 and 4 JBL audio units appear to favour the front seats. (Make sense. They're the most commonly used seats).

    You'll see in the brochure that the front has a full set of properly placed (for a car of this price anyway) speakers - woofers in the lower door panel and a midrange/tweeter set up on the dash to reflect off the windshield.

    The rear passengers make do with a full range and a tweeter in the lower door panel. Gen 2 and 3 Prii had their tweeters mounted high on the door panel, near the door release handle.
     
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  20. Harters

    Harters Active Member

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    I was just curious as on all my previous cars I have felt the music was more evenly distributed between front and rear. I fiddled with the fader as I thought the rears were not working and when I put the fader to the rear I could harldy hear the rear speakers with the volume on 12, but when I put the fader to the middle a nice volume was achieved. Just different to all other systems I have had I guess.