JBL 9 Speaker System sounds muddy...

Try unplugging the center channel speaker.

It makes enough of a difference that it is worth the hassle.

 

Sometimes it's enough to just change the equalization settings.

Tom

 

UnPlug the center speaker, and you will be happy with your audio system. It makes a huge difference.

Take a butter knife and gently pry up the top and side corners of the speaker frame (facing interior). It will un-snap. Slide and lift speaker out. Unplug the wire to the speaker, tuck it back in the hole and snap the speaker back in.

 

Our JBL system sounds great, and I never even considered unplugging anything. Please don't unplug anything until you've tried what I'm about to suggest first. Cue up one of your favorite songs, preferrably one with a lot of range (I used a drum and bass track actually...worked well) and go into your audio menu. At a reasonable listening level, adjust the bass, treble, and mid as well as the positioning (left to right/front to back) to your liking.

Give that a shot...see what happens.

Dave

 

The JBL sound system is probably the single most unanimously criticized thing in the car.
I quit listening to music altogether for months after buying the Prius.
It literaly made my ears hurt.

I unplugged the center speaker and got a subwoofer, it's wonderful now.


I even plugged that speaker back in the other day, just to see if maybe it was me..... OMGosh...30 seconds later and it's unplugged again.

 

9-G Man, can you elaborate how you installed the sub woofer? Which channel? How did you wire it in, etc?

 

Center speaker = poo

 

Thanks to your simple instructions, I finally took the "plunge" (just a toe dip, in retrospect) and agree that taking the middle speaker out of the equation helps. However, I miss a little of the fill-in. Wonder if there's a way to hook it back up, but turn it down about 75%?

 

is there any other high quality speaker that one can get as replacement for the oem center speaker?

 

There are companies that make a speaker that will fit in the center location, but I would just leave it unplugged. Center Channels are generally useless and, in my opinion, make the sound worse.
What I would do, and am doing, is replacing the front component speakers with a better quality, in my case a set of Jl audio QR series components. That will help tremendously

 

I changed out my tweeters and added a sub. i have my bass from 0 to -2 my mid is -1 or 0 and my treble is -2 or -3 all depending on what i'm listening to.

if i use my car as an outdoor jukebox/motorhome 12v power jump/supply, then i boost everything up really high, so the sounds clear up by the time they get out of the car.. otherwise it's too mudded. try not to stay in the car at this point.. that much boost can be painful.

btw, my sub has a 4ft cord, so i can move it in and out of the car on demand.

 

Hi gman
just wondering which brand subwoofer you used..is it self powered?
did you make any other changes to the sound system? i'm worried because
i have the Nav and bluetooth . kind of fearful to do amp mods and swap out speakers and other stuff. finding out that few people at the car audio stores know about the audio system in the Prius's, and then it's very limited. This is the best infomation i've come across so far.
thanks :cheer2:

 

If you feel that your are missing some 'fill-in' after unplugging your center speaker, increase the Mid Range EQ adjustment to at least +1. That should do the trick.

 

My apologies to both of you, I hadn't looked at this thread lately......
I got a Kicker Amp and Sub. The sub is designed for narrow, behind the seat pick-up truck applications, but works great in the Prius hatch area and doesn't take up much space.
Here is the link to my original thread, scroll through the whole thing for pics and details.
It sounds absolutely awesome.
http://priuschat.com/forums/audio-electronics/45759-kicker-amp-sub.html

 

Thanks 9G-man! It was quite refreshing to see a fix as simple as this.

 

Bass flat, midrange -2, treble +4 loudness on.

 

Added Sirius radio (Sportster 4) to my 2004, which only increased my dislike of the 9 speaker sound. Luckily found this thread, and disconnected the centre speaker - like my car and music again! Hard to believe that a sound system would be designed such that you improve the sound by taking away a component - what were they thinking? Have had the car for one year and was limiting myself to talk radio because of the poor sound quality with music (despite adjusting the equalizer many different ways), but the addition of sat. radio forced the issue.

As for Sirius radio - tried it with a cassette connection, but had a high pitched, intermittent whine. Changed over to the Sirius FM wired modulator, and the connection and sound quality is excellent.