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Rear Speakers and radio

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by jaywolf, Jul 13, 2009.

  1. jaywolf

    jaywolf Member

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2009
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    Location:
    Vincennes, IN
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    We picked up our 2010 about 2 weeks ago, the problem is with the radio, we have the 4 disk with navigation option.
    The radio doesn't sound very good it sounds worse than the radio in our 2002 Prius which sounded fine. . The rear speakers do not appear to me to be functioning properly. The only way you can hear them at all it to fade it totally to the rear them the system sound real tinny.
    We took it in to the dealer and they said all the new Prius sound like that. I found it hard to believe that an 8 speaker JBL radio should sound as bad as this one.
    I need to find another 2010 Prius with the same radio and compare the radios.
    I am tempted to take it to a different dealer.

    I can’t believe if all the radios are this bad it has been mentioned here.

    This the last Email I got for my salesman at the Evansville dealer.
    “I did some follow up and or master tech was the one that looked at your prius. he checked everything and confirmed that it was in proper working condition. as you mentioned have terre haute look at it when you have time. i trust they will come to the same conclusion. if they find that is not the case i will be very embarrassed and not happy. but , i have to believe jeff allbright (tech) knows what he is trained to do. please let me know the outcome.”"

    End of note

    Any help would be appreciated.
     
    #1 jaywolf, Jul 13, 2009
  2. raidbuck

    raidbuck New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2009
    133
    5
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    Location:
    Baltimore ,MD
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    In the electronics forum for the 2010 there are several threads addressing various forms of audio problems. You'll see many posters who don't like the JBL system and have trouble hearing the rear speakers. As a non-audiophile I hope it isn't too bad, but mine doesn't come until Aug 3.

    Rich N.
     
    #2 raidbuck, Jul 13, 2009
  3. DeanFL

    DeanFL 2010 owner - 1st Prius

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2009
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    Location:
    Leesburg Florida USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    I think you may find that overall, much input re the JBL audio system on the forum - and a lot will not be stellar.
    I noticed similar issues as you noted re the sound from the rear speakers. I now keep the fader on R3 or 4. That tends to provide a bit of "surround sound". But as I said in previous posts about this, it never seems "right".
    Most output seems to be overpowered by the two front dash speakers. Then, when the fader is adjusted to compensate, the "tinniness" is there. For a JBl with 8 speakers, notwithstanding the lack of a rear deck for proper rear speaker placement, the audio is not nearly up to par. Especially for the $1K bump in price.
     
    #3 DeanFL, Jul 13, 2009
  4. wvgasguy

    wvgasguy New Member

    Joined:
    May 6, 2009
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    Location:
    a
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    While it's not a "bad" sounding radio, it does sound like only the fronts are working.
     
    #4 wvgasguy, Jul 14, 2009
  5. Gadgetdad

    Gadgetdad New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2007
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    Location:
    Modesto, California
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    I found I needed to set the sound fader to almost all the way rearward, and use the 3 way equalizer to tweak the sound. Most importantly, is the quality of the sound signal. The Satellite radio is very poor sound quality. Use the FM on a strong station or CD or i-pod signal to adjust the sound. Turning the volume up seems to help.

    I plan to up grade the speakers asap!

    Lee
     
    #5 Gadgetdad, Jul 18, 2009
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