So I rushed in and bought a leftover 2011 Prius 2. Anybody who knows what was left on the lot last week know that it wasn't much to be desired. I got a great price, 0% Financing, and had the dealer install the XM and Bluetooth as I have a LONG distance commute. What I didn't realize was how awful the sound out of the stock HU is. Is there a cheap/easy HU replacement that I can purchase that will interface with the existing XM box and pass through the Bluetooth unit while improving the sound quality or am I just stuck. I paid a healthy price for the two upgrades and in hindsight made a rather large mistake given the audio quality of the stock HU which was not the case with my 2004 RAV. I'm interested to hear everyone's thoughts on this. --- Oh also want something that works with the steering wheel controls as well.....Thanks for all your thoughts. (I know this belongs in a different forum, but for those who might be interested the trip computer has been telling me I got 50 MPG since i got the car).
You might want to read the thread named Ottonavi HU: etc. It'll be near the top. This is the one I'll be purchasing in a few days (just waiting for my credit card cycle to end). If it helps, many people don't really like the JBL upgrade you would get with the model 3 (I wouldn't know). My initial thought (also from reading here) was to purchase the model 2 and upgrade with an aftermarket HU. I purchased the model 2 and now it's time for the new HU. I almost purchased the Rosen HU, but decided to wait. Then the Kenwood looked good but too expensive. Then the Ottonavi came up and seems to be getting good reviews here. However, if you are picky about your sound, many people have told me that just an upgraded HU won't do you much good (this might be the sound people trying to sell me more junk). They say you will also need an amp and better speakers. I have a tin ear, so such changes won't make much of a difference. I'll let others say whether your upgrades are now wasted as I don't know. Mike
Perhaps my old 55+ year old ears aren't as picky as before (same with my wife's ears), but I find the JBL 8-speaker system with the stock radio and JBL amp (which is standard in my 2011 Prius III) to be perfectly adequate. I have excellent bass response (for my ears), plus XM, CD changer, AM/FM, and I have a Belkin BT unit tied into the Aux input. I am thrilled with the sound I'm getting. I also have not experienced any radio reception problems (it seems better than in my old Chevy S-10). I find that adjusting the Bass, Mid-range, and Treble settings can make a big difference. Good luck! Shawn
Well, not a sound expert myself either. But here's my experience with JBL 8 speakers and Ottonavi... The original stock radio sounded really great IMO. Then I switched to Ottonavi but at the time it did not support JBL. The sound was OK but obviously a notch below the stock radio. Then we received the firmware upgrade for the firmware that supports JBL. Wow, now the sound is really impressive! As good as the stock radio. Not sure how to measure that but it seems so anyway. Makes sense; the harness connects directly to the JBL connector. You can ask others; they experienced the same thing. So all in all, I'm really happy to have switch to this unit. Same quality sound (at least for me) but a ton more fun with the rest!
I also just purchased a 2011 package 2, the only thing I have added so far is a Bluetooth audio adapter to hook into the aux jack. I have considered a replacement hu but after playing with the stock hu I find it's not so bad. This may be a dumb question but did you play with your bass and treble settings and see if the sound is any better? I set my bass to (3) and my treble to (6) and the sound quality is descent at low speeds. I have not been on the highway yet to see how the sound quality is at high speeds.
