Audio upgrade in 2013 Prius Four on a limited budget

The build looks nice. Really like the sub enclosure. What did the DSP set you back $1000? I would imagine not counting the head unit the job with material was $6k-$7k? The sub box enclosure was around $1000?

My friend runs a shop and he was going to charge me $650 labor for just amp and a subwoofer. With parts around $1,500 - $2,000 that doesn't include speaker upgrade.

 

Excellent vutown!

Respectfully, be aware that with the Scosche (and Metra) surround trims being un-textured and painted, noticeable wear has been documented with time. "Exact fit" was the trade off I had to consider with the Toyota piece in my parts list...but again, mine was a 2010.

Very happy for ya.

 

Those are good Morels. Choosing the speakers was tough for me. I wanted 2-way or 3-ways with active cross-overs and in the end it just came down to what my ears liked...and we all have different ears and wants. Placement of the mids and tweets was the hardest decision. That came down to cost and keeping the install looking clean and factory. I am sure Shawns sounds better with his placement, just didn't like the look. I like the new PAC SWI. Where are your cross-overs located? The pictures of your surround trim the looks to contrast. If I may, is that the look you wanted?

 

Sounds like you picked the right kind of shop. My installer is similar but I didn't even rank a picture in their brag book because it was a sleeper without the POW factor for sales. There were cars in there I would have to win the Mega Millions to afford and you wouldn't know it just driving by. I did most of my listening at the other 16 shops I visited while looking for the right installer. The tweeter placement was for staging and the clean look, and it still clears with room. Your sub is beautiful. The surround trim I was referring to is the Scosche Trim around your Head Unit.

 

hey thanks Vutown! I figure its time for me to join up here as well...with a few prius sq builds under my belt, the other one was a bit different from two years ago:

(oops cant share link, i will send one to vutown haha)

to be honest i like the prius a lot for SQ builds...the interior and stock oem location really seems to do well right out of the box...both in daily listening and in SQ competition. i wouldnt mind doing one one day with the midrange in the stock location and a tweeter molded deep into the A pillar like frodoz

One thing is that we take pictures of this detail for every build we do virtually, as we dont do simple stuff for hte most part (no square box in the trunk, no deck n fours), we feel that though its time consuming, its a good way for people to know that when we say good work, we mean it and they can see for themselves

as for the surround trim, dash kit. Vutown bought it from crutchfield and i think the sosche is what CF decded to supply for free. its not a bad kit, the other one i used in the link above is the bestkits version which i thin in turn is the American International version, but none of them tries to match the grain and color. it can be painted for sure, but most people probably balk at the price of smoothing, mixing a lil paint to match and then spray but that OEM option there has me interested

 

i think i am going to install my ancient 4 channel JL audio amp and just run the speakers in the front and rear. I am considering replacing the front speakers with something like a focal and then doing sound dampening on the front door. I would leave the rear doors alone for now since it is mostly filler. An audio installer told me that a company, he wouldn't specify is coming out with a 5 channel amp with DSP. he said it was reasonable in cost, sub $1,000. I thought it might be Image Dynamics since it is close by to his shop? Not sure. but i think i am going to go cheap on the upgrade for now? i still need to fetch my self powered bazooka to see if i can skimp along with that for the next 6 months...