Hello All, Need an opinion on what I am hearing from my speakers. I have a 2005 Prius with the stock audio system. Normally I use an Ipod integrated into the CD changer input of the head unit. I am considering replacing the speakers because of what I have been hearing since I bought the car a year ago. During certain pieces of music I will get a rattle or vibration from the speakers. This is not all the time and is definately associated with music, so I don't think its anything loose. I have tried to isolate it to see if its a specific speaker by first using the audio controls to put all the sound in the front speakers and then in the back speaker and replaying the same section of music. I get it in both the front and back. I can reduce it somewhat by increasing the bass and decreasing the treble substantially. My question is, based on an admittedly brief description, whether these are the sort of sounds people normally hear from these speakers? I have read the complaints about the speaker quality and just want to confirm that replacing the speakers will give me better quality. Don't want to go through this and find out it was something else. Thanks, Tom
hawkeye, first the disclaimer. i have a brand new '06, so i can't speak to the quality of the speakers in the '05. However, being a bit of an audiophile and doing a bunch of work on car audio in particular i might be able to help you diagnose the problem a little beter. First, which model number did you get? in other words, is your stock system the normal or "delux" version? Start by going here: http://www.dr-lex.34sp.com/macast/mp3test.html and downloading some of the test samples. they have a range of frequencies in them, and will allow you (with some degree of accuracy) to see about where the problem lies. This is useful cause it'll give you a more precise range than simply messing with the boost controls. Next, try taking those same test files and songs you've had problems with and burning them to a CD. test them out in the car that way. It's possible that the problem isn't in the speakers but elsewhere in the line from your iPod to the speakers. Next, You should do a little searching... sit in the car, close your eyes, and try to tell where the rattle comes from. you might end up crawling around a bit only to finally discover that a bolt under your seat is loose and the washer is what is rattling, or you might end up with your ear against the speaker and determine that the rattle is in there. (it's happened on more than 1 car i know) Get back to us with anything you find out.
My system is the standard non-JBL audio system. I'll take some CD's and check out the sound. I do have one CD that I ripped to my IPod that is a particular offender. So I can check it against the original to see if there is a difference. I know that if I play the song from my IPod outside the car, the sound is fine. It could be the interface inside the car.
I have a 2005 and have an occasional rattle during certain parts of music. It wasn't so much as anything loose, but I had a box containing chopsticks in the passenger door storage area.
i found most rattles are the piece of plastic that the "window up and down" and all the other buttons are attached to.. it's attached to plastic.. and it can rattele.. not against the bottom piece.. but the side of the door itself. But... i own an '04... but i'm sure they never addressed this problem seeing the stock speakers can rattle the entire car at higher volumes.. which makes the doors expand and contract with sound.... i have little pieces of paper shoved in the side of mine. hehe
I ran the sound files suggested and I think what I am hearing is a combination of the recording and encoding. Listening to the ramp files I can hear a tiny bit of distortion at the lowest frequencies but thats about all. I did listen to some of the music tracks again at home with the original files (not the CD yet) and I can hear the growl there. I plan on doing a few more tests but I think those are the culprits.
