2013 Prius v Three Rear Speakers

Good luck with resolving the problem!

 

It's an undeniable problem, and one I've not had on any other car. Given the MSRP of the car, it's a glaring oversight, especially considering it's now spanned 3 model years.

The volume of v sales, no pun intended, should make this a very inexpensive fix for Toyota.

 

Already attemptd to have my local Toyota dealer assist me in doing something about rear speakers but to no avail. Would like to find out the best remedy for the lousy rear speaker performance. Appears like its the "Replace speakers and add inline amp".
Can someone recommend the best speaker for the rears? One that fits without too much modification. An amp that's easy to install. But most of all, a setup that won't break the bank....or P.O. the wife if and when she finds out!
Thanks in advance! And sorry if this has already been addressed....too lazy to search the forum.

 

Trying to move along and be upbeat about this issue (no pun intended) lol

Has anyone replaced their speakers yet in this v Three?

 

If you go to "Prius v Audio and Electronics" under the "Prius v" forum you can search for "Speaker Upgrade". You will find a post there where at least four Prius v speaker and amp upgrades were done with success. If you land on page 2, start on page 1 (make sense?).

The prices ranged from $260 self installed to $2500 professionally installed.

Mac Prius added an amp, replaced front and back speakers while leaving the original dash speakers installed​

Fine Print: This thread is already in the Prius v Audio and Electronics forum, just search for "Speaker Upgrade" above.​

 

Just bought a 2014 Prius v Three (lowercase v and Three not III because Roman numerals were used for the 2010 Prius). Noticed the ultra weak Rear Speakers right away!

I prefer more of the sound to come from the back of the car. That's where all the BASS/Volume comes from. or should come from. Did Toyota put a $5 set of speakers back there?

This will not due. What happened to this thread, did everyone give up? What is step on for newbie? Tell dealer to open a ticket?

 

Most people fade almost entirely to the back and listen at 35-50 volume. Others change speakers and add amps. Plenty of details in above mentioned threads.

 

I'll try that RJ, but it seems 90% of the music is coming from the windshield, hardly a satisfactory audio experience.

 

As someone who just got his hearing tested, a reminder that too strong vibrations over too long a time can lead to funny things perched in your ears...and they aren't cheap....think a thousand gallons of gas.

 

Well after a long discussion with a case open regarding the rear speakers and other issues I have had with the Prius V, the final answer is (Quoted as stated on my voice mail) "No available remedy because the engineers consider them consistent with the system. which they confirmed for the new model year, everything remain the same." So as for those not happy with the sound from the rear speakers, Add an amplifier and get better sound if you generally like the sound from the rear speakers or have kids who want to here the music turned up. At least dealing with Toyota, the got to hear just how bad it sounds on the rear speakers as is, and we got to learn that they do NOT care what the customers want, but only what they choose to do.

 

I told my back seat passenger it's a privacy system for them. They don;t have to listen to my music in the back seat, and I can't hear what they're saying about my sound system. Works out better that way

 

Thanks txmcdee, for posting/sharing your response. My dealership got mumble mouth twice, so nada with me as well. Thought I could settle in with the other sheeple choices, quit whining, accept or rip out the brand new speakers and replace, and add an amplifier, and ......

But it still seems so wrong to me. Toyota adds a SAT XM radio, and worthless rear speakers???

Otherwise I love the car, and appreciate the link for the sound upgrades.

 

FYI- I have this same issue in my Prius v (lowercase v) model 5 without the ATP. It's not just the 3.

 

Okay, now I have to go out to mine and see if this is happening. I've mounted an iPad 2 behind the headrest for my son who is four and direct his audio through the car's audio system via bluetooth. He has, more than once, complained that he can't hear this movie when I've used the fader to direct the audio to the rear. I'm almost always in the front so I assumed it was the seats absorbing the sound, but yeah, I'll want to address this if it's an issue.

 

I've got a 2013 Prius v Five with what I'm guessing is the nav unit and not any JBL system. I bought it used from Carmax, and I don't see any JBL lettering anywhere. I can vouch for this being an issue. I had $250 in speakers in my Camry that I traded in, so it's a noticeable difference.

I think what happens is someone in an office knows they can put "Sirius XM radio built in" on a sticker and sell cars. They can't sell them with "better sound system" because it's hard to quantify. So they put crap speakers in and let buyers replace them. It's kind of ridiculous since using six decent third-party speakers would cost maybe $100. A head unit with about 25 watts per channel instead of 7 would maybe cost an extra $50, especially in bulk. Yet good grief every carmaker cheaps out on this every time.

When I used to build computers, I noticed that's how computer makers would cheap out on budget and mid-grade models. They would put a fine processor in there that could be bragged about on speed and type. Same with amount of RAM and hard disk storage. But they would use a lesser quality motherboard with slower bus (communication between everything I just listed, so it's important) speeds. Same with slower RAM and hard drives that spun at a lower rpm. After dealing with a single HP notebook that was a bargain model, I never went that route again.

It's obviously not the same with cars since a sound system isn't going to affect performance at all, and you've got people like my mom who listen to AM radio most of the time. But man do I hate spending tens of thousands on a car to have to upgrade the sound system EVERY TIME.

 

But I don't think the issue is that the rear speakers are necessarily of lower QUALITY than the fronts, they're just lower in volume. I suspect if you replaced the rear speakers with higher-quality speakers, although the new speakers might sound better, they would still be lower in VOLUME than the fronts.

 

Hey guys. In the middle of replacing my speakers with some $80 Kicker 6 3/4 ones. I started on the back seats since they obviously sound the worst. I got stuck removing the factory speakers because of the damn rivets and my dead drill batteries. But I did plug them up and cranked the volume to max and put the sound all the way in the back. It's not the speakers. They were still pretty silent. I moved a tick or two to the front and those were booming while the backs where almost silent. I mean I could hear them, but kind of like someone who had put on some major noise-leveling function.

I may try to pop off the fronts before opening the second set since I bought identical 6 3/4 speakers. It's definitely a crap move for someone to hear this and think, "Yeah, that's cool." Maybe an amp will help, but I don't have the money or time for that right now.