Budget upgrade complete! (Not budget sound.)

Budget audio - DIY - general guide

My pumpkin android hu came in 5 days from Hong Kong. 1080 p, nav, bt, everything but XM. It's highly functional and intuitive. 378$ shipped and I asked them to add a backup cam, they did. The unit has cheap plastic knobs and buttons with un-matching fonts, but overall 9/10 for matchup with my Prius.

I found a 45 rms x4 kenwood amp, no functions and small enough to get in the dash. 84$ on Amazon (great reviews). I wired the factory squawkers to the speaker wire output fronts from my hu, keeping all the front wiring intact (minus breaking parallel w/ new door channel). I ran seperate front channels through rca outs on my hu and then the amp. Its powering clear powerful component kenwoods, 4.75 stars, 220+ reviews on Amazon.63.33$ 1 day shipping). I have 2 way kenwood coaxials in the back (29.99).

First impressions:

My 2010 non-nav/non jbl upgraded to a 8/10 from 1.5/10... after the install. I truly love the new sound. It's clear and thumpy. The custom factory tweeter placement on the a arm makes for a directionally ideal, rich tweeter sound. I won't go with coaxial again. I love the cam feature, as does my wife.

Install reviewed:

The oem speakers are chincy, it's a wonder they sound as good as they do. The small size amp is worth it. You can find plenty of you tube vids on how to pull apart your Prius. It's easy once you get yanking. Use the correct size heat shrink and twist the wires well. People say you need to solder. You don't. You need to know how to use heat tube and tangle up wires.

I got tripped up trying to get the cam to send input ASAP when you are in reverse. The supply you send should be also connected to head unit (reverse in) via the wire sticking out at the hu AV Jack. I read too many conflicting stories to do this correctly the first time.

I wired the cam through the trunk because I wanted it mounted under the bumper. This turned out better and easier than the other methods.

The problem with bad fm signal is gone with new hu, headache there, gone!

I still don't know if I'm degrading my front channel by running the squawk power off the head unit. I did connect the front channels to Christmas light plugs so I do plan on testing the sound difference soon.

Overall:

Sound is fantastic! Install was lengthy because I had to search for a lot of misc. info being amateur with car audio. Best 550$ I ever spent. I can answer any specific questions. Hoping somebody will offer their informed thoughts on my front channel still.., Cheers!

 

I mean u can see a head unit touchscreen, and a couple tiny in dash tweeters... A rear cam if you bend down at the bumper. I Should have snapped some pics but the idea escaped me at the time. I highly suggest this upgrade along with all components listed. Someone should do it and take pics...