Any JBL woofer replacements that improve things?

(just posted this on in another thread before being pointed to this one, which I haven't read wholly yet... thought this was more appropriate here)

I bought aftermarket speakers for my 2002 Prius from ebay and, while extremely happy with the new sound quality, I’m still very cautious about whether I should pursue an amp or somehow otherwise reconfiguring the audio system. for the record, I installed Infinity 62.5i (2-way) in the rear and Infinity 63.5i in the front (3-way). They sound excellent, but are capable of handling well over 200 watts each, while the top estimate I've heard is that the Prius head unit puts out no more than 30 watts per channel (possibly total).

I too would appreciate some advice about how I could proceed, especially in terms of either replacing the head unit with something more powerful (or with an EQ), or, at least, installing an amp that would go to these 4 speakers plus a modest woofer (which I'd like to get so my low end sounds as wicked as the high does)

specifically, if anyone could outline the elctrical concerns I should be aware of so that I don't comprominse fuel economy with something as insubstantial as my low-end audio.

cheers,
Dan Lesh

 

I was wondering if anyone knows where the frequency response of the JBL system drops off, with all equalizer settings to the middle. I put in an amp and sub, and spent awhile trying to figure out that it seems to me that setting the crossover to the sub down to 75 Hz reduces the overlap from the sub and the JBL speakers. Does anyone else have an idea of what frequency the JBL woofers get down to effectively?

I wish I had one of those frequency response measurer machine thingies....

 

No numbers on woofer drop off, but I set the bass eq. level well below the center line, and let the subwoofer provide most of the bass. The door speakers become primarily midrange drivers. At this setting, the JBL system can be played at max volume (62) with no distortion. Way too loud for normal listening.

 

I wonder if the issue with the poor bass in the Prius may be that the factory woofers don't have a crossover to prevent higher frequencies from going to them and causing resonances.

Most woofers have a resonance where a relatively high frequency (e.g. 5 Hz) will cause them to distort and generally produce poor sound. Good speakers will use a crossover to prevent such high frequencies from getting to the woofers. But I thought I read somewhere that the prius directs the full audio spectrum to the woofers.

If that is the case, then using an aftermarket component speaker system with a crossover should improve the sound. The idea would be to replace the woofer and tweeter from the aftermarket system, and drive them from the aftermarket crossover, which is fed from the signal that goes to the factory woofer.

If anyone wants to check this out, try playing a test CD that has different frequencies (from 20-20khz) and use a voltmeter to measure the AC voltage at the woofer for different frequencies. Better yet, replace the speaker with a heavy duty 4 ohm resistor for the test to eliminate that variable. Then plot the output versus frequency. If the voltage drops down practically to zero somehwere around 1k to 3kHz, then there is probably a crossover. If it is relatively flat all the way up to 15kHz or so then there is probably no crossover and that is the problem.

If someone does this test, please post results here (I don't have a Prius to test right now). It'd also be interesting to test the frequency response of the signal to the middle speaker, to get an idea of whether it could be disabled and/or replaced.

 

If the middle speaker has enough response at the low end, and is truly mono, you could use its output for the sub.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dlesh\";p=\"28352)</div>

Dan,
I am thinking of using the same speakers and am curious if you noticed an 'efficiency' difference with the new spks. Do you have to turn the vol. up more to get the same sound level do you think?

I have the base system with my mp3 player, and xm, wired in through a neo-box. I'm regularly at 40-50 on the vol. scale (note mine tops out at 60). So I'm worried I'm running out of vol. for those quiet tracks while going 70. Thanks!!

 

On Vernon's system... Did he just add a Amp to power the sub and left everything else alone?

Is it possible to replace the JBL amp with a 5 Channel and run everything off one while not losing any of the features of the nav system or blue tooth?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TimeFor\";p=\"45477)</div>

You can't just replace the JBL amp with a standard amp. The JBL takes line level outputs uncontrolled R & L from the header, as well as a control signal from the header for volume, balance and fade. EQ control probably at the amp as well.

 

I just added an amp for the sub; the rest of the speakers are stock and powered by the JBL amp. The sub amp is connected to the rear door speakers so the volume and fader both work on the subwoofer.

 

G'Day guys, I'm getting a JBL equipped Prius in AUG and HATE bad sound, I had a OEM system in my current car a Peugeot 206CC and it could not be removed as it interfaces with the display and volume controls via a C-BUS network, I replaced the front speakers with some Boston acoustics 6.5 2 ways and built a 10inch sub with amp that sits in the tiny rear seats, the sub runs off line level inputs from the rear speakers. I have read the front tweeters are crap and the centre speaker is bad too, since I will be transferring the Sub and speakers should I be doing the following?

Disconnect the front center

Replace front doors with the bostons

Install AMP/SUB in line with rear speakers (line level inputs)

Should I also rewire the front tweeters? as apparently in another thread that's what causes the bad tweeter response?