Horrible speaker upgrade - four months n counting - help appreciated

I wish I could help more, but that really sounds like install issues. Honestly, I'd think replacing the factory head unit, would be a lot easier than trying to keep it, and making it sound great, like I'm working on with mine right now. I just wanted to keep everything "looking stock" nothing for thieves to bother with, and for all of my integrated stuff, and steering wheel controls to work the same.
So I had to buy a DSP (digital sound processor)

I'm also replacing all of my factory speakers with Kicker coaxials, and one of the most rediculous 8" subs I've ever seen, in a perfectly tuned and ported enclosure.

Of course the biggest (most important) thing, is the amp... A 5 ch Kicker 4 x 50, and 1 x about 460.

I'm not expecting my system to be rediculous loud, like my truck, but I'm thinking it should be super clean, full, and sufficiently loud.....

 

I agree with Chris on it being install issues. And personally, I never use solder in anything that has vibration. Circuit boards being the exception.

 

From your description, they wired it incorrectly and also did a poor job of it.

Spin the wheel, try another shop.

 

Poorly crimped or poorly soldered connections are almost undoubtedly the root of the cutting in and out problem.

A mistake in deciding which wire gets crimped to which (potentially multiple) is the likely cause of the poor soundstage.

I haven’t done a stereo in a liftback Prius, but from what I’ve read the dash speakers are wired in a manner that can cause confusion and mistakes when upgrading.

Good luck!

 

it does sound like a bad install job. For those that want upgraded sound without a new head unit, I installed an LC7i 6 channel audio controller in my Jeep. This cleaned up the sound and allowed me to run an amp for the newly installed speakers and a sub/amp combo for the rear. All hidden behind the dash....and it all looks like the crappy stock unit

 

Yes. And the only part of this whole thing that I'm a little nervous about is the DSP, mostly because I have never used one. But it is going to give me SO much sound control.... Including a 31 band EQ
I'm already trying to figure out how I'm going to use some sort of a listening device to level my system completely out (get rid of all the peaks and valleys) ....... For the baseline of course, then I can add back some more bass and treble where needed
But hey, if that doesn't do a 110% job, that was only $279.... And head unit replacements are pretty cheap. I just really don't want to lose all my factory and steering wheel controls, or attract extra attention in my rideshare car.

As for a MPG hit, honestly, I'll be completely surprised if I lose 2mpg from the stereo, and I already gained that much going to 40 lbs in my factory tires.

And besides all that, nothing makes as big a difference in sound quality, as wattage.

 

Any new news? If the speaker wiring is reversed on the speakers, then the polarity will be off and the sound would be shifted. There are adapter connectors to adapt to your new speakers and that should be plug and play without any fuss for audio installers unless these are really not true audio installers. The factory head unit was tweaked for the old speakers and it can’t be tweaked for new speakers. A DSP would definitely solve it but is an expensive add on for just replacing speakers. A new decent head unit has time alignment which corrects your issues as well as an equalizer but I’m assuming defeats making a cheap speaker upgrade.

As i relook your first post, you picked component speakers which created a more complicated install since a more plug and play approach would be to pick coax speakers. The front and dash speakers are wired in parallel so it gets quite complicated if you are trying to fit in the tweeter wiring. Chances are the crossover wiring needs to be checked out since that is one area that required a lot of extra rewiring.

 

Thought I would jump in. I agree with most in here. Installation is the key. One has to really pay attention to the wiring! Head units today require specific wiring. If it isn't followed, the sound can be distorted on one side and hardly audible on the other, or, as in your case, a horrible mess. Glad to see you have recovered. Should I decide to take the leap in my car, I will keep my head unit and amplify in the output areas. Usually you get better results.

 

This thread is a bit old, but...as far as the sound being a bit harsh coming from the dash, I thought the same thing. Even with a dsp, I had a hard time taming the sound (with or without an aftermarket head unit). I think it has more to do with the speaker location and the crossover point. The harshness in the aftermarket tweeter coming from the factory dash location disappears if the crossover is higher. I ended up using a point source in the door so that I could raise the crossover in the tweeter on the dash higher.