First audio upgrade for non JBL stereo

Greetings,

Just picked up my '07 Prius, touring edition, package #2. Got that package mostly based on pricing info, and a change in the price policy just after I quoted one, but not the other. Here's my comments on the audio.

First off, I have some knowledge of good sound. I've been into high end stereo for about 20 years now, and have a very good home system (Creek CD player, Rega 3 turntable, B&K preamp and dual mono amp, Legacy Focus speakers.) I also use Shure E500 earbuds with my iPod (having a close friend who is an engineer at Shure makes that an economical option.) I also play piano, guitar, charango, and harmonica, and took music courses in composition in high school and college. I listen to everything but country - at any given instant, my iPod could be playing Nessun Dorma or La Donna Mobile (Verdi), Strangelove (Depeche Mode,) Living in the Past (updated, Tull,) Knee Play #5 (Philip Glass,) Shaun Colvin, Paul Simon, or whatever.

I listened to the base stereo and the JBL upgrade when test driving the cars, all sitting still so that I could hear as much as possible. Road noise is usually part of the equation, but it's better to remove it for the tests. Here's my opinions:

Base system:

Adequate sound for what you're paying for it. With proper balancing, the midrange is fair to good. Mid bass is OK, but low bass is almost nonexistent. Turning up the bass to compensate makes the mid bass way too strong. Mid highs sound pretty good, but the top highs are abyssmal. For example, an acoustic guitar sounds quite good, but a cymbal strike sounds awful, making my teeth hurt.

For talk radio, it's fine. Not a great challenge for the system. Kick the treble up one step to make out what people are saying, and it's all good there.

JBL Upgrade:

IMO, a downgrade from the base system. Slow boomy bass and shreiky highs to impress on audio novices that it's "different" from the base system. Listening to something with a wide acoustic range, like Amy Winehouse's "You know I'm no good" is positively fatiguing. The bass insults my ears, the brass sounds tinny, and if I could turn off the cymbals, I would. Even her luxorious voice has a hollow ring to it over this system. Turning down the bass and treble a fair amount (3-4 settings) was helpful, but still didn't provide enough relief to make the system adequate.

The added bass does help with the low bass disappearing (as contrasted with the base system.) But it doesn't add balanced bass, or tight bass, it's slow, boomy, and overpowering. The best bass units don't overwhelm one with low frequency response, rather, they integrate the low and mid bass into the rest of the music. Think about going to a live concert - did the bass player (or the double bass section, or whatever,) have their sound so loud that it dominated what you heard? I hope not - so why should my stereo do that.

Further, the best bass is really quick. Listen to something like Charlie Mingus's carnegie hall concert. The bass in the opening section of Perdido is an ideal test - it's quick, as Charlie plucks the strings you hear the initial transients and the rapid acoustic decay as he moves his right hand to a different note, killing the original sound. Or listen to a bass drum. If it sounds like a single thump, that's good. A prolonged thud is bad. Now, to get quick bass, one needs a lot of power, to start and stop the big speaker quickly. On the other hand, good treble just needs a clean low power amp and a good tweeter.

For things like talk radio, the JBL system sounds better. It provides very clear dialog, and I have no problem understanding what people are saying. It's better than the base system, but not better enough to justify paying $600-$1200 more for it - the money could be better spent on system upgrades from the base system.

My apologies to anyone who really likes their JBL upgrade. Audio is all about what you think about something, and if you're happy with it, that's good. These are only my opinions.

I ended up with the #2 package, with the base stereo. I'm fine with that, although I might have preferred the anti theft package (my old car was stolen after I placed the order.)

Now, for my questions. The logical upgrade path seems to first improve the base system's high end response. The little speakers up high on the mirror supports are probably the culprit here - a combination dome and ribbon might be good, if this were not car audio. Any input on this? What have people done so far, and how has it worked? I'm a total newbie when it comes to car audio - my last car, an Acura Integra, had great performance, but pretty high road noise. The best car stereo there was iPod + earbuds.

Second step is to improve the bass - that should require some more power, and extra speakers. I'll take that on later. First I want to get the high end right.

Regards,