All- I've been lurking on this site for some time, and read a bunch of very helpful posts. Just wanted to contribute my stereo mod because I'm thrilled with the results. I just bought a 2008 Prius - Touring #6 w upgraded JBL package. Additional equipment: 4 boxes of Hushmat sound dampener JL Audio CleanSweep Boston Acoustics GT-40 amplifier 2 sets MTX TX6001 component speakers I run the rear 2 channels from the JBL amp under the passenger seat to the CleanSweep. The CleanSweep then connects to the amp, which drives the component speakers. I configured the CleanSweep with the head unit at volume 35. I connected the center speaker to the left front tweeter speaker connect on the JBL amp. I set the fade on the head unit to only output to the rear channel. So now, bluetooth and navigation sound is the only audio heard through the center speaker. All other sources are tidied up by the cleansweep and sound great. On the BA amp, i turned down the input sensitivity for the front channels to about halfway, and the back channels about 1/3 of the way. I also turned on the lowpass filter for the rear channels, so that the rear speakers could focus on bass and bring the soundstage forward in the car. While the doors were open and I was wiring the new speakers, I installed the hushmat sound dampening material. Pros: Great sound and LOUD Still can use Bluetooth phone Still can use Nav Still can use car audio commands Still can use built in AUX input in handrest Heavy doors and good sound isolation Cons: Somewhat expensive Head unit volume should stay at 35, must use CS audio knob Could use a little more base... maybe install a sub? Noah
Sounds like you've got a desired result. Here's a few things I learned: There are better products than dynamat (like "Brown Bread") which are a lot cheaper and car audio magazine reviews suggest there are some products better for given applications (in the case of the Prius, it would be weight and thickness versus sound-deadening instead of outright sound controlling performance.) Products like Cleansweep are tedious with compromises that don't necessarily work intuitively (such as handling nav instructions, muting for the phone, losing the fader. : ) For more bass, in a car like the Prius (where road noise and NVH rise quickly with road speed) it's a difficult thing to get a balance of bass. Having a sub instead of a spare wheel is a good compromise for example. Getting the right balance of bass drivers is my preferred approach, but I don't like the level of bass that some types of modern music demand. My car has a combination of a/d/c and McIntosh that is not cost-effective, but I tend to keep my daily driver cars until they're over 100K miles and I can still carry some of the components forward to the next car, so that's a fair deal as far as I'm concerned. And the Prius audio is so incredibly bad, it was one of the things I factored into the initial purchase.
Thanks for the post Noah. Adding a sub does bring up the bottom end and helps strengthen the midbass snap a bit. Assuming you choose a good sub setup and amplifier. I regularly take my subs in and out of the car for various reasons and while it still sounds nice without them, the sound with them is much more balanced and pleasing. I'm an old school basshead though so some might find my system a bit too loud and bass heavy which is why I have a bass control knob so that I can quickly make others happy. I used Dynamat in the doors because it's what I sell and I agree, it does help a lot. I'm currently running the top end Diamond Audio equipment (before they sold out) and thus far I didn't have to do any permanent modifications which is cool considering I have 7" mids in the doors and my tweeters didn't fit in the stock location and I'm running 1,900 watts. lol The Prius seems like it was almost designed for aftermarket car audio! Did you take any pics?
I don't remember specifically. They were sharing a warehouse with MTX or JBL? They did their big change over during a period I was not working in car audio (class load was too heavy) so I didn't get into the specifics. I do know that their product has lost a lot of it's following on the high end car audio forums and many people complain about the quality, they remark that it is not like the old Diamond Audio quality pre-2006? My contacts at the main officer no longer work there either so the only info I can get is from other reps (Morel, Kenwood, Jl Audio etc.). The general buzz is such that we are not going to bring the product back in. Besides, I have Morel and ARC Audio to sell now. Great component speakers and great amplifiers.
