Hi everyone, here is the solution we have all been looking for. Our G1 Prius' are absolutely terrible when it comes to audio, and given the built in nature of the head unit, we have really few options. I just went out on a limb (as I usually do when it comes to Toyota's recent electronic upgrades) and bought the very talked about (at least in Canada) Bongiovi DPS unit. Apparently only compatible with 2010 and newer vehicles. My assumption was this, if Toyota has not changed the wiring harness on their cars since 1987, why wouldn't it work on our cars? So I tried. Installation took about 5 minutes. I removed the CD Player from the dash, reached underneath, grabbed the exisiting male connectors, plugged it into the female harness on the provided DPS harness, then plugged the male connectors on the DPS unit to the radio. Done. INCREDIBLE! The sound difference is simply unreal! The Bass had to be turned down to half (default position) on the display as it was totally over powering the factory speakers. The Treble also had to go down as well as it was way to high. The clarity at lower volumes is what gets me the most. Very very strong and reverberating bass is now audible, and voices are so clear its crazy. The improvement in switching between CD/AM/FM/iPod/Aux/Tape is now totally levelled so that I don't even have to switch the volume up or down before switching modes. I have provided some pics of the unit, but it is something unfortunately something that simply has to be heard to be believed. As you all may know, I used to have a sub and amp in my car, but the car's exisiting amplifier and equalizer made the bass muddled and far too punchy, so I removed it. This DPS unit solves this problem and more. Excellent crisp high's and exceptional bass, such that even my wife is totally impressed. The cost of the unit is really good at $300, and I highly recommend it. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask, but I have to say, Toyota has knocked it out of the park with this upgrade. Oh and Bluetooth streaming is vastly improved as well.
I heard the Bongiovi demo unit in the Corolla XRS that they had the auto show. Yeah it sounded clearer but I noticed that it was also louder without changing the volume (they just had a switch that turned the system on and off). Definitely worth the few hundred dollars but too bad it only works on non-JBL units (which is essentially just the base model). It won't work with models that have the JBL audio (or so I was told).
Hi Joe, I will get the part number for you! Of extreme interest is that there is only one part for all different vehicles. The dip switches on the front of the unit dictate which car it is going into. I have the five dip switches set to Toyota Camry which is UDDDU, and it sounds absolutely fantastic. The way this thing works is interesting. It digitally normalizes and enhances the audio for all sources. It also "learns" what you are listening to and comes up with the best listening frequencies. I am amazed those dinky little speakers our Prius' come with can pump out some rather impressive sound. After about 2 hours, the DPS actually learned enough to almost completely remove any and all distortion. I found that by leaving the Bass and Treble in a single position as shown produces exceptional bass and treble. Voices at lower volumes are so clear it is almost like I am in a different car! The unit does get quite warm after 2-3 hours of use, so I assume it has an amplifier built in. Hell's bells, anything is better than the clock radio amplifier Toyota gives us in all our cars. Bluetooth streaming is perhaps the most impressive with clarity that rivals the benchmark Uconnect bluetooth system offered by Chrysler. Although there is still no comparison there, Toyota is still very far behind when it comes to Audio and other tech stuff in cars. This is an awesome bandage though! LOL! Oh and check out where my Bass and Treble are in the Prius! This is just to keep the speakers from being totally overwhelmed by the bass this unit puts out!
Hi Everyone, here is the part number on the back of the unit. Remember, there is only 1 part number for all cars, and if you ever buy it, ask for a Toyota Yaris Bongiovi unit, as the price for the Yaris is $350 and the Toyota Venza is $700!!! Actually mine is from a Toyota Tacoma for amusement sake! I ordered a Yaris, but the packaging said Tacome on it! For exactly the same exact unit is kind of crazy! I am not going into that line of conversation as it only frustrates me from a consumer perspective. I am only glad I can shed some light on it! Only the dip switch positions are flipped differently for each car. I figured Camry is good for me as the Yaris audio setting really did nothing for me. The bass sounded muddy and poor imaging of the sound. The Camry is very balanced and sounds strong. Sienna was good too, but sounded like I was in a barrel. Venza was strange, it sounded like nothing was happening. Weird. There are 32 possible combinations regardless, and whatever fits your listening preference works.
