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JBL Premium Audio System uncovered

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by SynergyGuy, Mar 14, 2005.

  1. Chucka

    Chucka Junior Member

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    Is there a chance that someone will offere a pin for pin replacement for the JBL/Prius amplifier?
     
  2. knowledgeseeker

    knowledgeseeker New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Chucka\";p=\"76000)</div>
    According to naterprius earlier in this thread, the Land Cruiser uses an analog amp that may be just that - it'd be nice to know for sure. Expensive new, but some LC's have surely been wrecked by now ...

    And there is a chance that it may not generate the "beeps"!
     
  3. Geronimo

    Geronimo New Member

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    Hi Danman, that is some good news!

    I have seen the $200 ipod2car adaptor, but I think I'll be satisfied with just the audio input.
    Hmm just thought of something else..: will this disable the bluetooth carkit phone audio?
     
  4. DanMan32

    DanMan32 Senior Member

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    Nope. Nav intercepts the driver door speaker from the amp, and powers the speaker itself.
     
  5. Geronimo

    Geronimo New Member

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    Thanks DanMan32 ,
    That's great. Seems like my worries are (almost) over. Just have to get my hands on a male-female set of the connector they are using. Any chance of this being a standard connector? Is it used in other applications as well?
     
  6. brosnan

    brosnan Member

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  7. motnamser

    motnamser New Member

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    I have the JBL 9 speaker system and I was thinking about simply upgrading the tweeters in the front doors (any recommendations) and then adding a powered subwoofer into the compartment in the back.

    Anyone tried something like this? Does anyone know where to hook the powered subwoofer? Should I get the output directly from the amplifier (under the seat) output? Would the sound get through the rear storage compartment OK?

    I think that more efficient tweeters in front would help alot since the sound does get better at higher volumes.

    Are the speakers that are in the Prius JBL system premium speakers? How much does it help to replace the main speakers in the front?

    If I purchase replacement component speakers for the system, do I just forget about using the supplied crossover? I would think that the crossovers are designed for the tweeter and the woofer and by not using the crossover, it could cause worse sound.
     
  8. Vernon

    Vernon New Member

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  9. Geronimo

    Geronimo New Member

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    my prius arrived last week, love it!
    I am wondering how my JBL amp in- and outputs correspond to the schematics posted previously in this thread. Here is a picture of the amp connectors. It seems to me that the small black 2*4 connector is the audio from the head unit. Instead of black and white wires, I see one black/white striped wire. Does anyone know the purpose of all these different connectors? See picture attached
    I see 5 (L to R): One blue connector (unused), one grey, one black, a small white one and a large white one. From the wire diameter of the large connector I assume this is the speaker output and power input.
     
  10. SynergyGuy

    SynergyGuy New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Geronimo\";p=\"81278)</div>
    Hi Geronimo,

    That certainly does not look like the amp, at least not the one that comes with the premium package. I suspect that what you might be looking at is the Nav unit.
     
  11. SynergyGuy

    SynergyGuy New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(motnamser\";p=\"81113)</div>
    There is lots to comment about this.

    >>> the tweeters in the front doors (any recommendations) and then
    >>> adding a powered subwoofer into the compartment in the back.
    >>> Anyone tried something like this?

    I have replaced all speakers in the car and added a subwoofer. Here are some comments of my experience that will address some of your questions.

    For the front speakers I used BOSE, the same little speakers used in the Jewel Cube Speaker technology they have, although I had to modify the internal fittings and I won't be able to put the original tweeters back, not something I'm planning to do anytime soon anyway.

    Howerver, note from my initial mail on this trail that there are inherent quality problems with the signal delivered from the amp to the front tweeters, so replacing the speaker will do no good for you if you don't do some rewiring (or replace the amp altogether) as I explained in my first note.

    >>> Should I get the output directly from the amplifier (under the seat) output?

    With regards to the subwoofer, I would not recommend to plug your sub directly into the JBL amp outputs (even if it's an active sub). What I did is that I took the output to the rear doors from the JBL amp and use that signal to feed a dual stereo amplifier, so that one output will go to the rear doors and the other output will power the amp.

    >>> Would the sound get through the rear storage compartment OK?

    Yes the sound gets through fine, specially at low frequencies even the car's body serves as a transmitter for sound waves, I would recommend you though that you limit the frequency range sent to the sub to 50Hz at the most (unfortunately the JBL amp sucks at this range and below and that is one of the reasons I want to replace it). The reason for this frequency limitation is because the wave length is so long that passengers seating anywhere in the car won't perceive from where is the bass comming from. As soon as you get into the 60Hz range and up the bass pretty much localizes in the trunck torturing passengers in the back and making your sound experience awful. This is particularly true and annoying with the JBL amp since it has a peak response at 70Hz.

    >>> Are the speakers that are in the Prius JBL system
    >>> premium speakers?

    Yes, you can say they are. In short, they are not bad, particularly the ones in the front which are of much better quality compared to those installed in the rear doors. So if you are planning to replace them, I'd say just the rear doors would be good enough.

    >>> How much does it help to replace the main speakers in the front?

    After I replaced mine I think it does not help much (only talking about woofers). You could very well build a very nice system just by replacing the tweeters on all doors.

    >>> about using the supplied crossover?

    I would definitively use it. I actually did. The only type of passive built in croosover that comes with your car is for the rear door tweeters and is a little capacitor (first order filter).
    The front doors use the digital crossover inside the JBL amp, that's why the front woofers and tweeters are powered separately from the amp.
    In my case I ended up using the supplied crossovers for both front and rear since I refused to use the awful signal that comes out of the amp to power the front tweeters. You'll be amazed how bad it is when you get to compare front and rear outputs.

    Hope that helps.
     
  12. brosnan

    brosnan Member

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    Geronimo,
    In the 2005 US model, the nav unit is made by Denso and sits underneath the drivers's seat. This photo shows the great similarity with yours: http://priuschat.com/forums/download.php?id=394 I was under the impression that Toyota only used Aisin Nav units in Japan. Is yours a Japan market car? The Aisin model supports the backup camera and auto-parking option offerred only in Japan. Here's the discussion which originally linked to the photo: http://priuschat.com/forums/-vp18127.html#18127.

    The JBL amplifier/equalizer (for those who have it) is under the passenger seat in the 2005 US mode.
     
  13. motnamser

    motnamser New Member

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    How about this idea?

    Since I don't care too much about the sound in the back of the car...
    Switch the outputs of the amplifier (rear outputs go to the front speakers and front outputs go to the rear speakers). Replace the front speaker with a component setup and passive crossover. The amplifier should put out plenty of power and the new speakers would make a huge difference in the front seat sound. The back speakers can take the worse sound. The the speakers from the front and put them in the back since they are supposedly higher quality. Maybe add a subwoofer if needed. With this method you don't have to replace the amplifier and you can get clean, unfiltered sound to the tweeters in front. The dsp internal to the amp would now drive the rear tweeters.

    Any thoughts?
     
  14. Geronimo

    Geronimo New Member

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    Phew! :oops: Good thing that I didn't start soldering right away! Thaks Synergyguy and Brosnan! The unit picture you point to is the same as far as I can tell. My unit has a different label (Toyota sticker) though. As I live in Europe, the car may be different from the US models. We have only two varieties of prius: a standard one and a Business edition with added nav, JBL 9 spkr, smart key and bluetooth.
    Meanwhile I have located the amp below the passenger seat. It is somewhat harder to reach, this weekend I'll take it out to see the connections.

    This Japanese video option seems interesting..would this be plug and play or serious hacking?
     
  15. SynergyGuy

    SynergyGuy New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(motnamser\";p=\"81380)</div>
    The problem with that approach is that the rear doors take one full bandwitdth signal to power both woofer and tweeter, if you wire the front door output from the amp to the rear doors then no sound will come out of the rear door tweeters since the signal has been already fitlered in the amp with a low pass filter at about 3 Khz.

    What you could do is maybe wire the front tweeters to the rear outputs of the amp. That is going to put extra load on the amp for the high frequencies since front and rear tweeters will be basically connected in parallel. Nonetheless, knowing that most of the power drawn from the amp goes to the woofers I wouldn't think the amp will have any problem driving twice the load just for the tweeters.
     
  16. devo1182

    devo1182 New Member

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    Why not start out with something very easy to do?
    Install, or as I did, pay a pro to install a sub with amp.
    Disconnect center speaker. (dash in JBL).
    This is all I did and I am now very pleased with sound of cd's.
     
  17. Chucka

    Chucka Junior Member

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    Has anyone heard yet of a manufactured Prius sub box other than the Bazooka. So far all I have been able to find is someone willing to build be a one off box for an excessive amount of money.
     
  18. naterprius

    naterprius Senior Member

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    $150 is not excessive for a sub box that fits the Prius perfectly. I think it's well worth the money.

    Nate
     
  19. Chucka

    Chucka Junior Member

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    The average quote I am getting locally is closer to $500 to fabricate a fiberglas enclosure that will fit in the rear passanger side trunk recess (This is without speaker). This is my desired location.

    I wish to use a JL speaker or equivilant in my update. While the Bazooka is a good product and produces low end, it is not the type of low end I want for this installation.
     
  20. Vernon

    Vernon New Member

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    I had a custom box made out of MDF for $200, not including the speaker. Very good sound quality - better than my previous factory enclosures.