Song that best demonstrates the Gen III Premium JBL Sound System

Also great choices!

 

Oh god, for the love of cellists, no! (Or bassists.)

That song requires us to repeat the same 8 notes 28 times in a row... And I've played it so many times, I wonder what I might have accomplished in life had I spent that time doing something more worthwhile. Once for almost every wedding I've played in, a few more times for various rehearsals, and all too many other assorted occasions. It's cruelty! I suggest boycotting any music sold with Canon in D so that future generations of cellists are not subjected to learning it, performing it, and generally just suffering through it.

It is pretty easy on the ears, though. (And yes, I've seen the rant...)

 

Artist: Mahavishnu Orchestra
Album: Birds of Fire
Track: Celestial EAC 292

 

In a similar vein:
ELO "Out of the Blue" remaster (SONY 2007)
"Turn to Stone" and "Sweet Talkin' Woman"
They'll both sound very "congested" on mediocre or mid-fi systems.
Interestingly enough, the Prius/JBL resolves them very nicely (although I don't generally listen at earache levels).

 

The song is called, "Rip me out and replace me with a real stereo". It has noise that comes out of it and that's about all it's good for. Can't even compare this to some of the real good sounding factory upgraded systems out there and certainly nothing that comes from the aftermarket.

 

OK--humor me. Your upgraded sound system in your sig looks impressive. How much did it cost?

 

I certainly went on the extreme side of things no doubt, but even still you can have a much better sounding system for alot less money than I spent. It just makes me mad that Toyota and JBL make it so difficult to upgrade what is a mediocre and expensive sound system and don't really give you a choice when you get into the higher models. Not to mention, I bought my car when they were just rolling off the boats and supply was limited to what you could find if you were looking for specific options. Looking back on it now if there were more choices and I knew what I know now, I would have gotten a V without the ATP and NAV. Would be much easier for me to rip out the JBL stuff and not think twice about it. I was trying to retain the factory HU and it just wasn't going to happen. Have finally decided that the parking assist feature is a joke and which was one of the reasons I was trying to work with the factory piece. That and trying to keep it fairly stealth. In a couple of months once this new Kenwood unit comes out that I'm looking at the factory unit is coming out and going into storage. I have been into car audio for 20 years and have become a bit of an audiophile. I just don't see how other than like some people have stated that the JBL stereo sounds so good unless coming from a car that was even worse. Sorry, just not a big fan.

 

That's sounds to me like a long-winded non-answer.

You probably paid much more than the less-than-optimal acoustic environment of the Prius deserves.

I agree the JBL isn't the best OEM sound system, but given the terribly noisy interior of the Prius, it's more than adequate from my perspective. At some point, the acoustical environment renders superfluous any high end "audiophile" system.

 

Well I'm certainly not going to get in an argument with you over it all. I was just stating my opinion. I didn't answer an actual amount because I didn't think that it was necessary. I pointed out that I went on the extreme side of things and that should be enough said. No car is going to have a perfect soundstage without building the car around the stereo. Between the glass and many other factors it is near impossible. All you can do is make changes to make it as close to what you want. The factory JBL system is far from it. It is extremely heavy on the bass side which is rather muddy. Mids and highs are all over the place when you look at it on a scope. It's all just a band aid to cover up what is lacking. For the money they charge for it, the factory "upgraded" system could have been alot better. If you want to stay on the cheap and make the stereo sound even better. Invest in some sound deadening material and at least do the whole doors. Even with as under-performing as the factory system is, it at least helps.

 

I am an audiophile pretender, mostly home audio...but there is no way around it...it will cost you a lot of money to improve the sound system in a Prius. The speaker locations are less than ideal. This is no Lexus LS...so, the environment does not lend itself to any high end system worth installing.

Technically speaking, the JBL costs $1000 over the non-JBL system. The "expensive" part comes in when you buy a Navigation system +/- ATP. But, there are reasons why that becomes expensive.

You wrote that the mids and highs are all over the place on a "scope." Do you have a copy of the data? I would love to see the frequency response throughout the range of the JBL system!!

As for your final advice about sound deadening, i kinda disagree. Putting sound deadening in the doors will likely NOT touch road noise significantly...it will just make your doors sound more expensive when you close it. And it may make the bass tighter by a tiny bit...probably not enough to justify the cost of putting it in (labor and parts). All of JBL's midrange and upper frequencies come from the dash squawkers...so, insulating the doors won't do anything to the mids and highs.

The reason why you can hear the difference from your upgraded system (from what you claim) is that you just spent a whole lot of money, probably well over $2000...and my guess is that you are seeing that it may not be worth it.

My advice to audiophiles who want an audiophile system on wheels: buy a better platform to do such modifications! My goal is to get the Lexus LS with the Mark Levinson Reference system in the future once my minivan is on its last leg (aka kids grown up a bit)...and no, i won't be modifying that system at all. Car audio is a lost cost (or an investment of deminishing returns) IMO...and this is why so many shops are closing down.

My opinion.

 

Hotel California (acoustic version)!

 

Over the years auto manufacturers are shying away from standard audio mounting/opening of DIN and ISO-DIN. With this trend 4 things happened.
1 - Auto manufacturers are blending the head unit into the dash and integrating electronics such as AC control and trip computers, parking assist control and other monitoring or control functions. In doing so the audio equipment can't be replaced. Customers complained of poor audio quality and the inability to replace the headunit. Auto manufacturer respond by improving the audio qualities and add more features (Sync,EnTune).
2 - Installation accessory manufacturers had to produce kit's that takes the shape of factory head units and integrate DIN openings to it for mounting aftermarket head units. Some require factory head unit relocation harness in order for other electronics to operate. Gen VI Civics had keyless entry and dome light loop built into the factory radio. Some GMs had AC controls tied into the headunit that required relocating when installing aftermarket headunits. Let's not forget the Gen III-Up Taurus's oval head unit with AC control on the bottom.
3-When installation kits and/or wire harness are not available, installers had to spend enormous amount of time to fabricate custom installation kits and/or wire harness at a much higher cost than a premade kits and harness at the expense of customer's wallets.
4 - Aftermarket audio manufacturers see this trend and realize replacing factory headunit is not an option for some customers and start to release high end audio conditioning equipments that allow aftermarket equipments to use factory headunits as source.

Overall, The Prius's JBL system though improved over standard system could use some more improvements. Many of us debated over and over how great and not so great the JBL system is. Bottom line is that some think it's great and some don't. There's no mind changing for them. I appreciate a good sound system. A system that would satisfy my ear would cost well over $10,000. The installation will be nothing short of competition standard. Though I'd love a good sounding system, my Prius will not get the same audio treatment as my Tacoma due to cost. Plus I mod the Prius to save gas.

This thread is all about the audio track that can bring out the best in Prius's factory JBL system NOT debates on aftermarket systems. This is not a sound-off. If you can't burn it onto a disc, transfer it to an USB, streaming it over blutooth, hook it up to an auxiliary jack and play it back in your FACTORY JBL system then please don't mention it here.
There are plenty of aftermarket threads around but only 1 "Song that best demonstrates the Gen III Premium JBL Sound System"

 

Toyota should be embarrassed of what they call "premium" its the worst I ever had...

Really disappointed

 

Flim and the BBs are all time favorites! Tricycle has some truly jaw-dropping tracks.
Billy Barber's "Lighthouse" also has some stunning tracks.
For the jazz and percussion lovers, there's a double CD of Buddy Rich and his orchestra; "Mr. Drums-LIVE". It was a MFSL release of Cafe Records' recording. I think I paid $50 for it back in the day, but an Amazon search showed it at $170 . Worth it at $50.....
Another goody is Sting's "Nothing Like the Sun" CD. Specifically the track "An Englishman in New York.".
If you're an ELP fan, try the CD "Black Moon" especially "Paper Blood"
As an aside, it seems that Emerson is back performing, but doing clubs in England. Just himself and a piano/organ. Might be interesting.
Lots of great recordings out there, but the best I've found have been from MANY years ago.

 

His West Side Story drum solo is amazing--was fortunate enough to see him perform it a few times:

 

Truly a good CD. Enjoy it, especially if you can find it at a good price.

A shame, too.
What did you think about 3 to the Power of 3 and Emerson, Lake and Powell?
Another "near miss" was a strange combo in ASIA's MTV simulcast back in 1984(?) when Greg Lake replaced John Wetton and fronted along with Carl Palmer, Steve Howe and Goeff Downes.
It's a pretty decent recording if you can get hold of it.
As legend has it, Lake had very little rehearsal time, so you can see him reading the lyrics from a teleprompter.

Sounds interesting...I wasn't aware of the CD. I'll search for it.
Thanks!

I was never a big Police fan, but the recordings seemed to be pretty well engineered. I'll have to drag that one out of the archives for a listen.....