Yesterday I picked up a 2005 with what the seller called the "touring package". I he called it that because it has navigation and the JBL cd/cassette sound system. It doesn't seem to have the pink/red strut stripes, so I don't know... Anyway, today I tried playing some music and noticed that there was no bass. I saw that the bass control was all the way down, and it was faded all the way to the front. When I bring the bass control up at all, there is a lot of distortion on bass notes. If I fade to the back, the bass gets better. It seems that some prev owner blew out the drivers in the front doors. So- what is a cheap source for good replacement drivers for these? Also, is there supposed to be a subwoofer in the 2005 JBL sound system? If so, where?
No subwoofer in ours. Those old JBLs can disintegrate. I've seen replacement JBL speakers available which would probably be the easiest swap job but if they're old then it's risky. I'm considering taking it to an install place and seeing what they offer. There are smaller, powered subs that PC members have installed successfully. Only way to vastly improve, update is install a new head unit, speakers, and what not. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
What you'd want to get in aftermarket replacements if you go down this route is as high of a sensitivity as possible. The front JBL speakers are weirdly 2 ohms (most everything aftermarket is 4 ohms), which means you'll get half as much power to the front speakers for the same input if you install aftermarket 4 ohm speakers. Here's the best reference on the internet about the 2nd gen Prius JBL system: Prius JBL Audio system response, specs, and photos If you might replace other parts of the stereo in the future, I would just save and replace everything at once (headunit and all speakers). There's no subwoofer in the system. Also when installing aftermarket speakers, you'll almost certainly need to make your own brackets for them. Most do it using 3/8" plywood or similar.
