Granted, I came to the Prius from an Escalade ESV, so not only was it a larger vehicle (with more speakers), but had a larger set up. From a sheer sound quality perspective, it always seems as though, when on satellite, all of the sound is coming from the very front of the dash....as if there are no other speakers in the car. Not a full sound. I have checked the settings many times to make sure they werent set incorrectly, however it seems that just may be the sound quality. Also, do you find the satellite screen to be confusing? In the Escalade, it constantly showed artist and song, with icons below for presets. With the way the Prius is set up, it always reverts to the Nav screen. So, to change or browse, you must select Audio, then select station, then Text if you want to see the artist. I know it's not a big issue, just seems cumbersome to have to go 3-4 menus deep for some things. It's just more complicated to browse all the channels, so I find I just turn it off. I have found the USB quality with my ipod to be far superior to satellite quality, so I may just save that money and download.
There is a setting called "auto screen change" or somesuch which will prevent it from reverting to the map every time. I'm not at the car or I'd be able to walk you through it. As for the artist/title info, I agree. However, I typically listen to one of three stations, and each is on a separate SAT "page", so I can just flip between them using the MODE button on the steering wheel or the SAT button on the head unit.
Also for sound quality, each audio source has its own individual sound setup. From the SAT display, select the Sound button in right lower corner and adjust the speakers to your liking. You can adjust the sound setup independently for each of the AM, FM, CD, SAT, etc.
Remember, the JBL system in the Prius is a STEREO system, not a surround sound system. Your Escalade may have had a BOSE system and if it was a newer gen Escalade, then it may have been a surround system. IMHO, surround system, unless you go real high end (Mark Levinson Reference system in high-end Lexus for example), are not all that great sonically since the source (likely a CD or MP3) was recorded in stereo format. Anyway, as for the front staging, this is the CORRECT staging! When you go to a concert, do you hear any sound coming from the back? This is what i have posted in the past about this intentional muting or softening of the rear speakers: My current settings for my Prius: Treble 0 Mid +1 Bass 0 ASL ON YMMV.
