I recently bought a 2004 Prius and so far, love it. It has the standard stereo system with cd player, which in my opinion sounds great- but... I play music from my phone quite often, and using an fm transmitter just doesn't cut it. I used to use a cassette adapter in previous vehicles, but my Prius doesn't have a cassette player. Nor does it have and aux input. I'd like to upgrade to the Jbl sound system (if po$$ible) and from what I understand, that would give me the aux. input I'm looking for, along with better sound. Am I totally out of line for thinking it's even possible? Any other options that I may have that would still allow the steering wheel controls to function? Not looking to spend an arm and a leg, but want it to work properly... All opinions welcome and appreciated!
actually, you are lucky that you don't have the JBL system; its not very good. and trying to retrofit JBL is a major pita, even if you have an electrical engineering degree. get a brand new aftermarket touch screen head unit and some high quality replacement door speakers and you'll have a great sounding state of the art system that's way better than the JBL. you will need a wiring adapter harness with a 68ohm resistor in it, a Metra Axxess interface for your steering wheel buttons to function correctly, and a bezel kit. and someone who knows how to work a screw driver and a soldering iron.
I actually think the stock system (basic Toyota cd/am/fm with 6 speakers) sounds great... Many times better than the one in my previous dodge caravan! The stereo system in that car was flat awful.. The rear door speakers would rattle and distort at any volume louder than a normal conversation! My only issue with the prius' sound system is that I have no way music from my phone, and that's very annoying. Doubt I'd upgrade speakers. I don't like big loud thumping bass, and I don't run it at max volume, usually somewhere between 15 and 40. How involved and expensive would it be to replace the stereo itself? I would imagine I could get my Dad to do anything that might require soldering, and I could probably do the rest. All I'm really looking for is am/fm/cd and aux input, possibly bluetooth but not a major requirement. Doesn't really even have to be a touch screen.
its not too difficult to replace the head unit, mostly, the dash just unclips. you will need a Phillips screw driver, a 10mm nut driver, some plastic prying tools, and you can have the head unit out in about 15 minutes. there are several videos showing how to disassemble the dash on this site and youtube.
Yeah the base system in my '06 sounds pretty decent but it does come with an aux. input in the center armrest; however, I don't like plugging in every time. So, I'm considering adding this: Select Toyota Scion Lexus 02-12 Bluetooth Hands Free Car Adapter Kit which will give you bluetooth in via the CD port in the back of the headunit. The steering wheel controls would still work and control the phone or ipod, receive calls, etc.
