Scion xB Premium Audio - One of the Worst

[ack154]

http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/aud...8/article.html Originally Posted by Edmunds The price for the Scion xB's Alpine premium audio system is the lowest among most of these options by a long shot (except for the Dynaudio system in the VW Golf TDI, a vehicle that costs over $12,000 more). The option consists of an upgraded Alpine head unit and six speakers: a full-range unit in each of the four doors and a tweeter in each front door. The Alpine head unit adds features and looks great, but a system's sound quality is largely determined by the speakers. And in this case, they aren't very good. The bass was anemic and had an unmusical, thumpy quality. Vocals were clean, but the high frequencies were crunchy. That, combined with the weak bass, resulted in cold, thin sound. I really don't like their comparison though - for the fact that most of the others tested (with the exception of the GTI) are in $1000+ packages... including the $4500 Mini Camden package. WTF? That's not an audio upgrade option - that's practically a whole different car.

[Sciond]

I have the Golf system in my jetta tdi and umm it sux...but even so the XB one which I listened to a lot before I bought the jetta because I was close to buying and XB and it is really horrible IMO

[Phobboi]

So to sum up the article a $450 upgrade will not sound like a $4500 upgrade. Very insightful.

[One-Nut_McGee]

I wonder if they changed the settings at all. The SSP and even the "equalizer" settings can make a huge difference in the output.

[chadillac3]

Actually, the stock Pio xB system is honestly one of the better stock I've heard, but I'm speaking from a tonal balance, not your typical ground pounding perspective.

With the SSP to Hear or Feel, the center image up front is pretty damn good. Tonally, it's a hair bright and the drivers are nowhere close to my normal level, however, the DSP they put into the HU is damn good...time alignment, EQ. Pretty impressive.

The Alpine upgrade is simply a much prettier HU with a touchscreen, not a true audio upgrade.

In my Jetta I had the JBL MS-8 processor (the $800 one that autotunes) and the tune win the xB is not all that far from it. I was shocked when I first turned on my xB's stereo and realized it centered that well.

[sciontc_mich]

Originally Posted by ack154

http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/aud...8/article.html



I really don't like their comparison though - for the fact that most of the others tested (with the exception of the GTI) are in $1000+ packages... including the $4500 Mini Camden package. WTF? That's not an audio upgrade option - that's practically a whole different car.

I do agree with you ack that the comparison is way way off. But if you look at the specs of the alpine radio, the cd player section is only 65db for the s/n ratio! um. that's about what cassette tapes were back in the day. CD's should be at LEAST 90db in s/n ratios.

For those who don't know. Signal to noise ratios is the separation of the music (signal) to where the noise level is. The greater the separation the quieter and more dynamic it is. There is dynamic range which isn't listed in the specs. but I can just imagine they were too embarrassed to publish it.

yikes.. a s/n ratio of 65db on a CD? ouch!

not to mention the channel separation was ONLY 60db! Any modern CD player is more like 80-90db for that. Channel separation is what we call "stereo". the greater the separation the greater the soundstage you hear.

so with that said, I can see why they weren't impressed with the output of that headunit. A $99 kenwood from crutchfield.com is a better performer than that.

The original headunit back in 05-07 had better specs than the alpine. Guess alpine will build it if they pay, but they shouldn't have allowed such a low spec to have the Alpine name on it.

[ZOMGXB]

I realize this is for the Gen2, but I was startled at how not-outstanding the "premium" option on the Gen 1's sounded.

I waffled for a long time on aftermarket speakers, wondering if they really WERE any better, but after two replacement 4" dash speakers actually drowned out ALL of the door speakers, I somewhat reluctantly concluded that the OEM speakers were absolutely terrible.

I still have a stock headunit, but for me changing just 2 of the 6 speakers was an absolutely gigantic improvement. Based on that experience, I can't say I'm even remotely surprised.

[annvin]

Originally Posted by ack154

That's not an audio upgrade option - that's practically a whole different car.

yes, you are right. a whole different car.

[tanakasan]

Wow, if you spent from $449 to $4500 on a DIY aftermarket system, it would blow the doors off any of the factory premium ones listed.

I think I have under 2K into mine and it kicks a$$!

And for the record, the step up system in a Sequoia tops my list of worst factory stereo...EVER. Paid extra for it and what a waste of $$.

Robert

[Irish B]

I completely disagree. A systems performance is largely determined by the head unit NOT the speakers

[Roller_Toaster]

I wonder if the ipod connection has just as bad of a s/n ratio as the cd player....?

[beachdad]

Originally Posted by ZOMGXB

I realize this is for the Gen2, but I was startled at how not-outstanding the "premium" option on the Gen 1's sounded.

I waffled for a long time on aftermarket speakers, wondering if they really WERE any better, but after two replacement 4" dash speakers actually drowned out ALL of the door speakers, I somewhat reluctantly concluded that the OEM speakers were absolutely terrible.

I still have a stock headunit, but for me changing just 2 of the 6 speakers was an absolutely gigantic improvement. Based on that experience, I can't say I'm even remotely surprised.

I may have to try that. Especially at low volume, my Gen 1 sound is awful. The stock unit in my wife's Civic blows it away. How tough were they to swap out?

[Forklift]

Do you know what we could do for $1200 in the aftermarket? Im saying your going to the world championships or anything, but it would be awesome to say the least

[ZOMGXB]

Originally Posted by beachdad

I may have to try that. Especially at low volume, my Gen 1 sound is awful. The stock unit in my wife's Civic blows it away. How tough were they to swap out?

http://scionlife.com/forums/showthre...16#post3531616

Soooooooooooooooo easy. I know nothing about speakers. Or wiring. But with my electrical engineer older brother, four wire nuts, and an evening, I did it. It's outstanding.

My goal was to craft a sound system that sounded good at 80 MPH with the windows down...and between the Pios and the Bazooka sub, it sounds outstanding at all volumes.

You should try it! The Pios were under $50

[RICANTC]

My xD came with the Alpine and I am about ready to rip that P.O.S. right out of the dash!

[wadles143]

Rockin' a Kenwood DNX 9980 HD and loving it! Kenwood Image speakers in the doors, stock tweeters, and Scion Dealer installed 8" bazooka box in the back. The DSP in the deck is amazing! Sound image is right between the two front seats. Balance is perfect for all types of music I've used, just one missing bit. The sub doesnt reach all the lower frequencies and is underpowered for the lowest ones that it does handle. Cant upgrade the sub though cause I have kids in the car all the time. Had to give some. ;-) Aloha!

[kingofthecrate]

I didn't own my XB2 for 2 days and the first thing I did was change the components and head unit with the following

Pioneer BT 3300 in dash dvd player - $400
JL audio 6.5 cl250 front components $200
JL audio CR 650x rear 6.5 doors - $120
and a JL audio JL Audio J2 320.4 - $200

and paid 250 to get it all installed and yeah its not the quietest JL amp in the world but it gave me a hell of a lot cleaner of a system than the harsh ear bleeding tweeters that were in there factory and all of these components fit without cutting anything


I will note that the tweeters are still somewhat fatiguing on the ears but it also depends on what music I am listening to. future mods will come with this system as I get bored and am online but its a start. Next mod is a mono amp pushing that stealthaudio JL bow with a 12... then I will be happy

[Roller_Toaster]

The stock stereo has plenty of bass for me, and I LOVE how great the tweeters are. I just played around with the stereo settings and had another xb2 owner (with a sub) ask me what I installed to make it sound so good!

(Of course, my last car was a late 90's vert that had two tweeters and a mid)

[nicepeta]

Ya the stock stereo is not that bad...

[toyotaisme]

That's an old radio. the new one is really nice and looks like this.