is it just me or is the sound god awfull? mind you Im not used to having incredible sound system. My old car was a 97' jetta with a couple hndred dollar Pioneer cd and nothing else and it sounded 10x better. I tried changing the car type setting to Xa, it just makes it louder and hear horrible cracking bass. Any suggestions? I guess this is how they save$$$ but man its bad. Btw Ive had my FM Tc for a week and I love everything else,(handling not so hot but good enuff for old dude like me).

 

Can you be more specific? What kind of music are you listen to? How loud did you push the volum up to?

The sound quality is all about the speakers, it doesn't really matter what kind of CD players you use (unless you use the really crappy ones)

I haven't played my tC stereo much yet, since i am still getting used to the engine sound for shifting. But I have to say the stock speakers are at least 50% better than those in stock Toyotas

 

are u talking about the stock sub?

 

i think the tC stock system is decent. i mean, it's stock, so you won't get shattering bass, but it does have some decent highs and good mids.
maybe you should check your setting on the headunit, i find i get the best response when i have the cd player set on Xa feel mode. it sounds way better than the tC mode does

 

If you have subs and you add a nice head unit with highs, mids, and lows, and crossover controls it will do wonders for your sound. You're right that obviously the speakers are a big factor but I've always noticed a big difference in quality from the cd player that I use.

 

i think that you need to turn the bass down to -1 and it might clear up the sound.. some of that equalization that SSP does really overloads the speakers sometimes.. also.. go to your dealer and try another tC.. if it doesn't sound so bad, you might have a bad radio or bad speakers..

 

I also think the sound system is bad. In order to hear anything on the highway I have to turn the volume control up to almost 30 to even hear it. For the amount I paid for the 6 disc changer and sub I could of had a local shop drop in a killer system.

 

The stock system is BETTER than the average system. From the 5 cars I have had in the past, this stock system (with setting on xA) is pretty good. My only complaint is the volume should have been a **** or the up/down should have been less numbered; meaning to really turn it up to only have to go from 4 to 7; not 10 to 40. Plus it plays MP3. Lotta bang for the buck with this car.

I can't believe anybody thought they would get a $3000 sound system with a car under $17,000. Cmon people.....

Kevin

 

The stock system sounds damn good, I'm impressed with it. Wanna know something funny? I picked up my car at the dealer and the sales guy was dialing in a radio station so I could hear the sounds of it, and I thought to myself, WTF?? This cant be the sound, its HORRIBLE! well come to find out, before he told be about the sound proccessing, it was on Neutral, so that made a gigantic difference in sound compared to the Feel setting, lol.

 

Set the setting from Tc to XB and the sound will be much louder with more bass.

 

I think the stock system is awesome. Though this is coming of of my parents 00/01 Accords and my sisters 98 Civic. I just set it to xA/Hear/Bass=5. Feel mode has too much bass so that I can't turn up the volume without getting distortion but Hear mode is just right.

 

I love thre sound system. Try xA setting with SSP set to feel. Thats all I got

 

yes the stock system sucks REALLY SUCKS but the best and cheapest way to get an improvement is to add an amp 40-80rms and you'll get better sound since you already paid for the disc changer i would have suggested changing your head unit but its too late... after the amp then u can change the stockers but give the amp a try

 

what is Xa and Xb setting? is this for the CDs? I only know about the ssp setting

 

you hold the ssp button down for a few seconds, then you use the volume buttons to change from tc sound to xa, or xb.

i personally think this is one of the best stock sound systems i've heard

 

I agree - this is a great stock system...I am not an audiophile though.

 

for stock its alright i guess.

but its something im not used to so i quickly threw away the player and speakers.

if you had sounds on before the tC (like me) then u'll be like me saying "WTF is this junk" but i guess its good for stock though.

 

well changing the sound system from type tc to type xa makes it sound a lot better

 

I notice after adding an amp and changing my headunit, bringing my speakers up past about 17 causes my back ones to crackle. This happened all the time with the stock unit. I added a sub as well and it seems to take the crackling away. Changing the headunit and an amp really does help. I suggest replacing the rear speakers though, I think it will really make a difference

 

For a 16k car the stock system is amazing. just play with the settings... or you can do what I did...


Buy a JL 500/5 Amp ($850). Buy a JL 10W3, and run it at 4ohms. Buy speaker level to RCA line converters. Tweeter sells high-q ones for $40. CUT the stock wires off that comes out of the harness from the radio and wire the speaker outs directly to the line converter. Run 2 sets of RCAs to the JL amp (which fits snugly in the storage compartment in the trunk). Then run new wire to all the speakers in the car. And premium wire to the 10W3 (installed with custom box). Set the amp accordingly. Adjust the front crossovers to 100hz or so, and the back to about 110-120hz with -24dB cuts. Then the sub to about 80 with -12dB cuts. The bass transition is flawless and the speakers will make me def. I still haven't been able to hit up near 50 at all, and there is ZERO distortion. The only thing I'd ever change is the deck to a flush mount screen.

The sound quality is perfect, and the stock speakers hold up surprisingly well. I'll try to shoot a WMA on it tomorrow and load it. I know you can't really get the idea, but with the amount of volume outside of the car, it will catch your attention haha...