Dealer left me a message today, saying they ordered me a new head unit. No explanaition, but the unit is on order. I'll ask what happened when I go in to get it replaced.

VVTinme, glad to hear the new HU is working properly!

 

Turn your music all the way up to the max and see if your unit cut off.

 

I'd rather not do that.

 

Got the new Head Unit today and it works like a champ. Sound is clean and clear and even decided to turn the bass down a bit.

Dealer said there is a different part number on the new unit, but I haven't taken it apart to verify.

 

so what do i ask for when i call the dealer?

 

Just tell them your passenger side woofer doesn't work properly in tC mode and that you've read it's because of the Alpine HU. My dealer had to call Southeast Toyota, who called Alpine to confirm. Took a couple days for them to verify everything, but they ordered/swapped it no problem.

If you'll wait 'til tonight, I'm going to pull the HU to reinstall the video cable (pulled before taking the car in, just in case...) and I'll get you the new part number.

Have I mentioned how much better the sound quality is in tC mode when the speakers work like they should???

Good luck

 

Glad it's working now

I still don't think there was a part number change... If there was, it was sneaky, 'cuz I haven't heard about it!!

 

Or it could just be another case of a phantom engine cover.

 

They added a designator at the end of the original part number.

OLD HEAD UNIT


NEW HEAD UNIT


So... I think Consumer USA coming to the aid of Scion Canada warrants something... Say a TRD part of your choice?

 

I took mine in Tuesday for my 5k service. Tech tried to talk me into believing it was supposed to be that way. He did not even know how to operate the H.U.!! lol Anyways after turning it up and fading left /right on the front channels, he heard the difference. Still waiting for a call-back, they have to talk to corporate or something. They have not heard of the issue..
Thanks for the update MightyP, much appreciated.

 

I'm really not sure if I have the passenger speaker problem. I swear that I've heard the passengers side sounding crappy before, but now I turn it all the way up to 30 when the car is sitting and I don't notice any problems with the bass on the pass side. In fact, when I fade left, I notice basically no bass coming from the drivers side and when I fade right, the passengers side has crazy bass that sounds clear and crisp. All done in TC mode of course.

 

^ Then you don't have the issue. It's very obvious when you turn up the bass and fade it right and left.

 

So this issue doesn't affect every single owner with the Alpine headunit... I was under the impression that it did. I swear I've heard the passenger side sounding not too good, but haven't really been able to replicate it. So just to confirm--I read that Alpine intended for the passengers side to act more like a subwoofer while the drivers side is not supposed to?

 

^ the way i checked was, just turn the volume up to like 30~40 max out bass, u will feel the difference

 

No, no... One side should not be stronger than the other. Both sides should perform equally. The issue I had, as did many others, was that the passengerside woofer wasn't playing low tones in tC mode. In all other modes, it played just like the driver side.

 

Colin - have any idea why in the heck Alpine can't fix this with a firmware upgrade from a CD or the USB port? EVERY current aftermarket Alpine head unit I've seen online or in stores can have its firmware updated either with a CD or through the USB port. Doesn't make sense to me that the freakin' unit has to be removed and replaced - but possibly it was a case of Toyota wanting to save $2/unit and specifying that this feature be omitted from these head units. Just a guess.

 

what the... seems like I have the opposite issue. Driver's side is weak on bass compared to the passengers side!

 

Well, it's fairly easy to check. Taking out the head unit only takes a couple min. Pop off a couple panels and unscrew the head unit (10mm socket I believe). They added the "-TB" to the part number on the new units. If your HU doesn't have that, it's a pretty safe bet it's got the bad software. Maybe it manifests in different ways. All I know for sure is the sound is 10x better now that the software is fixed.

 

I just bought my tc april 27th, and I thought that the stereo sounded weird. Thanks for making this known, if I wouldnt have found this thread I would have thought that it was normal.

Jerm

 

Can't wait til I get some time to take my car in for it's 5000 mile check up