rear speakers quiet
 

Anyone else that has the base stereo have very low output on the rear speakers? I can't hear mine unless the fader is all the way to the rear, and even then they are super quiet, 80db or so at max vol.

I am going to remove the deck to see if there are any wiring problems, but short of that, I just wanted to see if it was normal. Might be a deck issue too. Hrmmm.

Thanks for any input. ;)

I noticed the same thing. There is a HUGE accoustical void/emptiness behind the front seats. I went to a stereo shop and they recommended replacement speakers with pivoting tweeters to address this. Let me know if you decide to do this. I am a bit surprised more people haven't complained about this. I noticed it right away during my test drive.

Safetyguy

You know what would be funny, if the factory wired one rear speaker up backwards, this would cause a low volume because one speaker would literally be opposite of the other speaker and cancel eachother out. Crazy but true, maybe not tho. Need new speakers....Check it out!

City-Soundz.com

didn't notice, after I got it first thing I did was fade stereo almost all the way forward. I am not really into my sounds coming from behind me.

Re: rear speakers quiet
 

Yes, I noticed exactly the same thing!

I ordered the AVIC-Z2 and will be installing it next week. If it continues to do the same thing, then I'll know it is the wiring. I'll keep you posted.

the factory rear speakers are smaller. they are 5.25 while the fronts are 6.5. you can mount 6.5's in the back, with an adapter bracket.

I don't think it's due to the size. There is such a disparity between the volume levels of the front and back that it seems like the rears have been attenuated. I played with MCGong's SNS and his was more closely matched, yet still not equal. Perhaps it's just the base radio...?

watching this topic


<---interested in knowing too

Smartass said the rear speakers are 6.25? Anyone actually have confirmation on this (more than looking through the grill)?

I confirmed with Smartass in that thread that the speakers is actually 5.25"

He said a 6.5" speaker will fit. It's very easy to see through the grill that it's a 5.25" speaker.

What I'm curious about is...is it worth it to replace the factory speakers if your not going to do a HU swap or amp install.

My brother has a silver xb2 and it has the base/stock radio. I think it sounds pretty decent stock. I am getting a white xb2 with the premium hu and I wouldn't mind doing a speaker upgrade, but honestly that's about it.

I know how I am and I can get crazy with the upgrades. ;-)

I was thinking about just getting something off crutchfield in what they consider high-end.

Think I'll see a difference, or total waste of time and money?

The other question I have is, has anyone also measured mounting depth as well. Do we have any issues there? I was looking at xbfred's thread on sound proofing the car and the one shot of his doors shows the speakers. They use a weird housing adapter to sort of bring the speakers out....

My premium is the same way. I can't even hear the back

well, I removed the factory rear door speakers and replaced them with some Audax 5.25" 2-way coax's from Madisound.
The OEM rear speakers are actually about 6", and they are integrated into the large, angled adapter plate. To fit ANY aftermarket speakers, you will need to buy or make an adapter plate for the new ones to fit into the door hole. In doing so, you could fit a 3.5" to 7" woofer there easily. (5.25" and 6.5" are most popular)

The front doors use different speakers, a bit larger, but when going aftermarket, you can use any size you want really.

Also, speaker sensitivity (loudeness per watt) has nearly no difference based on size alone. Several other T/S specs will dictate how loud a given driver is (above about 200hz).

I am still trying to find time when my wife is home to tear her deck out and troubleshoot both the wiring and the deck itself for where the problem lies. I will keep you all updated.

OK I'm not sure I'm following you Erik.
You replaced the rear speakers.
It does not sound like that fixed the level issue if you are planning to tear it apart to find where the problem lies.
Is that right?
I am definitely following this since I notice that it takes a setting of 5 (of 7) to the rear to sound decent. Seems way excessive.

nope, new rear speakers didn't help the problem. I am pretty sure its in the deck, but I am going to play with wiring and maybe open up the deck itself and see if there is anything I can do at the component level.

rear speaker output
 

You need to set-up the audio system for the xB. When it comes from the factory the system is set to tC by default. Push the SSP button in the middle till you hear a beep and th edisplay will show tC. Turn the volume control knob on the left and it will change to xB. Voila! Totally different sound! The dealer techs are supposed to do this before they sell the vehicle but they don't. I've owned 3 Scion products so far ('05 xB, '06 xA, and presently the ownwer of a new '08 SW xB) and none of them were set up correctly. By the way, this is all explained in the back of the manual for the audio system. Sometimes it pays to read them. :wink:

thanks Marty, I will go play with that right now ;) I read the manual as far as reprogramming the welcome message and that was it. I should know better, I am an electronics tech.

damn, its a no-go. It was already set to XB. I tried all three, xb, xd, tc and none fix this issue. I don't have time to tear into it untill saturday, so I will post what I find.

yeah I have the premium radio and already tried this. There is actually two ways to change this and they appear to be independent of each other.

on the premium with the radio on you can hold down ssp. With it off you can hold down menu.

What's weird is you can set them differently. xb on one tc on another etc.

Mine were both TC from the dealer. I've tried every combination possible and I cannot discern much of difference between any of the setting. The only one that seems to make much of a difference is "flat" and to me it's not for the better.

The different car settings for SSP is mainly just for EQ/time alignment. It shouldn't have anything to do with the actual "volume" output of the rear speakers.