i have an 08 xb with the basic stereo and my front speakers seem to be producing most of the sound. even while sitting in the back seat with the fade balanced evenly the fronts still overpower the rear. if i fade it all too the back, it seems like it has no power to it and i have to crank it to hear it an it still dont have any punch to it.

i took it to the dealership and of course they said what i thought they would say "the stereo is functoning as it was designed to function."

so im asking you all does your stereo function like this?

 

Yup..the rears sound like garbage

 

never noticed but they do suck

 

I think this was agreed upon in another thread. I would add that I think the radio is extremely weak even from the front speakers. The manual says the maximum volume level is 64. I'm no audiophile whatsoever, but I have to raise it to the mid to high 30's just to hear the music at a comfortable level. Agreed?

 

Maytag, Check your SSP settings. Yours has to be on Neutral. Neutral is designed to be able to talk over the music so you would have to crank it up very loud to hear it well in that mode. In my Xb vol at 30 would likely blow all the speakers. Usually the sound is strong around 18-20. Put it on Hear or Feel and you will notice a huge change.

 

I'll try. Thanks for the info.

 

I have the premium stereo and got my settings right. It's ok but being my last car had a system in it, this sounds like garbage. Just wondering if anyone has upgraded just the speakers and if that made a big difference?

 

The default setting for the stereo is for the Tc. You have to change it to XB initially and every time you disconnect the battery. To do so, press and hold the SSP button until the car type is displayed and then change it to XB. I also have my SSP set to 'feel' which IMO sounds much better than neutral or hear.

Personally I prefer having my soundstage in front with lower volume fill coming from behind me. Some prefer to be surrounded by equal sound levels. I'm planning on replacing my speakers and adding a sub. IMO the factory stereo sounds pretty good but will sound much better with just the addition of better speakers. As with any low powered system it's important to choose high efficiency speakers. Preferably ones with a SPL rating of at least 90dba at 1W/1M. The higher the better and power handling means nothing unless you're driving them with a lot of power.The easiest way to kill speakers is with distortion which is what you'll get if you install low efficiency speakers with a low-powered HU and then turn up the volume to compensate.

 

Yup, ots your ssp settings, I have a tC, and I have it on xA settings its the best lol, hear is forward speakers, feel, is back (blasting)

 

I've found that the XD settings gives a fuller sound

 

it might be due to the size

 

i have my SSP on feel and with the volume at 40, its a great driving volume. also one thing some people do not know. if you hold down the SSP button, there are settings for each of the cars. make sure yours is xB.

 

I tried all three settings in my car and the xA setting is the best.

 

oops...my bad. thought you were an xB. (a little oblivious at times) what i should have said is that you should make sure its on the car that you have.

 

i noticed this 'problem' as well, personally, i dont care, i think it sounds GREAT from the drivers seat. my rear passengers complain a bit, but ive sat back there and it sounds good. i think the issue is that the 'rear' speakers are actually just the ones in the door behind the front seats, theres nothing in the back to give the people in the rear seat a full surround sound.

 

If I get a good feel setting toward the rear, I loose all the highs from the tweeters. Yes, it is very sucky if you want that surround feel. You won't get it without serious upgrading.

Someone remind me on how to change to the differnt car optimizations, please.

 

I believe it is press and hold down the SSP button till it beeps and shows the car names.

 

I have the NAVI system, so the settings are probably a bit different, but when I first picked it up, I was having similar sound issues. After changing the DSP (SSP) to "Feel" and "xB", it made it even worse. It moved the focus all to the front speakers. I had to go back and change the "Focus" setting to a more neutral front to rear pattern in order to get a full sound from the back speakers. I also changed the EQ to my own settings. Sounds 100% better now.

 

All of the different SSP modes sound bad and fake to me. They're playing with audio phase at certain frequencies, which causes it to sound hollow and image forward and to the right in my car. These kind of audio tricks bug me but I guess I'm extra sensitive to these things since I'm an audio engineer.

The best sound I've achieved so far is to set SSP to OFF, or FLAT. Then boost the bass and treble manually to +2 or +3 each, depending on the source. You can also push the fader towards the rear speakers without screwing up the sound the way the SSP does when adjusting front / back balance.

I'm glad I bought the Premium radio so I can fix this by upgrading speakers and adding amps. The stock stereo is OK with SSP off, especially for an inexpensive car with many standard features. Overall I like the radio's functionality except that it takes forever to scroll through all my artists on my 60gig ipod!

 

Only way way to solve that. Playlists compadre, playlists!