Looks like you folks are on the right track (theory-wise): as I said, the bass tones were the only ones I heard "somewhat" louder when I tested... Also, my initial test was indeed done while listening to news radio (i.e. mid tones). I tried it again last night with just regular pop music and did notice quite more of a difference. All in all, still not enough of a diff'ce for my tastes but I'm not going to fret too much about it.

 

Well....I had a chance to test the ASL this weekend....Well...I am embarrassed!! I had previously reported that my ASL didn't seem to work. AHEM....DUH! You have to actually turn it on first!. After turning it on (pressing the ASL soft button on the AUDIO screen...the ASL button will "light up"), I can now report that my ASL definately works!!! As the speed increases, there are more bars in the indicator. When it reached 3 bars, I turned it off, and noticed a definate decrease in volume. Turn it back on, and the volume increases. In normal driving around town it is subtle, but it definately works.

 

An update:
Well, I have conducted an experiment that I should probably have conducted earlier. I inserted a test CD with a pink-noise track into my non-NAV CD changer, and tried switching the ASL "on" and "off" repeatedly while driving at various speeds up to ~100 km/h (~63 mph). At low speeds I could hear no change, but at the higher speeds a change is indeed audible in the level of the bass — it's not a great change, but it is there! The bass is being boosted somewhat at higher speeds. My ASL is not malfunctioning after all, although I question its design and usefulness; namely, the small amount of boost being applied, and why it's only applied in the bass. A real dynamic range compressor would indeed be useful. Prior to this experiment I had been listening to classical music CDs without prominent bass lines; that's probably why I heard nothing before.

In addition to the bass boost, there also appears to be a small overall (i.e., frequency-independent) level increase when the ASL is turned "on." It's also not very much, and easily missed. The pink-noise track revealed this effect too.

Stan

 

I was able to determine that my ASL does in fact work! For the first few months of ownership, I thought the ASL setting was a "Bass Boost" since it would VERY noticeably boost the bass volume as I switched it on (while the car was in motion). After finding out what ASL really does on this forum, I did some testing and noticed much more boost while driving at highway speeds, which makes sense. NOTE: My car is Japanese made and was shipped over seas in May 2006.

 

Mine has ASL (Kentucky) and it does work. I have turned off because I don't like the way it works. My only Pioneer deck's ASL is a lot better and it actually enhances the full spectrum of sound.

 

I notice it but since its automatic (unlike most American cars that are adjustable) it seems much more subdued.

You also have to look at the demographics of most Hybrid owners.

Most folks here a more concerned with watching the almighty consumption display then they are actually driving their THC’s the way they would a normal vehicle.

I drive my THC hard (80+ on the Freeway) and I actually like pushing it up steep inclines since I like the torque of the traction motor.

Also as others have posted, the car is very quit.

P.S. Japanese, JBL NAV.

 

AKM, at the risk of highjacking this thread -- which I don't want to do, so let's keep this side-thread's repsonse(s) brief -- what MPG are you getting driving it like that? And do you drive it "hard" in city driving as well? Just want a figure I can compare with... then again, at today's gas prices, I'm happy to remain doing what I'm doing.

 

29MPG all around and I pull two very steep hills as my normal commute.

I have never gotten over 18MPG with any vehicle I have owned.

Close to 30MPG is incredible as far as I'm concerned and I have given up very little in both comfort and performance.

I love this car.

 

Well, after numerous e-mails back and forth to one of the JBL engineers at Harman-Becker Automotive in Martinsville, IN, I can report back as to what the Camry's audio system actually does:

• The ASL is not malfunctioning, but is behaving as designed.
• The ASL applies a mild speed-dependent overall volume boost, amounting to only +3.7 dB at 100 mph.
• The ASL also applies a mild speed-dependent boost of the low bass (around 40 Hz), amounting to +3.5 dB at 100 mph.
• The audio system applies substantial "loudness control-type" bass and treble boost as the volume control's setting is reduced from full volume. This amounts to +15 dB at ~40 Hz and +8 dB at ~10 kHz at the lowest volume settings (and much less, but still very significant, boosts at more normal volume settings).

This helps explain why some of us couldn't hear the ASL working — it's volume/bass boost are insufficient to be clearly audible on a lot of musical material, but may be heard on music with heavy low bass. I agree that a well-designed ASL system should be subtle in its operation. But this sytem is so subtle as to be almost undetectable when it's switched "on" and "off." That's what provoked this thread, I think. But, that's how it was designed to work! The "loudness control" treble boost function that is built-in (but not mentioned anywhere, as far as I am aware) is based on a misunderstanding of the human audibility (Fletcher-Munson or Robinson-Dadson) curves, and should really not occur. The "loudness control" bass boost is more justifiable, but whether or not it's the psycho-acoustically correct amount of boost will depend totally on where you have set your volume control, and since this will depend on the signal level being fed into the system by the audio source that you're listening to, it's a crap shoot.

So, there you have it!

Stan

 

Thanks for the update Stan!