Pretty good but not great stereo for a stock system. We are coming from a 2000 Maxima GLE which had the stock Bose system which was fantastic for a stock system...the stock subwoofer in that car IMO really helped the sound. You didn't get silly and sloppy base like the kids have with their big sub boxes but it was enough to take the pressure off the main speakers for producing the low tones. That is lacking in the TCH and at higher volumes with music that is base rich the speakers clearly struggle to keep up.

 

The "440 watt" claim is patently untrue. Don't get me wrong, the system sounds nice, but needs assistance to get it to sound more "audiophile".

I just got my car last week and after a few days of listening, feel the need to augment it with a component sub. I am considering either the:

Blaupunkt THB200A

or the



Kenwood KSC-SW1

The big question at this point is whether or not it will fit under the passenger seat next to the stock JBL amp!?

 

Curiously, I find the opposite to be true. If I try to be clear with separately spoken digits, it almost always misunderstands. If I speak more naturally, allowing the digits to run together, it never has a problem. I have the Nav unit - maybe that's the difference?

 

[QUOTE=Zekeman;134352]The "440 watt" claim is patently untrue. Don't get me wrong, the system sounds nice, but needs assistance to get it to sound more "audiophile".

In the "old days" amps were rated differently. If it said it was 100 watts it was to all channels, now if you have 4 channels and each one has 25 watts of power, it is rated at 100 watts total. The 440 watt is 'probably" true with how stereos are rated now.

I have no complaints at all with my JBL/nav stereo. Far better than the Boston Acoustics that was on my '05 300C

 

The JBL nav system is very good, with one exception. I find the treble to be lacking. I have it set to max treble and I find, for instance, a lack of cymble reproduction on tunes where drums are featured. Any help on how to get better results would be welcome...........thanx

 

Please please keep us informed - I also believe the system could use some real bass.

 

My non-nav JBL came with all the adjustments set to zero. I pressed the right hand button and set the bass, treble to max. (I think it was +5 ) The fader (front to back audio) to -2 or -3. The middle (center mid range audio) to about +2 or +3. At normal volume it sounded great just on FM. I got a stack of CD's I will give them a try in a few days. I just got the car yesterday.

I found you have to set the adjustments on both FM1 and FM2. I think the AM may also need setting but I did not look at that. When I get CD's to play I will check again for the audio settings to see if those are also on zero.

 

Both the NAV and the non-NAV versions of 2007 Camrys with JBL audio systems use the same digital signal processor/amplifier unit under the front passenger's seat, and 8 loudspeakers (2 mid/tweeters + woofers in the front, and 2 tweeters + mid/woofers in the rear). Placing the front mid/tweeters right next to the windshield not only prevents people and clothing from absorbing the treble (as occurs with door-mounted tweeters), but also prevents the windshield reflection from degrading the high-frequency response. The woofers go down to around 30 Hz, and can handle a reasonable volume before they overload at this low frequency. The system is pretty neutral in its frequency response with the tone controls set at '0'. The 8 amplifiers (one for each driver) are rated at 55 watts each (= 440 W total, but I don't know whether this is with all channels driven simultaneously). The bass tone control operates in a band around a center frequency of 50 Hz; the midrange tone control operates in a band around a center frequency of 800 Hz; and the treble tone control operates in a band around a center frequency of 14 kHz. Since their frequency ranges are largely non-overlapping, raising all three tone controls will result in a decidedly "swayback"-shaped frequency response. AM, FM, and CD allow independent tone-control settings.

Stan

 

Swayback, just like I used to run the sliders in some of the equalizers on my older cars. I like it that way not to overdrive the singing and enhance the music. Thats a great JBL radio to be included with the car. Some domestic brands of car radios are cheap and also sound that way.

 

You need to drive the Hybrid to experience what the Hybrid will feel like on the road. The 4-banger with a "regular" transmission will not feel like the Hybrid with its CVT transmission and low-end torque.