JBL Audio system is very hard to work with!!

So, I tried to upgrade my JBL system a little bit, like I did in my last SR5, but replacing the dash speakers with the good infinity reference 3.5” speakers. It sounded like I covered my front soundstage with a mattress!! (Saying it sounded like I covered it with a blanket is a massive understatement!!)

I was extremely disappointed in what I heard! It was sooo quiet and thin sounding that I had to put the stock JBL speakers back in the dash and that just opened everything up again! The volume and dynamics were back. I also noticed that as soon as I put the grille back on the dash, the speakers bloomed even more! This makes me think they actually put some time into the creation of this system…

So, now I have to figure out something else… I am not happy with the clarity of the JBL system, but just adding aftermarket speakers isn’t going to help like it would in previous set ups.

Do any of you have any advice on how to possibly upgrade without tearing up the vehicle? What I want is for everything to still LOOK like it’s stock, but to sound significantly better while retaining everything we have connected through our factory head unit.

Definitely open to suggestions on how to “stealthily” improve the JBL system.

Thanks in advance!

 

Does JBL tweeters and infinity reference 3.5” speakers have the same resistance? If the reference 3.5” speakers have bigger resistance the volume would be low right?

(pic from internet what I was asking)

 

The factory speakers are 2ohms and the infinity speakers are 3ohm. Not a huge difference on paper, but the difference in application was astounding!!!

 

Ohms paly a big part in stereo systems. JBL looks good on paper, just not easy to upgrade, unless you deinstall everything and start from scratch.

 

Any factory amplified system ends up being a pain to upgrade due to proprietary components. Higher or lower than 4 ohm resistance is the norm with factory amplified systems making aftermarket upgrades very difficult and/ or costly. I have always felt it easiest to rip out the whole thing and do it all from scratch.

 

The JBL amp is underpowered imho. If you're going to keep the stock JBL headunit and amp, I'd recommend daisychaining a second amp on the output of the JBL amp...especially for the rear speakers. You can get a wiring adapter from AutoHarnessHouse.com to connect between the output of the JBL amp and the speakers and then you can do the amplification with a strong, high quality amp.

 

My Friend , JBL system in general provides very odd sound , like surround , i honestly does not like JBL tuned speakers or system .
apart of that , Toyota add one of cheapest speakers in the vehicles even JBL , the bran JBL they use that , they use there tuning algorithms .
also the vendor made stereo system is worse , they normally use Pioneer stero system but the vendor they use its the worse .
all you have to do first to change front dash tweeters and see if any sound improvement , i am sure you will like it .
then go here and there ...