Phone Audio Terrible - 2018 Limited - JBL

I recently purcahsed a 2018 4Runner Limited with JBL audio. I have seen a few threads related to this problem but i haven't seen a definitive fix. My incoming call quality is terrible. The sound is only through the dashboard tweeters and If I turn up the volume enough to hear the call it sounds like the teacher on Charlie Brown talking. I have tried all of the volume adjustments on my phone, in the audio and bluetooth sections of the apps and nothing seems to work. The speakers are not blown as they seem to work fine for music. The issue is only with phone calls. It also appears that my software is up to date as well. Anyone else have the same problem? Has anyone solved it? Thanks for your help!

 

I've also recently bought a 2018 4Runner Limited with the JBL audio system. I had a 15-20 minute conversation in the vehicle via bluetooth the other day while driving and didn't have any problems. There does appear to be a slight lag in the audio which makes it more likely that you and the other person will start speaking at the same time after a pause. It would be ideal if the voice coming through the system was a little bit louder and deeper, but I have 65 year old ears and didn't have a problem hearing everything that was said. So it's not a universal issue with the 2018 Limited. I don't know if the audio settings make any difference, but mine are right down the middle on bass, midrange and treble, and I have the front to back set maybe 10-15% back of center so the front speakers aren't so prominent from the driver's seat.

 

I also have a 2018 Limited I picked up less than a year ago pre owned. I’ve come to find out months later my passenger side front dash tweeter is blown. You wouldn’t know until you put the radio louder than halfway which I never do but I would look into that. I’ve read it’s common issue and they ain’t cheap but what is?

 

I always have music on when I'm driving, and I've had one classical music CD where there was a bit of a clipping sound in the right front speaker in a handful of places at climaxes. But that's the only time it's happened. I've listened to several other CDs, mostly classical and jazz, and a lot of Sirius XM, mostly rock. No other issues, even when I push the volume, so I'm hoping it's just how the one CD was recorded. But it might be the early sign that the speaker will fail and have to be replaced down the road.

 

Yeah i listen to mostly news and talk radio nowadays. Put in something with drums or heavy percussion and you will know for sure right away.

 

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. It does not appear to be a speaker issue. I can isolate the front speakers with the fader and listen to music or other sources just fine. This only occurs when receiving a phone call. Once the volume is turned up to any reasonable level, it then sounds like the speaker is blown, but not the same for music or talk radio etc.

 

Had the same problem with my 2014. Replaced head unit with Sony and solved the problem.

 

I tried replacing the headunit and still have that awful sound with incoming phone calls. Any solutions out there?

 

You should be able to adjust volumes for phone calls, radio, media, etc. individually. Have you tried this? Maybe your phone call volume is turned down low. Just a thought.

 

I have a 2014 limited. I haven't seen this option with stock head unit

 

I was under the impression you swapped out stock head unit with an aftermarket unit. If not, my bad. I'm not familiar enough with the stock unit to offer recommendations as I swapped to Sony as soon as I experienced what you are experiencing. The Sony unit allows to adjust volumes separately for each input.

 

Sorry. To clarify I did have a Sony head unit and had the ability to adjust volumes but could not get the echo to go away. I'm back to the stick head unit.

 

I have a 2018 4Runner Limited with JBL speakers and have the same issue. This is the only information from Toyota that I could find that was semi-helpful. I have not worked through the process of switching the equipment out yet so I cannot say for sure if this will resolve the problem.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10169412-9999.pdf

 

I ended up replacing front tweeters with OEM. Much better. Head unit is still horrible

 

I have the same issue, but was able to get around it by plugging my phone into the 3.5mm aux port and running audio through that instead of bluetooth. Now the calls sound fine. It must be some sort of issue with how the car processes phone call audio specifically.

 

What phone?