Yaris Accoustics?

[sbergman27]

I have a 2008 Yaris Sedan. Love it. But with the original Toyota CD player and radio tuner, I felt like the left channel was very weak. Most of the sound seemed to come from the front right and rear right speakers when I was sitting in the driver's seat. OK. Fine. I was wanting to replace that anyway. So I put in a Kenwood head unit. But... I still notice the same thing. Right channel seems strong. Left seems weak. But only from the driver's seat.

If I sit on the console between the driver and passenger front seat everything sounds fine.

Has anyone else noticed this weird acoustic anomaly?

-Steve

[Ranger SVO]

Yes, I did. Thats why I installed a set of tweeters to help bring the sound up. And it seems to work well

[vhicke]

Yes i have the same problem but i have found that the placement of the speaker is the problem and it is to low..........I have read a few thing on here about the placement toyota is know for this.......

[sqcomp]

Interesting. I treated the vehicle and I got a different result. Sound like aftermarket speaker time!

[talnlnky]

Originally Posted by sbergman27

I have a 2008 Yaris Sedan. Love it. But with the original Toyota CD player and radio tuner, I felt like the left channel was very weak. Most of the sound seemed to come from the front right and rear right speakers when I was sitting in the driver's seat. OK. Fine. I was wanting to replace that anyway. So I put in a Kenwood head unit. But... I still notice the same thing. Right channel seems strong. Left seems weak. But only from the driver's seat.

If I sit on the console between the driver and passenger front seat everything sounds fine.

Has anyone else noticed this weird acoustic anomaly?

-Steve

common issue with speakers mounted low in the doors. Speaker's don't always play off axis very well. if you were to measure the angles the speakers are to your ears, you'd notice that the right speaker has a much smaller angle than the one on the left (because it's closer to you). This means you'll here more frequencies from the speaker on the right, than the one on the left, which should give the illusion that the one on the left is in fact louder.

The simple fix (tho not optimal) is to adjust the balance slightly to the left.

The not so simple fix is to do your homework and find a pair of aftermarket speakers that play off axis very well... (the homework won't be so simple... only sq guys care about off axis play, and generally... they don't care because they angle their speakers)

The hard fix is to angle your speakers... not a fun job, take a bit of time, and unless your upgrading to aftermarket... too much time for too little benefit probably.

[talnlnky]

Originally Posted by vhicke

Yes i have the same problem but i have found that the placement of the speaker is the problem and it is to low..........I have read a few thing on here about the placement toyota is know for this.......

basically all car companies do this... honda, mazda, ford... etc etc. It's a convenient place to put speakers.

[sbergman27]

Thanks for the responses.

Actually, I've found that after a while my ears and brain adjust and I don't notice it, even with the balance centered. I was mainly curious if it was just me and my car, or if others had noticed.

People have mentioned the low positioning of the front speakers. Additionally, my left leg is tends to block the driver's side speaker, while my right ear has line of sight to the front right speaker. Similarly, from the driver's position, the left rear speaker is directly blocked by the head rest, while my right ear has line of sight with the right rear speaker.

I promised myself not to get mod-happy with this car, for a change. (Been there, done that. There are advantages and disadvantages.) So I'm inclined to leave well enough alone.

That said, I will note in passing that the Cadillacs of the mid-70s had an interesting "cross-fire" speaker configuration. Left and right were reversed between the front and rear speakers. So, e.g., the rear right speaker actually played the left channel, while the front right speaker played the right channel. It was supposed to provide better overall perceived balance in the decidedly sub-optimal acoustic scenario of a car with multiple people sitting in it.

-Steve

[severous01]

go cadillac....over-engineer everything.

reminds me of BMW, which i work for now. everything is overengineered

[sbergman27]

Originally Posted by severous01

go cadillac....over-engineer everything.

Actually, although they made a bit of a to do about the guy in charge of sound systems being an audio buff... the sound systems themselves were crap, like all GM sound systems of the period. Anemic head units attached to cheap speakers.

Things got somewhat better in the early 80s on the higher end cars like the Seville.

-Steve

[talnlnky]

Originally Posted by sbergman27

Thanks for the responses.

Actually, I've found that after a while my ears and brain adjust and I don't notice it, even with the balance centered. I was mainly curious if it was just me and my car, or if others had noticed.


-Steve

ah yes, the brain is wonderful... or horrible depending on how you look at it at adjusting, and then forgetting.

I generally end up playing with the balance in any car I own, will favor the right side by a click or two... really depends on how many clicks I can go obviously. There's an added benefit to playing with the balance too. Human ears perceive differences in volume from one side to the other as being a difference in path length. So, if your right ear is hearing something louder, your brain will think you are situated to the right of center. It's kinda messed up, because we are (at least in North America) sitting on the left side, but hearing more from the right side. Using the balance can help with creating a center.


I'm not a huge fan of spending thousands of dollars on car stereo (anymore) either, however, I go half crazy with quality stereo withdrawals. To be happy, I just need a crisp clean mid, a soft smooth tweeter, and a two midbass drivers. To be honest. There are a few single 6.5" component sets that I know I could run off a 100x2amp and never have strong desires for more.

you might be amazed at was $30 in wires and $150 in speakers and amplifiers can do for your sound.