2020 PRO JBL AUDIO & PHONE SUCKS!!

I just traded in my 2019 Pro for a 2020 Pro last night and audio is horrible in my 2020. Honestly the 2019 sound was better than the JBL upgrade in the 2020. Phone calls I can barely hear the person I'm talking to and everyone says it sounds like i'm in a plane taking off and can barely hear me. Overall this sound system absolutely sucks!! Anyone having these issues? I heard there might be an update for this? Thoughts guys!?

 

I find mine quite good actually. I have a 2020 platinum and with some tweaking sounded decent

 

Totally agree. It's the single most disappointing thing about the Tundra. :-(

 

At least Toyota is good at being consistently bad at something. There audio in the tundra. I lived with my stock JBL junk for 5 years till I paid her off.

 

I just picked up a Pro last week and I agree. I haven't tried the phone yet. Smh..

 

The reason I am here reading this is.... I just bought a 2021 Tundra TRD Pro and I thought something was wrong with the sound system it sucked so bad. My JBL in my Tacoma Pro 2018 is great! What gives?

 

Jbl in my 2015 Avalon kicks ass somewhat....Tundra sucked...however that was remedied a few weeks ago by James at tech12volts

 

AGREED.

I have 2020 TRD PRO and started a nationwide road trip about 6 weeks ago. The sound is AWEFUL. It’s airy, bass is absent, treble is all and the sound is high (top heavy) in the cab, meaning I don’t hear or feel it all around me.

I went to A sound store and they gave me about a $6000 estimate to approve it! I went to Best Buy and they said there is a stream of complaints on the wiring of the 2020s. And to take it to the manufacture. I’ve not done this yet...

I have my first maintenance, 5200 miles on it, tomorrow. I’ll bring it up while I’m there and hopefully post again if I find anything out from Toyota.

I did Get my power RETRAX pro Xr installed two days ago

 

James and he who is not to be named here have some reasonable upgrades to make it MUCH better. You don’t have to spend a ton to improve it. I kept the head unit, switched all speakers, added and amp and a pancake sub and it sounds Really good comparatively. $6k is a nonstarter for me - there are dozens of other mods to do the that kind of coin

 

Totally thought that 6k was ridiculous. I was hoping to find some alternate solutions. Wished it was better from the factory, but I love to drive so will do what it takes for it to be audio-friendly to my ears

 

I was in a similar situation after some estimates and can understand because of the labor involved. I just bit the bullet and did a 12 volts myself. It took more hours than I expected, but there is some pride of having done it. Yeah, they need to get the Lexus Mark Levinson crew in there to rework their so called premium offers for sure.

 

Must agree that the JBL is incredibly disappointing. I don't want to change the head unit or install anything that takes up a lot of room, but I suspect I'll end up needing an amp and better speakers all around. Not sure about a woofer. Where would it even go? Interested in seeing what you guys have done.

 

Depending on your cab configuration, under or behind the rear seat. Bass is mostly omnidirectional so it doesn't care too much

 

Strange, I think my stereo is f'n awesome. On my "window sticker"(yes I always keep them ) it says "Audio Plus - 8" touch screen. I use Carplay and when someone would call me it actually scares the shit outta me cause it's so loud. Clear as can be as well. I don't know specifically what stereo it is though, is there a way to find out?

 

It would say JBL on the door speakers if it was a JBL. And if it is you are one of few that like it. Congrats

 

Mine doesn't say JBL on any of the speakers. I didn't take them apart to see if there was JBL somewhere on the speakers but the cover is just black. It does say "gracenote" on the faceplate, do the JBL units say that as well?

 

Yeah it would say that on the head unit. So my guess yours is not a JBL. Which is probably why it sounds good.

 

I've found the same issue with my 2020 TRD Pro and phone calls via Bluetooth. That said, if I connect my phone via USB and use phone through Apple CarPlay, it works 10 times better and I can actually hear people. It is super annoying. At first I thought I had something set wrong so it is good to hear I'm not the only one having the issue but good news is there is a workaround, at least in my case. I currently have a iPhone 11 and will be upgrading to iphone 12. I'm hoping it was just related to particular phones or models. If anything changes, I'll be sure to update the thread.

 

I maxed out treble and bass on all sources. Sounds much better

 

I'm pretty happy with the sound on my 2020 1794. The only complaint I have with the system is that when using a connected phone, because the microphone is right above and in front of the driver's seat, it does not do a good job picking up the voice from the passenger side particularly well.

 

Jumpin Geebus Ona Pogo Stick.................. How could this JBL shit system get worse? $50-60K for a new truck and they still keep putting in sound systems that were designed at 4:59 pm on a Friday afternoon .

 

Just got a 2021 Platinum with JBL. It’s laughable that they consider this premium sound. The stock stereos that came in both my 2011 and 2017 SR5’s were light years better. I did upgrade the stereo in the 2107, but even before then it was tolerable. It’s not in this one. In my opinion, if you can run a stereo at full blast without it damaging your ears or the speakers, it’s a piece of shit.

I’ve about given up on listening to music, and have been sticking to podcasts.

 

What app are you guys using to play music? I used to use Spotify with sound quality set to automatic. Sounded like hollow garbage. I played the same songs on Apple Music and the stock JBL system sounded significantly better.

My understanding is that Apple Music plays at 256 kbit/s. Spotify plays at 160 kbit/s when set to high quality, but can do 320 kbit/s when set to very high quality. 320 kbit/s is likely to use quite a bit of data, so I may switch to Apple Music for 256 kbit/s. I’m not sure the bit rate is the only factor here, but it may be part of it.

Anyone else willing to compare the two and let me know if they saw an improvement?

 

I use Apple Music and set the eq to “flat”. I think it sounds the best, but still not premium. I’ll be upgrading my system.

 

My 2018 Platinum, of course, came with the JBL system. Coming from my 4Runner with a monster sound system that I installed myself, the Tundra system was a ridiculous disappointment. I spent so much on the truck and lift, that a replacement system had to wait an entire year. YIKES! But, it was worth it. I gutted the whole damned thing. New Kenwood Excelon H/U, 7.0 Excelon components in all 4 doors, two Kenwood 10's in a Tech12Volts box, two Infinity amps (4chan and mono) in an amp rack under the rear seats, iDatalink Maestro and completely 100% oxygen free copper wiring throughout. Now, I cannot express the satisfaction I have when I hit that volume up button. Total for all components, supplies and matting was about $2,300.00 and I did the entire install. Of course, I took my time (about 6 days). Wouldn't do it any other way.

 

I have had my 2021, 1794, for about a week now. Had the same issue with the phone. One thing I did that helped....one day when calling, I maxed out the volume on the phone and it helped a huge amount in being able to hear the other person. I have an Apple XR

 

Now here's something I did not expect. When I put on my polarized Costa's the screen looks like a rainbow full of stripes and I can barely see it. Is anyone else having this problem??

 

Yeh, in many vehicles. Infotainment screens don’t play well with polarized sunglasses.

 

Just picked up mine last night. I too found tweaking helps and it sounds decent. Played a bit of XM/Sirius, then through an array on USB including A Perfect Circle's The Package and it wasn't the train wreak I've read about on here waiting for my truck to arrive.

Vehicle prior has a Bose system and with the little exposure I've had with the JBL audio, I'd say it's similar. Granted my old setup with Dynamat'd panels and a high-end 4v preout Alpine HU tuned using two amps; one feeding 4x to Excelons in the panels, another feeding two 10" MTX subs in a custom enclosure. Double bass drum... Mmm.

Granted I'm a bit older now. Perhaps all those years with guitar amps and drums had an effect with deadening the ears.

 

My wife's JBL premium audio in her Highlander Limited the audio in my 2019 Tundra Crewmax Limited are both awful. A huge disappointment for sure. I've changed the head unit but still needs new speakers and likely a new amp.