2010 Toyota Prius gets a full Audison/Hertz sound system!

Our initial consultation with the owner of this vehicle was to address some very different upgrades to his hybrid vehicle, but once he heard our demo vehicle, he knew that having an incredible sound system like that would make him more than comfortable in his car.  His only two requirements were that he wanted to be able to maintain access to the spare tire while not losing very much usable space inside the cabin and he wanted it to rock!  No problem!

We used almost the same exact equipment in his car as he fell in love with in our demo vehicle.  The Audison Bit One was used to integrate the whole sound system with the factory radio so that the look of the Prius’ dash would not change one bit.  The Bit One then feeds audio signal to the Audison Voce 5.1K, a truly unique amplifier which implements 3 different and appropriately used amplifier topologies in one chassis.  The 5.1K runs the rest of the sound system in a fashion that we call Front Active, meaning that the front tweeters and the front midrange speakers each have their own channel, giving us full adjustability.  The front speakers we chose were the Audison Voce 6 1/2″ components and the subwoofer was the Hertz Hi Energy 10″ dual voice coil woofer which was mounted into a custom sealed enclosure. The DRC (controller) for the Bit One was mounted into a custom mount in the headliner to give easy access to things like Master Volume, Subwoofer Level and his 3 separate EQ settings (Jazz, Rock and Rap).

We also added a device from a company called Vaistech that allows us to add USB functionality to the factory radio.  Now this radio could already play files from a USB stick, but it could not gain access to a 320 GB HDD!  The VML from Vaistech gave us this capability and, to make updating the files easier, we rewired the factory USB port to plug into the VML so updating is done right from the drivers seat!

Thoroughly controlling the unwanted noises inside a vehicle is just as effective as adding twice the amount of amplifier power!  We accomplished this in this vehicle by adding Stinger sound deadening products to the inner and outer skins of all four doors as well as on the two front door panels to kill any kind of rattling or road noise.  We also added a product to the floor underneath the carpet called Carpet Pad, which eats up all of the airborne noises such as the sound of the engine, other vehicles, etc.

We rewired the factory USB port to connect to the Vaistech VML that we installed. Now, the customer can use this USB port to update the 320 GB HDD installed in the VML.

We decided to sink the DRC up into the headliner, rather than on it’s surface, to not block the mirror and to provide a more factory look.

The Bit One DRC, which controls several features of the Bit One, was molded into the factory overhead console.

Here is a shot of the Audison Bit One processor mounted directly underneath the factory JBL amplifier.

The Audison amplifier rotated up in “spare tire access mode”.

This thumbscrew secures the amplifier in place. Once it is removed, the amplifier can be rotated on it’s hinges.

A shot of the amplifier once the rear floor pieces are removed to gain access to the spare tire. Note how nice and clean the wiring is.

A close up of the subwoofer with the trim ring installed and the flooring in place.

The new Hertz Hi Energy subwoofer in a custom enclosure and Audison Voce 5.1K amplifier in the rear cargo area.

A look inside the factory speaker mounting hole. You can see the sound deadening applied to the inside of the door frame.

Installer Chad trimming up the sound deadening material on the rear right door.

The new Audison tweeter mounted in the factory location.

Stinger Overkill applied to the front door panels. This open cell foam helps to stop vibration between the door panel and the door frame.

The front driver’s door after deadening and speaker replacement. Note how carefully the harnesses are put back in place.

Here is the stock door before deadening and speaker replacement.