2016 Kakadu - Disappointed with the Stereo- anyone upgraded the speakers

[Prokiwi1 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Prokiwi1]

Hi All,

I have just this weekend picked up a new 2016 Kakadu. Both my wife and I are very disappointed with the stereo system . It seems to have no depth to it and no matter how we adjust the minimal adjustments we cannot get a decent sound out of it. The sound seems to only come from the dash mounted speakers , door speakers are virtually useless and there is little difference when you try and balance the system.

We can have it cranked up to max volume and can still talk over it....

Even my base model single cab Bt 50 Ute has a better sounding system.

Very disappointed for an $80k car.

Anyone else think the same....

Is there any good upgrade options for speakers or Amp in Brisbane / Gold Coast

[Guest Close Guest]

Sounds more like yours has an issue.

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

Have you been in to the setup screen to adjust it? It may have been set to forward speakers only. Mine is a 2009 model but I've never had any issues with it, in fact I have cranked the bass down as it was so strong when I first got it.

[iDestiny Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close iDestiny]

Mine is the latest model kakadu as well.

I have found that depth is a little low on digital radio.

FM was better.

Running off bluetooth was dependant on the quality of my music rips. MP3 directly from CDs were good, MP3s from other online sources or youtube were variable

CDs alone were also good.

I would say the system is a lot sensitive to the quality of the music input.

I had the same impression you had upfront until i started fiddling with input sources.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

I've read all the new ones are crap even in gxl's. Especially the blue tooth. The person making the call to the Prado all they hear is heaps of feedback. I rang my mate in his new 2.8 GXL and was shocking trying to talk to him. All I could hear was myself coming back at me through my phone. I ended up hanging up.

[OzDriver Member Find all posts View Profile Close OzDriver]

I am happy with the overall sound on my 9 speaker 2016 GXL. I tend to listen mostly to high quality MP3s using a USB stick. Could be better (of course) but is a lot better than the standard sound system in a BMW 640 Grand Coupe I recently hired (and that is a $180k car).
I set mine to use DSP surround sound and a bit of bass taken off and slight treble lift.

[Puddock Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Puddock]

I have owned a base model single cab Bt 50 Ute and if you think your Prado stereo sounds worse than that there is something seriously wrong with it.

[hergy Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close hergy]

Mines great, i have a 2015 2.8 Kakadu

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

17 speakers or some thing arnt they ??

[Prokiwi1 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Prokiwi1]

I have had to put music on a USB stick to get better quality from the audio.. I have tried all tuning options etc but still disappointed. Been back to Dealer, he says its okay but not great......
Speakers , in my opinion are crap as is the power output of the overall system.
My 2016 BT 50 Door speakers are better.
Not what i expected.
Rest of the vehicle is impressive for what it is. Nothing is perfect, but overall a good vehicle.. Thanks for all the feedback.

[MacroP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MacroP]

The stereo in my 2010 Kaka cranks. Very clear and quite loud. I certainly can't talk over it and there's no distortion at full volume. I use it mainly on FM radio and iPod USB input. iPod music certainly sounds better over FM and AM always sounds crap as expected. My front door speakers are the strongest. When turned up I can easily feel the air flow flow them over my legs. Even with the bass set to neutral my rearview mirror dances in tune with the bass when the volume is cranked up. I find the stereo more than adequate. I have the fader set a couple of notches to the rear.

Absolutely great when fishing down the beach and the footy is on.

I find it hard to believe that the latest Kaka has stepped backwards. Something must be wrong somewhere. You haven't mentioned what input you are using. Bluetooth music, radio etc. Edit: whoops now you have.

[trsmith Member Find all posts View Profile Close trsmith]

I've read all the new ones are crap even in gxl's. Especially the blue tooth. The person making the call to the Prado all they hear is heaps of feedback. I rang my mate in his new 2.8 GXL and was shocking trying to talk to him. All I could hear was myself coming back at me through my phone. I ended up hanging up.

my 2014 bluetooth was bad until i turned down the bluetooth volume/sensitivity during a call, it removed most of the distortion after that. give that a go

[iDestiny Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close iDestiny]

I have had to put music on a USB stick to get better quality from the audio.. I have tried all tuning options etc but still disappointed. Been back to Dealer, he says its okay but not great......
Speakers , in my opinion are crap as is the power output of the overall system.
My 2016 BT 50 Door speakers are better.
Not what i expected.
Rest of the vehicle is impressive for what it is. Nothing is perfect, but overall a good vehicle.. Thanks for all the feedback.

Music on USB won't improve things much if rip quality is compromised. What might work is if you run it through your phone and use the app on the phone to act as a "pre-amp". I run poweramp on my phone and use its equalizer functions. If you really want to get fancy, you can also use something like neutron player... it isn't the most user friendly, but it can really do some magic with music, so long as you have some idea what to do. Then feed it through the system, and you will notice a huge difference.

Cheers,