Hey everyone,

We here at Scion Headquarters, in the spirit of "Kaizen" or "continuous improvement", are seeking a little feedback from vehicle owners regarding the vehicle audio systems in the 3 models. If you would be so kind, please respond with your feedback to the following questions:

1) What manufacturer/brand of audio head unit do you have in your Scion, if you've replaced the factory head unit with an aftermarket unit?

2) Please let us know why you chose to change your factory unit? Or why you didn't select to go with the upgrade factory unit?

3) What manufacturer/brand of audio head unit would you select for your Scion, if different than above? Please let us know your first and second choices and why?

We appreciate your candid feedback and look forward to your responses.

Thanks in advance!!!!

 

Hey Scion HQ

I still have the factory unit - 6disc

I so far like the radio but I am not so sure about the sound quality & the speaker quality. Pioneer is Awesome, but I don't think they did so well in the sound end of it for the xB.

When I move to my back speakers only, I can hardly hear anything. My door speakers do nothing but break up & distort. This is by far not the sound you want the "younger group of buyers" to hear.

I dislike the slow volume control & the fact it takes forever to figure out where everything is. For the first two months I had mt xB I didn't even know you could fast forward on the CD LOL !

I do plan on an upgrade due to the fact that I show my car & the stock unit is not that impressive to a judge. Other than those little complaints I find the head unit it self to be quality & better than most stock units I have seen in other new cars.

I also share a Scion Tc with my fiance & I think her set up sounds way better than my xB's.

I don't know if this helped you at all but I felt compelled to give some feedback, but I will say as a Scion owner I must say I have never thought a car company would ever care about it's owners the way you do. Keep up the great work twords perfection. I am Scion for life, I just can't see owning anything else.

 

Hi Scion!

I have a Sony.

I wanted XM, and it turned out to be the same price to replace the HU and get a built-in receiver as it was to buy the XM receiver from Scion. I like the sub out with volume control for the sub. I like the color changing function on the display. A volume **** is a must. A remote is very nice. Most importantly... the buttons are backlit blue. I hate amber.

Alpine would probably be my first choice. They're pretty solid and sound good.

 

1. Alpine

2. I went with the Alpine because of Ai-Net, ability to change colors on the face (to blue), and price. For the price of the head unit and direct XM tuner, I STILL spent less than the Scion XM option alone. As for Ai-Net... I plan to add some video in the future and needed the expandability.

3. I looked at a couple of Pioneer units, and some of the Kenwood Excelon stuff a little. I've used Alpine in the past and had great luck with it, so I went back.

Hope this helps.

 

What setting do you have your radio one xA, xB, tC?

 

While I haven't replaced any OEM audio components yet, I do plan to in the future.

For a 'stock' econobox sound system, the quality of the system in the '05 xB was quite decent.

I will be replacing some of the speakers with some better units (most notably the dash-top speakers) and probably replacing the base head unit with ANYTHING that has a rotary volume control rather than the incredibly annoying 'push and hold the button and wait for some change in level' controls.

Often times I will want to turn up the volume to catch a traffic report or news item and by the time the volume has changed enough to make any difference, it's over... With a rotary control I can grab without looking and give it a twist for a near instant change.

(Actually, for my needs/uses I'll probably end up with one of the '06 OEM head units because of the vehicle specific SSP when more of them become available from people changing them out for more exotic gear.)

Anyway, considering the generally excellent and well thought-out ergonomics of 'The Box' the '04-'05 OEM head units were a genuine disappointment.

(Oh! Proprietary wiring/control for the satellite option so that only the unit made for the Scion can be used is also a negative feature...)

 

pretty much lots of scion owners, would switch to another radio. aftermaket of course more if you are into customizing the ride..but as far as the sound it sounded good..but needs more clarity..than average.....all factory radios..have the same bass,treble, etc....
with an aftermaket you have different choices LP,HP..
i have an sony mp3,cd,am/fm.
changed factory speakers.....to the same pioneer more watts, and more ways...

 

it would have been nice to have pre amp inputs and bass outs and things like that behind the factory head unit, i havent actually looked at it back there but i wouldnt think it has those things

 

sensay I agree totally.

Good point !!!

 

Had the upgrade 5cd Scion unit, it sucked....Also just like all factory units you could not add amps to it, Why not spend a few xtra bucks for preouts? I am using a Clarion with 5 pre outs. When I buy the RS3 I hope i can have the option to have a hole in the dash and no speakers, so I don't have to throw them in their deserved place "the trash can"

 

I've got an '05 xB but just today swapped the stock head unit for the standard '06 head unit. My reason? The volume dial. I want to keep the stock look for security reasons but couldn't stand the pushbutton volume controls - luckily I was able to swap with a fellow ScionLifer and get an '06.

I didn't opt for the upgraded Scion unit because I don't have an iPod (I use a Neo Car Jukebox MP3 player)so the only feature I would really use is the color-changing LCD. Not worth the premium to me so I got the standard unit.

If I didn't park downtown for work everyday and have to worry about theft I would have certianly upgraded the headunit for a number of reasons. Sound quality, appearance, options and flexibility (pre-outs, aux-input, equalization, etc). As it is, I'm happy enough with the stock unit to keep it and hopefully keep my xB from getting busted into.

 

A.

1) Pioneer AVIC-D1

2) I wanted GPS navigation and Scion did not have as an option. The upgraded radio that was available was not a good value and had the same function as the standard headunit (same 160 watts power output). Would be nice to have an audio option that would upgrade the speakers and tweeters.

3) First choice Pioneer, second Eclipse based on the functions, quality, and price.

 

i sold my stock single disc within the first month i owned the car.

I have a pioneer 7600 deck and all pioneer upgraded speakers as well as two pioneer amps and pioneer subs.

 

I have a full eclipse system, And it sounds great. With the stock system people in the back could not really hear the music and it was lound up front. So now every one is happy unless they don't like the song, but hay its my car lol.

 

I have a full eclipse system, And it sounds great. With the stock system people in the back could not really hear the music and it was lound up front. So now every one is happy unless they don't like the song, but hay its my car lol.

 

I have changed all speakers and added mps etc....factory ones are weak
I would stick with Pioneer based on reliability, performance, technology. Pioneeer owns TAD who makes the finest audio louspeakers in the world... the make good amps and very good head units...
they have great technology....Scion just needs to tap into it further

 

well one thing is for sure its missing 2 rear speakers in the rear hatch

 

Quoted for truth.

 

1) Eclipse CD 8455.

2) Sound quality. The stock unit was plenty lound and easy to use, and I love that it played MP3 format, but it just sounded terrible! Upgrading to the factory changer would have had no effect on this problem.

3) Nothing. Eclipse is the best, and I want nothing but the best.

Incidentally, are you really a representative of the Scion corporation, or is this your clever way of polling for opinions on upgrading your own stereo system?

 

I'm surprised more haven't responded, given the fact that Scion is actually watching this thread.