JBL "Premium" System Review (from an Audioholic)

iResQ said:

Hello. My name is David and I am a recovering audioholic. I have read a lot of positive and negative comments about this system. I have put it through the paces and wanted to offer my evaluation. For immediate comparison, my wife has a Mustang with a B&O system and my Jeep JL had a Bose system. This system is much better than the Jeep which was designed primarily to blast through the incredible road noise inside the Jeep. The HK system in our old Mercedes would best of them all.

The comparison with the B&O system is a little nuanced. The subwoofer in the Mustang is MUCH more substantial than the Tacoma. This gives the Mustang the win for depth of bass and volume. That system really rocks.

The JBL's subwoofer is a bit of a joke. Most of the bass comes from the door speakers. As these drivers are small(ish), the bass is driven by large excursions (linear movement). This creates a bass sound that can be boomy, add distortion at volume, and cause a lot of vibration in the door panel. The JBL system is incredibly quiet. At reasonable volumes and with decent media, the audio quality is quite compelling. I can hear details that are not present in the Mustang or Jeep. Of course, having a great source is paramount to maximizing sound quality. I keep my music on thumb drives. I use FLAC but, at my age, I probably could not hear the difference with 320kbps MP3s. The USB audio is from the USB port on the side of the display. I had to purchase a USB C thumb drive. I picked up a 64g pretty cheap. If you go this route, you will need to change the file system to FAT 32. This can't be done natively in Windows (don't know about Mac). I use a program called RUFUS for formatting, it is free.

With the sizable center center, imaging is heavily weighted to the center. I have read a report and the manual suggests that surround sound can be turned off. I have yet to figure out how. Listening to Spotify music natively is not that bad as it is not compressed like Spotify. Further, if you stream Spotify via Bluetooth, you are further crushing the source material. For me, this provides for just an OK listening experience. There is noticeable hiss with this delivery method.

As the JBL can do Apple natively, I'd be curious to hear about that listening experience, particularly with their lossless audio. If you are a Tidal subscriber, probably best to stream w/cable and not over BT.

Some frustrating items. The system does remember the last source used if you connect to Android Auto (can't speak to Apple). For me, it switches to Pocketcast which is my podcatcher even if I shut down listening to USB. Also, there is no way, that I could find, to disable unused sources. When using the Mode button on the steering wheel, you have to click through all the source options. And finally, there is no loudness compensation.

Overall, I give this system a solid B rating. For casual listening and driving, I prefer JBL over the Mustang's system. However, when I want to let the Mustang gallop, it has a sound system that is better paired with the skinny peddle.

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Planoman said:

Thanks for the review!

I have had a B&O in an Audi and it sounded nice with like 18 speakers. This system is fine for me and my truck. As the OP states and the truth is most people cannot hear the difference in quality of the audio file. The only gripe I have is the subwoofer takes up valuable storage space behind the rear seat that I would rather have as storage. I cannot imagine the hybrids with no under seat storage either. Maybe they can add tail gate storage for tow straps etc. For those who say it does not get loud enough, I have to question your hearing acuity. I am usually 12-15 and when my 80’s rock songs come on I might get crazy and go to 25 for a bit. I do use the big volume button for volume vs. steering wheel. I find it quicker.
I have also tried the Flex speaker in the backyard and it is ok. Not as a good as the sonos move speaker but better than the sonos roam speaker and easy to connect to from your iPhone.

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iResQ said:

Hello. My name is David and I am a recovering audioholic. I have read a lot of positive and negative comments about this system. I have put it through the paces and wanted to offer my evaluation. For immediate comparison, my wife has a Mustang with a B&O system and my Jeep JL had an Alpine system. This system is much better than the Jeep which was designed primarily to blast through the incredible road noise inside the Jeep. The HK system in our old Mercedes would best of them all.

The comparison with the B&O system is a little nuanced. The subwoofer in the Mustang is MUCH more substantial than the Tacoma. This gives the Mustang the win for depth of bass and volume. That system really rocks.

The JBL's subwoofer is a bit of a joke. Most of the bass comes from the door speakers. As these drivers are small(ish), the bass is driven by large excursions (linear movement). This creates a bass sound that can be boomy, add distortion at volume, and cause a lot of vibration in the door panel. The JBL system is incredibly quiet. At reasonable volumes and with decent media, the audio quality is quite compelling. I can hear details that are not present in the Mustang or Jeep. Of course, having a great source is paramount to maximizing sound quality. I keep my music on thumb drives. I use FLAC but, at my age, I probably could not hear the difference with 320kbps MP3s. The USB audio is from the USB port on the side of the display. I had to purchase a USB C thumb drive. I picked up a 64g pretty cheap. If you go this route, you will need to change the file system to FAT 32. This can't be done natively in Windows (don't know about Mac). I use a program called RUFUS for formatting, it is free.

With the sizable center center, imaging is heavily weighted to the center. I have read a report and the manual suggests that surround sound can be turned off. I have yet to figure out how. Listening to Spotify music natively is not that bad as it is not compressed like Spotify. Further, if you stream Spotify via Bluetooth, you are further crushing the source material. For me, this provides for just an OK listening experience. There is noticeable hiss with this delivery method.

As the JBL can do Apple natively, I'd be curious to hear about that listening experience, particularly with their lossless audio. If you are a Tidal subscriber, probably best to stream w/cable and not over BT.

Some frustrating items. The system does remember the last source used if you connect to Android Auto (can't speak to Apple). For me, it switches to Pocketcast which is my podcatcher even if I shut down listening to USB. Also, there is no way, that I could find, to disable unused sources. When using the Mode button on the steering wheel, you have to click through all the source options. And finally, there is no loudness compensation.

Overall, I give this system a solid B rating. For casual listening and driving, I prefer JBL over the Mustang's system. However, when I want to let the Mustang gallop, it has a sound system that is better paired with the skinny peddle.

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Snkrjeff020 said:

I wonder what you would recommend for a cheap easy upgrade that would enhance the stock system? Would it be as simple as replacing the stock sub with something more powerful? Like what could you do for 500$(if anything), and what could you do for 1000$ and under?

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Snkrjeff020 said:

I wonder what you would recommend for a cheap easy upgrade that would enhance the stock system? Would it be as simple as replacing the stock sub with something more powerful? Like what could you do for 500$(if anything), and what could you do for 1000$ and under?

So I just got me new Tacoma Off-Road with the Premium JBL upgraded sound system last Friday. The sound was pretty good when I used a USB with FLAC audio. However, with spotify it sounded pretty weak. I saw TRDJon video where he installed the beat sonic device. I watched some of beat sonics you tube videos and noticed the sound quality was better after the device was installed. So on Monday I drove my Tacoma to their place in La Mirada, CA and had them install the ENA-2T3 device. This was their first 2024 Tacoma they worked on. They filmed the install and the before and after sound and will release it in the next few weeks.

In regards to the sound after the upgrade: more upmh/bass, clarity, and presence of sound.

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