Has anyone had a good experience with the PAC TATO with JBL synthesis?

[adamderry]

I have a 2004 w/ JBL sythesis RDS. I've done a lot of searching on this forum and I'm thinking of doing a headunit swap with the JVC KW-V20BT;

JVC KW-V20BT DVD receiver at Crutchfield.com

I'd like to know if anyone has had a POSITIVE experience with the PAC TATO integration adapter. I can't find anyone who can vouch for this product, seems like there are a lot of issues with the volume changing and that the sound quality is poor. I don't want to order and install this part to have to take it back out, rewire the speakers and bypass the JBL amp.

If you've had a good experience with this then please let me know
Thanks!

 

[JimKW]

I did a head unit swap last year with a Kenwood Head Unti. Made very little difference in the sound. Last weekend I had a rockforfosgate amp installed and bypassed the dash/center speaker and that made a world of difference. I think I would ot the amp before the head unit it I had it to do over again. You can see my thread titled "Made A Huge Improvement In The Sound System".

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/166720-made-huge-improvement-sound-system.html

 

[97BlackAckCL]

The biggest issue with the JBL system is the speakers are JUNK. I replaced all my speakers with Alpine Type-S which are a great stock replacement and it made a world of difference. Even if you switch headunits, you'll still have shitty paper speakers.

I'm selling the Alpines in case anyone is interested.

 

[JimKW]

I'm finding with the new amp the JBL Speakers are sounding OK. The factory sub sounds bad but the door speaker without the dash speaker sound ok. I'm not saying great, but ok. I really think the factory amp is the weakest link in the factory system.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

The center channel was my favorite part of the stereo, after I cut my dash up to squeeze in a 3.5" full range speaker

 

[Dpassmore]

I'm wanting to change mine out, not as much for the sound but for Bluetooth and USB connection.

 

[adamderry]

Ya I'm also more interested in bluetooth audio streaming and hands free calling than I am the sound quality

 

[TomTom22]

I have a 2004 w/ JBL sythesis RDS. I've done a lot of searching on this forum and I'm thinking of doing a headunit swap with the JVC KW-V20BT;

JVC KW-V20BT DVD receiver at Crutchfield.com

I'd like to know if anyone has had a POSITIVE experience with the PAC TATO integration adapter. I can't find anyone who can vouch for this product, seems like there are a lot of issues with the volume changing and that the sound quality is poor. I don't want to order and install this part to have to take it back out, rewire the speakers and bypass the JBL amp.

If you've had a good experience with this then please let me know
Thanks!

I would say after swapping my HU I should have swapped the factory amp wil a either a JL XD700/5 or a JL XD600/6. Although the HU did add bluetooth streaming and phone calling. The 80+ dollars spent in adapters and wiring were not worth it for the minimal improvement that I saw.

 

[adamderry]

I would say after swapping my HU I should have swapped the factory amp wil a either a JL XD700/5 or a JL XD600/6. Although the HU did add bluetooth streaming and phone calling. The 80+ dollars spent in adapters and wiring were not worth it for the minimal improvement that I saw.

Why 5 or 6 channels? Could you not just get a single channel to run the sub? Power the speakers with the HU?

 

[dropspace]

If you are just looking for modern HU features and don't care that much about audio, it's fine.

I had the metra version of that product and hated it. the audio would cut out all the time depending on what songs were playing. It wasn't a loose connection because it would happen at the same time on specific songs.

As said, the audio quality of the entire JBL system is not great considering what is out there.

I ended up just removing the entire Synthesis system and just reusing the stock sub enclosure with a kicker compRT shallow depth sub. The sub wants 400Watts RMS so it has its own dedicated amp.

I deleted the center speaker and the rear tweeters and just installed some Rainbow components up front with Focal midbass in the rear doors on a JL audio amp under the passenger seat.

My in-depth analysis which includes me listening to music put it at about 4000% better than the JBL. Although 400W to a sub in that stock enclosure sounds like it could possibly destroy that plastic box if played super loud. The Rainbow comps are truly breathtaking when given enough power, i'm giving them 150W RMS and they use it all, despite being rated at 100W.

Do all that with some strategic placement of Dynamat and you will have a truly amazing difference from JBL/Stock.

 

[gshadow325]

I'm wanting to change mine out, not as much for the sound but for Bluetooth and USB connection.

i have new old stock pioneer and kenwood last years models available between 100-175

back on topic, the tato needs to be setup properly. that being said. its the JBL amp that makes the volume keep fluctuating. since the jbl amp is controlled via data. you need to use the OEM radio turn the volume up to 75-85% max volume. when i do these toyotas i just max it out and turn it back a few hairs then unplug the radio. this way the amp is "set"

metra and pac both work the same way. one is not better than the other. its the same sh!t different day LOL, pac is cheaper. now if you want to talk about a cool piece to install when you swap out the radio.....new pac audio control pro steering wheel interface is a HOT HOT HOT piece.

regular steering wheel interface will just turn volume down if you continually push it. with the control pro, continually pushing volume down can do another function that you program from the comfort of your palm with your smartphone or apple ALL via USB!!!! this thing is sooooo cool in sooooo many many ways. especially paired with the bluetooth button mod.....you have bunch of buttons to program and then a whole second layer of control and programability
ControlPRO by PAC

 

[TomTom22]

Why 5 or 6 channels? Could you not just get a single channel to run the sub? Power the speakers with the HU?

As convenient as the head unit amp is.. adding a multiple channel amp to power the speakers will improve the sound more and if you go with a multiple channel amp you could wire the sub in and improve the sound much much more

 

[zimdba]

i have new old stock pioneer and kenwood last years models available between 100-175

back on topic, the tato needs to be setup properly. that being said. its the JBL amp that makes the volume keep fluctuating. since the jbl amp is controlled via data. you need to use the OEM radio turn the volume up to 75-85% max volume. when i do these toyotas i just max it out and turn it back a few hairs then unplug the radio. this way the amp is "set"

Do you turn the key to off prior to unplugging, or just unplug while it's still ON or ACC? I need to do this, something ain't right with my setup.

 

[Minn3sota]

Do you turn the key to off prior to unplugging, or just unplug while it's still ON or ACC? I need to do this, something ain't right with my setup.

I am very much in the same boat. Today I installed the PAC TATO with a Pioneer NEX4000. I am getting little to no sounds from my rear-seat doors. The front door speakers / tweeters, and center channel dash speakers work just fine but everything else is out of whack. I have not had any real time to diagnose the issue. Using the fading function on the head unit seems to only affect the front door speakers.

Hopefully later this week I find some time to look into my problems and start troubleshooting. I feel i've opened the proverbial can of worms.

 

[dropspace]

give it a shot, but mine sounded exactly the same way. the fade controls did almost nothing.

 

[gshadow325]

Do you turn the key to off prior to unplugging, or just unplug while it's still ON or ACC? I need to do this, something ain't right with my setup.

You turn the volume up and then disconnect power to the radio by unplugging it

 

[zimdba]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one having problems. I have the balance/fade issue, and it sounds scratchy at louder volumes, like I'm overdriving the amp. It never gets truly loud without sounding like absolute dog crap.

I'll try cranking up the OEM HU method - next time I feel like ripping apart the center console again.

 

[noshortcuts]

Besides tweaking gains and double checking connections make sure you turn off the amp in the HU.... having it on will introduce the poor sound at higher volume

 

[Dpassmore]

Installed the pac tato today. Directions said turn volume up to at least 75%, turn radio off, then ignition off before unplugging radio. I have all the problems above. Fade does very little, volume spikes and dies, and does not sound good. Not expecting too much, but I want it to sound decent. The steering wheel interface works great though.
I'm open for suggestions, otherwise, guess I'll spend another day swapping amp and wiring. Not what I wanted to do.

 

[noshortcuts]

Installed the pac tato today. Directions said turn volume up to at least 75%, turn radio off, then ignition off before unplugging radio. I have all the problems above. Fade does very little, volume spikes and dies, and does not sound good. Not expecting too much, but I want it to sound decent. The steering wheel interface works great though.
I'm open for suggestions, otherwise, guess I'll spend another day swapping amp and wiring. Not what I wanted to do.

Have you turned off the amp on the new HU?