After spending a day playing around with this piece of junky I have come to the conclusion that the TATO is not all it is cracked up to be. I followed the directions and installed it as you should. After I tested it out with it working fine, I put the dash back together. Turned it on and had no sound. I called PAC and they suggested cutting the RCA cables and connecting the powered line out connections instead of using the pre-amp outs. This scared me and I asked them and their response was 'it doesn't work now and we wouldn't suggest something that wouldn't work'. I decided to hook up the old stereo to make sure everything worked. It powered up fine and sounded good. I then hooked up the new AVIC and had sound again so I decided to stick with the pre amp outs. I got everything back together. This time around I still had sound. After a day of driving around I noticed the volume was all over the place. The fader doesn't work. It is 100% front. When turned up it distorts like crazy. Another call to PAC and they said ‘That is normal’. I said ‘It is normal for your product to not work as promised?’. They said ‘yes, sometimes that is how it works. It could be because yours is 8 years old’. Not exactly an answer that makes a lot of sense. It works just fine with the Toyota stereo. In any case the AVIC is awesome. I can live with the sound issues as long as I keep sound and then replace the speakers and an aftermarket amp in the spring when it warms up and I can work on it without freezing.
TATO = Pooh Pooh
- Thread starter Sungod
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Seatown
New member
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/85941-installed-new-hu-pac-tato-now-volume-cuts-out.html
Go here...you need to unplug your rear pre-outs on the AVIC and that should fix the problem.
wakedude
New member
Disconnecting the rears solves the short, but it isn't a true fix to the problem. When you disconnect the rear you loose the ability to fade the speakers to the rear. I've been experiencing the same problem. I agree the TATO really isn't all that it's cracked up to be. I have an AVIC F90BT.
I saw that thread. Not sure how much of a difference it will make. The rear fade doesn't seem to work anyway which I assume is the problem. When I fade it to the rear I just get low level distortion and the fronts kick in from time to time at full level.
I wonder if anyone has used the TATO and had it work exactly as designed?
I think it is important to understand where these things come from. I have a good friend who works in the "components" design sector. He works on various projects and as an electrical engineer, he sees how the industry is moving towards.
1st rate, top tier companies are able to extract more precision from Chinese makers; but only just. The overall quality coming from independent makers in China/Indonesia is SO horrid, companies are now thinking to move back.
And this is 1st tier companies like HP and Dell that usually have their own plants and just contract out simple things; like Lan adapters and the like.
A small, niche, electronic maker will have almost no chance of actually ensuring quality control. The margins are so low for the US companies and the sheer bulk of business in China means they don't care.
Chinese electronics are crap. CRAP. Every bit of the electrical design is suspect.
1st rate, top tier companies are able to extract more precision from Chinese makers; but only just. The overall quality coming from independent makers in China/Indonesia is SO horrid, companies are now thinking to move back.
And this is 1st tier companies like HP and Dell that usually have their own plants and just contract out simple things; like Lan adapters and the like.
A small, niche, electronic maker will have almost no chance of actually ensuring quality control. The margins are so low for the US companies and the sheer bulk of business in China means they don't care.
Chinese electronics are crap. CRAP. Every bit of the electrical design is suspect.
