- #48 of 67
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Re: Sirius Reception Fading In and Out [avalon7]
by netwon
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Jan 07, 2007 (2:37 pm)
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Replying to: avalon7 (Jan 07, 2007 12:31 pm)
The Sirius Radio system may be factory but the standard location for the antenna (from install manual) is on the right hand side of the trunk lid. The factory antennas aren't designed for location inside the window, as factory metallic tints (even light ones) and glass it self can reflect the signal you are trying to receive.
Net
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- #49 of 67
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Sirius fade
by cms1528
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Jan 07, 2007 (3:50 pm)
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I have an 06 Avalon with the Sirius antenna mounted on the windshield. I had problems with the signal dropping out for extended periods of time. Dealer replaced the Sirius black box and it has worked perfectly since then.
If you go under an overpass sometimes the signal will drop out for a few seconds, roads surrounded by leafy trees can do the same. But this is normal, you can easily mount an after market antenna to the trunk if you want or any other place. But a satellite signal can be blocked for a few seconds by any number of things. As long as your vehicle is moving the signal should come back.
Sirius did have a quality control problem with a number of black boxes that were made for Toyota but they have switch manufactures.
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- #50 of 67
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Connection between Sirius installation and CD changer malfunction?
by slt2005
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Jan 07, 2007 (8:17 pm)
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I'd like to know if anyone knows about a possible connection between a Sirius S50 installation in a Toyota Avalon and the sudden malfunction of the 6 CD JBL changer. My children gave me a S50 Sirius portable satellite radio kit for a Christmas gift. Since I know little to nothing about electronics of this type,I took it to a local Car Toys for installation into my 2003 Avalon XLS last week. I was charged over $200.00, but Car Toys mounted the satellite radio base, installed an on-off switch under the dash, mounted the antennae on the passenger-side window, and hard wired the base into the JBL deck. I was, and remain very happy with my satellite radio. However, later that day, I noticed that when I switched to CD mode, the CD in the changer would skip. Then, by the next day, the CD changer was in complete malfunction: would not eject and would not play. I never had trouble with the CD changer prior to the Sirius installation. When I took the car back to Car Toys with my concern, the installer looked over the radio-CD-tape system and told me that the malfunction of the CD changer following the Sirius installation was coincidental and that the installation had nothing to do with the CD malfunction. The best way to fix the problem, I was told, was to replace the entire radio-tape-CD deck with a brand new one which would also be "Sirius ready". I have a hard time believing that a JBL system in a 2003 Avalon XLS would just deteriorate like it did coincidentally. If anyone can help me sort this one out, it would be greatly appreciated.
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- #51 of 67
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Re: Sirius fade [cms1528]
by avalon7
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Jan 08, 2007 (6:01 am)
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Replying to: cms1528 (Jan 07, 2007 3:50 pm)
The signal always come back in 1 to 5 seconds usually. Is satellite radio just not perfected yet....because this is very annoying.
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- #52 of 67
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Re: Sirius fade [avalon7]
by kjarob
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Jan 09, 2007 (6:06 am)
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Replying to: avalon7 (Jan 08, 2007 6:01 am)
Hmmm, unless the Car Toys installer physically did something to your CD player I would have to agree that this is coincidental. The addition of Sirius could never cause a CD player to skip or to quit working. However, if the installer had your car deck out of the car (which shouldn't be necessary for your install) and it was dropped or something it could have knocked the CD "eye" out of alignment.
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- #53 of 67
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2006 Avalon XLS Sirius Problem Update
by goatee
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Jan 09, 2007 (5:24 pm)
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Here's the latest regarding my left sided speaker only problem. Dealer has now replaced the Sirius receiver in the trunk, and has now also replaced the "head unit". Still no correction. Got a call from the service advisor today regarding their inability to fix the problem. Now they want to replace the "wiring harness" and have already ordered the part. They say that this is the only thing left that it can be. I hope the third part will be a charm. Will keep everyone updated.
HAPPY NEW YEAR.
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- #54 of 67
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2006 Avalon XLS Sirius Problem Update
by goatee
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Jan 11, 2007 (4:42 pm)
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Got the car back today. Seems to be fixed - it was a wiring harness. All speakers seem to work now with the Satellite on. Dealer gave me a courtesy Camry and even detailed my Avalon.
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- #55 of 67
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Re: Sirius fade [avalon7]
by cms1528
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Jan 12, 2007 (11:07 am)
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Replying to: avalon7 (Jan 08, 2007 6:01 am)
Actually it has nothing to with additional perfecting of the system. The signal just becomes blocked to the antenna and the signal from the antenna to the box can not be completed. Thus, the coding is not translated and the music stops playing until the antenna can receive a signal and send it to the black box.
Even traditional satellite signals used by the military experience these types of temporary black outs. Its the same with satellite TV, if the antenna is pointed toward the southern hemisphere and there is a tree standing significantly in its path, the signal will be blocked.
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- #56 of 67
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Re: Sirius fade [avalon7]
by cms1528
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Jan 12, 2007 (11:14 am)
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Replying to: avalon7 (Jan 08, 2007 6:01 am)
One more point if you want you can buy a satellite radio antenna with a magnetic base from your local home audio store, they use the same size plug. Unplug the one from your kit and plug in the new one, in the box in the trunk, and mount it somewhere else. Maybe on the truck lid or inside somewhere.
You might find that sweet spot that maintanes a good signal with the satelitte itself.
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- #57 of 67
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Re: Connection between Sirius installation and CD changer malfunction? [slt2005]
by jediclampett
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Jan 13, 2007 (11:52 pm)
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Replying to: slt2005 (Jan 07, 2007 8:17 pm)
RE: "sort this one out". Hold onto your heated seat cushion because here it comes, long, hard and fast: Your "JBL" branded OEM head unit is best utilized as a boat anchor. The first of the 2nd generation Avalons used Fujitsu radios, then came Pioneer, Then Delphi (?!#*/%!). I have my original JBL/Delphi which came in my '03 Avalon XLS and a JBL/Pioneer unit which I picked up on eBay. They are identical save for some slight (very slight) chassis differences and the two faux-burl fascias are dead-on clones. The connectors are identical and either will fit in my Avalon and operate identically. I have several iterations of John Lansing's designs including 4 very old (and pristeen) 515B 15" woofers, a quad of JBL Earthquake Bass Bins with 18" woofers, and a pair of large format theatre horn drivers mated to a pair of HAND-made-for-Altec-Lansing-by-Vitavox horns. Not to brag, just to illustrate the forces that blinded me to the fact my stock Avalon JBL system was a neutered eunuch when it came to adequate, accurate and pleasing sound reproduction. Like you, I just kept telling myself that JBL made it, it had to be good. All this while I knew full well JBL hadn't made the components at all. I reasoned it (the quality) had to be somewhere in tweeking the adjustments properly. Then my in-dash CD changer tanked just like yours did. I looked around on the Web and found mine was not a unique experience; the JBL-badged 6-CD-changers just flip out and it's curtains for them. Luckily I'd purchased an extended warranty, something I rarely even consider when purchasing a Toyota vehicle. So after my dealer contacted the gatekeeper at the 3rd party warranty company I found the radio was going to be sent out to have the CD changer repaired. In the interim I was left with no tunes and a big hole in my dash. I dug an old Clarion Pro-Audio CD-reciever out of my boneyard, bought a Metra adapter harness and Metra dash kit designed to accept a single-DIN aftermarket H/U. I spliced, soldered and heatshrinked the Metra harness to my Clarion harness and presto; I was plugging into the factory harness with no warranty voiding butchery whatsoever. The dash kit was quite another matter but I'll refrain from bashing it and stick to the point: The sound was so amazingly improved with the 10-year-old Clarion head-unit that I immediately returned to the boneyard for a single SAS Bazooka Tube subwoofer and two Alpine tweeters. I figured I was on a roll so I'd ride it a while. I had always known the JBL "subwoofer" in the Avalon was a joke but never got around to doing anything about it. That result was really satisfying also, to the point where I'm considering bridging a small Soundstream amplifier (boneyard once again) so I can run team my pair of boneyard Bazooka tubes. I'm still using the OEM/JBL amplifier to feed that sub and let us not forget the puny "IV-drip" factory wiring is still in use. Mind you these are all 10 and 15 year old used components - imagine what the results might be if I'd gone out and invested in newer technology! A while back I picked up a spare set of Avalon/JBL tweeters on eBay because I knew I'd eventually be "in the dash". I'm currently working on mounting the Alpine tweeters to the original JBL mounting brackets so they'll hide behind the JBL-badged grilles. It'd be an easy job but I make everything hard on myself because I come up with esoteric mounting concepts that anyone sensible would rightly dismiss. I'd describe my mounting schema here but it might lead readers to dismiss my other descriptions, so again, I refrain. If you're out of warranty get the JBL/Junk outa' your dash as soon as you have chosen a viable replacement. Not satisfied with the Metra dash kit I'm also working on my own double-DIN fascia which will be sent out to one of those faux-wood-dash companies to be coated in bogus-burl that matches the OEM finish. Then I'll slam a double-DIN display unit along the design-lines of Kenwood's Excelon with a 7", 16:9 screen. Then "where to mount my NAV system" will be a rhetorical question as I'll use that monitor to display NAV as well. Sure glad I didn't let my wife gift me with that Magellan system a few years ago! I love the way it worked but I think I'd rather have the mythological Hydra riding shotgun than have that goose-necked Magellan rearing it's ugly head from points unknown below my glovebox (lurch, barf, spew). Ultimately the entire JBL system will no longer live in my Avalon; wiring, amplifier/s, and all speaker drivers will eventually be replaced. I've got some nice Dynaudio pieces (boneyard) and I really hope I can squeeze something larger than the 3.5" OEM drivers into my back doors. 3.5 inches? Who's that for? The Lilliputians? I want my passengers to have good near-field sound too. If I can swing it I'd like to shoehorn in a pair of Dynaudio 5.5" mid-woofs and find a stealthy place to mount two more tweeters into the back doors as well. I've got a pair of Dyn' 6.5" mid-woofers that I know will fit in the front doors. I'd rather run OLD Dynaudio than NEW anything else. Eventually a custom built sub enclosure with a single 8" driver (JL Audio?) will replace the Bazooka Tubes. That 8" driver is not in "the boneyard" so that phase comes last. I listen to a little Hip-Hop but I want a quick-reacting accurate subwoofer, not a ground pounding compaction device.
Short story long? Yes, the JBL in-dash changers do blow up and no, JBL did not make them. I'm sure the newer Avalon Synthesis systems have real JBL circuitry in them, but even that is likely to be Lexicon technology, via Harmon-Kardon, branded JBL. No complaint there; if Lexicon made a car head-unit it would almost certainly be "The Grail". Bottom Line? If you're out of warranty start shopping then begin lopping. If you heard my Avalon even in it's present hodge-podge state, you'd be tempted to chainsaw that JBL H/U right out of your faux-wood dashboard... TODAY! I had the JBL name fogging my mind and I forgot the most fundamental car-audio prime directive: STOCK SUCKS! Now my Avalon has acoustics! Now when I tweek adjustments things happen and I can actually tailor the soundstage, and so far it all came from the boneyard! Later
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