2023 Mirage stereo lacks fade

[movin2stereo]

So on my 2023 Mirage I have found that the fade controls for the stereo kinda suck. The only option it seems is to have the fronts as if you try and fade to the rear then you can barely hear the stereo at all. Why did they do this? I personally like to be in the center of the sound field. So as to combat this issue I installed a 4 channel Alpine amp under the passenger seat. After adjusting the gains, I am now able to be in the center of the sound field. Problem fixed. Now I have to get aftermarket speakers. LOL I love car audio and have been into it big since the early 90s and this tends to be a problem as one will always tinker for better sound.

[Eggman]

Another thing about the Mirage is the front seat occupants' ears are closer to the rear speakers than the front set. How can you adjust for that - crank up the fronts?

[movin2stereo]

Another thing about the Mirage is the front seat occupants' ears are closer to the rear speakers than the front set. How can you adjust for that - crank up the fronts?

It is a little more involved than that. I noticed the front output is always present even when you fade to the rear. The difference being the front output seems to be greater than the rear. When trying to fade to the rear and when you get to the point that you are in the center of the sound field, you have no volume then. Which means the stereo can be cranked and you can barely hear it. Almost like the front and rear have different power outputs.
Installing a 4 channel amp gives you the ability to even out the front and rear by way of the gain controls. Which in the end the rear signal is the one that needed bumped up regardless if the rear speakers are closer to you.

[7milesout]

This an interesting thread. I just don't mess with the Mirage stereo for a few reasons. I certainly don't want to spend money on the Mirage (outside of maintenance). My goal is to make an effort to use the Mirage in its intended purpose. To be inexpensive transportation. So if I spend money on it, I side step that mission. And secondly, I have an LS 460L with the Mark Levinson reference surround sound system (I think it's called). I don't know what the last 3 words really mean, outside of that it must mean that it sounds real good.

But let me say that, under certain circumstances, the sound is so phenomenal that it makes me tear up from my astonishment on how some people (musicians) can be so naturally friggin talented. I can be cruising at 80 mph and the ML system is unbelievably outstanding. Back to the Mirage, I could never make it sound that good so I just leave it alone. I've noticed that at interstate speeds, I'm either at or near max volume (45) in order to overcome the road noise. No complaints. That's to be expected between an $85k car in 2009 and an $11k car in 2020. No, I didn't pay anywhere near $85k for it (in 2014). $85k in 2009 is about the equivalent of $102k in 2020, more like $120k now.

Movin2stereo - If you like car audio stuff, you would have been in hog-heaven at the Toyota Technical Center. Supplier's would come in and show off their wares. I don't remember if it were ML or another audio manufacturer that modified (probably) a Camry and brought it into our building. They could change up the sound dynamics to make it sound like the stereo system was playing evenly directly into your ear holes. Then they could change it to an average stereo set-up. The difference was amazing. They could have it set up to play into all 4 passengers ear holes evenly. And the fidelity ... ohhhhh the fidelity. It was just a matter of money. The ML system in my LS is really daggone close to the capability they were demonstrating. But Toyota puts more money into the Lexus than they do the Camry.

[Fummins]

I felt the same way, why put money into a car that I bought to help me save money? But then I added a fugly but useful armrest and now I have one less thing to complain about.

Dumping a few bucks into one of these cars is cheaper than buying a new one. I have a hard time spending money on mine unless necessary but I understand why others do.

Not everyone has 2-4 vehicles to drive so you gotta make the best of what you have.

[7milesout]

Oh I agree 100%. If this were my only car, I would be wanting to do quite a few mods. And, in the future, I may do a little something. The warranty holds me back too. I think the sound is rather unique. I'd like to do a bit of exhaust work, but I'm concerned most exhaust mods would wind up making it sound too fart cannish.

[movin2stereo]

I agree with you all in the dumping money into this turd but the stereo is/was so subpar I couldn’t stand it. I mean going about 60mph with the windows down you could hardly hear the stereo.LOL At least now I can hear it. Aftermarket speakers will definitely help also and maybe a little sub. By no means am I dumping thousands into this car to make a thumper. Now if I was in my 20s again I would have.LOL

[BillAce]

I bought the Mirage to do long commutes and used to build sound quality competition cars. I was still going to leave the stereo alone but my wife bought me a DSP for my birthday. So a year later after a lot of fiberglass for better speaker locations, some phenomenal home speakers and tuning the system is able to realistically reproduce the recordings.

[Mark]

So on my 2023 Mirage I have found that the fade controls for the stereo kinda suck. The only option it seems is to have the fronts as if you try and fade to the rear then you can barely hear the stereo at all. Why did they do this? I personally like to be in the center of the sound field. So as to combat this issue I installed a 4 channel Alpine amp under the passenger seat. After adjusting the gains, I am now able to be in the center of the sound field. Problem fixed. Now I have to get aftermarket speakers. LOL I love car audio and have been into it big since the early 90s and this tends to be a problem as one will always tinker for better sound.

Every vehicle should come with a kicka-- stereo system these days. I'm actually amazed how horrible it is in the Mirage. I'd rather it come without one and have my own installed. Having said that, I don't care enough to change it out now. I bought the car because it was cheap, but the stereo system is really lame!

We had radios mounted on rear tractor fenders in the 1970's that would put the Mirage to shame!

[Fummins]

The only impressive thing I noticed about these stereo's is I've only replaced one speaker so far in the fleet. There's one driver that drives around all day long with the stereo cranked all the way(something loose upstairs), I know it's not a very loud stereo but the speakers haven't blown yet, they're troopers.

It seems a lot of the car is designed to be used by idiots. Like the starter anti-grind feature(you can't start the car once it's started, and once it starts you can hold the key to the start position and it kills the starter automagically), the car kills power(after a few seconds) if you ride the brake and throttle at the same time, it's practically impossible to lock the keys inside-if they're in the ignition, The stability control does work fairly well. And it seems the speakers/stereo while being crapy is designed to last.