[chessie]

I was driving with a cd playing and all of a sudden the volume drops off bigtime. I have to put the volume setting all of the way up to achieve the same sound level that I got at half that setting previously. The radio acts the same way now also.


Anyone ever heard of this?

 

[rav4two]

There's a radio setting called "ASL" that adjusts the volume level depending on vehicle speed. You can access it as an option in the menu tree where the bass, treble, etc., are. If you turn it to low or off, the volume should remain relatively constant.

This might not be what you're experiencing, but it's at least worth taking a look at.

 

[JuneBug]

I was driving with a cd playing and all of a sudden the volume drops off bigtime. I have to put the volume setting all of the way up to achieve the same sound level that I got at half that setting previously. The radio acts the same way now also.


Anyone ever heard of this?

Sounds like a bad connection inside the head unit. Take it to the dealer and demand that they replace the stereo.

 

[BanditB17]

found this post while searching google for similar issues.

We just bought a used 06 rav4 sport. Great vehicle for what we need it for, but we also like to listen to music.

I for one, hate the ASL concept. I like being in control of my own volume. It would be fine to just turn ASL to "off" if it actually worked.

The problem we are having is when the vehicle is at rest or slowing down or relatively quiet by my standards, the base and treble become muffled, it sounds like one of my ears was clogging for a second. I would think I was going crazy if my wife didn't hear the exact same thing. We took it to the dealership, they swapped radios with the exact same kind from another rav4 06. Same problem. Took it back, they replaced a few of the speakers. Same problem. At this point I politely asked the tech to ride along with me as when they test the symptoms they do it with the car sitting in the shop. It only happens after you start to drive a bit. He heard it and instructed me to turn the ASL back on but on low. It seemed to help, but sure enough it started to do it again, just less frequent. I also notice that when it gets loud again, the bass is booming quite hard for being set to 0 and we have to promptly lower the volume quite a bit.

This, to me, is unacceptable. It is distracting and disruptive to me enjoying the drive. I am on the brink of returning the vehicle, but if all Toyotas past 06 have ASL I feel pretty trapped.

 

[It's A TieOta]

I definitely didn't buy the RAV for the radio.

 

[BanditB17]

It just sucks, the ASL is probably some nifty feature that someone thought up. The inability to turn it off makes this a hindrance. All I want is a normal radio.... with a CD player.... aux is a plus....

 

[It's A TieOta]

ASL has been around in a lot of cards for many years. It's a niche effect and it mostly sucks. I agree.

 

[chessie]

ASL

I have the 2010 RAV4. When the problem with the volume dropping off occurred, I checked the ASL. It was off. I turned it on low and there was still no difference in volume. When I checked the other radio settings I noticed the Bass was at the max level. I did not make that adjustment. I removed most of the bass and the volume level came back up. I am beginning to think that the radio boosted the base automatically. Thats not something that ASL would do normally. I think the radio has a bug or two in it.

 

[john_d]

The radio in these cars is most definitely horrible. I had my dash apart within the hour of driving away with my car. You can get a great head unit installed for less than $200, cheaper if you feel like doing it yourself, its the easiest mod in the world.

 

[RTexasF]

Read the manual and if that doesn't give you any information then go gripe at the dealer. It WILL play loud but it sounds lousy. Upgrade the system and the speakers for better sounds.

 

[RTexasF]

It just sucks, the ASL is probably some nifty feature that someone thought up. The inability to turn it off makes this a hindrance. All I want is a normal radio.... with a CD player.... aux is a plus....

You can turn it off.

 

[BanditB17]

You can turn it off.

"I for one, hate the ASL concept. I like being in control of my own volume. It would be fine to just turn ASL to "off" if it actually worked.

All of the issues I was having was with the ASL turned OFF. Even when it was off it was changing volume and muffling the treble and bass. This still happened after the radio was replaced.

Have a 3rd appointment with the dealership coming Monday.

 

[Bentworker]

The speakers in the RAV4 would not be good enough for a $5.00 karaoke machine. I have had my Rav4 for a little over a week now... currently it is tore apart in the garage and I'm installing some new infinity speakers. I could not stand the stereo, everything sounds like a really poorly compressed MP3 file, lots of hiss, the factory door tweeters are total crap. Hands down, the worst sounding stock stereo I've heard in a new car that was built in the last decade. Fortunately it is looking like the infinity speakers will work OK with the stock head unit (I got 5 1/4 non component speakers to keep the watts down for the stock head unit). Give me a week or so and I'll post what I find out, plus I'm soundproofing the living daylight out of the car.
Peter

 

[Bentworker]

New speakers in.
Still sounds horrible, the factory head unit will become target practice once I get a new one in a few months or so.

If you plan on buying a new RAV4, plan on replacing the entire stereo system if you like to have music that is of any quality in your new ride.

 

[jer.lawrence]

Is the JBL Audio system that much better than the standard system? I'm thrilled by the sound quality that I get out of my Rav (with JBL).