Upgrading Speakers on CX-5 Touring

icarlos

Member
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2014 Mazda CX-5 GT
I have the Touring with the touch screen radio-CD. The none Bose speakers have poor sound quality. Went to a local owned audio shop and they told me that switching to these speakers on front doors: Kicker KS6.2 http://www.crutchfield.com/p_206KS62/Kicker-KS6-2.html and these in the back doors:Kicker KS60 http://www.crutchfield.com/p_206KS60A/Kicker-KS60.html should be ok for the radio amp to handle and improve the sound in the car. Should I get a dedicated amp or just let the radio handle these babes?

I will appreciate your comments on this.
 
Here is a link to my thread where I added an amplifier and replaced my speakers. I would definitely recommend adding an amplifier, otherwise the replacement speakers won't sound that great with the 10 watts or so coming off the factory deck. Adding a subwoofer is also highly recommended. http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123818395-Amplifier-and-LOC-Installed

Would you go as far as to say that a amp would be a better bang for the buck than new speakers?
Can an amp liven up the stock speakers?
Understand your point about good speakers with a weak amp, in the past I bought pretty pricey speakers and hooked them up to the stock head unit only to end up with a sound that was worse than the stock paper speakers produced.
 
If the new speakers are efficient enough, you could hook them to the factory deck, and get by. However, adding even a smallish amp will be a huge improvement.

If it were me, I would install a LOC, a 5-channel amp, 4 speakers, and a 10" sub.

You mention that the stock speakers have poor sound quality... What do you mean by this? When is it poor? On my CX-5/BOSE, the CD sounds MUCH better than MP3 or bluetooth.
 
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My Touring does not have the Bose Audio neither the sunroof. The factory speakers are cheap. I really don't care about a sub that much, just better speakers for front and back doors with tweeters going to the front dash. What amp will you recommend for this set up?
 
I ran the factory speakers off of my amp for about a month until I got my Focal's, they were louder with the amp but I was afraid to push them much and blow them so I used the high pass filters. The polk 5 channel amp I got is great, has a 500w sub channel instead of the usual 300w and is stable to 1ohm and comes with a remote gain for the sub that you have to pay extra for with the JL. Also, you can run a single pair of RCA's to the amp and power all 5 channels which is nice. I got it from Amazon for 290. The JL audio 5 channels are nice too, and the alpine V series 5 channel is the one I almost got before I found the polk. Speaker wise, I am really happy with my Focal's, even the coaxes I put in the back doors sound great (Focal 165CA1). I got them from sonix for about 85 dollars, get 2 pairs of those and a better pair of tweeters to go in the dash and you're set. (The factory speakers in the dash are tweeters but you could fit 3.5" speakers there if you wanted to. I would just put in better tweeters)
 
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I also have the Touring without the Bose. I recently changed out my stock speakers with the Polk Audio db Series. Took me a day and a half with the install. I'm sorry, no pics.

Here's the breakdown:
Front Dash - PA db351
Front Door - PA db6501
Rear Door - PA db651S
Sub: Infinity Bass-Link (I had one lying around the house)

The Polks were efficient enough from the output from stock deck but don't expect to rock the neighborhood. The dash replacement made a huge difference because the stock speaker was just a tweeter. The front door was replaced with a component setup. The tweeter was surface mounted 10 o'clock from the 6.5 speaker so it's pointing directly at me. I was too lazy to cut a 2" hole. The rear door is just fill and I could have left the stock in. I reused the plastic basket that were on all four doors. I just ripped out the old speakers and broke off the stock speaker brackets. I used the metal clips that came with the Polks and bent one end outwards to a 90 degree angle. There were slots in the inner lip of the basket and the clips catches the mounting screws that goes in at an angle. The sub install was pretty straight forward, tapped via speaker level inputs from the front, and since it's powered, the sub plays much louder. I have the remote bass level normally at 25%. I was fortunate that the amp for the Bass-Link has an auto sensing turn on feature because I may have connected the wrong wire from the deck (red/black) for the remote turn on. My next project will be finding a remote turn on wire. I don't feel comfortable with the amp staying on for 5 minutes after shutting off the ignition. I should have used my volt meter. I also installed the peel-and-stick Dynamat inside the front doors.

My only gripe is that the stock deck has only bass and treble settings. Due to the dash speaker getting an upgrade to the 3.5 size, the mid range is much more pronounced. It would be perfect if the stock deck had a mid level setting. Other than that, I'm happy with the upgrade. The music is much more enjoyable. I've played Top 40, Jazz, House, Dubstep, Rap, Reggae, Rock, 70s, 80s, 90s, and PSY's Gangnam Style. Next up is Telarc's The Great Fantasy Adventure Album.

A very big Thank You to the other members in the following thread, I was able get some valuable installation tips. Those white door clips were definite a pain in the 'okole (oh-ko-lay). 'Okole-your local Hawaiian word of the day. This thread was a really big help: http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123815167-Radio-Speakers-on-SPORT-model

Good luck to everyone on your installs!
 
If the new speakers are efficient enough, you could hook them to the factory deck, and get by. However, adding even a smallish amp will be a huge improvement.

If it were me, I would install a LOC, a 5-channel amp, 4 speakers, and a 10" sub.

You mention that the stock speakers have poor sound quality... What do you mean by this? When is it poor? On my CX-5/BOSE, the CD sounds MUCH better than MP3 or bluetooth.

Mp3's water down whats originally stored in CDs. The better the system the more you can tell the difference. I try to ensure all my mp3's are at 320kbps.
 
Anyone changed out the Bose system? It's just not as epic as it should be with a name like bose
 
Anyone changed out the Bose system? It's just not as epic as it should be with a name like bose

I guess there is Bose and then there is high end Bose. The Bose system in my Audi A6 was incredible. My teen sons had never heard such a great car stereo. But the consensus on the Mazda Bose is that its good but not great.

I put 8" triaxials in the front doors and with the stock head unit the sound is great. Lots of volume with little distortion. Inexpensive. Best bang for your buck.
 
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