Okay, so I wasn't happy with the sound from the muddy mid bass drivers in my Sport model just like most here. I did some extensive research and read many threads/posts here where members have upgraded various speakers ranging from 6.5" coaxial 2-ways to expensive component 6.5" speakers and larger replacement speakers for the front and rear doors and also 3.5" coaxial speakers in the dash. I visited some friends in the car stereo business and listened to a ton of different combinations in the stores. I even removed the front and rear door panels to try and get an idea of how much work was involved with changing the factory speakers. Here is what I came up with.
The front speakers are actually more like paper cone oddball 7+ inch mid bass drivers with an inner cone in the middle to enhance the high end. They're not actually that bad if you reduce the bass setting on the radio to -2 or -3. They are also super light with a small neodymium magnet to shave weight and have 25 watts printed on the back. They must be very efficient speakers to make as much bass as they do on such little power. What they needed was a boost in the upper range of the frequency band. You cannot just buy 6.5" speakers and replace the stock speakers without extensive modifications to the hole in the door or destroying the stock paper cone and mounting the 6.5" coaxial in its place. The stock speakers are built into a plastic housing that bolts to an out of round hole in the door and is sealed to the door with a gasket. Even if you did put a 6.5" driver in its place chances are they won't match the bass output of the stock speakers without buying $$$ of amplifiers and the matching components. I thought of a wood spacer to make a new 7"-8" speaker fit but with all that water in there I changed my mind and the magnets were just too big and heavy. I noticed the back of the plastic housing was wet because it was raining just before I pulled the door panel and water does get in the door through the glass gasket (normal). If I were to replace the stock speaker than it was going to have to be marine grade so it wouldn't corrode over time adding more cost. No matter how I looked at it, it was going to cost a lot of money to do this and modification to get it right.
I then looked at installing a decent set 3.5" coaxial's in the front dash and I almost went for this. I even had my hands on a nice set of JBL's for $90. The issue was that $90 was still a bit steep for me (yeah I'm cheap) and from one member who did this the speakers barely fit. He had to force one of them in because the huge magnet was up against some plastic inside the hole. I could have bought 3.5" coaxial speakers for as little as $30-$45 but those come with lesser quality semi done tweeters and its hard to find one that is efficient enough to run correctly on the factory power.
So I decided on installing some tweeters in the front dash per the recommendation of my friends at the car audio place nearby. I bought a set of Pioneer TS-T110 7/8" tweeters because they were highly rated and inexpensive at just $30 shipped to my door from Amazon. They are also very efficient with a high 92 efficiency rating so I knew they would run on the factory radio with no amps. I would have bought tweeters from my friends but they didn't have any that were inexpensive or efficient. I installed these Pioneers by drilling a 2" hole in the plastic plate that Mazda put there where there would normally be a speaker with the optional Bose system. Pioneer supplies all the hardware you need to install these speakers in that hole. The wiring was already there so I just removed a section of insulation without cutting the wire and teed in the tweeter wires making sure I had the correct polarity using my Fluke multi meter. That plastic plate was perfect for holding those tweeters. I removed the fabric from the grille and installed the dash grilles back in place. The sound upgrade is incredible! I can hear parts of my music that I couldn't hear before and the stereo separation is much improved. These tweeters are a steel for just $30. The sound is now balanced with great lows and fantastic highs.
The only other thing I think I may upgrade is the rear speakers with some coaxial Pioneers but only because I already own a pair given to me by my brother. I am now happy with the sound of the Sport system with these tweeters added and it only cost me $30 and an hour and a half of my time. Hope someone else gives this a try, you won't be disappointed.
The front speakers are actually more like paper cone oddball 7+ inch mid bass drivers with an inner cone in the middle to enhance the high end. They're not actually that bad if you reduce the bass setting on the radio to -2 or -3. They are also super light with a small neodymium magnet to shave weight and have 25 watts printed on the back. They must be very efficient speakers to make as much bass as they do on such little power. What they needed was a boost in the upper range of the frequency band. You cannot just buy 6.5" speakers and replace the stock speakers without extensive modifications to the hole in the door or destroying the stock paper cone and mounting the 6.5" coaxial in its place. The stock speakers are built into a plastic housing that bolts to an out of round hole in the door and is sealed to the door with a gasket. Even if you did put a 6.5" driver in its place chances are they won't match the bass output of the stock speakers without buying $$$ of amplifiers and the matching components. I thought of a wood spacer to make a new 7"-8" speaker fit but with all that water in there I changed my mind and the magnets were just too big and heavy. I noticed the back of the plastic housing was wet because it was raining just before I pulled the door panel and water does get in the door through the glass gasket (normal). If I were to replace the stock speaker than it was going to have to be marine grade so it wouldn't corrode over time adding more cost. No matter how I looked at it, it was going to cost a lot of money to do this and modification to get it right.
I then looked at installing a decent set 3.5" coaxial's in the front dash and I almost went for this. I even had my hands on a nice set of JBL's for $90. The issue was that $90 was still a bit steep for me (yeah I'm cheap) and from one member who did this the speakers barely fit. He had to force one of them in because the huge magnet was up against some plastic inside the hole. I could have bought 3.5" coaxial speakers for as little as $30-$45 but those come with lesser quality semi done tweeters and its hard to find one that is efficient enough to run correctly on the factory power.
So I decided on installing some tweeters in the front dash per the recommendation of my friends at the car audio place nearby. I bought a set of Pioneer TS-T110 7/8" tweeters because they were highly rated and inexpensive at just $30 shipped to my door from Amazon. They are also very efficient with a high 92 efficiency rating so I knew they would run on the factory radio with no amps. I would have bought tweeters from my friends but they didn't have any that were inexpensive or efficient. I installed these Pioneers by drilling a 2" hole in the plastic plate that Mazda put there where there would normally be a speaker with the optional Bose system. Pioneer supplies all the hardware you need to install these speakers in that hole. The wiring was already there so I just removed a section of insulation without cutting the wire and teed in the tweeter wires making sure I had the correct polarity using my Fluke multi meter. That plastic plate was perfect for holding those tweeters. I removed the fabric from the grille and installed the dash grilles back in place. The sound upgrade is incredible! I can hear parts of my music that I couldn't hear before and the stereo separation is much improved. These tweeters are a steel for just $30. The sound is now balanced with great lows and fantastic highs.
The only other thing I think I may upgrade is the rear speakers with some coaxial Pioneers but only because I already own a pair given to me by my brother. I am now happy with the sound of the Sport system with these tweeters added and it only cost me $30 and an hour and a half of my time. Hope someone else gives this a try, you won't be disappointed.
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