Advice for a newbie audiophile on a 2015 CX-5 GT?

[Catfromtex]

I love my new CX-5 GT, but the stereo sound really is flat and needs help. I have never modified a car stereo before, and I'm a bit overwhelmed at where to start. I will have pros do the installation, but I don't know what I actually need to get a richer, more surround sound experience.

I am planning on keeping the current stereo unit, so what else can I do?

Any advice will be sincerely appreciated.

 

[V8toilet]

Do you have the Bose system? Give us an idea of what you want the sound to be like and what you find lacking or missing in your stock system.

 

[Catfromtex]

I have the Bose system. It doesn't even seem like stereo. It sounds like all the sound is coming from the center dash speaker, even though I can touch the other speakers & actually feel the vibration of them working.
I would like a more surround sound experience. Not necessarily loud, but something that let's you hear the different instruments coming from different directions. Does that make any sense?

In a perfect world, I'd like THX in my car. I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen

 

[atoz350]

Look into the JBL MS8 Sound Processor. It offers the surround sound feature and will drive 8 channels.

 

[Catfromtex]

Does anyone know if the speakers in the front doors are different from the speakers in the back? They don't seem to have any sound other than low range. The speakers in the trunk area actually sound pretty good by comparison.

 

[bmarsh]

I have the Bose system. It doesn't even seem like stereo. It sounds like all the sound is coming from the center dash speaker, even though I can touch the other speakers & actually feel the vibration of them working.
I would like a more surround sound experience. Not necessarily loud, but something that let's you hear the different instruments coming from different directions. Does that make any sense?

In a perfect world, I'd like THX in my car. I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen

Sounds like "centerpoint" is turned on. To me, it just makes everything sound mono.

 

[bmarsh]

Does anyone know if the speakers in the front doors are different from the speakers in the back? They don't seem to have any sound other than low range. The speakers in the trunk area actually sound pretty good by comparison.

Yes, they are Bose's attempt as a subwoofer, but they really don't provide much. Without replacing the Bose processor/amp, there isn't any way to change that. This forum has a few threads that talk about adding in a subwoofer system to provide that missing piece of the spectrum.

 

[rg2013]

I agree with this assessment. I disabled Centerpoint and adjusted the fade so the sound is more evenly distributed. I did notice when I first got the CX-5 the sound all seems to be focused in the front speakers.

 

[Catfromtex]

I can only seem to adjust Centerpoint when my iPod is plugged in. The rest of the time the button is greyed out.
I agree that it doesn't seem to help the sound quality.

I did play around with the fade and it helped a lot to distribute the sound, but the mid range is still lacking.

Thanks for the subwoofer advice. I'll look into that too.

 

[Skorpio]

I'll be writing an aftermarket subwoofer install hopefully later today in the "how to" section if anyone is interested.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk