'06 Mazda3 audio questions

Just got an '06 3 strato Blue.(chosen over a Scion tC) I have 6 disc mp3 HU. It's really lacking in clarity; I have to turn the bass down to -1 just so it doesnt sound boomy and muffled. Is it the speakers or something else? What can I do to change this? Other than getting an aftermarket HU... AmP? New speakers?
My last car was a '05 neon, the audio system in it was great.
 
I hear yah on that....I have the same HU & feel the same about it. I have my bass set to -4 most of the time, & even then it doesn't sound tight at all.
WAAAY too much boom for this room!
You *might* try turning the ALC on & set it to 2 or 3, that actually seems to help the sound a little bit, but still no cure by a long shot. One thing that really ticks me off is that the 05 HUs had a midrange tone control, but they dropped it for the 06 year.
It's reported that the oem speakers are from Ford & are 5X7 & (I'm guessing here) are probably "full range" with whizzer cone "tweeters". I think I had the same speakers in my 2000 Focus, cuz they sound nearly as flabby. Not sure if there is an actual crossover to the a-pillar tweeter, but am doubting it.
It kills me that Mazda got this car *just right* on so many level, but yet blew it in the audio department. And I admit to being a tad pi$$ed about paying the extra $400 to still end up with muddy flabby tunes.
Several others have swapped out to aftermarket HUs, and/or speakers. There are adapters to fit in 6.5s, but no telling what response curve you end up with as they couple to whatever internal dimensions the doors offer. Heck even a simple 5 band EQ could have solved most of it, but...
 
I just noticed today that there are tweeters placed on the front doors near the mirrors. I didnt notice them before. o.@
Can they be replaced with after market componets?
 
oh dear...LOL.
I'm sure you can find tweeters that will fit there, although I still think it is the low end that's the problem with this system.
 
Yes, there are definitely after market choices for all the speakers. I almost replaced mine with Alpine Type-S speakers (5x7"; OEM are 6x8" in the doors), amps, and a sub, but decided to do a Quaife ATB differential instead (and clutch and flywheel).

While I agree that the woofers are worse than the tweeters, the highs are frequently too bright for my tastes. I've found that the quality of sound of this system is inconsistent, depending on the source material. If it has a lot of energy (output) at the frequencies where boominess occurs in the bass and/or nasality in the mid-range, then it sounds terrible. If not, it sounds pretty good for an OEM system. At its worst, it sounds worse than the stock stereo in my 2001 Focus ZX3; at its best, I think it sounds better than my old Focus. The Focus stereo was more consistent sounding, never sounding fantastic, but never sounding like s***, either.
 
Chibana - that's it exactly! The Mazda system constantly needs to be fiddled with to get it to sound decent. I've never owned a car system that needs to be altered so much from album to album to dial (or rather re-dial) it in for best sound. Very frustrating, although it *can* sound pretty good with certain types music.

BTW, do you know if the front door OEMS are full range, or just woofers?
 
cbc said:
Chibana - that's it exactly! The Mazda system constantly needs to be fiddled with to get it to sound decent. I've never owned a car system that needs to be altered so much from album to album to dial (or rather re-dial) it in for best sound. Very frustrating, although it *can* sound pretty good with certain types music.

BTW, do you know if the front door OEMS are full range, or just woofers?

You know, I can't say for sure, but you'd have to think that with tweeters in the A pillars, that the door speakers must not cover the high frequencies, and just be woofers.
 
You guys should try changing the speakers first before the HU. Two $100 pairs of speakers is still cheaper than a decient HU. If it doesn't fix the problem than I would try the HU, but I guarantee it will sound much better with just the speakers. I would also suggest dynamating the surrounding area of the speakers. Try going and ordering a catalog from www.crutchfield.com, they have excellent articles on stereo systems. As far as the stock HU I like to set my controls a -1 treble and +2 bass. Most systems seem to respond well to this. Unless of coarse you have a midrange control.
 
sound deadening.... i hated the way my stock set up sounded and before i have the set up i have now i just used some butyl sound deadening on the front doors and it made a world of difference, it was a whole new car for sure.... with the amt of power i have goin to the doors now and the amt of rattles i need to add another 2-3 layers i think especially on the psnger side.... but i would suggest sound deadening before anything else b/c if you go beyond that step you will only increase your out put regardless of your route (speakers/amp/hu...)
 
cbc said:
Chibana - that's it exactly! The Mazda system constantly needs to be fiddled with to get it to sound decent. I've never owned a car system that needs to be altered so much from album to album to dial (or rather re-dial) it in for best sound. Very frustrating, although it *can* sound pretty good with certain types music.

BTW, do you know if the front door OEMS are full range, or just woofers?
the front & rear door 5x7's are the same the front just has a tweeter added, i changed mine to 6" kicker components & the back are kicker 6x8 two way, two 12" RF p3's & a RF 1000.1bd amp. sounds great...still have stock hu..
 
silla, by "front just has tweeter added, do you mean the one in the apillars or that the 5X 7s themselves have a coaxial tweeter in them?
tsunami - How much area inside the doors can you get at to apply the dynamat to?
I'm thinking too that new speakers & some door work would be easier than dropping the $$ for a new HU ( although doing that for my Focus made a workd of diff even with the crappy oems)

I always cringe a bit when thinking of attempting to pry off the door panels... =(
 
door panels were actually pretty easy... it was my first time taking any door panels off and i was nervous as a mofo, but now its a cake walk, i think i broke 3 of the 1 time use only plugs but i went and bought like 12 just incase fromthe dealer for 20$ or something, if you want you can just put the sound deadening on there and fix any problematic areas as you find them if you are not running to much power that should be fine, if you want to do it all out, i would remove the the middle piece wich isn't to bad it comes apart with about 12 hex head screws, then put the deadening on the skin itself then on the back side of the middle panel then on the back of the panel you removed and then again on the front of that panel, and then put some closed cell foam on the inside of your door panel....

thats what i am going to do this summer but if you aren't running much power and don't plan on it the initial layer will probably be fine, just need to track down the one or two rattles it seems the biggest rattle is near the b pillar in the passenger door down low.... i need to pull it off and investigate further this summer...
 
If you replace just the speakers you will get cleaner sound but it won't play as loud. The distortion will kick in at a lower volume as the 10-15w per channel head unit tries to push 75-100w RMS speakers.

I know it's a big step but I recommend buying a set of component speakers for the front and an entry level 50-75w x 2 amplifier to power them. You can keep the factory head unit for now and I wouldn't touch the rear speakers.

Once you install the amp and speakers you can re-evaluate the sound. If it still sounds muddy or harsh you might want to consider an aftermarket head unit. If it still lacks bass you might want to consider a second amplifier and a small subwoofer (8" or 10").
 
chuyler1 said:
If you replace just the speakers you will get cleaner sound but it won't play as loud. The distortion will kick in at a lower volume as the 10-15w per channel head unit tries to push 75-100w RMS speakers.
Not unless you buy speakers that are designed to run at a lower power level. If you ask someone who knows their stuff, they should be able to reccomend a speaker that will work well with a factory stereo. But you are right, components and an amp would sound better but you are also talking 3 to 4 times the price. It all comes down to two things: 1. how good you want it to sound and 2. how much money you have to spend. I personally wouldn't buy real expensive stuff, I cant hear enough differences to justify the price. But if you are an audiophile, maybe you can.
 
Most car speakers are designed to be pretty efficient (90-94 db/watt/meter), so they really don't need much power to drive them. So as long as the HU has a decent amp built into it, it should be just fine. My days of slamming out the Korn at 110db are about over <G>, but f I can find some better made aftermarket speakers that don't poot out & start overloading & distorting at mid-volume, I'd be happy camper.
 
The sensitivity concern is exactly why I did not want to simply replace the OEM speakers with aftermarket ones. On my 1997 Ford Contour SE, I replaced the really nasty stock speakers (in what was supposedly a "Premium Sound System") with Polk Audio speakers. When I pulled the OEM speakers, I discovered that they were very efficient (95 db/W/m), much more so than the Polks. Sure enough, the stereo was even less loud after the swap. It sounded better, but was impossible to hear on the expressway with the window down. I ended up getting a Clarion head unit and then it was good. I suspect that if I just replace the stock speakers in my 3, I'll be in the same boat, so I was going to do speakers, an amp for the four speakers, and a subwoofer with an amp for that. However, like I said, I decided to spend my money on something else this time. Maybe I'll do the stereo later.
 
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i only have an amp on the subs not anything else my 6" kicker components (ks65.2) are loud alot of mids and highs no amp., r-door kicker 5x7 not sure of mod #, no amp the infinity kappas(572.5)are loader but i like to run the same name stuff... stock speakers are a 2 way 5x7....
 
silla-

Did you use door adapters to fit the kicker woofers in the doors?
Did the tweeters fit in the A-pillar spot where the oems are? & where did you mount the x-over? That set looks like a good'n - although I see it is rated a little less sensitive than most (88db)
 
i made speaker plates from 1/4 inch mdf, popped out stock tweeter trim out that grill area did the hole just a little bigger put the kicker tweet in, mounted the x-over to inside of door with some two sided tape stuff.they sound great...
 
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