Mazda 3 BOSE system detailed info and IPOD
I own a 2006 Mazda 3 and just did some MAJOR AUDIO UPGRADES.
Ok so here's the deal concerning Mazda 3's with BOSE Sound and Navigation. 1st and foremost is this annoying tidbit. IF you have the Mazda Nav in your car the Audio for the entire Driver side of the car is tethered to the NAV so it can lower the volume to speak to you. Any reputable car stereo installer CAN fix this and make the proper connection so the NAV has no control over your speakers. ASLO another tidbit. The STOCK NAV DVD UNIT has 4 connections on the back of it. The GREY connection if unplugged contains the LCD screen power. The OPEN and TILT features gain power from somewhere entirely different in the car, dunno where but they do. Anyhoo If you are taking the Stock DVD system OUT of the car or converting it to a DVD Player you MUST leave the STOCK DVD Unit in your glovebox. The absolute easiest way to convert the STOCK LCD screen into a DVD player is to get an RGB converter. They run about $300.00 bucks give or take, and allow you to switch between the STOCK NAV, and a DVD source.
For the I-pod / Satellite Radio options here's the deal.
If you have NAV you can hook up ONLY Satellite Radio OR I-Pod. You will need to purchase a switchbox which allows 2 AUX inputs to the back of the STOCK HEAD UNIT. Mazda completely screwed up and designed the STOCK HEAD UNIT with only ONE AUX in which gets used by the STOCK NAV. In later years they fixed this problem BUT for at least 2006 and earlier Mazda 3's it is what it is. YOU CANNOT HOOK UP STOCK NAV, SATELLITE, AND I-POD ALL TOGETHER, you can only have 2 of either of the 3. SUCH A RIP OFF FROM MAZDA, BAD BAD BAD DESIGN.
BOSE SOUND SYSTEMS 7 Speakers total. 6 in the doors and a sub under passenger's seat. YES there is s powered sub under there people!
This is one cool thing I do like about this system. You CAN hookup the BOSE Amplifier to an aftermarket head unit! My car Installer did it for me, it was just a matter of connecting the lead from the BOSE AMP to I believe the Remote Wire of the Aftermarket wiring harness. It's simple and the sound is even better with an aftermarket head unit because you have MUCH MUCH more defined control over the audio settings like equalizers, zone controls, selection of speaker sizes, sub woofer controls etc etc. Note on Sub Woofer Controls..... The BOSE SUB is NOT controlled through an aftermarket head unit! The sub is powered by the BOSE AMP which also powers all the door speakers. So if you wanted to have control of a SUB WOOFER through your Aftermarket Head Unit's Crossover / Audio Settings you need to hook up a sub with amplifier to one of the AUDIO INPUTS on the back of the radio.
I was going to add Sirius to my 2006 Mazda 3. From the factory with installation it was near $600.00. **** THAT!
I bought a Kenwood DDX 616 Head Unit instead for $540 bucks. That gave me BLUETOOTH, DVD, I-POD CONTROLS, SIRIUS SATELLITE, USB KEY USAGE FOR MUSIC, AND REVERSE CAMERA, GARMIN NAVIGATION if I want to add it in the future!! This radio is also DUAL ZONE so I can ADD headrest DVD screens for the passengers if I wanted to.
I actually am going to CONVERT the In Dash STOCK NAV SCREEN to play DVD Movies through my Kenwood DDX 616 using ZONE 2 and then add Headrest Screens to the rear for a total of 3 LCD screens! 4 if you count the KENWOOD 6.5 inch touchscreen.
Dollar for dollar an aftermarket radio is ABSOLUTELY the way to go if you have the BOSE SYSTEM.
To ADD I-pod to a stock head unit is a JOKE if you don;t have STOCK NAV, and fairly cheap for Mazda to do and YES your STOCK HEADUNIT WILL CONTROL THE I-POD. ( ONLY WORKS WITH CERTAIN MODEL I-PODS I-TOUCH, and I-PHONE )
There is one drawback to changing the Stock Head Unit you might not like. The center console display screen is gonna lose some features. You WILL lose the clock, the info display features, and the radio station/ cd text. If you have automatic temperature and AMB ( outisde temp ) features you WILL NOT lose those. They still work.
If you're hellbent on keeping the stock CLOCK / INFO there is a way to keep some of that.
1- plug in stock headunit and set the CLOCK OR any of the INFO screens such as mileage till next refueling or miles per gallon averaged.
2- Disconnect the STOCK headunit NOT THE DISPLAY SCREEN.
3- Connect your Aftermarket headunit
Now you'll ONLY have dead space in the direct center of the display in your center console.
DRAWBACKS:
If you disconnect the battery you'll lose the display for CLOCK / INFO and will have to take your aftermarket radio OUT and hook the STOCK headunit back up to reset this. Also to change clock for daylight savings time you need to hook the stock radio back up in order to do that WHICH SUCKS 2 times a year
This is pretty much everything you need to know about this crapola lol.
