A few thoughts and pics from the speaker installation.
Didn't have time to do a full and comprehensive write-up, but wanted to share some things I discovered along the way. And please forgive me, as I don't do this often, so it's a bit more cut-up than I want it to be.
- The Crutchfield guide is fine, but doesn't go into detail like I remember it. Probably because of the Internet and YouTube. Still, a good guide initially.
-Contrary to my initial thoughts, the rear speakers were not as difficult as I thought. Just time consuming due to all the panels and small bits to remove. Rear seat belt or seat removal is not required, but could be beneficial if you're doing more than just replacing what's there. The plastic is flexible enough to move out of the way without fear of breaking it, but it gives you just enough room to work with a 1/4" ratchet and 5/16 socket. Sadly, I did not take any pictures of the rear, as I was running out of time and needed to get done.
- The rear speaker set-up is TIGHT to the body. The rear speakers are installed on thin metal brackets, solely there for being speaker mounts it appears. The factory speakers have some plastic behind the magnet of the speaker for shielding, which cannot be removed from the factory speakers. I didn't notice any vibration/resonance at first, but now I have. I'll probably purchase some baffles or Dynamat and redo the back when I get a chance. The front speakers sit on a plastic shield/mount, so baffles are not necessary there.
- Unless you like cutting, crimping and/or soldering, you'll need these :
Metra 72-5600 Speaker Adapter for Select Ford Vehicles. If you didn't know, Ford had a controlling interest in Mazda during the development of the 5 and the 5 has many Ford parts in it. For some reason, the two pins inside of all of my Metra adapters weren't bent enough to work properly, but a gentle bend with a flat screwdriver fixed it.
Image 1:
The first image is an overview of the backside of the drivers side front door card(panel). Disassembling the door is fairly straight forward, but your enemy is the plastic fasteners that hold the door cards(panels) on. The Crutchfield diagram doesn't give a good representation of these, so here they are. Panel pry tools are your friend here.
Image 2
This is the drivers side door taken apart. You can see where the speaker is and it's a simple removal with a Philips screwdriver. However, the speaker is usually "stuck" to its mounting position. Whether this is from time and/or the way the door is assembled at the factory, I don't know. But you will have to gently pry the speaker off the door with a flat screwdriver or some other prying tool.
Image 3
Close up of plastic fastener. I nearly broke some of them, but not so much they weren't usable. Lessons learned from the drivers side made the passenger side door much easier!
Image 4
The original factory speaker in the passenger side door. The last car I did speakers on was an 01 Ford Focus ZX3, with which the 5 shares a lineage with. I'm pretty sure I pulled these same 6x8's out of that car too, they just weren't stamped Mazda on the back.
Image 5
The new Pioneer 4-way 6x8 in its new home. The difference in sound quality is amazing, I wish I'd done it sooner. I thought the 4 way would be overkill since my 5 is a GT with the tweeters in the front door (not replaced) but it really wakes up the sound. I did dial back the treble a bit, but I don't have to have the volume as high when listening to public radio (all vocal) and music is just much tighter and cleaner all the way around. It's not going to "pound" but I can crank it up fairly loud (50) without suffering too much distortion.
I don't plan on an amp or subwoofer, as I was just looking for slightly better sound all the way around. I don't feel like tackling the head unit either, but I might do a factory iPod adapter, as the standard Aux jack causes a great deal of hiss that I didn't notice before.
Hope this helps all who find it. Moderators may move as needed.
