2016 CX-5 Audio upgrade thread

Just installed. They're legit! With the Infinity 3022cfx speakers already in the left and right dash spots, the difference is subtle but good. Things became more articulated. I noticed things like the guitar pick of a bass guitar's pluck and clearer project of voices. It added just what I was looking for.

I was initially concerned about running a mid-range component without a crossover, but whatever the Bose system does seems to do nicely. I had tested the speakers on a full range signal before installing, and it was a little tinny, but they sound much better once plugged into the center dash. Whatever the Bose amp has by default does a good job.

Just to note, my fade before the installation of this Infinity Kappa Perfect 300m was a couple clicks to the rear speakers, but it now sounds better with less back fade. I'm still deciding whether just one click back or even (i.e. no fade) sounds better. Definitely worth it to me - recommended.

Pro-Tip: The grey wire is positive (+) for the center speaker.
Thanks for posting your speaker upgrade experience. Your opinion of using a 3" mid-range Infinity Kappa Perfect 300m speaker as the center channel
speaker makes perfect sense to me. But consider the price at $149.99 a pair and we only need one, that's pretty expensive speaker upgrade for a center channel. Since Infinity Reference REF-3022cfx 2-way 3" speakers are cheaper at $89.99, what is your opinion using REF-3022cfx as the center dash replacement? Or do you think it's really worth it to use a more expensive 300m than a REF-3022cfx as center dash speaker for 2016(.5) CX-5?

Just went to my dealer on the other day to compare the Bose system in 2017 CX-5 to our 2016 CX-5. I used the same song from memory stick in MP3 format in 2017 Bose (would prefer to use a better sound quality CD for comparison but couldn't) with the same Bose setup and found the high notes do improve with 2 new A-pillar real tweeters; but the spare-tire sub-woofer sounded not much better and strange due to the placement at the rear IMO. The worst part is the 2017 Bose sounded different in a way that all instruments and vocal seem muddy and mixed all together, it has no clarity like my 2016's. Didn't like the result from the 2017 Bose at all other than better high notes!
 
Thanks for posting your speaker upgrade experience. Your opinion of using a 3" mid-range Infinity Kappa Perfect 300m speaker as the center channel
speaker makes perfect sense to me. But consider the price at $149.99 a pair and we only need one, that's pretty expensive speaker upgrade for a center channel. Since Infinity Reference REF-3022cfx 2-way 3" speakers are cheaper at $89.99, what is your opinion using REF-3022cfx as the center dash replacement? Or do you think it's really worth it to use a more expensive 300m than a REF-3022cfx as center dash speaker for 2016(.5) CX-5?

Just went to my dealer on the other day to compare the Bose system in 2017 CX-5 to our 2016 CX-5. I used the same song from memory stick in MP3 format in 2017 Bose (would prefer to use a better sound quality CD for comparison but couldn't) with the same Bose setup and found the high notes do improve with 2 new A-pillar real tweeters; but the spare-tire sub-woofer sounded not much better and strange due to the placement at the rear IMO. The worst part is the 2017 Bose sounded different in a way that all instruments and vocal seem muddy and mixed all together, it has no clarity like my 2016's. Didn't like the result from the 2017 Bose at all other than better high notes!

Hey yrwei52,

I think a third 3022cfx could work well too, and I actually considered doing that myself. Since I didn't I can't say for sure which is the "best" option. But my experience was that the stock 2016 Bose speakers on the front dash lacked highs, and a pair of 3022cfx speakers in the front left and right provided all I needed while leaving some room for improvement in the mids (no major deficiency, but enough to where I noticed a lack of mids up front). Since there was only one more speaker hole, I just figured to get a mid. It was a little experimental, I guess, but it worked out pretty well. If I had to describe it, the sound in front (when faded all the way to the front) went from what you'd expect out of two nice but small two-way satellite speakers with a sub in a home 2.1 system, to the sound of a 2.1 system with larger three-way floor speakers. If you've compared those, you know they both sound pretty good, but the larger three-way speakers can just sound a little more open. Hopefully that helps. I wish I could just have a few Mazda CX-5s lined up with all the speaker configs for you to just compare, but trying to explain how it was to me is the best I can do. Good luck!
 
Hey Eggz, I sent the money over via Paypal for the extra Kappa Perfect 3.5" speaker you have. Let me know that you got it please?
 
Hey Eggz, I sent the money over via Paypal for the extra Kappa Perfect 3.5" speaker you have. Let me know that you got it please?

For sure, I hope you are enjoying the center channel. I actually have another one for sale now because I am doing the same upgrade to my 2017 Mazda 3, which has an identical Bose system to my girl's 2016 CX-5.

Same as before, I'm selling for $75 because the pair was $150. Message me separately if interested. Thanks!
 
responding to this post, so I can find it later...

I have my eye on the Infinity reference ref-3022cfx for the dash and 6522ix for the doors here in the very near future. I've read the specs and like the way the kool-aid tastes, plus I like the matched soundstage

I know I won't experience a huge bump in sound volume, but I'm hoping for more fidelity and overall balance. The stock 6 speakers do lack somewhat on the low end and I am hoping my plan will improve low end performance. I'm not sure what my $200ish splurge will result in, but it has to be more positive than what came from the factory.
 
Can anyone confirm if the Infinity 3.5's (or other brands) offer upgrades in sound quality reproduction.

Volume need not apply. Doesn't have to be louder. Looking for more detail production yet not harsh highs.

I noticed when compared to my Sennheiser Momentum and Audio Technica ATH-m50x headphones I hear musical details barely or inaudible in the Mazda Bose system. This when listening inside the car in a garage with engine off. Not a fair comparison I know..........:)

Whats up with those Infinity speakers?
 
After about 8 months of sitting around, I finally got the Polk DB351 dash speakers installed the other weekend. Had been dragging my feet as I had to solder the bass blockers and splice it into the factory system (didn't have Bose speakers, so couldn't reuse the old connector).

Sound quality has been a huge jump and regret not having done it sooner. I got it completed just before a road trip of ours, and what a difference it made for the voices in comedy tracks/podcasts. Things were so much clearer and found that we didn't have to crank up the volume as much to hear them clearly compared to previous trips.

Completely understand now why so many were recommending and doing this swap.
 
After about 8 months of sitting around, I finally got the Polk DB351 dash speakers installed the other weekend. Had been dragging my feet as I had to solder the bass blockers and splice it into the factory system (didn't have Bose speakers, so couldn't reuse the old connector).

Sound quality has been a huge jump and regret not having done it sooner. I got it completed just before a road trip of ours, and what a difference it made for the voices in comedy tracks/podcasts. Things were so much clearer and found that we didn't have to crank up the volume as much to hear them clearly compared to previous trips.

Completely understand now why so many were recommending and doing this swap.

Do you have to install the Bass blockers? I have the bose system and replaced the front corner speakers with the DB351s and never installed the bass blockers, should I have
 
You certainly don't have to, it just helps prevent some distortion giving you a cleaner overall sound. As to how much of a difference it makes/matters, that I'm not too sure.
 
....after that, replace all the speakers with Focal Flax ones and than see the difference (guitar)
 
I have a non Bose 2017 Mazda CX-5 with 6 speakers (2 pairs of 6,5 inch co-axials, one in each door and a pair of 1 inch tweeters in the A pillars). The sound is totally non engaging with a base boost, rather muddy and in spite of tweaking the car radio equalizer setting to reduce the base and increase the high frequency, it still remains non engaging. The original tweeters are hardly heard, almost fake like. I am convinced that coating the original 6.5 inch paper cone speakers with elmer's glue (thinned out wood glue) or similar would produce a fine tuned, base controlled speakers. Then changing the original tweeters to more responsive ones would do the total trick. Inexpensive and doable. But I do not have time for that experiment since it takes time and the biggest hassle seems to be to dismantle the door panel. Grateful if some one has how to remove door panel in 2017, new model.

So, I have just bought a pair of co-axial Hertz DCX165.3 for the front door and a pair of co-axial Hertz DCX 170.3 for the rear doors. The 170.3 are slightly shallower and perhaps easier to mount in the rear door. The 170.3 are slightly lighter too, meaning smaller magnet, but they are for the rear door so perhaps it is ok. I will be mounting them after winter since it is not possible to work with the car during freezing temperature. I might even get rid of those silent original tweeters and use Hertz own tweeters in the A pillars. The final upgrade would be to add an active subwoofer but I will wait and see how it goes with just the co-axials upgrade first.
 
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I have a non Bose 2017 Mazda CX-5 with 6 speakers (2 pairs of 6,5 inch co-axials, one in each door and a pair of 1 inch tweeters in the A pillars). The sound is totally non engaging with a base boost, rather muddy and in spite of tweaking the car radio equalizer setting to reduce the base and increase the high frequency, it still remains non engaging. The original tweeters are hardly heard, almost fake like. I am convinced that coating the original 6.5 inch paper cone speakers with elmer's glue (thinned out wood glue) or similar would produce a fine tuned, base controlled speakers. Then changing the original tweeters to more responsive ones would do the total trick. Inexpensive and doable. But I do not have time for that experiment since it takes time and the biggest hassle seems to be to dismantle the door panel. Grateful if some one has how to remove door panel in 2017, new model.

So, I have just bought a pair of co-axial Hertz DCX165.3 for the front door and a pair of co-axial Hertz DCX 170.3 for the rear doors. The 170.3 are slightly shallower and perhaps easier to mount in the rear door. The 170.3 are slightly lighter too, meaning smaller magnet, but they are for the rear door so perhaps it is ok. I will be mounting them after winter since it is not possible to work with the car during freezing temperature. I might even get rid of those silent original tweeters and use Hertz own tweeters in the A pillars. The final upgrade would be to add an active subwoofer but I will wait and see how it goes with just the co-axials upgrade first.
Yes any good quality after-market speakers would improve the sound quality from OEM speakers. Even Bose system uses cheap paper-cone speakers which can be replaced to improve the sound quality. The silent OEM tweeters on A-pillar could be the result of crossover design, and tweeter replacement may not help unless you change the crossover if its changeable.
 
Yes any good quality after-market speakers would improve the sound quality from OEM speakers. Even Bose system uses cheap paper-cone speakers which can be replaced to improve the sound quality. The silent OEM tweeters on A-pillar could be the result of crossover design, and tweeter replacement may not help unless you change the crossover if it’s changeable.

Most of the good tweeters come with their own cross overs and I am hoping that the cheap original tweeter has some kind of cross over hanging on the speakers and replacement will be easy.
 
Most of the good tweeters come with their own cross overs and I am hoping that the cheap original tweeter has some kind of cross over hanging on the speakers and replacement will be easy.
For your OE 6-speaker setup the crossover for tweeters most likely is the case youve hoped. But for Bose its built-in with the amp and cant be changed.
 
Hey yrwei52,

I think a third 3022cfx could work well too, and I actually considered doing that myself. Since I didn't I can't say for sure which is the "best" option. But my experience was that the stock 2016 Bose speakers on the front dash lacked highs, and a pair of 3022cfx speakers in the front left and right provided all I needed while leaving some room for improvement in the mids (no major deficiency, but enough to where I noticed a lack of mids up front). Since there was only one more speaker hole, I just figured to get a mid. It was a little experimental, I guess, but it worked out pretty well. If I had to describe it, the sound in front (when faded all the way to the front) went from what you'd expect out of two nice but small two-way satellite speakers with a sub in a home 2.1 system, to the sound of a 2.1 system with larger three-way floor speakers. If you've compared those, you know they both sound pretty good, but the larger three-way speakers can just sound a little more open. Hopefully that helps. I wish I could just have a few Mazda CX-5s lined up with all the speaker configs for you to just compare, but trying to explain how it was to me is the best I can do. Good luck!

I can vouch for the infinity 3022cfx. Just replaced the bose side dash speakers and what a difference! I feel like the bose speakers were missing tweeters for the highs. The infinities fill this spot quite nicely. The hardest part of the install was trying to maneuver around the corner of the windshield and get those dang screws off. If I had to do it over, I'd definitely buy the side screwdriver tool mentioned in previous posts. I decided to go cheap and use a small wrench with a phillips bit.
 
I have successfully used the following speakers/mounting kit/wire harness to replace all of my speakers for my 2014 CX-5 Grand Touring with the Bose system. It's been quite a journey. I hope this helps others save time.

Front: Left/Center/Right speakers - CERWIN-VEGA MOBILE H735 HED(R) Series 2-Way Coaxial Speakers (3.5", 250 Watts max)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

Rear Door: CERWIN VEGA XED62 XED 6.5-Inch 300 Watts Max 2-Way Coaxial Speaker Set
https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

Front Door: Earthquake Sound i82SWS 8-inch Shallow Woofer System 2-Ohm
https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

Mounting Kits:

Front Door: Earthquake Sound R8SWS Installation Ring Adapter for Speakers
https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

Rear Door: American International NSB710 Speaker Mounting Brackets
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_003NSB710/American-International-NSB710-Speaker-Mounting-Brackets.html?search=003NSB710&skipvs=T

Wire Harness:
(2) Pair of Metra 72-5602 Speaker Wire Adapters for Ford and Mazda Vehicles - 4 Total Adapters
https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

Helpful Videos/Forum Posts:

Front Door Panel Removal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnK8VGNM144

Rear Door Panel Removal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CurLqAf49xU

Dash Speaker Information:
https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123851522-2016-CX5-Audio-upgrade-thread&p=6411416&viewfull=1#post6411416

Summary:

The left and right front dash speakers were a tight fit, but they will work perfectly. Just install the speaker and screw it down. I also removed the wire connector from the factory Bose speakers and soldered it to the new speakers using the wire that came with the speakers. The rear and front speakers were fairly easy using the mounting brackets and wire harnesses. The front door covers came off easily, but the rear door covers were a bit more difficult. They came off easy, but about 5 or 6 of the clips stayed in the door. I had to pry them out with a couple of flat head screwdrivers and put them back into the door cover. Not a big deal, but something to note. After all is said and done I can definitely hear an improvement in sound quality. The mids and highs are much clearer and cleaner. Ever since my door speakers blew (due to moisture) I have been trying to piece together how to replace all of the speakers without spending a fortune. I completed this project for under $400.00.
 
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I ran across what seems to be a perfect drop-in replacement for the stock Bose subwoofers in the front doors, at just 2.125 in mounting depth. They are the Earthquake sws-8xi. I put an image that you can click, which brings you to the Amazon page. They come in a variety of sizes and Ohm ratings, but the sws-8xi seems to be perfect. If you look at the spec sheet (link will download owner's manual), it shows that the true ohm rating is 1.76. That's actually a closer match to the Bose 1.25 ohm rating for the door than a 2 ohm sub, and it doesn't go below the rating like a 1 ohm load would - potentially frying the amp. They also have an 86.7 db sensitivity, so the are pretty efficient and would probably run just fine on the stock Bose amp.

If anyone springs for these, please post your impressions on how they are in the CX-5, and I'll do the same if I end up getting them. Everything available online about these shallow-mount subs is about BMWs because that's what prompted their design. But now that the Mazda Bose system will accommodate them, I'm interested to see how they do and if they perform better than the stock Bose subs.
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This indeed looks like a good choice for a Blose replacement woofer, but because its Qts is 0.669 (close to .707 for an unsealed woofer). You cited the Re of 1.76. Re means the DC resistance of the woofer, not impedance. It is surely a 2 ohm impedance woofer. And finally, an SPLo of 86.7 dB may be about the best we can get, it is miserably low. LOL! 96.7 could be considered "pretty efficient".
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I have successfully used the following speakers/mounting kit/wire harness to replace all of my speakers for my 2014 CX-5 Grand Touring with the Bose system. It's been quite a journey. I hope this helps others save time.
Thanks for the helpful info.

Ever since my door speakers blew (due to moisture) I have been trying to piece together how to replace all of the speakers without spending a fortune. I completed this project for under $400.00.
There's a TSB for this issue. I was lucky to get two Bose 9" door woofers replaced under warranty with revised version which are supposed to avoid water and moisture damage.
 
I've been doing tons of research and have an idea on what I want to do and would love some feedback/help with some questions. FYI I have a 2016 CX-5 Touring non-Bose and definitely want to keep the stock head unit and would like to preserve as much as the factory wiring and not make permanent modifications.

1) First thing I'm thinking of is upgrading the front and rear door speakers. Crutchfield sells these Rockford Fosgate 6.5" 2-way speakers for $40/pair, including mounting brackets and speaker harnesses. Will these be a noticeable upgrade for $80 or would that money be better spent on a single pair of better (Polk?) speakers for just the front? Do i need anything else to complete the installation? Are baffles and/or dynamat important?

2) I'm less sure if it's worth upgrading the dash speakers. Polk 351 seem popular but appear discontinued. What else fits? Would i be better off getting a component system for the fronts + dash rather than 2-ways? Would running a component system for the fronts require me to run new wiring from the dash speakers to the front door speakers?

3) After doing #1 and possibly #2, I'm interested in installing a compact amp (perhaps this Alpine) for more power. How many channels do I need? I'm also not clear on how to connect this to stock head unit and existing speaker wiring. It sounds like this PAC adapter can be used to connect the stock head unit to an aftermarket amplifier? If so, how would i go about connecting the aftermarket amp to the factory speaker wiring? Where is the stock amp located? Behind the glove compartment? I'd really like to avoid running new speaker wires.

4) Way down the line, adding a subwoofer might be fun. Don't want to take up cargo space so I'm thinking creating a custom enclosure and sticking it in the spare tire would be great. I assume to do that I would need a non-powered subwoofer connected to an amp? Seems like 5 channel amps are much more expensive than 4 channel amps...

Sorry for the ton of questions, thanks in advance!!
 
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I know I'm bumping an old thread, but I had to say thank-you to the many contributors. I switched out the 3 Bose dash speakers in my 2016 GT for Infinity Ref 3022CFX speakers this evening and it's a noticeable improvement. Not necessarily an "I was blown away!" difference but for sure a change for the better.

I did a listening comparison by leaving 1 of the Bose speakers in the right dash position and 1 of the Infinity speakers in the left dash position, then setting the fade all the way to Front and flicking the Balance between left and right. The highs are very much clearer. Dialog is less muddy sounding and more detailed. That alone was worth the price of admission.

The Infinity Ref 3022CFX have been replaced by the Ref 3032CFX, but I don't see a difference in the specs. The former are on sale for $59.95 a pair through Amazon which is a great deal.

I did not re-use the original Bose connectors, I snipped them off and stripped the wires back a little then used https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned) with https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned) to make the connections. Smooth and hassle-free. I plan on keeping the car for a long time, and even if I didn't it's hard to imagine wanting to reinstall all of the Bose speakers in the event of a sale.

Next up are the front and rear door speakers (to be replaced with Infinity Ref 6522EX) and the D pillar speakers (also to be replaced with Infinity Ref 3022CFX). I know everyone says that the D pillar speakers aren't worth upgrading, but I'm obsessive enough that it would drive me nuts to have 7 / 9 Infinity speakers and 2 / 9 Bose (eek).

Total cost including a set of trim removal tools, some nifty wire strippers, mounting brackets and harnesses for the front and rear doors, and of course the speakers themselves was about $365. From what I've heard so far it will be well worth it.
 
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