DIY Installation of 8" Speakers, Sound Deadening and Amplifier

Installation of 8 "speakers and Tweeter (Focal ISS200)

Sometime ago, I installed 6.5" JBL speakers in my Mazda CX5 2014:
https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/sho...lation-of-JBL-Component-Speaker-in-Mazda-CX-5

But I still wanted to improve sound quality and bass, so now I decided to install 8 "speakers. Looking for alternatives I found the following 8" bass-mid speakers:

• Rockford Fosgate PPS4-8. This speaker is 125W RMS and is designed to reproduce the sound at high SPL, but it does not suitable for the type of music I listen to.
Http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/details/pps4-8
• Focal ISS200. It includes an 8 "(200mm) Woofer and a Tweeter, with the crossover filters integrated in the cable, the RMS power is 80W. I think this is more suitable for the type of music I listen to.

Finally I decided for the Focal ISS200.



To install the woofer in the CX5 I had to make a custom spacer, and this was a good opportunity to try my El Cheapo Router. I used the router accessories, plus a custom aluminum angle, and I was able to make perfect circumferences:



The spacer is made:

• Base made of 10mm DM with "ears" for the mounting holes to the door. I used the OEM spacer as a template
• 2 x DM spacers made of 19mm DM. External Diameter is 220mm, and internal diameter is 180mm
• Total thickness is 10 + 19 + 19mm = 48mm, which is enough for the Focal ISS200.

I glued the three DM parts, and I also used through screws to improve robustness.

Keep in mind that in case of rain there may be water falling through the glass of the door that may damage the spacer and speaker, cone and magnet so I waterproofed the spacer with 3 layers of paint and I also included a "roof" that covers the speaker magnet and will protect it from water.

Spacer Front View:



Spacer Rear View with Woofer already installed, and you can see rain protecting "roof" and a foam to prevent vibrations:

8" Speaker Installation Part 2

And here you can see speaker already installed in the door:



To install the Tweeter in the dashboard, I made a piece of wood with a wedge shape to better direct the treble to the car cabin, and not to the windshield:



And this is once it is installed in the dashboard:

Installation of Sound Deadening in doors

The door-mounted speakers have low sound quality because the door acts as a soundboard and the door sheet metal flex and vibrate, so the speaker cone movement is converted in vibration of the door sheet metal instead of movement of the air to our ears. The low frequencies are mainly affected by this and instead of a pure bass sound (TOC, TOC), our ears get a seriously degraded bass sound (TOINGGGG, TOINGGGG ...). The solution is to bond sound deadening material to the door metal sheet and panels to dampen the metal sheet vibrations.

I used Butyl type elastomeric material sheets specifically for audio that are flexible and easy to install on the door panels. The pioneer in this was Dynamat, and since at that time there were no alternatives, they set up a business model that consists of making an aggressive Marketing campaign and selling the product with a maximum profit. But since I did not want to pay for their marketing campaign, I selected alternative materials that have the same or better acoustic properties, but at a more reasonably cost. Here we have some of the products, with a calculation of the price per square meter (Prices are in Spain, but should be similar in other countries):

• Dynamat Xtreme 61x122cm ( 67€ m2)
• Silent Coat. (29€ m2)
• Reckhorn Alubutyl ABX. Roll of 0.4x5m (25€ m2).

I used the Redckhorn Alubutyl ABX because the quality is good, the price is fine, but mainly because it comes in a roll of 5m, so I can make large pieces and not just scraps. Reckhorn information can be found here:

Https://www.reckhorn.net/pages/alubutyl-isolation/abx-alubutyl.php

To bond the sheet to the door panel it is needed to heat the door panel with a hair dryer and after that, press the butyl sheet to the door panel and use a small rubber roller. (You can find it in DIY stores or Aliexpress for about 3€).



Here you have a video of the soundproofing of a CX3, this is done in great detail and you can see how the panels of the doors are taken apart:

Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNkqxWQChtk

Short instructions to take door panels apart:

1. Attached is a PDF with the instructions to remove the internal panels of the door, to be able to glue the sheet to the sheet. Here I make a small summary, but it is best to take a look at the PDF, especially the drawings, and do not be afraid that it is very easy:
2. Lower the glass until it only protrudes 90mm.
3. Remove the inner panel.
4. Remove the speaker.
5. On the inside panel, remove two square plastic covers and through the windows that cover the covers, we will see two screws that hold the crest to the mechanism of the window box, put your hand through the hole of the speaker and hold the glass, and with the Another hand loosen the two screws from the windows.
6. After removing the bolts that hold the glass, it does not fall but rests on a small flange of the holder, but just in case it falls, be careful and put some towels at the bottom of the door. 6. Now you have to remove the glass by lifting and tilting it to pass the window frame, and that's it.
7. When mounting the glass, do the reverse, taking care that the sides of the glass enter the rubber guides of the window frame (Been there).
8. Now remove all the panel bolts according the PDF drawings.

View attachment CX5 Front Door Panel Removal.pdf

Once the glass and interior panel have been removed, we can see the inside of the door:



And then we bond the butyl sheets:
Clean the sheet with a multipurpose cleaner (home window cleaner).

Keep in mind that the butyl sheet must be perfectly adhered to the support (door) and without leaving air bubbles, as these air bubbles reduce the damping function.



Now we mount the panel and the speaker, and we bond the butyl sheets to the panel. I bonded the dampening sheets and leaving exposed all the mounting bolts, in case you ever have to remove the panel or the window again:



Now, assemble the outer panel, and this is all

Installation of Amplifier Kenwood XP400-4

Mazda OEM Radio does not have RCA Preamp outputs, but some time ago I replaced the OEM Headunit by a Chinese Android Headunit, which is performing very well, and this one does have RCA Preamp Outputs, that allows to install an amplifier.

I decided to install an amplifier not only to have more power, but to improve audio quality, dynamic range, transients. Also, I'd like to install the amplifier in the cabin, not in the trunk, so I have looked for a quality but small amplifier, and I finally selected this Kenwood XR-400-4 Excellon series .

There are other smaller Kenwood amplifiers (like the KAC-M1804 or X301-4), but the quality of the XR-400-4 is very good and in addition to the specifications, I liked the aesthetics (technological fetishism)
http://www.kenwood.com/usa/car/excelon/xr400-4/



The main specs are:

• Class D (Good Efficiency)
• RMS power (4Ω, 14.4V) 75W x 4 (20Hz ~ 20000Hz, 1% THD)
• Dimensions: 220 x 35 x 169 (mm)

After looking for suitable locations in the CX5 cabin, I finally decided to install it under the passenger seat, but not on the floor carpet but "hanged" from the seat. I made a wood tray that is "hanged" under the passenger seat: rear side is bolted (M6 bolts) to a plate under the seat and the front side is zipped to a horizontal round bar. The advantages are that the amplifier is hidden, has good cooling, the Cables to the radio are short, only 2.5 meters. I made the tray MDM 10mm, with reinforcements of beech strip:



Amplifier is bolted to the tray, and all the connectors for wiring are in the front side:



It is required to route the 4 wires for speakers and RCA cables from the radio preamp output to this amplifier, but this routing can be done smoothly behind the console and under the carpet, the exit from the carpet is in the same location used to route the Mazda harness to the bottom of the seat. When choosing the length of the cables it is necessary to take into account that the amplifier is fixed to the seat and will move when sliding the seat back and forth, so it is necessary to leave a cable loop, with enough length to be allowe to slide seat and amplifier back and forth, I used 3m RCA cables.

For the speaker cables I used standard ISO car connectors, so now there is an ISO connector from the speaker output of the radio, and another ISO connector with the speaker output of the amplifier. In case of an amplifier failure, I can easily reconnect the speakers ISO to the radio speaker output.

This wiring harness (4 pairs of 2.5mm2 for the speakers, 2 RCA stereo, Amplifier Control Wire) is protected with automotive textile tape, which gives a very professional aspect, and protects the wires.



To route the cables, the plastic cover of the gearshift is removed by levering with a screwdriver, and then we remove the cover of the handbrake by pulling by hand.

For the power cable, the first thing is to choose the section. This amplifier has a maximum consumption of 37 Amperes and a AWG6 wire (13mm2) has a capacity of 38 Amps, but I have not found this wire, so I used an AWG5 (16mm2), which is capable of carrying 48 Amps.

I routed the battery cable through the rubber grommet used to pass the wires from engine to the cabin. It is necessary to remove the battery and make a small cut in the rubber gasket and pass the wire. Extreme care must be taken when passing the cable so as not to damage any of the OEM wires passing through the rubber, as this could lead to problems that are difficult to diagnose. It is essential to put a fuse (I used a 40A) VERY CLOSE (5cm or less) from the battery terminal, because if the cable is longer, we have the risk that if the fuse holder breaks the cable from the battery may short to car chassis and that is fire risk. I also protected the cable with a 16mm plastic tube.



In cabin interior I routed the wire to the plastic cable guide and at the exit of the cable guide, I used again plastic tube of 16mm to protect it, routed it under the center console, gearshift and handbrake.

Very interesting Amp install, I hadn't considered hanging it, that makes alot of sense... Thank you for the write-up

Dam good write up..!!!

Nice job !
What is the finish from the tweeters in the dash ? ( PICTURES PLEASE )

Gr. Karl

The Focal ISS200 already includes the two different type of housings and grill for the tweeters, I just made the wood wedge to mount them in the dashboard. You can find speaker doc here:

https://www.focal.com/en/car-audio/...niversal/component-kits/iss-200#documentation

This is, how have I installed my Focal tweeters (PS-165FX).

Installation of 8 "speakers and Tweeter (Focal ISS200)

tibimakai said:

This is, how have I installed my Focal tweeters (PS-165FX).

View attachment 216994View attachment 216995

Click to expand...

Ha, right where they're supposed to be!

Honestly I believe the newly added tweeters on Bose in 2017 CX-5 should be at these locations, not on A-pillars. Mazda is trying to save some pennies for wiring I suppose.

Very nice mod and write-ups, OP! (cool)

Etulio, you don't have a subwoofer?
I went with 6.5" , because I have installed a JL Audio 10" shallow sub, in my spare wheel.

yrwei52 said:

Ha, right where they're supposed to be!

Honestly I believe the newly added tweeters on Bose in 2017 CX-5 should be at these locations, not on A-pillars. Mazda is trying to save some pennies for wiring I suppose.

Very nice mod and write-ups, OP! (cool)

Click to expand...

Without time alignment, mounting the tweeters farther from the driver (driver's side) is logical. Tweeter frequencies ate very highly directional hence the perfect distance is an equidistant relationship for both tweeters. That is the same reason why some installers mounts the tweeters on the kickpod beside the woofer. The farther the drivers are from the driver's side, the more equidistant it will be in junction to TLD passenger side.

Sent from my ASUS_Z012D using Tapatalk

I have a Kenwood and I have time alignment, so my install is OK.

excelente! Nicely done. I particularly like the front door speaker rings. Any plans for the rear doors? Any plans for a powered sub, similar to a Bazooka tube?

GoFrogs said:

excelente! Nicely done. I particularly like the front door speaker rings. Any plans for the rear doors? Any plans for a powered sub, similar to a Bazooka tube?

Click to expand...

Hi, for the Rear doors I had already installed 6,5" JBLs, and now I did the sound deadening of the rear doors, which is very similar to the front ones. For now I have no plans to add a subwoofer, sound with the 8" is good enough. But who knows if in the future I'll change my mind and install it, we'll see.