How bad is the stock sound system?

[levets]

On my test drives today I compared the Chevy Cruze and Mazda3 - but I didn't listen to the sound system in either!

CD in the Cruze.
HD in the Mazda3!

I'm coming from a 97 Civic with stock system. It was fine - adequate. Being a 97, I bet the stock systems have improved somewhat. I'm actually a musician and treasure great sounding audio, but I know at this price range I'm not going to get an iso-interior that blocks out road noise and has perfect acoustics!

Is the Mazda3 stock sound system OK? Or is it just atrocious. I know it's not going to be great, but if it's at least tolerable I think I'd be OK with it.

 

[YelPro03]

The Bose system in my 2015 Mazda 3s Touring is not bad at all. It's not as good as the HK system in my Mercedes but not bad.

 

[levets]

I think the Touring trim line has an upgraded system, I'd be going with base model stock!

 

[hetfield]

The base sound system in my '14 was a major improvement from my '99 Ford. However, Ford was (is?) in love with the 5x7 speaker size, which has created holy wars about sound quality. I feel the Ford system, even after I upgraded the deck and the speakers, had almost no low end and poor/mediocre mids. The Mazda has decent range, but it does distort somewhat depending on what's playing. Some decent drop-in replacement speakers would probably improve it a little more. Unfortunately there are no drop-in deck replacements so you're looking at a project to add an amp. At that point, it doesn't really matter what the stock system is like and probably beyond the scope of what you're looking for