Replacing OEM Car Speakers

[RayCJ]

By no means am I an audiophile but, I find the OEM speakers in my Mazda 3 to be fundamentally useless. Automobile compartments tend to accentuate base. The OEM speakers are Bose, all of which have accentuated base, have no midrange and muted highs. This is fine and well for communicating with elephants in Africa or whales in the oceans but, my real goal is to listen to sounds intended for human beings at low to moderate volume levels...

I went to Crutchfield audio and they do not show factory replacement sizes. All of the speakers are built into the 4 door panels and I really don't want to start tearing the doors apart to see what is in there. Does anyone have insight on the types of speakers in there? Also, as a bonus question, can anyone recommend speakers that actually can be heard by humans?


BTW: Replacing the head unit is not an option because it has other car control features built into it.

TIA...

Ray

 

[97prizm]

Call the dealership or i called Car Toys and they looked it up. Two i worked at a Lexus dealership and some of the newer vehicles have the same audio layout. However a guy did install a single din headset right below the navigation screen in his GX470.

 

[DriveHard]

useless post without the year, and audio trim level so we can look into it.

 

[RamFan]

I felt the same way until I turned off Bose Centerpoint and really took some time with the EQ settings. It's substantially better now. Not Audiophile quality, but it's certainly not bad. If you haven't turned off Centerpoint I'd do that then revisit the EQ settings.

With regards to speaker size, try Mazdas247, some of the guys there have done full overhauls and should be able to help.

 

[nobb]

Audio systems in cars these days are becoming less standardized so it's not just plug and play. On both premium and base systems, it's likely that the whole system is tuned together. The reason being that it's far cheaper for manufacturers to use electronic equalization in the headunit to adjust for deficiencies in the cheap paper cone speakers than it is to use quality physical components. Bose especially is infamous for the use of heavy tuning (they call it psychoacoustics) in a manner that they claim makes their products sound better. The hardcore audiophile disagrees, but I definitely think their products sound better now than before.

So just replacing the speaker might not actually be guaranteed to make the system sound better. With many Bose setups, the speakers are 2 ohms instead of the standard 4 ohms so it makes finding a replacement even more difficult. It's a good idea to check into the Mazda community forums to see what people have experimented with that works.

 

[Mr Nice]

DriveHard,

It looks like a 2017-18 Mazda3 Touring , hatchback with soul red paint.

- Auto transmission
- Black leatherette seats
- 2.5L engine

A basic vehicle with no G&G options.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted by 97prizm
Call the dealership or i called Car Toys and they looked it up. Two i worked at a Lexus dealership and some of the newer vehicles have the same audio layout. However a guy did install a single din headset right below the navigation screen in his GX470.


The Mazda catalog does not tell us what size speakers are in the vehicle, only part numbers. We as parts people have no need to know.

 

[tenderloin]

This lists your cars speakers and sizes....

https://www.crutchfield.com/g_400/All-Car-Speakers.html?l=2

 

[DriveHard]

Originally Posted by tenderloin
This lists your cars speakers and sizes....

https://www.crutchfield.com/g_400/All-Car-Speakers.html?l=2



Dash and rear deck appear to be 3.5"
Front and rear doors appear to be 6.5"
Crutchfield works great!

 

[RayCJ]

All,

Sorry for leaving-out the details... Yes, it's a 2018 Mazda 3 Hatchback Touring.

I just turned off the Bose Centerpoint feature and and tweaking the tone controls and fade/balance. Its a little better. I'll give it a week or so. Thanks everyone for the clues. I may yet change the speakers to clear-up the last bit of muddy sound.


Ray

 

[slacktide_bitog]

No highs? No lows? Must be BOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[RayCJ]

Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog
No highs? No lows? Must be BOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted by RayCJ




BTW: Replacing the head unit is not an option because it has other car control features built into it.


Not exactly an cheap endeavor, you need some kind of aftermarket DSP/interface (these are examples: http://www.jlaudio.com/fix-86-car-audio-processors-system-tuning-98103 and https://www.audiocontrol.com/car-audio/factory-system-upgrade/dq-61/), 2 amps(or one 5-channel amp and lots of custom work done. You get to keep the factory radio/tuner/drive and display but all the sound-generating stuff will be different.

 

[RayCJ]

Originally Posted by nthach
Originally Posted by RayCJ




BTW: Replacing the head unit is not an option because it has other car control features built into it.


Not exactly an cheap endeavor, you need some kind of aftermarket DSP/interface (these are examples: http://www.jlaudio.com/fix-86-car-audio-processors-system-tuning-98103 and https://www.audiocontrol.com/car-audio/factory-system-upgrade/dq-61/), 2 amps(or one 5-channel amp and lots of custom work done. You get to keep the factory radio/tuner/drive and display but all the sound-generating stuff will be different.


Yikes! You ain't kidd'n about not being a cheap endeavor. Thanks though, I do appreciate the references. If my car was a Rolls or Bentley (or similar ultra-luxury vehicle) something like that might make sense. A Mazda3 passenger compartment is hardly a desirable anechoic environment.

Sigh... Life was good back in the days of Jensen Triaxials and a 20W Kenwood head.

Ray

 

[Schmoe]

Bose needs to stay in the home speaker division, not auto. They are strictly selling their name. However with that in mind, I swapped out my 06 Accord's factory rear 6x9 ovals with some JBL's and still using the factory head unit, was NOT going down that rabbit hole replacing that nightmare. But WOW....what a difference. those ovals are in the trunk, and those JBL's got some deep bottom end!!! Best thing I've ever done to that car.

 

[PimTac]

Most of the automobiles now have name brand sound systems. Bose is just one. JBL and Harmon Kardon (Samsung) are a couple more.

While none of these systems are going to win awards they do sound better than the old AM-FM systems with tinny speakers of the past.

 

[Smokescreen]

After tuning/eq-ing, the next step in obtaining better mids and high frequency response would be to replace your dash and rear deck 3.5's with ones that have higher sensitivity. This would make them slightly louder than stock in comparison. I would leave the 6.5's until last as changing them out would only increase their levels which is mostly the lower frequencies.