Headunit specs

[capnfatpants]

Greetings all. I purchased my 2015 CX-5 Touring about 2 months ago and so far I love it. I upgraded from a 2012 Ford Focus that had an awful transmission... The CX-5 is buttery smooth. As with most people, my only gripe is the stereo. While it sounds better than any stereo I've had (Bose system), it is clunky. Everything I've read about the troubles with the headunit involve the 13/14 year models and I'm unsure what has been fixed in the 15. I've never tried USB and I don't have an iPod; I stream music from my phone via bluetooth. It takes about 60-90 seconds for the bluetooth audio to connect and begin playing. I'm starting to see that the audio connects quickly, but it seems that the phonebook is downloading every single time I start the car. This is stupid and brings me to my question.

Does anyone know the specs of the stereo? RAM/ROM size etc? I find it difficult to believe that there isn't enough memory in the unit to store my phonebook. I'm also curious if it has enough to load Android Auto onto it once it becomes available.

 

[ed_carroll]

Don't have the specs, but nothing has been fixed in the '15, either.

 

[capnfatpants]

While the headunit and Mazda's reluctance to address the issue is frustrating, consider this as perspective... It's a luxury and convenience, whereas the Ford Focus' awful and broken transmission is an integral part of the car. I'm surprised there haven't been reports of accidents/injuries/deaths/ from that terribly engineered POS. There has been internet-rage and many many complaints from the 2012 model and it's still not fixed in the 15's. The only thing Ford has done is increase the warranty on the transmission to 100K miles! I'll take a wonky stereo any day over a whiplash tranny.

 

[metalfab]

As mentioned before, some people may think its a " luxury and convenience" but to those of us you paid for the feature(s), they don't work. It's crappy/lazy programming and/or electronics. As for the specs, the "CPU" is probably from the i386 days.

 

[clongz]

I have an iPhone 5 and I found out that it helps if I just sync my phonebook "Favorites" rather than my entire phonebook. My phone pairs and bluetooth audio starts in about 10 seconds.

If you have an iPhone, just go to Settings->Bluetooth->Mazda. Under "Groups" just check "Phone Favorites" instead of "All Contacts". Of course now you would have to figure out the people you would most likely call while driving and start adding them to your Favorites.

 

[capnfatpants]

i'll see if my moto x has a similar feature. luckily, i'm not very popular, so getting a short list should be easy.

 

[ed_carroll]

While the headunit and Mazda's reluctance to address the issue is frustrating, consider this as perspective... It's a luxury and convenience, whereas the Ford Focus' awful and broken transmission is an integral part of the car. I'm surprised there haven't been reports of accidents/injuries/deaths/ from that terribly engineered POS. There has been internet-rage and many many complaints from the 2012 model and it's still not fixed in the 15's. The only thing Ford has done is increase the warranty on the transmission to 100K miles! I'll take a wonky stereo any day over a whiplash tranny.

I understand perspective. There are people starving in many parts of the world and we're bitching about our infotainment system in an otherwise sweet ride. Still, Mazda and other automakers have an obligation to provide its customers with properly functioning components and swift, efficient support and resolution when those components fail to function as promised. Mazda doesn't earn any points because Ford has a bad transmission in one of its vehicles. We paid good money for bells and whistles that turned out to be problematic or non-existent. That's the point.

 

[tibimakai]

I wouldn't pay extra for audio stuff, the factory ones are never good, specially in this price range. I'm installing my own, after the purchase.

 

[V8toilet]

I've already upgraded mine with new speakers, a DSP, and two amplifiers all running off the factory radio. 460 watts RMS of clean power and incredible sound.

I don't know the factory specifications either but I think the signal to noise ratio isn't very good but good enough. Just upgrading the tweeters without changing anything else makes the sound much better, which I had done with the sport I had.

 

[tibimakai]

V8toilet, did you install all your stereo system by yourself? I'm asking, because I need some help setting up the amps.

 

[V8toilet]

V8toilet, did you install all your stereo system by yourself? I'm asking, because I need some help setting up the amps.

Yes I did and it was a decent amount of work but at least I know it's right.

 

[tibimakai]

That is what I'm trying to do, I have a scope to do it too, but as of right now, feeding 1000HZ at 0db, amplitude 1(Audicity) without clipping, I'm not getting a "louder" sound than the factory. Actually, it's much lower the level now.
The gain is almost at the minimum. The Kenwood has a 5V output level and the amp has a .250mv to 8V input sensitivity.
I have tested my stereo's output, with the scope and that signal, with all the settings on flat, loudness off and at maximum level(35), I don't have any clipping. It's an Excelon unit.