2015 6 Speaker Upgrade Details

[Anathema]

Tried to compile a list of everything that is required and all the information I used to perform the upgrade in one spot. I spent a lot of time searching through random forums posts on here to get all the values I was interested in. Hopefully this will make someone elses life easier.

First off speaker sizing:
Front Doors: 6 1/2
Rear Doors: 6 1/2
Dash Speakers: 3 1/2

Speakers I used:
Front Doors: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-DmAvXbljbbq/p_108R6502IX/Infinity-Reference-X-REF-6502ix.html
Rear Doors: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-DmAvXbljbbq/p_108R6502IX/Infinity-Reference-X-REF-6502ix.html
Dash Speakers: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-eTGwHIhlZqb/p_108R3002CX/Infinity-Reference-X-REF-3002cfx.html

Other things used:
Front Door Speaker Adapter: http://www.car-speaker-adapters.com/items.php?id=SAK102
Rear Door Speaker Adapter: http://www.car-speaker-adapters.com/items.php?id=SAK112
Front Door Baffles: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_237XT60/XTC-6-3-4-Speaker-Baffles-4-1-2-depth.html
Rear Door Baffles: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_237XT60/XTC-6-3-4-Speaker-Baffles-4-1-2-depth.html
Dash Speakers Bass Blocker: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_127BB6...t-off.html?search=600hz_bass_blocker&skipvs=T
Dash Speaker Wiring Adapter: http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX5934 I only used the connector and not the wires that comes with this part as I was not keen on using 26AWG wiring inline with the dash speakers. In theory it should be fine as they are 25W at 4omh speakers but it does put you pretty close to the limit on that cable for current so I soldered leads onto the connector...

Full Size Pictures: http://imgur.com/a/MxyfW

This first part is important and tells us we need speakers in the 3-4 omh range if we want to retain roughly stock loudness without having to get an amp entered into the equation. Try to pick speakers that have an RMS range down in the 5-10W range for best results if you are going to go without amplification.

B = Black
W = White
R = Red
G = Green
L = Blue
Y = Yellow
LG = Light Green
BR = Brown
OR = Orange
P = Pink
PU = Purple
GY = Gray
SB = Sky Blue
CH = Dark Brown
DG = Dark Green

This drawing here makes it pretty easy to solder and splice into the wiring for the speakers. You can see the front speakers are wired in parralel with the front dash speakers hence the need for the bass blockers. You do not want to push that much bass through small 3 1/2 speakers.

Installation:

Start by removing the door panels/stock speakers refer to this excellent set of instructions: http://www.paulstravelpictures.com/Mazda-CX-5-Interior-Door-Panel-Removal-Guide/

Onto pictures! I can add clarifications on any point that people may be confused about if anyone would like some added clarification but you know what they say... Pictures are worth a thousand words. Full size pictures: http://imgur.com/a/6yk6y

Pictures of the adapters very nice quality pretty happy with them and it saved me a bunch of time.

Pictures of the speakers and their baffles

Speakers sitting in their baffles and adapters

Speakers with their pig tail wires added

Door panel removed. Having a look at the stock speakers.

Put the panel someplace safe so you don't scuff it all up...

The front door with the window rolled down. You can see the speaker might be a tight squeeze if you were to have a very deep speaker. The baffles fit in fine at 4 1/2 with the adapters.

Adding dynamat to the door where the adapter will sit

Adding in the baffles and adapters. I ported the baffles.

Speaker all screwed in and installed. Just have to wire it into the car speaker wiring harness. I soldered and spliced into the wiring.

Tucking away the wiring to make sure nothing rattles.

Onto the rear door. Here's a look at the stock speaker with the panel removed.

Rear door with the window down and the stock speakers removed.

Adding dynamat where the adapter will rest against the door.

Adding in the baffles and the adapters.

All done wires all tucked in behind the dynamat. Splicing and soldering complete!

Right dash speaker with the cover removed

Left dash speaker with the cover removed

Right dash speaker with the speaker removed

Left dash speaker with the speaker removed

Left dash speaker about to be installed note the bass blocker and the wiring adapter

Close up of the wiring adapter that was soldered onto the other end with the 26AWG wiring removed

Decided to cut off the plastic that was hanging down from the dash speaker grills. It looked like there might be clearance issues where it would pinch the speakers. I just used some wire cutters and cut off the ring that hangs down.

And that's a wrap. Hopefully this is of some use to someone

 

[raystafarian]

Very thorough, thanks!

 

[MikeM.]

Good write-up!

Is there anything you would do differently the second time?

How would you characterize the audio differences from stock?

 

[yrwei52]

Thanks for very nice write-up and just in time for wire adapter info on front dash speakers as I'm considering to replace those on our Bose system with coaxial speakers due to lack of tweeters on CX-5. Just wish pictures can be bigger.

 

[Anathema]

Good write-up!

Is there anything you would do differently the second time?

How would you characterize the audio differences from stock?

I would probably have bought the plastic rivets for the doors instead of having to reuse the ones that are currently in the door panels. They were a PITA to take out and put back into place.

Audio is much improved and there is a lot less door rattle and rattly base which was my main complaint about the stock stereo. It's a little softer than the stock which is going to be case if you are not going the amp route but not really anything drastic. Overall audio is a lot clearer.

Thanks for very nice write-up and just in time for wire adapter info on front dash speakers as I'm considering to replace those on our Bose system with coaxial speakers due to lack of tweeters on CX-5. Just wish pictures can be bigger.

Pictures are bigger if you click the links. I can't post the full size pictures as the forum here doesn't support rescaling. See post above or click: http://imgur.com/a/6yk6y or http://imgur.com/a/MxyfW

 

[yrwei52]

Thanks for the picture link. Is it easy prying out the dash speaker grills? Any tricks? I'm always afraid of breaking these plastic tabs.

 

[Anathema]

Thanks for the picture link. Is it easy prying out the dash speaker grills? Any tricks? I'm always afraid of breaking these plastic tabs.

I found it was easiest if you pry from the edges AKA closest to the door. Get in there with a rather wide flat head wrapped in electrical tape and pry it up a bit then you can work it loose with your fingers. It rather hard to get it to started but once you have the first ones done it gets a lot easier.

 

[yrwei52]

I found it was easiest if you pry from the edges AKA closest to the door. Get in there with a rather wide flat head wrapped in electrical tape and pry it up a bit then you can work it loose with your fingers. It rather hard to get it to started but once you have the first ones done it gets a lot easier.

Thanks for the hint! BTW how is your sound quality with these new Infinity Reference X speakers? I noticed many people here choose Polk Audio DB351/DB651 coaxial speakers and seem to be very satisfied with those. Any reason of choosing these Infinity speakers? Lower impedance than Polk's or Personal preference? I also saw someone mentioned the space is very tight on driver side dash with Polk Audio DB351 3.5", how was your Infinity REF-3002cfx 3,5" when you did the installation? It seems your Infinity dash speakers are thicker than Polk's as you did cut off some plastics from speaker grills.

 

[Anathema]

Thanks for the hint! BTW how is your sound quality with these new Infinity Reference X speakers? I noticed many people here choose Polk Audio DB351/DB651 coaxial speakers and seem to be very satisfied with those. Any reason of choosing these Infinity speakers? Lower impedance than Polk's or Personal preference? I also saw someone mentioned the space is very tight on driver side dash with Polk Audio DB351 3.5", how was your Infinity REF-3002cfx 3,5" when you did the installation? It seems your Infinity dash speakers are thicker than Polk's as you did cut off some plastics from speaker grills.

The infinities were very tight on the drivers side I had to push them down into place and they bent the flimsy plastic underneath out of the way. Main reason I went with the infinity was cost. I could get better pricing on the infinity speakers here in Canada than I could get on the Polks. I'm not sure if you "need" to cut the plastic off but I personally would since that plastic piece pushes down onto the stock speakers and does so hard enough it left a line in the foam that runs around the outside of the stock speakers. I didn't want to push the trim piece back down and pinch the new speakers...

 

[yrwei52]

... All pre wired. The middle looked the same.

Colors appear to be a reddish-orange and green. Maybe a stripe on both???? I didn't want to get crazy with stripping anything out.

I was looking at the front 3.5" dashboard speaker connectors and brainstorming what I already had to use without building a custom cable.

Guess what, these little motherboard 3 pin fan extension connectors work perfectly!

Their about $1-$2 a piece on ebay, one seller has (5) for $3.67 shipped.

Two of the three pins fit right into the speaker connector while still attached to the white bracket, the spacing between the pins is right with the last pin sits outside the speaker connector. All together, its a snug / secure fit and you just need to crimp some blade connectors on the other side of the cable and your done.

Dash Speaker Wiring Adapter: http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX5934 I only used the connector and not the wires that comes with this part as I was not keen on using 26AWG wiring inline with the dash speakers. In theory it should be fine as they are 25W at 4omh speakers but it does put you pretty close to the limit on that cable for current so I soldered leads onto the connector...
...
Close up of the wiring adapter that was soldered onto the other end with the 26AWG wiring removed

... I purchased this connector on eBay per someone's recommendation on this forum. They are useless. The pin spacing and pin length don't match up to the factory connector. The pins are also significantly thinner than the factory pins.

Here's the factory connector on the stock Bose speaker. De-solder the wire and remove the connector.

Anathema, is it possible for you to take a couple of shots at the connector on your stock non-Bose dash speakers? On the other thread, pdlpshe found the computer fan connector doesn't match speaker wiring connector to Bose dash speaker. If you can provide the pictures of your connector on stock speaker side, which can help him to decide if the connectors on Base and non-Bose dash speakers are the same or different.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Anathema]

Anathema, is it possible for you to take a couple of shots at the connector on your stock non-Bose dash speakers? On the other thread, pdlpshe found the computer fan connector doesn't match speaker wiring connector to Bose dash speaker. If you can provide the pictures of your connector on stock speaker side, which can help him to decide if the connectors on Base and non-Bose dash speakers are the same or different.

Thanks in advance!

I'll get some shots of it later tonight and post them but I'm pretty sure based on the picture posted by cmceleste and the picture of the dash speaker they are the same. The pins fit just fine and are the same size as the stock ones. I just didn't want to desolder the speaker connectors in case I ever wanted to put them back in. I'll also add a few more shots of the soldered connector I have kicking on my phone.

Edit:

Here are the shots with some bonus pictures of the stock speakers. I know there has been contention in the past as to how much power the stock head unit can drive. Pretty sure the answer to that question is it can drive 150Watts of power as a max and is designed for 4 ohm impedance. You get 25Watts per speaker the front rail that powers the dash speakers and the front door speakers is good for 50Watts per side while the rear is good for 25Watts per side. Full size images: http://imgur.com/a/rz9P2

Rear door speaker

Front door speaker

Dash speaker

Soldered adapter connected to the dash wiring harness

Soldering on the wires to the adapter with the 26AWG wiring removed

What the soldered on connector looks like prior to connecting to the dash wiring harness

Shot of the stock dash speaker connector

Another shot of the stock speaker connector

Another different view of the stock speaker connector

In case there is any confusion this is where you insert the pins from the fan wiring connector. The fit is very snug so the pins have to be pretty much exactly the same size as the stock connector. This is why this even works as a solution. The third pin just sits outside of the connector and you can remove it if you are so incline but it's not hurting anything by being there... This is cmceleste's shot with my mad paint skillz applied. :S

 

[yrwei52]

Soldering on the wires to the adapter with the 26AWG wiring removed

Thanks for posting more pictures of dash speaker wiring adapter you'd made from fan connector and specs of stock speakers. pdlpsher who is the only one having Bose system among those pictures I posted, had said he couldn't match up fan connector with speaker wire connector in his recent dash speaker upgrade. I have Bose but wife is the daily driver and I can't access the CX-5 too often. Can you confirm the white receptacle connector on Bose dash speaker from pdlpsher is the same as your black receptacle connector on your non-Bose dash speaker?

BTW, one of the pic you posted showing "X" mark. I did go through your full-sized pictures but not sure which one is supposed to be the missing one.

 

[Anathema]

Thanks for posting more pictures of dash speaker wiring adapter you'd made from fan connector and specs of stock speakers. pdlpsher who is the only one having Bose system among those pictures I posted, had said he couldn't match up fan connector with speaker wire connector in his recent dash speaker upgrade. I have Bose but wife is the daily driver and I can't access the CX-5 too often. Can you confirm the white receptacle connector on Bose dash speaker from pdlpsher is the same as your black receptacle connector on your non-Bose dash speaker?

BTW, one of the pic you posted showing "X" mark. I did go through your full-sized pictures but not sure which one is supposed to be the missing one.

Yeah I don't think the connectors are the same if he couldn't get them to fit. I am not sure though since I have no reference having neither a Bose CX-5 or a 2016 CX-5. Everything here is pretty much limited to the 2015 and the non Bose. Yeah fixed that image my bad. In either case hopefully you and other get some help out of this in order to assist with their builds.

 

[Imhandy2]

Dash speaker upgrade

Hi, can you tell me if when you replaced your dash tweeters to the 3.5 speakers...did your dash speakers over power or dominate your front door speakers at all ?

Tried to compile a list of everything that is required and all the information I used to perform the upgrade in one spot. I spent a lot of time searching through random forums posts on here to get all the values I was interested in. Hopefully this will make someone elses life easier.

First off speaker sizing:
Front Doors: 6 1/2
Rear Doors: 6 1/2
Dash Speakers: 3 1/2

Speakers I used:
Front Doors: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-DmAvXbljbbq/p_108R6502IX/Infinity-Reference-X-REF-6502ix.html
Rear Doors: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-DmAvXbljbbq/p_108R6502IX/Infinity-Reference-X-REF-6502ix.html
Dash Speakers: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-eTGwHIhlZqb/p_108R3002CX/Infinity-Reference-X-REF-3002cfx.html

Other things used:
Front Door Speaker Adapter: http://www.car-speaker-adapters.com/items.php?id=SAK102
Rear Door Speaker Adapter: http://www.car-speaker-adapters.com/items.php?id=SAK112
Front Door Baffles: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_237XT60/XTC-6-3-4-Speaker-Baffles-4-1-2-depth.html
Rear Door Baffles: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_237XT60/XTC-6-3-4-Speaker-Baffles-4-1-2-depth.html
Dash Speakers Bass Blocker: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_127BB6...t-off.html?search=600hz_bass_blocker&skipvs=T
Dash Speaker Wiring Adapter: http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX5934 I only used the connector and not the wires that comes with this part as I was not keen on using 26AWG wiring inline with the dash speakers. In theory it should be fine as they are 25W at 4omh speakers but it does put you pretty close to the limit on that cable for current so I soldered leads onto the connector...

Full Size Pictures: http://imgur.com/a/MxyfW

This first part is important and tells us we need speakers in the 3-4 omh range if we want to retain roughly stock loudness without having to get an amp entered into the equation. Try to pick speakers that have an RMS range down in the 5-10W range for best results if you are going to go without amplification.

This drawing here makes it pretty easy to solder and splice into the wiring for the speakers. You can see the front speakers are wired in parralel with the front dash speakers hence the need for the bass blockers. You do not want to push that much bass through small 3 1/2 speakers.

Installation:

Start by removing the door panels/stock speakers refer to this excellent set of instructions: http://www.paulstravelpictures.com/Mazda-CX-5-Interior-Door-Panel-Removal-Guide/

Onto pictures! I can add clarifications on any point that people may be confused about if anyone would like some added clarification but you know what they say... Pictures are worth a thousand words. Full size pictures: http://imgur.com/a/6yk6y

Pictures of the adapters very nice quality pretty happy with them and it saved me a bunch of time.

Pictures of the speakers and their baffles

Speakers sitting in their baffles and adapters

Speakers with their pig tail wires added

Door panel removed. Having a look at the stock speakers.

Put the panel someplace safe so you don't scuff it all up...

The front door with the window rolled down. You can see the speaker might be a tight squeeze if you were to have a very deep speaker. The baffles fit in fine at 4 1/2 with the adapters.

Adding dynamat to the door where the adapter will sit

Adding in the baffles and adapters. I ported the baffles.

Speaker all screwed in and installed. Just have to wire it into the car speaker wiring harness. I soldered and spliced into the wiring.

Tucking away the wiring to make sure nothing rattles.

Onto the rear door. Here's a look at the stock speaker with the panel removed.

Rear door with the window down and the stock speakers removed.

Adding dynamat where the adapter will rest against the door.

Adding in the baffles and the adapters.

All done wires all tucked in behind the dynamat. Splicing and soldering complete!

Right dash speaker with the cover removed

Left dash speaker with the cover removed

Right dash speaker with the speaker removed

Left dash speaker with the speaker removed

Left dash speaker about to be installed note the bass blocker and the wiring adapter

Close up of the wiring adapter that was soldered onto the other end with the 26AWG wiring removed

Decided to cut off the plastic that was hanging down from the dash speaker grills. It looked like there might be clearance issues where it would pinch the speakers. I just used some wire cutters and cut off the ring that hangs down.

And that's a wrap. Hopefully this is of some use to someone

 

[tibimakai]

No.
I would add this speaker only, if you keep everything factory.
I have added amps, and eventually one of the speakers went bad, and blew my amp.
Now, it's gone from my system.
I have the Focal tweeters, on those triangular plastics by the mirror.

 

[GoFrogs]

I noticed you went with 600Hz bass blockers. Would the 300Hz or even the 150Hz be fine? Afterall, you are replacing just a tweeter in the dash with a 3.5" cone + tweeter 2-way that can play down to 80Hz...

to the OP, what made you go with 600HZ vs the other values?

I'll find out soon what the capacitor is on the tweeter. It is also no wonder why Crutchfield says a 3.5" speaker doesn't fit in the dash; it is because there is only a tweeter in the 6-speaker, non-bose setup (like I have in my '16 Touring).