Amplifier install on 2016 CX-5 Bose with PAC AOEM-MAZ2 adapter

[Dnut999]

I wanted to install an amplifier to my CX-5 without having to cut any wire harness. I found some information from another forum "Mazda3revolution.com" on how someone had used the PAC AOEM-MAZ2 adapter on his 2015 Mazda 3 Bose with great results. The adapter plugs into the Tuner Amp Unit (TAU) behind the glove compartment.

After installing the PAC AOEM-MAZ2 adapter, I can confirm that it does work for the 2016 CX-5 equipped with the bose system. The installation for this adapter was quite easy.

As for the sound, the subwoofer has added some much needed bass to the sound system. It sounds good but could better. I am experiencing some low frequency cutoff around 45Hz, possibly due to the sound processing from the Bose amplifier. You might be able to bring back the low end bass by adding an external bass restorer.

Overall, Im happy with the purchase of the PAC adapter, but just be aware that there is some low bass cutoff because of the sound processing from the Bose amplifier.

Heres are some pics of my install.

PAC Unit


The sticker behind the package.

Open the glove compartment to get to the Tuner Amp Unit(TAU). Unhook the little damper on the right side and push in both sides of the compartment to open the latch all the way down.

Here is the TAU located behind the glove compartment.

Unplug the white harness and plug it into the orange clip on the PAC. Use the white harness from the PAC and plug it back into the TAU.

Here it is all connected. Not pictured, is the other end of the PAC with two sets of RCA outputs(front/rear) and a blue remote wire. I used the front outputs for the subwoofer amplifier and turned the input level on PAC to the max setting.

Now for the amp install

First, unplug the ground wire from the battery terminal.

Cut a hole in this rubber grommet to run your power wire. This was hardest part of the amplifier install as the rubber grommet is very thick and was a PITA to run the power wire through the firewall.

Run the amplifier power wire through the grommet and into the interior on the driver side footwell.

Connect the front end of the power wire to the positive battery terminal. Make sure to install an external fuse within 16 inches from the positive battery terminal. Your battery connection should look like something similar to this once it is all connected.

You'll need to find a location for the amplifier ground cable to attach to the vehicle chassis. Remove the driver side kick panel by turning the screw by hand and gently pull the panel off.

Behind the kick panel are two bolts. I unscrewed one of the bolts and attached the ground wire to the chassis. Remember to sand off some of the paint to ensure a good ground connection.

My plan was to install the my monoblock amplifier underneath the driver seat. To remove the seat you would need a Star/Torx size E14 socket to remove the 4 seat bolts.

You will then need to unplug the seat's airbag/motor harness in order to take out the seat. Start by pulling up the white tab. Underneath the white tab is another side tab used to unplug the harness. DO NOT TURN ON THE IGNITION WITH THIS HARNESS UNPLUGGED as it might set off any airbag warnings.

Be sure to measure the dimensions of your amplifier because it is going to be a tight fit under the seat.

I didn't take a picture of this process, but I ran the RCA cables and the remote wire from the glove box down to the passenger side of the center console.

To bring the rca cables and remote wire to the driver side of the center console, remove the plastic cover and screws located on each side. You will then be able to lift the console just high enough to run the RCA cables and remote wire to the driver side where the amplifier is located.

Finish connecting all the power wires for the amplifier and run a speaker wire from amplifier to the trunk.

Connect the speaker wire to the subwoofer, set your amplifier gains, and then enjoy the added bass to your system.

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

Thanks for the write up. My amp is wired using a LOC into the rear speaker. But this probably gives better quality. Copied into how-to section.

 

[Anonymous MD]

looking good brother !!! you gona paint that box black ? i think it would look bad ass if you do . make it blend in a lot better !!! i see you got the screw out of the center console . that should make it ezer for you to fish the rca under the carpet . there is a open area under there so if you use a peace of the 4ga wire you can fish that from the air vent on the driver side to up under the center console then streach it from under there to the out side from under the concole and above the carpet . tape your rca wires to the 4ga wire and pull it through . it is a pain in the ass but it can be done . it took me a bit of time to get it but i did it . might be ez for you now that you got the screw out .

 

[yrwei52]

I wanted to install an amplifier to my CX-5 without having to cut any wire harness. I found some information from another forum "Mazda3revolution.com" on how someone had used the PAC AOEM-MAZ2 adapter on his 2015 Mazda 3 Bose with great results. The adapter plugs into the Tuner Amp Unit (TAU) behind the glove compartment. After installing the PAC AOEM-MAZ2 adapter, I can confirm that it does work for the 2016 CX-5 equipped with the bose system.

Nice find and great write-up! This PAC adapter has to be a much better way than getting signals from front or rear door speakers with a LOC.

 

[CX-5um]

Man if only you came along with this solution earlier!!!! Brilliant. I'm assuming you can adjust the bass fully independent from BOSE processing now?

 

[yrwei52]

Man if only you came along with this solution earlier!!!! Brilliant. I'm assuming you can adjust the bass fully independent from BOSE processing now?

Definitely! You still can use PAC adapter for your CX-5 mod adding a sub-woofer box?! Or you can modify your already done Mazda6 mod with this PAC adapter. This is the proper way getting full 20 Hz ~ 20,000 Hz signal from the head unit, not from speaker signal which has been "processed" by Bose.

 

[Dnut999]

Im not getting any bass cutoff as the volume is turned up but unfortunately I do notice some minor EQ going on. Its like if the head unit has a built in low pass crossover that is set somewhere around 60HZ. I believe this will happen regardless of where you tap the signal for the amplifier wether its before or after the BOSE amplifier. Not sure if there is any way around this without adding some sort of an external equalizer to adjust the sound. Sorry for not mentioning this earlier and I've edited the original post to include this.

 

[Toneb210]

Im not getting any bass cutoff as the volume is turned up but unfortunately I do notice some minor EQ going on. Its like if the head unit has a built in low pass crossover that is set somewhere around 60HZ. I believe this will happen regardless of where you tap the signal for the amplifier wether its before or after the BOSE amplifier. Not sure if there is any way around this without adding some sort of an external equalizer to adjust the sound. Sorry for not mentioning this earlier and I've edited the original post to include this.

Nice find, and nice install. What model Fi woofer is that? But regarding the "bass cut off", you will experience that regardless where you tap the signal. A better term is bass roll off, and all factory systems do this. Factory speakers are cheap and can't play 50hz n below very well. And if you crank it up, those frequencies would blow the factory speakers easily. So that's why the bass is rolled off(lpf @60hz) or whatever it's set at. But you should be able to use an eq to fix this. If I didn't already have a great LOC I'd probably use this method you found. But regardless there's gonna be bass rolloff somewhere without an eq. On another note, I should have my cx5 by this weekend and I can start my build soon after

 

[Dnut999]

looking good brother !!! you gona paint that box black ? i think it would look bad ass if you do . make it blend in a lot better !!! i see you got the screw out of the center console . that should make it ezer for you to fish the rca under the carpet . there is a open area under there so if you use a peace of the 4ga wire you can fish that from the air vent on the driver side to up under the center console then streach it from under there to the out side from under the concole and above the carpet . tape your rca wires to the 4ga wire and pull it through . it is a pain in the ass but it can be done . it took me a bit of time to get it but i did it . might be ez for you now that you got the screw out .

Thanks Anonymous, the pictures of your system installation helped me out a great deal. You had more wiring to deal with and did better hiding the wires underneath the carpet. As for my subwoofer box, I had already changed it out to a smaller black box to help save a little room and have a cleaner look.

 

[Dnut999]

Nice find, and nice install. What model Fi woofer is that? But regarding the "bass cut off", you will experience that regardless where you tap the signal. A better term is bass roll off, and all factory systems do this. Factory speakers are cheap and can't play 50hz n below very well. And if you crank it up, those frequencies would blow the factory speakers easily. So that's why the bass is rolled off(lpf @60hz) or whatever it's set at. But you should be able to use an eq to fix this. If I didn't already have a great LOC I'd probably use this method you found. But regardless there's gonna be bass rolloff somewhere without an eq. On another note, I should have my cx5 by this weekend and I can start my build soon after

Thanks for the clarification on the bass roll off. Its too bad that the Bose system doesn't have a EQ for adjustments other than bass and treble.

My subwoofer is an old 2006 12" Fi Q with no options. It still plays loud and sounds great doing so after many years of hard usage. Hope you get your CX-5 this weekend. I had my CX-5 for 6 months and I still cant stop staring at it.

 

[Anonymous MD]

Thanks Anonymous, the pictures of your system installation helped me out a great deal. You had more wiring to deal with and did better hiding the wires underneath the carpet. As for my subwoofer box, I had already changed it out to a smaller black box to help save a little room and have a cleaner look.

that box and sub is sexey lol . when i said paint the box i ment the ac extension thing you made . sry i should on said that a little more clear lol . but you did great . i need to do same thing when summer is close to over .

 

[jrod9707]

Thanks for posting with all those pics! My wife has been hounding me for 3 years now to install a sub in her cx5. But I've just been dragging ass cuz I didn't feel like splicing into wires. But now it looks like I'm out of excuses as this PAC is plug and play.
Is this the only LOC THAT IS PLUG AND PLAY?
Also where did you purchase it as its orientated for a Mazda vehicle.

Thank you!

 

[CX-5um]

Im not getting any bass cutoff as the volume is turned up but unfortunately I do notice some minor EQ going on. Its like if the head unit has a built in low pass crossover that is set somewhere around 60HZ. I believe this will happen regardless of where you tap the signal for the amplifier wether its before or after the BOSE amplifier. Not sure if there is any way around this without adding some sort of an external equalizer to adjust the sound. Sorry for not mentioning this earlier and I've edited the original post to include this.

My understanding is the Mazda BOSE cutoff is at 45Hz. Still that's good enough for me although bass heads may want to get down to at least 30Hz.

 

[Dnut999]

Thanks for posting with all those pics! My wife has been hounding me for 3 years now to install a sub in her cx5. But I've just been dragging ass cuz I didn't feel like splicing into wires. But now it looks like I'm out of excuses as this PAC is plug and play.
Is this the only LOC THAT IS PLUG AND PLAY?
Also where did you purchase it as its orientated for a Mazda vehicle.

Thank you!

I purchased the PAC AOEM-MAZ2 from amazon and this is the only plug and play adapter that Im aware of.

 

[Dnut999]

My understanding is the Mazda BOSE cutoff is at 45Hz. Still that's good enough for me although bass heads may want to get down to at least 30Hz.

I think you're right about the Bose roll off being at 45Hz or lower. Yesterday I had just remember that my amplifier has a bass boost equalizer at 45Hz. I turned up the bass boost and readjusted my amplifier gain. Sadly the bass boost didn't help neither as my subwoofer was still lacking the thump that I was looking for. Not sure what else I can do to fix this since the frequency roll off seems to happen at the head unit.

 

[CX-5um]

I think you're right about the Bose roll off being at 45Hz or lower. Yesterday I had just remember that my amplifier has a bass boost equalizer at 45Hz. I turned up the bass boost and readjusted my amplifier gain. Sadly the bass boost didn't help neither as my subwoofer was still lacking the thump that I was looking for. Not sure what else I can do to fix this since the frequency roll off seems to happen at the head unit.

I'm actually going to adjust my Amp soon when I have the time. That said DO NOT use bass boost on your amp more than say 6 db. Just don't use it at all if possible. It may mess up your speakers. I'll post my adjustments and findings when I get the chance.

 

[Toneb210]

There are some digital dsp's that can get you a flat signal, but they can get very pricey. Any graphic eq that you can put in line should be able to do the trick. I've even seen some that just have the bass region. From there you can tweak by ear. Or if you have a digital multimeter that will help. Or better yet access to an o scope. A stereo shop could also tweak it for you, for a small fee of course

 

[jrod9707]

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[jrod9707]

I.

Thanks Dnut, Ill order one from Amazon. You said the hardest part was going through the firewall. In hindsight is there any tips you can give that would make it easier the second time around. Would using a coat hanger help and maybe at the end of the coat hanger bend it around like an eye hook so it wont catch on anything? Hell maybe put a little silicone on the hanger wire so its easier to push through?

 

[Dnut999]

No problem Jrod. The hardest part was just trying to cut a hole big enough for the 4 gauge power wire to go through that thick rubber grommet. If I were try it again, I wouldnt have used a knife. Instead I would used a drill or a spade bit to make a hole in the grommet. Just be careful not to damage the other wires. Then you can use a coat hanger to fish the wire through the firewall.