2022 CX-9 Rear speakers virtually no volume

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22 CX9 94 B3000
I just picked up a 2022 CX-9 Touring (no Bose Upgrade) this week. I found out the the rear speakers (2nd row door speakers) were pushing out virtually no volume. I adjusted the fade control entirely to the back, and the rear speakers are only about 15 percent of what the front speakers are. I can even adjust balance and the sound does move left to right, just with virtually no volume. When I fade it back to the front, I get full volume out of the front again. I figured this out when my tween daughter kept asking for the stereo to be turned up. Any ideas. Since the speakers are making sound, I doubt if they are the issue. Also, wiring very unlikely to be the cause.

Thanks in advance.
 
Congratulations first of all! You said they're not loud even when the fader is set all the way back, so I assume there is an issue somewhere. It's very unlikely that all the speakers are broken, so I assume there is either a wiring issue or an issue with the head unit. Either way unfortunately it seems you will have to drop by the dealership.
 
Got it out to the dealer this weekend. They were perplexed. The service advisor wanted to see it, and it acted just as I described. Volume at moderate level. changed the fader all the way to the rear, and very little volume out of the rear door speakers. If you leave the fader all the way to the back, you can crank the volume and get a useable volume, where the tween in the back seat isn't always requesting to have it turned up. The service advisor then took me to his 21 or 22 CX-5 also with the non premium sound system, and it acted exactly the same. So it appears that it is how the infotainment system is programed. He said he would notify Mazda of the issue, Maybe something can come of a future firmware upgrade.

I would love to hear if anyone else with a newer vehicle experiences the same issue.
 
I don't own a brand new CX-5, but I have been installing high end stereos since the 80's.

Short answer as to why most of your sound is coming from the front: when you go to a concert, you sit with the band in front of you!

All, and I do mean every single one, of great stereos try to replicate the experience of a live performance. As such, if a stereo system even has rear speakers at all, (and a great many truly good stereos don't!) they are tuned to be barely audible. They are there for ambience, and that's all they are used for.
 
I don't own a brand new CX-5, but I have been installing high end stereos since the 80's.

Short answer as to why most of your sound is coming from the front: when you go to a concert, you sit with the band in front of you!

All, and I do mean every single one, of great stereos try to replicate the experience of a live performance. As such, if a stereo system even has rear speakers at all, (and a great many truly good stereos don't!) they are tuned to be barely audible. They are there for ambience, and that's all they are used for.
I agree that ideally you should be able to do that. But the reality is that there is no way you are creating a a concert like sound image without spending thousands on gear and 400 lbs of Dynamat. The problem with this design is that 80-90 percent of what comes out of the front speakers gets absorbed by all of the soft surfaces in the front cabin. Anyone in the second or gawd forbid the third row of seats is just hosed when it comes to sound.

In my opinion, the default should be good balanced sounds so everyone in the cabin can hear good audio and enjoy it. Then allow the control so that if you want to forgo the rear passengers ability to hear the music to improve the sound stage for the front passengers, you have that ability.

Mazda does not put great stereos in their vehicles. The base units are good, but not great. Even the premium Bose systems are not great. They are better, still not great.
 
Curious if the base unit as an option similar to the centerpoint option in the settings of the Bose unit. That option brings the sounds more to the front i find for a “concert like feel” and could maybe be the culprit in some cases, but i don’t know if it there on base models.
 
Got it out to the dealer this weekend. They were perplexed. The service advisor wanted to see it, and it acted just as I described. Volume at moderate level. changed the fader all the way to the rear, and very little volume out of the rear door speakers. If you leave the fader all the way to the back, you can crank the volume and get a useable volume, where the tween in the back seat isn't always requesting to have it turned up. The service advisor then took me to his 21 or 22 CX-5 also with the non premium sound system, and it acted exactly the same. So it appears that it is how the infotainment system is programed. He said he would notify Mazda of the issue, Maybe something can come of a future firmware upgrade.

I would love to hear if anyone else with a newer vehicle experiences the same issue.
Weird, if you ask me. I don't have this version but I can set the volume on any channel to get really loud.
 
Disagree that the Bose isn't great. Hands down the best audio I've had in a car.
 
Disagree that the Bose isn't great. Hands down the best audio I've had in a car.

I don't think anyone is knocking the Bose audio. The issue is that it doesn't appear to be functioning as expected for the OP.
 
Disagree that the Bose isn't great. Hands down the best audio I've had in a car.
You should attend a MECA or IASCA car audio competition. The sound quality that can be accomplished in a car will absolutely blow your mind. And no, I'm not talking about a wall of 15" speakers, I'm talking about music reproduction that is so accurate, it will literally give you goosebumps when you hear it.

When I had the setup going in my old Mazda3, it took me 5 days to tune it. I use Jennifer Warnes' "Ain't No Cure For Love" off of her "Famous Blue Raincoat" album to set my sound stage. When I hit the perfect spot, there she was, standing out on the hood of my car, singing her lungs out. The imaging was so good, I got emotional. I really did.
 
Disagree that the Bose isn't great. Hands down the best audio I've had in a car.
Both can be true. Bose has a terrible subwoofer, and it might be the best you've had. The sub is greatly improved for low cost by taking it out of the spare tire, coating all the surfaces of the enclosure with a speaker damping sheet material, and adding some poly stuffing inside. And, this is a good time to practice removing and replacing the sub inside the spare in the comfort of your garage or driveway, in daylight, when for sure you'll have that flat on a dark & stormy night.
 
You should attend a MECA or IASCA car audio competition. The sound quality that can be accomplished in a car will absolutely blow your mind.

I know it can be better, no doubt. Just this is the best I've heard in any of MY cars.

Both can be true. Bose has a terrible subwoofer, and it might be the best you've had.
I've never had a dedicated sub woofer. So there's that.
:D
 
Ranting ahead:

My 2022 CX-5 Preferred with the 6 speaker system is EXACTLY the same, as the rear speakers hardly have any volume. My rear seat passengers have mentioned thee sound volume is almost non-existent. The front speakers are to me great sounding with the A-pillar tweeters.

I've replaced one rear stock speaker with one new Rockford (don't judge me, also have not had the time to put in the other three) and the sound volume (or lack there of) is similar. What gives? In comparison, my wife's Impala has 4 equally sounding speakers and the car I had before the CX-5, was a 4 door too, the rear speakers/amp did not have this issue.

I know I am comparing the CX-5 to other makes, models and years, but to me, it's ridiculous that the factory system is tuned this way, with no clear way to untune it and have it function like a "normal" sounding stereo where all 4 quadrants of the car get sound.
 
I'm hardly an audiophile or sound system expert by any means and thought the old 8-track player in my '68 Camaro sounded great back in the '70's. That being said, I've had a Bose system in a few different cars now with my 2019 CX-9 GT being the latest and I have to say I'm not super impressed with this one.

Nobody rides in the back so I don't know how it sounds there but I'm curious after reading this post and will have to check it out. The subwoofer is underwhelming and another member here suggested I will have to make sure the speaker is even plugged in. Maybe I'm just getting old and my hearing is starting to go but it might be the hardware isn't the finest Bose has to offer.
 
Really, I'm not being a nag, but the sound system's front speakers are almost too loud when they are turned up, but it's very noticeable in the rear seats, it's almost like Mazda didn't "tune" the amp. I feel there is something wrong with it or a pot on the board inside that's not turned up enough. Just thinking outside the box..
 
For me it's not an issue of if the base system or the Bose system sounds good. It's an issue of whether or not you can balance the volume between the front an rear seats. And it just appears that it's not possible with the way Mazda has programed either the base system or the Bose system. You should be able to turn the volume all the way up to 11 (Spinal Tap reference) in the rear, while almost turning it off in the front. And this is just not possible now.
 
Our Bose system behaves the same way. Most of the sound comes from the front. I don’t believe Mazda in conjunction with Bose really care about rear passengers. The sound quality for the front passengers on the Bose upgrade is only “good”. The rear passenger audio is adequate and the third row is outright terrible and not comfortable to listen to because of the 3d effect coming from the third row speakers and the unrefined subwoofer in the rear. The speaker drivers for the second and third row for the Cx-9 are not as powerful and not designed to be driven loudly like the front.

With this in mind, not all car audio behaves this way. Our Volvo XC90 with the $4,000 audio upgrade sounds spectacular throughout the entire cabin no matter where you are seated. Great audio quality throughout the cabin is doable, but it comes at the expense of more powerful speakers and various types of speakers sprinkled throughout the cabin as well as good software programming. You get what you pay for.
 
With this in mind, not all car audio behaves this way. Our Volvo XC90 with the $4,000 audio upgrade sounds spectacular throughout the entire cabin no matter where you are seated.

If it's the same drivers as what Volvo used before, they are made by Dynaudio, and they truly are spectacular. However, I still think the way Volvo tuned the system still leaves so much on the table. With a proper tune using an RTA and a proper DSP, that system can really come to life.

I've harvested Dynaudio drivers out of junkyard cars before for next to nothing, because 99.44% of people don't pay any attention to them at all, despite how truly incredible they are. They just think they are regular crappy factory speakers.

Some really awesome factory head units made by McIntosh came in certain Subarus as well. So yes, quality factory stereos exist. However, even the best still aren't tuned like they should be.
 
For me it's not an issue of if the base system or the Bose system sounds good. It's an issue of whether or not you can balance the volume between the front an rear seats. And it just appears that it's not possible with the way Mazda has programed either the base system or the Bose system. You should be able to turn the volume all the way up to 11 (Spinal Tap reference) in the rear, while almost turning it off in the front. And this is just not possible now.
Just curious after seeing this thread I decided to adjust my speakers in my 2020 Signature with Bose. I always thought this system sounded good and can confirm my rear speakers are just as loud as the fronts with the fader set middle. With the fader turned all the way, the fronts are totally off and the rears are booming. Third row speakers pump decent sound as well. Wonder if the problem is simply between the base and Bose systems. Anyway, just my experience.
 
If it's the same drivers as what Volvo used before, they are made by Dynaudio, and they truly are spectacular. However, I still think the way Volvo tuned the system still leaves so much on the table. With a proper tune using an RTA and a proper DSP, that system can really come to life.

I've harvested Dynaudio drivers out of junkyard cars before for next to nothing, because 99.44% of people don't pay any attention to them at all, despite how truly incredible they are. They just think they are regular crappy factory speakers.

Some really awesome factory head units made by McIntosh came in certain Subarus as well. So yes, quality factory stereos exist. However, even the best still aren't tuned like they should be.
Im not sure if its made by Dynaudio, but the speakers have Bowers and Wilkins written on it. I believe that its tuned quite well.
 
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