? 2005 Mazda3- Crappy Audio: Should replace deck and/or speakers

[cbc]

They are listed in my signature 6802CF...The Polks I have in the back seat are Polk DB570. The Polks don't have as crisp highs, but do sound very good and do not require a seperate amp. The Infinity's are 92 db sensistivity and the Polks are 93db sensitivity. Comparing the stock speakers to either of these speakers is a night and day difference..The stock speakers are weak sounding..full range speakers and they sound muffled..Adding either of these speakers will make even a stock HU sound better...any efficient speaker should sound better than the stock ones. I like the Polks in back, so the highs are not overpowering...Comparing the stock to these, the stock ones were half as loud.

Thanks for the info. Thinking about upgrading the speakers since they are mos def the weak link in the oem sound. Does your car also have the separate tweeters below the A pillars in the doors? IF so did you disconnect them or leave on? Wondering if they would degrade the overall sound w/ new speakers any. I do like their placement for imaging, but...

 

[cbc]

Also, I am reading in the Canadian forums that I should NOT get 3 or 4 way coaxials speakers unless I get a components setup, otherwise I'll be disappointed.

Those younger folk are also telling me that I need a sub or a bazooka sub to improve the bass. I'm totally confused here. (bang)

blondee- Just think about what type of music you listen to most often, & how much (or if at all) additional bass would benefit it. I'm guessing unless you are a huge rap & hip hop fan, you will not miss having a sub in your car at all. Upgrading to better door speakers alone will give you better, tighter bass response as it is. Unless you drive around with your tunes up at earbleed levels, you will be very happy w/o spending the additional $$

 

[rotwiler]

Thanks for the info. Thinking about upgrading the speakers since they are mos def the weak link in the oem sound. Does your car also have the separate tweeters below the A pillars in the doors? IF so did you disconnect them or leave on? Wondering if they would degrade the overall sound w/ new speakers any. I do like their placement for imaging, but...

I only have the 4 door speakers, no seperate tweeters.

 

[blondee_yvr]

cbc, I think so. I don't need much bass to justify a sub right now, but who knows. Like rotwiler, I don't have any separate tweeters either. BTW, my 3 is a sedan 2005 made in January 05.

 

[blondee_yvr]

If I have time tomarrow I will try to get the stock HU back in and listen to the Infinity's and the Polks seperate and sit in the back seat to give a opinion on the polks. As I said in past post, I did listen to the stock backseat speakers when I did the Infinity's and there was no comparison, poor highs and muffled sound and this was off the aftermarket HU...the stock speakers are not very efficient... I'll let you know how it sounds with the stock HU and post here as soon as I find out.

Thanks, let me know when you can. I have to put the speaker purchase on hold right now since Wednesday, for my b'day I got rear-ended. I just finished waxing my car too. I had a wonderful (not) but definitely memorable b'day. (gun)

 

[rotwiler]

Thanks, let me know when you can. I have to put the speaker purchase on hold right now since Wednesday, for my b'day I got rear-ended. I just finished waxing my car too. I had a wonderful (not) but definitely memorable b'day. (gun)

I'm going to try it in the morning, so will let you know as soon as I do. My wife really likes the look of the factory HU, so if it sounds good, then it will go back in and I'll wire up a line level to rca converter to make the amp for the subs work. I did notice after the sub was put in I can hear every rattle in the trunk. With the door speakers they don't have nay rattle at all. The doors are very easy to remove the panel...a few screws and I have manual windows, so a clip on that and you pop the hole panel off. I was impressed with the quality under the door panel, the center looks removable...guess so they can easily put electric windows or manual at the factory, but is very well constructed for a car in this price range.

 

[cbc]

oww! bummer blondee (boom07)

 

[rotwiler]

Aughhhh, accident... hope all is ok...
I did put the factory hu back in and sounded great. I listened to both sets and sat in the back seat. The Infinity speakers are louder, crisp highs and good bass. I would say those would be the way to go..The Polks worked fine too, but didn't get as loud and highs were not as good, both had simular bass and even on some rap music the bass sounded good, a plus to the factory HU is it has a 3 way EQ, bass-mid-highs so is adjustable. Comparing the factory HU connected to the speakers and the stock HU, sound was very simular. You should be very happy with the sound of the Infinity's up front. The stock speakers don't even have a tweeter, they are just full range speakers, so that alone is worth the upgrade for better highs.

 

[blondee_yvr]

Thanks rotwiler! What is the exact model number of the Infinity 6x8's?

 

[cbc]

Infinity 6802CF

 

[blondee_yvr]

I need to have a listen for myself. Is there an Alpine or Pioneer equivalent? No retailer in the Greater Vancouver area (Canada) carries Infinity car speakers.

 

[rotwiler]

I need to have a listen for myself. Is there an Alpine or Pioneer equivalent? No retailer in the Greater Vancouver area (Canada) carries Infinity car speakers.

To be honest, anything is better than the stock ones. They don't even have a seperate tweeter. Alpines would be the way to go, they make efficient speakers and will give you the most ouput. Should make you happy and they have nice highs. Don't go for power handling, the stock system doesn't put out that much. Just don't get some pyramid or swap meet brands..Stick with Alpine, Infinity, Pioneer, etc..

 

[blondee_yvr]

To be honest, anything is better than the stock ones. They don't even have a seperate tweeter. Alpines would be the way to go, they make efficient speakers and will give you the most ouput. Should make you happy and they have nice highs. Don't go for power handling, the stock system doesn't put out that much. Just don't get some pyramid or swap meet brands..Stick with Alpine, Infinity, Pioneer, etc..

Looks like I may be in luck. I have found a retailer that does carry the Infinity's. I'll check them out in the coming weeks. Since then, , I did go to Bestbuy and they dont carry the Infinitys but they had some nice sounding JBL's (GTO6826) in the US they are 8626; however, off the top looking at the specs, it's not as sensitive as the Infinity's but are a bit cheaper. But crutchfield has them discontinued. http://www.crutchfield.com/S-JHNWoNb0ipt/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?I=109GTO8626&search=GTO8626

 

[blondee_yvr]

Update. I had a listen to the Infinity's. I was disappointed...I found the highs or treble too "bright".

 

[rotwiler]

Update. I had a listen to the Infinity's. I was disappointed...I found the highs or treble too "bright".

Behind the stock grill and lower on the door, plus inside a car, makes a big difference(the grill masks some highs since tweeters are directional, woofers are not), plus the tweeters point to the shifter area, so some of the sound is lost in the car. Another thing is you can turn down the highs using the stereo, is all about how they had it set up for a demo. Alot of stereo places turn the highs up and bass down when testing them, so you can't hear any distortion or the speaker bottoming out. I can never judge speakers in a car audio place. If the speakers were behind your head, then I would say they are too bright. I did 2 sets of infinity Kappa speakers in my Z28, in the door they are perfect, in the panel behind my head they sound too bright, so is where they are placed. Like I said before, the Infinity's sounded perfect with a great mix of highs and mids, but the polks sounded flat... Alpines would be another good choice for you, nice quality and efficient. Another example is subwoofers, I have listened to JL audio subs in a car audio shop, sounded bad and couldn't feel the bass. I found some for cheap, so put them in my car and they hit so hard my brain tingled. I wouldn't think by listening to them in the store they would sound like that.

 

[cbc]

I would have to agree on listening to car audio demos inside a store. You are lucky if they even have them hooked up at all, much less correctly in phase & mounted so you can actually have a pair you can stand in between & listen to. But out on an open sales floor versus inside an actual car will make a BIG difference on how they sound in the end.

 

[blondee_yvr]

Choosing speakers is always personal preference. In my case, when listening to the demos, I made sure that the audio levels were all set to default and bass/treble were at 0. I guess I expected "less" highs of the Infinitys. There definitely was a noticable difference.

I have to like the sound of the speakers in the shop because I'll have them professionally installed. If it was a matter of buying and installing them myself I can try some out and remove/return them for another if I am not happy. I have to buy the "right" speakers the first time around.

I read one review where the poster mentioned unimpressive bass but after burn-in it was much better. In another post someone had the same opinion on the bass that it is inadequate.

In anycase, considering the impressive specs of the Infinity's, I'll try to find another store that carries them. So, far only Future Shop is the only one.

BTW, I saw a flyer today where a local shop has the Pioneer 687(0)R on sale. I know this model is discontinued. I havent heard how it sounds. Any comments?

 

[blondee_yvr]

Just an update. I think I may go with the Infinity's in the front and the MTX's in the rear because the MTX has more bass. Both are 92 db and this way it covers all the bases. Thanks again everyone, especially rotwiler!

Now, the next question is do i need Dynamat door deadener, if so which one? There is one that is just for the speaker and the other for the door.

 

[justjames]

Just an update. I think I may go with the Infinity's in the front and the MTX's in the rear because the MTX has more bass. Both are 92 db and this way it covers all the bases. Thanks again everyone, especially rotwiler!

Now, the next question is do i need Dynamat door deadener, if so which one? There is one that is just for the speaker and the other for the door.

I ended up replacing my stock speakers with Kicker KS-Series 6 1/2" Component Speakers in the front and Kicker 6 1/2" Coaxial Speakers in the rear. All running off of the stock HU. I must say it's a definite improvement for sure. I could have gone with Polk DB series speakers but I liked the midrange sounds of the Kickers better. Picked up my gear at Circuit City. Yeah Yeah, before ya'll go ranting on them, they have never let me down. I have had a couple of full blown systems installed without any problems.

I've been driving around tonight for a couple of hours and most likely will add a subwoofer and amp to the mix. Gonna go small with the sub and amp most likely. After listening to boom systems in two other vehicles (88 Hyundai Excel with 2 separate Rockford Fosgate 15" woofer systems and a 98 Mits Montero Sport with a triple (3) 10" system) my ears have taken a beating and there is noticeable hearing loss. "Note to the younger ones out there".. Pace yourself on the boom systems. Heh.

I'll probably end up with a single or dual 10" setup, nothing major. Just enough to round out the sound stage completely in the 3. I'm more interested in a clean look and want all my hatchback space I can get. I may end up building my own box to integrate more with the hatch versus paying CC a ton of cash to make one for me. Unless someone here has done something clever and can give me a good deal.

Anyway, anything is better than the stock speakers.

Thanks for reading.
James

 

[blondee_yvr]

justjames, cool. thanks for sharing. where did you get the speaker adapter plates from? i was thinking of going with 6 1/2 inch speakers but I was advised against it since I am really anal about noise and rattles which may happen.

enjoy your new speakers and too bad about your hearing. if it's any consolation, pete townshend of the who has hearing loss too. (boom08)