2017 CX-5 Touring w/ Bose System; Time to Upgrade!

As I said whichever way you go the full sound deadening routine pays dividends and you will end up not really requiring vast amps and speaker power to achieve a nice balanced clear non distorted sound unless you really are a bass head or attending custom type shows - I love the effect I am getting from my relatively low powered system - the only mod I might do later is a head unit upgrade if I can find something was doesn’t need extensive dashboard alteration and Santy gives me some cash for Christmas…..🤣🤣🤣🤣
Wait, what? Santa still goes to England? He must have a bigger sleigh to deliver that huge lump of coal. :)
 
As I said whichever way you go the full sound deadening routine pays dividends and you will end up not really requiring vast amps and speaker power to achieve a nice balanced clear non distorted sound unless you really are a bass head or attending custom type shows - I love the effect I am getting from my relatively low powered system - the only mod I might do later is a head unit upgrade if I can find something was doesn’t need extensive dashboard alteration and Santy gives me some cash for Christmas…..🤣🤣🤣🤣
Oh crap, just reread this thread and realized you are from Scotland, not England. My sincere apologizes Phil.
 
The outer door skin gets way wetter. That's why I don't want it there. At least on the inner skin, it's somewhat protected from the elements.
 
Yep - I am a native of “The Far North”in the U.K. but live in England now - After Marriage to my dear wife a native of Nottingham ( The Midlands) no need for apologies - in actual fact my Father was a Shetlander so we class ourselves fairly independent of the mainland …… Scotland being the closest major landfall. Neither Boris or Nicola are my real “cup of tea “, Santa ties is sled to a speedboat over here - to stop the politicians “ Green taxing” the Coal haha 🤣🤣 How’s it going with sound deadening - toughest part of job I found but well worth it - your ears will thank you
 
Probably won't get started until after the new year. Still need to order the mass loaded vinyl and finish up some home projects. Been spending time over at DIYMA. Spent the last couple days following the eleven page Macon build. Holy crap, I need that guy's Visa card! :) Trying to filter through all the pertinent info. A lot of great info.
 
DIYMA is very hit and miss. That website is where the whole "caps hurt your stereo" started. Oh sure, fake Chinesium caps are garbage, but real caps can and do work fine. If capacitors didn't work, amplifiers wouldn't have them inside! Unfortunately, despite being proven wrong about capacitors years and years ago, because of DIYMA, that falsehood remains widely believed.

Fake:

Real:
 
DIYMA is very hit and miss. That website is where the whole "caps hurt your stereo" started. Oh sure, fake Chinesium caps are garbage, but real caps can and do work fine. If capacitors didn't work, amplifiers wouldn't have them inside! Unfortunately, despite being proven wrong about capacitors years and years ago, because of DIYMA, that falsehood remains widely believed.

Fake:

Real:
Is there a site you feel is more reliable?
 
Honestly? Do your own research. Way back in the day, we has magazines dedicated to actually informing the consumers with solid, honest journalism, explaining in great detail how to get terrific sound. Sadly, this no longer exists.

"Car Audio and Electronics", "Car Stereo Review", and even the lesser but still cool "Auto Sound and Security" were god sends. RIP.

Hit up any car audio competition in your area, go to the SQ section, and ask! I know that can be a pain, but until you sit in a car that truly sounds good and hear it with your own ears, until you lay your own eyes on what a quality install looks like, you can't really have a frame of reference. Pictures on a website can only do so much. This really is one of those, "Oh man, you should have been there!" type of things.

MECA, IASCA, and USACi are the three biggest competition sanctioning bodies, but there are more. Check out their websites for a show in your area.
 
Honestly? Do your own research. Way back in the day, we has magazines dedicated to actually informing the consumers with solid, honest journalism, explaining in great detail how to get terrific sound. Sadly, this no longer exists.

"Car Audio and Electronics", "Car Stereo Review", and even the lesser but still cool "Auto Sound and Security" were god sends. RIP.

Hit up any car audio competition in your area, go to the SQ section, and ask! I know that can be a pain, but until you sit in a car that truly sounds good and hear it with your own ears, until you lay your own eyes on what a quality install looks like, you can't really have a frame of reference. Pictures on a website can only do so much. This really is one of those, "Oh man, you should have been there!" type of things.

MECA, IASCA, and USACi are the three biggest competition sanctioning bodies, but there are more. Check out their websites for a show in your area.
Just figured that since you had an issue with that site, you might have others in mind. Only so many hours in a day. Work, an ill wife and elderly parents take up much of it. Not interested in car shows, just the science and tech behind the process. Possible hobby when I retire in a few years.
 
@Mike Allen -- any website with content created by random people on the internet can be "hit or miss". DIYMA is no different (heck this site is no different). You will find quality posts, and not so quality.

Organizations mentioned like:

can be a great way to get connected to more advance technical resources.

other casual resources:

most around home/studio audio

more speaker & equipment DIY

without knowing your background, if you want to learn more of the technical details of installation and how to get stuff to work:

good luck - car audio (heck any audio) is HIGHLY subjective for what sounds and looks good, so have a goal in mind and then go looking for solutions.

SPL - how loud does it get?
SQL - how near perfect does it sound?
 
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@Mike Allen -- any website with content created by random people on the internet can be "hit or miss". DIYMA is no different (heck this site is no different). You will find quality posts, and not so quality.

Organizations mentioned like:

can be a great way to get connected to more advance technical resources.

other casual resources:

most around home/studio audio

more speaker & equipment DIY

without knowing your background, if you want to learn more of the technical details of installation and how to get stuff to work:

good luck - car audio (heck any audio) is HIGHLY subjective for what sounds and looks good, so have a goal in mind and then go looking for solutions.

SPL - how loud does it get?
SQL - how near perfect does it sound?
Thank you so much for the referrals. I've been following "The Deadening" on Facebook for a few days to get up to speed on sound deadening. A lot of good info.
 
Any thoughts on the Steven's SA6 components for the front? Appear to come in both two and four ohm versions.
Those are made by Eric Stevens, the founder of Image Dynamics. He's no longer with ID, and since he left, the quality over there just isn't even close to the same as it was under his leadership.

Though I've not personally heard Eric's new stuff, if it's anything at all like his classic designs, they've got to be good. (At least to my ears, that is!)
 
Those are made by Eric Stevens, the founder of Image Dynamics. He's no longer with ID, and since he left, the quality over there just isn't even close to the same as it was under his leadership.

Though I've not personally heard Eric's new stuff, if it's anything at all like his classic designs, they've got to be good. (At least to my ears, that is!)
The reviews I've read are very positive. Just need to find the depth measurements for both the stock Bose and his components. Need to decide between the two and four ohm versions, as I intend to add a DSP/amp to the mix. Its interesting that he has no website, only a Facebook page for his product. Cool that he responds himself.
 
Here's a schematic and selection for the wires.

View attachment 298849
Any green wire from the selections in this harness is going to be the negative. I also did not hook up the subwoofer lines. From the factory, the wires from the harness are going to go directly to the speakers of the Bose system. Knowing this, I took the leads from the harness and fed them into the inputs of my DSP/Amp, and then connected the outputs of the DSP/Amp to the remaining leads to the Bose speakers.

Below are schematics that have been shared in this forum that helped out immensely! Thanks to all the members who have shared the wiring diagrams within the threads!

View attachment 298850



View attachment 298851

What was really nice about this project thus far was that I planned this build over a year ago. I felt maybe it was completely out of my league, as playing with factory installed amplifiers get scary. Musicar Northwest is a professional installer and in no way can I say that I am an industry professional. However, their venture yielded fruit that inspired this project! With confidence, I can say that as long as your "premium" speakers are 2 ohms or above, procuring a DSP/Amplifier that is stable at 2 ohms will suffice. As crazy as this sounds, you might be able to utilize just a multi-channel amplifier (rated 50 watts @ 4ohms) to increase the output/clarity for the Bose system instead of overhauling all the speakers for better performance. These days, there are plenty of multi-channel amps with hi-level input that are affordable.

I won't lie though, this project took a span of three days, granted the drama, meeting my brother's boyfriend's family, and a Sunday BBQ.
Appreciate these posts! Recently bought a 2017 cx5 gt. And I’m a big competition sq car audio/audiophile. I did a little digging around for additional wiring diagrams as well. I decided to splice into all the wires from the Bose amp/HU as well. Added a dayton 408 DSP. And two compact amplifiers to amplify the 9 speakers. And then added a 12” Sundown xv3 sub for the time being on an alpine mrx-m240 amplifier turned down for now until I upgrade to a 250a alternator.
 
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