2021 10-speaker Bose CX-5 Frequency Response Curves

Correct. A 5" driver simply doesn't have the ability to have a very low resonant frequency (Fs).

Size isn't determining factor. The air volume to be driven and desired loudness are pivotal. All else is driver compliance, mass, motor parameters. A 0.1" earphone driver can produce 30Hz and 100dB+ in the ear canal...

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The air volume to be driven and desired loudness are pivotal. All else is driver compliance, mass, motor parameters.
Like I said, I was speaking in very general terms.

As you know, the volume of air that a given driver can move is determined by Sd and Xmax. So, the bigger driver, the more air it can move. The bigger the driver, the easier it is to get a bigger motor and the manipulation of Cms, Mms, Bl, etc for maximum low frequency performance.

So yes, as I stated, there are very specific instances where a small driver can perform in low frequency applications, but as you know, that's absolutely not the norm, and it takes some serious engineering feats to get there. (Feats of which which no auto manufacturer outside of say the Bowers and Wilkins stereo in a Maserati are willing to spend the money to do).
 
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This forum needs more technical discussions, like this.

I'll add that a 5" driver driven to large excursions will inevitably become non-linear before Xmax and produce unlistenable distortion at comfortable SPLs trying to reproduce double-bass/electric bass notes.

Is the "subwoofer" in the late model CX-5s really only 5"?
 
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Is the "subwoofer" in the late model CX-5s really only 5"?
Yes. A 130 mm / 5.12” speaker / driver is used in the gen-2 Bose subwoofer box.

“A 130 mm woofer built-in base box under the luggage room floor that produces superb heavy bass.”

From speaker setup point of view, 2017 10-speaker Bose system with 2 new A-pillar tweeters and a new spare-tire sub-woofer is definitely better than 2016 9-speaker Bose which doesn't have any of these! No, the new sub-woofer won't make big difference as it's has a small 5" speaker which has to be the smallest speak/driver I have ever seen as a sub-woofer! Remember, No highs, no lows, must be Bose!

Here are some info from Mazda Japan website about new CX-5 Bose system translated by Google. 10-speaker Bose system in 2017 CX-5 has two 1" (25 mm) tweeters at A-pillars, two 6" (165 mm) mid-range speakers on front doors, two 5" (130 mm) mid-range speakers on rear doors. Finally a sub-woofer with 5" (130 mm) speaker is located in spare tire area. Since it says two front tweeters and two corner dash mid-range door speakers form a 2-way configuration front speaker setup, we lost two corner dash 3" mid-range speakers but the center dash 3" mid-range speakers stays for surround sound effect. The 3" speaker with red border shown in the picture is the center dash speaker, the other two 3" speakers are rear fill-in for surround sound. Personally I'd prefer no Centerpoint 2 Surround Sound System like CX-3's since we don't watch movies while driving anyway!

理想の「マツダサウンド」をBoseと共同開発
Enjoy the high-quality comfort of the new CX-5 with five senses.
I thought about functions and equipment that can feel usability without being caught by common sense.

Developed ideal "Mazda sound" jointly with Bose
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In Mazda, "Clarity: Clear sound without distortion" "Imaging: accurately reproducing all the sounds of music from bass to treble" "Power: sound that feels heavy bass energy" is called "Bose Mazda sound "value and definition. Since this idea overlaps with the idea pursued by Bose, we collaborated with Bose from the early stages of vehicle development and realized an ideal sound system and 10 speakers for the new CX-5.

Bose sound system (AUDIOPILOT (TM) 2 + Centerpoint 2) +10 speaker
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A silk dome adopted 25 mm tweeter in the front pillar to reproduce a smooth and clear high tone. This 2-way configuration with tweeter, 165 mm speaker of the front door to properly localize vocals and each instrument. A 130 mm woofer built-in base box under the luggage room floor that produces superb heavy bass.
And rear door 130mm speaker. These 10 speakers realized a balanced, clear, realistic sound that sounds like coming from any stage anywhere on the stage. We also have a Surround System Centerpoint 2 function that reproduces with a stereoscopic sound image even with a stereo sound source, and a running noise compensation system AUDIOPILOT (TM) 2.

* Built-in woofer built-in base box of Bose sound system is installed under the trunk board.
(Maker Set Option: 20 S PROACTIVE, 25 S PROACTIVE, XD PROACTIVE, 25 S L Package, XD L Package)
 
Avoid Bluetooth for anything that you actually care about sounding good. It's even worse than mp3, if you can believe that. And mp3 via BT? OOF. Please, just no.

Focal has a free test CD on their website that you can download, and it includes both pink noise and sweeps. If you car doesn't have a CD player, just turn it into a flac or WAV file and run it that way via USB.

That depends on the codec used. AptX can pass 16/44.1 and aptX HD can pass 24/48. I didn't wanna believe it either.

 
That depends on the codec used. AptX can pass 16/44.1 and aptX HD can pass 24/48. I didn't wanna believe it either.

That's all well and good, but you're missing arguably the most important spec: bit rate! A CD has a bit rate of 1,411.2 kbps. The best that even aptX can *theoretically* handle is 576kbps. And in real world useage, the true max is in the 256-320ish area. That is giving up a lot of information, no matter how you slice it.

Sony has addressed this absolutely glaring weakness with their proprietary LDAC codec that has a theoretical max of 990 kbps, so it's certainly getting better, but even at that 990, you're still only have 2/3rds of what a CD is capable of. And its only Sony products that currently implement LDAC, so no, it's not in your Android or iPhone. You're still at 256.
 
........ There was a lady named Alma Gates who was going for the World Record in SPL in her Ford Bronco. She was using PPI components, and they sent over a case of their PSC-221's. .....
I met her in Kansas City after she set her world record. The nicest person in car audio at the time -- period. She answered every question like it was the first time she had ever heard it and she took the time to interact with anyone who showed interest in the Bronco. I believe the story goes she got into car audio because her sons (maybe grandsons) were interested in it and she wanted to spend time with them.

I remember the flury of discussion in 2013 when she passed:

A nice read:
 
I believe the story goes she got into car audio because her sons (maybe grandsons) were interested in it and she wanted to spend time with them.
Yes, her grandson was big time into car audio. The World Record holder at the time was a guy named Mark Fakuda. Her grandson saw him at a show and asked for his autograph. Fakuda blew him off.

Alma said, "That' fine, we'll beat him at his own game!"

And the rest is history.
 
Ok.. using my Toshiba laptop... results seem more in line. Took a quick measurement:

At the driver's side headrest with the sub connected vs. disconnected... Treble = +6, Bass = 0
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With the sub off... it's a fairly flat response... with emphasis in the lower frequencies... the subwoofer signal has a huge spike at 40Hz.... Bass can probably be reduced to -3 or -6 to flatten the curve a bit.

I have a Rockford Fosgate P300-10 ready to install... curious too see if it makes much of a difference with moving more air. I also replaced the center dashboard speaker with a GRS 3" speaker... the speaker only has an efficiency of 81dB, so it might be playing a bit lower than it should, but it definitely made the upper range smoother with a bit more air.

Matt
 
Agree, probably closer to reality although with my fiddling of treble, +6 would be to the bright side with at least 3k to 10K boosted above the 70dB line.

That rising curve from 1kHz down to 100Hz or so is pretty aggressive--possibly some compensation for road noise. Will have to pay closer attention to assess whether that agrees with what I hear.

The sub shows up where I hear it, and elevated above the LF haystack from the door speakers.

All speakers "on" measurement?

Did you capture the all settings zeroed, as from the factory?
 
Agree, probably closer to reality although with my fiddling of treble, +6 would be to the bright side with at least 3k to 10K boosted above the 70dB line.

That rising curve from 1kHz down to 100Hz or so is pretty aggressive--possibly some compensation for road noise. Will have to pay closer attention to assess whether that agrees with what I hear.

The sub shows up where I hear it, and elevated above the LF haystack from the door speakers.

All speakers "on" measurement?

Did you capture the all settings zeroed, as from the factory?
I wound up backing the treble down to +3 and keeping the bass at 0. To me that sounds the best overall. When I drop the bass down, it gets pretty thin sounding.

I’ll do more comprehensive testing when I have more time later this week. For now I just did a quick test with all speakers on and at the headrest again.

I just wanted to get some more accurate results posted. Not sure why my work dell laptop rolls off the bottom end… but I did verify the results of my toshiba laptop with my desktop and they both agreed when I took measurements in the house.

Matt
 
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I find the bass is too strong listening to the stereo in the garage, but on the road I prefer to bump it up about +3.

Different sources and different recordings keep me adjusting it as I go.
 
Agreed. But I still enjoyed reading the discussion!

My guess about the useless on factory Bose sub-woofer is that its 5” speaker / driver is simply too small for a woofer.
Indeed, The Door Speakers Are Actually Larger Than The BOSE "Sub", Hence That's Why I Purchased An Actual Rockford Fosgate 12" Sub/Sub Enclosure Paired To a JL Audio Sub Amp and Soundstream Capacitor!!!
 
I completely took out the Bose System besides the factory amp (because TOSLINK and MOST signal controls) and ran it to a Fix86 to flatten it and gain some control, then a Twk88 for actual tuning. Amp and speakers are meh (Diamond audio) as I was just seeing if I could get any more out of the system, which I can. Tons now actually. So we're moving to Hybrid Legatia series speakers and tweeters with midwoofers, and likely two Arc amps. JL HO112w6v3 is already in as well but it's going into a custom box in the spare well in the hatchback after some sound proofing is done throughout the car. I want my cargo space back, lol.

Not a fan of Bose audio in cars whatsoever and I'm not a fan of the tweeter placements overall for what they are doing. I may move the tweeters further forward and add some in the very rear off-line in the headliner. Also thinking about making some custom door card mounts for two 6.5" speakers. Car has good space and dynamic lines though for pretty great audio, but it is entirely hands on tuning to get right.
 
So we're moving to Hybrid Legatia series speakers and tweeters with midwoofers, and likely two Arc amps.
Before you get the Hybrids, do yourself a HUGE favor, and at least audition a set or Linear Power component speakers. They are nothing short of amazing, and about the same price as the Hybrid. (Ignore the "cheesy" website. LP is a very small family owned company). Plus, they're made in America! Mike Flanagan's Trailblazer is equipped with Linear speakers and amps, and he's won back-to-back MECA World Championships in SQ. Not saying buy them, but at least give them a listen before you decide.
 
Avoid Bluetooth for anything that you actually care about sounding good. It's even worse than mp3, if you can believe that. And mp3 via BT? OOF. Please, just no.

Focal has a free test CD on their website that you can download, and it includes both pink noise and sweeps. If you car doesn't have a CD player, just turn it into a flac or WAV file and run it that way via USB.
New bluetooth protocols phone side are .mp3 and CD quality bitrate capable. Many cars don't however receive more the .mp3 and they introduce ugly noise and lose data. If manufacturer's would submit to the same requirements and standards of higher end wireless systems, we'd be so much better off.
Before you get the Hybrids, do yourself a HUGE favor, and at least audition a set or Linear Power component speakers. They are nothing short of amazing, and about the same price as the Hybrid. (Ignore the "cheesy" website. LP is a very small family owned company). Plus, they're made in America! Mike Flanagan's Trailblazer is equipped with Linear speakers and amps, and he's won back-to-back MECA World Championships in SQ. Not saying buy them, but at least give them a listen before you decide.
I might have a hard time finding someone or a shop with those but I will look. I might reach out to them directly and see about meeting a customer of their's or a distributor/rep with a car set up with it. I'm in The Phoenix metro, so there might be enough people here to include some of them. Worse comes to worse I find someone in Vegas or Cali (this is big boy bucks so I treat it like I would buying a car). Thanks for the heads up as I had no clue they existed and to compare them to Hybrid Legatia is a pretty good compliment.

Have any links to shows or competitions they might have been in or had recorded? I will Google of course but obviously something sold you on them.
 
New bluetooth protocols phone side are .mp3 and CD quality bitrate capable. Many cars don't however receive more the .mp3 and they introduce ugly noise and lose data. If manufacturer's would submit to the same requirements and standards of higher end wireless systems, we'd be so much better off.

I might have a hard time finding someone or a shop with those but I will look. I might reach out to them directly and see about meeting a customer of their's or a distributor/rep with a car set up with it. I'm in The Phoenix metro, so there might be enough people here to include some of them. Worse comes to worse I find someone in Vegas or Cali (this is big boy bucks so I treat it like I would buying a car). Thanks for the heads up as I had no clue they existed and to compare them to Hybrid Legatia is a pretty good compliment.

Have any links to shows or competitions they might have been in or had recorded? I will Google of course but obviously something sold you on them.
The owner of Linear Power is a guy named Ray Rayfield. I met him when I attended a couple of car audio competitions a few years ago. He is a super friendly guy, and when you call their corporate phone number, he himself may very well answer the phone!

What sold me was listening to his Ford Escape. It's a very simple install, and he did it like that on purpose. The way he built his car was to show that you can absolutely have a fantastic stereo that you yourself can put together in your own driveway. When I listened to his Ford though, I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY. And then, I got to listen to Mike Flanagan's Chevy, and that was it: I knew what speakers I was buying.

This is a clip that Vice News did on the MECA Finals where Linear Power knocked it out of the park. Mike Flanagan is interviewed with his Trailblazer. If you notice Mike's license plate, it reads "EARCANDY". That's been Linear Power's moto since the 80's!

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