2022 CX-9 Rear speakers virtually no volume
- Thread starter nwbutcher
- Start date
Have you tried with centerpoint turned off ? I find centerpoint brings the sound forward in front of you. I have not compared 2nd and 3rd row seating with it on or off. But from the front seat i can say with it on the sounds is definitely pushed more from the front, where as with it off it seems to be more equally distributed in the cabin.
UPDATE: Replaced all door speakers (wanted to anyway). NO CHANGE in the sound volume on the rear door speakers, when faded to the rear only. In fact, all 4 door speakers are the same descent quality and not too bad.
It just boggles my mind why the volume is so much softer on the rear speakers than the fronts. Yes, i understand this car/stereo is different than the past cars I have owned, but it's just a bit strange that the rear speakers alone are hardly loud as the fronts.
I have a 2022 cx-9, exact same issue. The rear speakers are very weak but both still work.
Took it to thr dealer and they are going to change the amplifier.
Will update when work is completed.
I have same also in my 2022 GS-L Trim (Non-Bose).
I'm assuming this is just the way it is.. I originally noticed this when Apple Maps directions kick in, it cuts the two front speakers for the voice, but leaves the rear ones on slightly.
After reading this thread I realized that its not turning down the rears, but that's just the normal volume all the time. I wonder if it was some type of programming glitch that will get addressed in a future update.
2022 touring plus here. Same thing, hoping For a fix bc it doesn’t sound great when things are faded to the rear.
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- South Carolina
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- 12 MZ5 13 CX-5
You've been listening to bad stereos for so long now, decades even, that when Mazda is finally trying to make a good one, it's utterly foreign to your ears. You're going through Stockholm Syndrome.
As I said before, when you go to a concert, you don't sit with your back to the band. The band is out on front of you, and all good stereos try to replicate the sound of a live performance.
Let me ask you this: have you ever heard a half decent home stereo? How many speakers are there? Two. And where are they? In front of you. Why? Because you're attempting to recreate a live sound.
I've been into high end stereos for a long, long time now, and when I get into a car and hear rear speakers blaring, I can't stand it. It's just so very unnatural. You're in the opposite conundrum: you've been listening to bad stereos for so long, you think that that's how it's supposed to sound. I promise, nothing could be further from the truth.
Just stick with it for a while. Use some well recorded music in a good format (this automatically precludes using Bluetooth or mp3), and just *listen*. You'll start to like it, I promise.
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- Canada
I just tried to upload a video showing the audio playback in my 2018 CX-9 Sig w/ Bose. Unfortunately, copyright claims (from the audio I used) have blocked the video in the US, lol. Oh well. With the fade turned all the way to the front, the audio is nice and clear. Turning the fader all the way to the rear, the volume sounds like it is about 50% of what it sounds like up front, and a TON of detail is lost. When I put my ear to the lower door speakers in the front and rear, they both sound the same in terms of frequency and volume, regardless of what the fader is set to. To me, it sounds like certain frequencies are only played on the speakers in the dash and the speakers by the door handles up front. It seems consistent with the way a 5.1 home theatre setup might be configured. I have never had any complaints with the audio when passengers sit in the 2nd or 3rd row, and I've never had an issue with the way the audio sounds when I sit in the 2nd row.
This is either done by design, or it may be due to other factors like source and source quality. For reference, I was playing audio from my cellphone over Bluetooth. Source file is an mp3.
This is either done by design, or it may be due to other factors like source and source quality. For reference, I was playing audio from my cellphone over Bluetooth. Source file is an mp3.
Very lengthy response,
I value your input, but I strongly disagree.
If that was the case then please tell me why all other vehicles have tweeters all around you , anywhere from 6 to 10.
In my home I have 7 speakers and it works better to recreate surround sound then two.
Cheers.
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- South Carolina
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- 12 MZ5 13 CX-5
>why 10 tweeters
Because those sound like garbage, too.
>7.2 home theater
You're confusing home theater with home stereo. Two very different designs with two different design goals. Home theater is for movies, whereas home stereo is for music. True, Blu-ray has multiple channel Dolby Surround encoding, but how many channels does an LP or CD have? Just 2. Therefore you only use 2 speakers in a home stereo.
I really wish you could hear was a truly good stereo sounds like. Then and only then would you "get it".
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- Canada
Personally, I don't want every speaker to recreate the same sound. Like @theblooms said, in a home theatre system, the front channels product most of the sound when you're watching a movie or a live concert. Most of the vocals will also come from the fronts and the center channel. Surround rear and surround back channels fill in the ambient space with the appropriate amount of sound, to create the "surround" feeling, which requires the sound to be coming from a discernable point.
In this case, the sound is meant to be coming from the front, seemingly right in front of the windshield. With all speakers pumping out all frequencies at all volumes, that focal point is gone. Sure you get the volume, but all sense of depth is gone. Further, the two door speakers from the Bose system in the 2nd row can't handle all of the required frequencies to reproduce the same sound as up front, so even if the volume was adjusted, it would just be louder with a ton of missing detail. This is where having additional tweeters/speakers and better quality components in the higher end systems have an edge.
This is definitely by design, but if you wanted to fix this, you'd need to source some better quality components with your goals in mind, then get an experienced professional to properly tune your system afterwards. It's actually a lot like modifying a car. You can buy bolt on parts and feel a difference, but in order to get the most out of the setup, you need to have the car retuned.
Anything on you tube??, i be interested.
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- South Carolina
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- 12 MZ5 13 CX-5
YouTube ain't going to do it. You should visit a stereo shop, and no not Best Buy. I mean a real stereo shop. One that carries good stuff like Nad, McIntosh, Adcom, Mark Levinson, Klipsch, and Carver.
Take a few CD's with you (yes actual CD's), ones that you're intimately familiar with, that you've listened to hundreds of times. Now just close your eyes and listen. You'll get goosebumps.
Hearing a truly good stereo for the first time can get you emotional. Hearing details that you never knew were there. Big warning though, once you experience this, there's no going back. It's a dragon that you'll start chasing! Trust me I know. I've been chasing it for almost 40 years now!
Take a few CD's with you (yes actual CD's), ones that you're intimately familiar with, that you've listened to hundreds of times. Now just close your eyes and listen. You'll get goosebumps.
Hearing a truly good stereo for the first time can get you emotional. Hearing details that you never knew were there. Big warning though, once you experience this, there's no going back. It's a dragon that you'll start chasing! Trust me I know. I've been chasing it for almost 40 years now!
I replied to this thread a few weeks back and suggest those still with issues to stay on a Mazda rep to fix the problem. The Bose speakers in my '20 Signature work great. The rear door speakers pump the same amount of volume as the front. Turn the fader back and forth and they sound the same with the same level of volume. They will blast you out of the vehicle at full volume. There has to be a problem somewhere.
I emailed mazda re. This concern/issue. I wasn't the nicest, but it's true. I had a mazda 3 , cx 5 in thr last few yes, and no issues. It looks like it started with 2022 models.
I agree with this, most likely a glitch or unintended consequence with implementing the new 10.25" screened system. I highly doubt this is intentional tuning, or different speakers. Wouldn't be surprised if it was the consequence of a software decision.
Thankfully though, the rear speakers generally inconsequential. As long as they're not rattling/distorting, they're probably good enough.
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- 22 CX9 94 B3000
I know I have implied that I disagreed with theblooms before, and I am still going to have to explicitly disagree again. This is not about sound quality, but about control. A auto is a horrible place for sound. The sound floor (background sound) is too high, and the acoustics in a car/SUV are terrible (too many soft surfaces). Add to the fact that the speakers are usually mounted low in the door panels, most of the sound will not travel from the front to the rear and vice versa. Sure I want to listen to good music, but it should not have to sound like you are at a concert venue or a jazz club. For gods sake you traveling down the freeway at 65 MPH, not ordering a gin fizz listening to a jazz quartet.
I want to be able to listen to the radio at a level that is comfortable, and the kiddo in the back can hear it just fine. I want to be able to adjust the fader to the rear some the kiddo can enjoy the music, yet my better half and I can enjoy a conversation without yelling. Right now the only thing we can do is have it louder in the front, and softer in the back, because we can't turn it up in the back.
Besides, even if you did have a high end after market audio system, you would still have control over the fading like I would like to have (mentioned above.) Give the user full control, and those of us that just happen to be listening to music can have a good balanced sound system. Those who want to try and create a live venue will also have the full control to set the sound stage to their liking.
TL,DR: I am tired of the kiddo asking to have the music turned up because we can't get any decent volume in the back.
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I think the low volume is a product of Bose's "psychoacoustics" marketing. Their equalization has always been unusual and biased toward what sounds pleasant to most people rather than flat frequency response.
In the old days, the rear speakers on "high end" car stereos were intended to try to override the road noise coming from the back of the car rather than really add to the overall accuracy of sound reproduction.
I'm surprised these stereos don't have a setting to pick how many people are in the car. From the descriptions in this thread, the stereo in the 2022's appears to be set up as if only the driver is in the car. Other makes I'm familiar with have a setting to change the equalization for situations where the car is full of people rather than just the driver.
In the old days, the rear speakers on "high end" car stereos were intended to try to override the road noise coming from the back of the car rather than really add to the overall accuracy of sound reproduction.
I'm surprised these stereos don't have a setting to pick how many people are in the car. From the descriptions in this thread, the stereo in the 2022's appears to be set up as if only the driver is in the car. Other makes I'm familiar with have a setting to change the equalization for situations where the car is full of people rather than just the driver.
