I have an 06 Mazda3 i Touring, no Bose system but it does have the tweeters in the side mirror panel (and they do work). I've been considering upgrading the system for quite some time because while it does sound pretty good compared to most cars, it's not good enough for me. (I record/produce music as a hobby 
) I'm not looking for super loud trunk-shaking 12" subs, in fact I don't even know if I'll go the sub route yet. What I do want, though, is to keep the stock headunit. I've already installed AuxMod, and I don't want to lose the top display's functionality. Plus, I hate the way all the mounting kits look, both single and double-din (and I don't have the money for a nice double-din setup).
So I've looked around and found this thing called the JL CleanSweep which is supposed to flatten out the frequency response curve of the stock headunit. My question is: Is the headunit in a Mazda 3 already flat? I've heard that the CleanSweep works wonders for some cars, and does nothing to others, implying that the stock HU barely colors the sound. I really want to figure this out because the thing costs $300 and would be a total waste of money if it barely did anything.
CleanSweep aside, I figure I'll install a 2 or 4 channel amp to power some component speakers in the front and coaxials in the rear. I'm a total noob to this so any advice as to which specific things I should look at would be great (like 2 vs 4 channel, etc). I will probably add a sub down the road, but I'll save those questions for when the time comes.
EDIT: I also have the steering wheel controls and would like to keep those too -- but I'm guessing it's not an issue as long as I keep the stock HU?
) I'm not looking for super loud trunk-shaking 12" subs, in fact I don't even know if I'll go the sub route yet. What I do want, though, is to keep the stock headunit. I've already installed AuxMod, and I don't want to lose the top display's functionality. Plus, I hate the way all the mounting kits look, both single and double-din (and I don't have the money for a nice double-din setup).So I've looked around and found this thing called the JL CleanSweep which is supposed to flatten out the frequency response curve of the stock headunit. My question is: Is the headunit in a Mazda 3 already flat? I've heard that the CleanSweep works wonders for some cars, and does nothing to others, implying that the stock HU barely colors the sound. I really want to figure this out because the thing costs $300 and would be a total waste of money if it barely did anything.
CleanSweep aside, I figure I'll install a 2 or 4 channel amp to power some component speakers in the front and coaxials in the rear. I'm a total noob to this so any advice as to which specific things I should look at would be great (like 2 vs 4 channel, etc). I will probably add a sub down the road, but I'll save those questions for when the time comes.
EDIT: I also have the steering wheel controls and would like to keep those too -- but I'm guessing it's not an issue as long as I keep the stock HU?
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