Speaker Adaptors

[trek777]

I have a 2014 CX-5 sport. I've changed my head unit to a JVC-KW-AV61BT. I've installed a backup camera and that is where I planned on stopping, but I'm not happy with the factory speakers. I want to change my speakers and to get the steering wheel controls to work. They made a change in the 2014 models and eliminated one wire that the PAC adapter uses to connect them. I've sent them an email and asked when they will have one and the response that I got was that they don't know when. I searched for speaker adapters and couldn't find any and I'm unwilling to gut the factory speakers. I sent an email to www.Car-Speaker-Adapters.com and they are being really helpful. They bought a used factory front speaker off of ebay to use as a model. I really wasn't expecting them to keep asking me so many questions about it. I couldn't answer a lot of what they were asking, but I promised to buy a set of front adapters when they have them available.
Does anyone know if the rear speakers are the same as the front?

Update: They now have the front speaker adapters available and are working on the rear. I've ordered a set.

 

[trek777]

I got the speaker adapters for the front today. I bought a set of Sony 6.5 inch 3 way speakers hope to get it all installed soon.

 

[chriss340]

How much were the adapters?

 

[trek777]

About $40 shipped.

 

[trek777]

Front speakers installed

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/023oe5wp82401ec/K0h08_EQv5

I installed my front speakers. The adapters worked perfectly. I did have a WTF moment when I first held the adapter up to the door. I didn't realize that the holes will only line up one way. When you look at the speaker it appears symmetrical but its not. Not expecting big sound from my Sonys but I expect them to sound better. I was going to put a baffle behind the speakers to keep moisture out but I didn't think it was needed. The design of the adapter won't let water sit there for long. Plus the material of the speakers shouldn't have an issue with a little bit of moisture getting on them. I have to admit I was surprised at how much water I found in the doors. I was a mechanic at a Mazda dealership for a number of years a number of years ago and I don't recall ever finding water in doors like that.

 

[RedBaron]

Very interesting about the adapter availability. I (as others have done) just cut out the speaker cone and magnet basket from the old ones and reused the outer part as the mount.

I also found the old speakers were soaking wet when I took them out (I did it the day after a night of rain). Never seen so much water in a door! As a result I cut 10" squares of thick packing polythene, taped them temporarily to the door metal and screwed the mounts over top of them to protect the speakers 'just in case'.

 

[trek777]

Mine were not soaked but there was a good amount of moisture in the doors. I might have to seal up behind the speakers if I notice water coming in from the speaker grills. The sound is much improved, looking forward to replacing the rear. I had no intention of doing any of this when I bought the car. The only reason is that I couldn't find a good place to mount my stand alone XM radio. I had a Skyfi 2 radio and it had an artist alert feature. None of the new stand alone radios offer this, so I figured that if I had to give up that feature then I would install a new deck unit. If I had known that I couldn't get the steering wheel controls to work then I would have bought a new smaller stand alone unit. The 2014 is different from the 2013 by one wire and as of yet they don't make an adapter for it. The factory speakers sounded crappy which is why I decided to change the speakers. I didn't want to gut the factory speakers because I won't do anything I can't undo. I really didn't want to cut the speaker wire plug but since they don't make any adapter for that yet I didn't have much choice. I did leave myself plenty of room to reattach it in the future. The last time I did any sort of stereo work was in 2000 on my Chevy Metro.

 

[garyd9]

I had known that I couldn't get the steering wheel controls to work then I would have bought a new smaller stand alone unit. The 2014 is different from the 2013 by one wire and as of yet they don't make an adapter for it.

Can you expand on that? I was under the impression that the PAC RP4-MZ11 would adapt the SWC for both 2013 and 2014 models.

 

[trek777]

I have a 2014 CX5 Sport. There are two wires you need to tap into on the factory harness. Only one of those wires is present on the 2014 model. I went back to the shop where I had purchased the kit and they called up PAC tech support. They were aware of the issue but didn't have a solution yet. The instructions I had been given when I bought it were for a 2013. You wouldn't have thought that there would be a change like that after one year.

 

[RedBaron]

The instructions I had been given when I bought it were for a 2013. You wouldn't have thought that there would be a change like that after one year.

Tell me about it! See my thread on the 2013 vs. 2014 Homelink/Autodim mirror. One wire changed in the harness for '14, but just moved to a different connector position! WTF?

 

[trek777]

Well its been a while but the rear adapters are now available and I installed new rear speakers today.

 

[tmz_99]

thanks guys.. Ordered today. Looks to be a good product.