Speaker replacement 2008 CX9 non-Bose

[alejandro]

I wanted to keep the factory head unit (LIKE IT) but felt like replacing all my stock 2008 cx9 speakers (non-Bose) would greatly increase my listining pleasure. two weeks ago i started by replacing the front dash speakers with Polk audio 3.5in (DXI350). Feed coming straight from factory unit. The factory front dash speakers where actually just 1 inch tweeters mounted into a 3.5 inch plastic spacer! Cheap! The front door units i replaced with PA 5 x 7 (DXI570) and are also fed by the factory head unit. In the rear of the car i got a little fancier...in the rear doors i installed 8in infinity referance (860W) woofers! i had to modify the interior of the door(a little cutting here and there...) I did manage to get them to fit in the factory position, but required some effort on my part. Once the door panel was put back on...Walla! Factory look! I also added D panel speakers PA 3.5in (DXI350). My CX9 had no speakers back there. (i think only the Bose cars have these...) I am feeding these four rear speakers ( two D panel speakers and two 8in woofers) with a four channel PA amp (PA200.4) mounted under the little storage compartmant in the rear hatch area. The amp gets installed this weekend...so ill let you know my final results...so far its been great! maybe if i get crafty ill even attach some pictures...

 

[mzd]

Your installation is neat and looks original! As I understand, the front has four speakers, and the rear has four speakers. So the front is powered by front two channels of the OEM head units, and the rear will have a power amp with four channels? How do you wire all eight speakers? how do you get low level signals to the power amp and how the power amp is getting power? But most important of all, how does the whole system sound?

 

[TheFamilyGuy]

i dont mean to high jack the thread but i just purchased a 2012 cx-9 with the standard stero. how do i access the front corner speakers in the dash?

 

[mzd]

Not too difficult. Use a plastic prying device, not metal one to prevent scratching, start prying at one of the corner and work around until the cover moves up then just take it off. Very easy. Now this is only for the corner speakers, not the one in the center. I don't know how to take the center cover up. If someone has an idea of how, please chime in.

 

[alejandro]

I just finished the amp install last night and i am happy to report the system sounds great! here is how i set-up my speaker wiring: I spliced the leads coming from the factory head unit leading to the rear door speakers. i did this by removing the lower panel between the front and rear doors(this is where the front pasenger seat belt recracts into). behind the panel are all the wires that feed into the rear door, including the speaker wires. I ran leads from there back to the amp (as line input for the amp) and then back to my new door speakers (installed in the factory location). (The amp has two channel input but a 4 channel adjutable output) i choose this amp because the 4 channel outputs can be adjusted for the set-up i was looking for. Two channel for the rear door speakers (woofers) with high level cut and adjustable gain controle. The other two channels outputs run to the new rear D-pillar speakers (3.5 coaxials) with low level cut and adjustable gain controle...The amp gets its power from leads i ran to the accessory 12volt power outlet in the rear compartment area. i just got behind that panel and sliced into those wires. i ran good ground lead back there too by attaching a ground strap off one of the seatbelt mounting bolts (these are solid into the frame). everything is tucked away out of sight to keep it looking "clean".
I do have to make two corections to the system: installing woofers in the rear doors has caused some vibration sounds on certain songs...My teenage son doesn't think its a problem, but im preatty picky about my sound...i'll will have to go back and carefully sound proof and vibration proof the door panel better. i think i know where the vibration is coming from. (Mazda didn't design this door panel to withstand this much air movement!). i also need to run a remote power switch line from the head unit to the amp some how. The amp's power source (the rear hatch 12volt accessory outlet) is always hot, so this could cause my battery to drain down if my car sits for a couple of days. not sure when or how i'm going to fix that one...but for now I'm happy!

 

[mzd]

Alexandro, your set up is superb! I can't wait to follow your lead. Right now the wiring scheme you described is a bit too advance for me to understand. Maybe it need to reread it a few times, but if you could have the pictures of the wiring that allows you to get the line lever signal to power the rear speakers that would be excellent as I might use that to also find the line level for the front channels which allows me to use external 4 channel amp and possible to connect to the external powered subwoofer. Pictures will really help. Thanks.

 

[mzd]

Alejandro, sorry for misspelling your name. I reread your post and this is what I understand: there are two line level signal wires from the car (rear left, rear right) that you were able to tap into and connected them to your power amp (four channels)? Then it is possible there are two more low level wires for the front channels available also at a different location? Do you know where they are? I am very happy for your set up. Regarding the possible noise in the rear doors , maybe Dynamat them could kill or substantially reduces the noise. Oh, by chance, did you see any pre-wiring prep. in the rear panels or you hooked up your own wiring for the rear 3.5" speakers?

 

[FlashJim]

Where are the pictures located? I'd love to see them.

 

[alejandro]

Hey Guys i will try to post some pictures in the next couple of days. to answer some wiring questions: My Cx9 had no wiring for the rear "D-pillar" speakers. So I had to run that wiring myself. i only had to go back to the rear storage compartment (where the amp is) so it wasn't too bad. The factory rear door speakers leads is what i am using to feed the amp. the most conveniant place to splice into these that i could get to was on the "B-pillar". I removed the lower black plastic cover between the front and rear doors. this where the front passenger seat belts retract into. This is also where Mazda runs the rear door wiring harness right before it goes into the door. When i removed the rear door panel and replaced the factory speakers, i noted the speaker wire colors (blue/blue-black for left and yellow/yellow-black for right). when i found the wiring harnes i knew what color speaker wires i was looking for... for the front speakers i used the factory speaker wires. the only thing i had to change in the front was the factory speaker connectors to the universal spade type connector.

 

[FlashJim]

Thanks Alejandro. I can't wait to see them!

BTW, I used to live near Gwinnett Place Mall back in the 80's and 90's.