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Audio system upgrade in progress

9K views 19 replies 12 participants last post by  paulegarcia 
#1 ·
I have a 2016 touring model with a manual trans. The standard audio system is as bland as tofu. I have already replaced the dash tweeters which helped. So my goal now is to improve the rest at a reasonable cost and not give up a bunch of room in the car including the trunk for a huge subwoofer. I like to use my trunk for luggage, golf clubs,etc. So after looking around in the car I decided I could suspend a bazooka self powered sub in the trunk under the parcel shelf. I also changed out the rear door speakers. I just gutted the factory speakers and used the shell as mounts. I also used the factory wire connector. I have yet to do the front doors but I will get to that later.
Since the rear doors have zero sound reducing material I used a combination of boom mat peel and stick sheets. They come in 12” X 12” squares. I also used a product called audimute peacemaker. This stuff come in various thickness and sizes. I bought the 3.2mm thick, 2 ft by 3ft sheets that are $12.50 each delivered. Once cut I used spray on contact cement to hold it in place. I also pulled the lower B pillar cover off and put sound deadening material there as well. It has an open hole to the outer car skin so putting sound material can't hurt.
The sound is much better. It's much fuller and well rounded. No it's not punch you in the gut rattle your bowels deep bass but I wasn't going for that with my criteria. So far I'm happy. Pictures show some of the work.
 

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#2 ·
Kicker makes great stuff. I almost went with them, except JBL had a half off sale. I don't have a sub since I don't want to sacrifice trunk space, but am very happy with the JBLs I got. I still need to go back and put some matting down to tighten the sound up, as I do get some resonance.

Is that a Bazooka tube in the trunk? Haven't seen that setup in a long time!
 
#3 · (Edited)
Im doing mine also in progress. Im mounting a small 4 channel amp where u have your bazooka tube, also mounting a power distribution block there to feed both amps....one in the powered rockford sub enclosure....that ill put in the corner of trunk. Its easily disconnected and removed if need be.
Also went with jbl door and dash speakers.

Nice job on reusing the factory speaker mounts In the doors. That dawned on me after i already bought Metra speaker brackets
 
#7 ·
I have a 2016 touring model with a manual trans. The standard audio system is as bland as tofu. I have already replaced the dash tweeters which helped.
So after looking around in the car I decided I could suspend a bazooka self powered sub in the trunk under the parcel shelf. I also changed out the rear door speakers. I just gutted the factory speakers and used the shell as mounts. I also used the factory wire connector. I have yet to do the front doors but I will get to that later.
Since the rear doors have zero sound reducing material I used a combination of boom mat peel and stick sheets. They come in 12” X 12” squares. I also used a product called audimute peacemaker. This stuff come in various thickness and sizes. I bought the 3.2mm thick, 2 ft by 3ft sheets that are $12.50 each delivered. Once cut I used spray on contact cement to hold it in place. I also pulled the lower B pillar cover off and put sound deadening material there as well. It has an open hole to the outer car skin so putting sound material can't hurt.
The sound is much better. It's much fuller and well rounded. No it's not punch you in the gut rattle your bowels deep bass but I wasn't going for that with my criteria. So far I'm happy. Pictures show some of the work.
I really like what you're doing to your sound system, but a few questions:
What speakers and tweeters did you use?
How do you replace the tweeters?
How did you wire the powered sub into the rest of the system?

I would be interested in what others have done to the stock system for reasonable upgrades

Thanks for your help!
 
#8 ·
I can a quick update as well..

I put in the front and back doors Pioneer TS-A1676R - they sound pretty well once broken in .. for the dash I settled on the Powerbass 3.5 speakers ..

Here is a quick review of them that I made:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5Ghi_SCw8k

I know have a pretty clear sound in my car that is loud, not distorted and with minimal investment :)

The key is really to have a sub in the back otherwise you won't get that deep sound.
 
#9 ·
I have a 2016 touring model with a manual trans. The standard audio system is as bland as tofu. I have already replaced the dash tweeters which helped. So my goal now is to improve the rest at a reasonable cost and not give up a bunch of room in the car including the trunk for a huge subwoofer. I like to use my trunk for luggage, golf clubs,etc. So after looking around in the car I decided I could suspend a bazooka self powered sub in the trunk under the parcel shelf. I also changed out the rear door speakers. I just gutted the factory speakers and used the shell as mounts. I also used the factory wire connector. I have yet to do the front doors but I will get to that later.
Since the rear doors have zero sound reducing material I used a combination of boom mat peel and stick sheets. They come in 12” X 12” squares. I also used a product called audimute peacemaker. This stuff come in various thickness and sizes. I bought the 3.2mm thick, 2 ft by 3ft sheets that are $12.50 each delivered. Once cut I used spray on contact cement to hold it in place. I also pulled the lower B pillar cover off and put sound deadening material there as well. It has an open hole to the outer car skin so putting sound material can't hurt.
The sound is much better. It's much fuller and well rounded. No it's not punch you in the gut rattle your bowels deep bass but I wasn't going for that with my criteria. So far I'm happy. Pictures show some of the work.
Great install man! I usually just see people slap a sub in and some new speakers, but you've gone and properly sound treated the doors and all that ? something I didn't see you mention but might benefit from would be to fabricate a cover to cover the access into the inner door skin. Essentially what this will do is to close off the area behind the speaker that houses the window and it's associated mechanisms so that it will act more like a sub enclosure (although you'll need to allow a gap for the door handle mechanism, so it won't be air tight). This should go well with your sound deadening and help to get better mid/low response out of the doors. You could probably do it on the cheap with sheets of abs plastic or some sort of polycarbonate, as it won't need to hold pressure

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
#10 ·
would be to fabricate a cover to cover the access into the inner door skin. Essentially what this will do is to close off the area behind the speaker that houses the window and it's associated mechanisms so

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
Do you mean the area right behind the speakers - e.g. the inside of the door or the gap between the door and the outer shell?

I matted the inside of the door (actual inside) + the panel between the outer shell and the door.

I was debatting filling the door panel shell with foam but don't know if that will actually make a difference.
 
#11 ·
I was actually talking about any large openings in the inner door panel that the speakers are mounted to. Usually there's a cut out that allows you access between the two layers in case the window motor or something breaks. If you make a cover for those it improves the acoustics being that your speakers would ideally be mounted in a box of some kind. I wouldn't fill it with foam though because you wouldn't be able to get in there for repairs, but also because the speakers should have air to play in. I usually think of it like I'm creating a subwoofer enclosure

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
#12 ·
In the case of Mazda 6, there is no large opening in the inner panel. There is rather a large plastic piece in the center part of the inner panel. Add a little deadening to the inner and outer panel and some absorption/dispersion to the outer panel directly behind the speaker and you're good to go.
 
#18 ·
I am going to have to disagree with paulegarcia.

I can't guarantee anything but usually doing an audio upgrade will not void your WHOLE electrical warranty automatically. It's pretty hard to prove that by installing speakers into your doors, you would mess up your usb charger or cigarette lighter and many other things. If they were to find a cut wire where you messed with speakers, then yes, they will probably not let you get that covered under warranty.

Also, every car seems to be different for what it can handle with a sound system for pulling too many amps. I have upgraded my 2016 Mazda 6 Sport with 4 Kicker speakers running off an amp with 100 W RMS each and an 800 W RMS subwoofer powered by an amp. I have experimented by turning the volume and sub as high as it will go and my lights do not flicker at all. I can't say what paulegarcia means by 'mild setup' but I think that's quite a bit of power draw I have and the Mazda doesn't seem to care.

Basically, I would recommend upgrading whenever you feel like it because you should keep most of your warranty and your car won't be huffing and puffing from an amp or two drawing from your battery.

Again, I could be wrong on this but this is my experience I have had after any audio upgrade I have done. If anyone has experienced something else, please chime in so we all can learn what not to do.
 
#20 ·
Hi Bosch,

I agree that something as minor as replacing your speakers will not void your warranty.

But it is my understanding that adding amps, high output alternators, or any modification to the electrical system will void that warranty. My installer made sure I knew this before I modified my van (two amps and a subwoofer).
 
#19 ·
To void the warranty, they would have to prove that any electrical modifications made by you caused the failure. So long as you don't go nuts by, say, putting in an oversized alternator or relocating a larger battery into the trunk, you should be able to retain your warranty.
 
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