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Speaker upgrade - 2015 Mazda3 GS non-Bose 6 speaker system

170K views 164 replies 76 participants last post by  enemy90 
#1 · (Edited)
I've gotten so much benefit from the posts on here, I thought I would post my experience in upgrading my stock 6 speaker system to all Infinity Reference speakers. I have the non-Bose (Canadian) 6 speaker Infotainment system in my new GS, not sure how this model translates in other countries.

I replaced the front door speakers and dash tweeters with the Infinity Reference 6500cx components ($249 at Best Buy in Canada) - amazingly, they were almost a drop in replacement. Once you get the door panels off and the stock speakers out, you cut out the stock speaker and the spider braces from the plastic speaker holder, and the 6500 mids drop right in. Just nibble the ridge on the frame a bit so the screw lugs on the Infinities fit flush. Screw them to the frame, solder the speaker lugs to the connector on the frame, and back in the door no issue.

Same for the tweeters in the dash - remove them from the dash (2 screws) pop out the stock tweeters out of their frame (there is just some black glue holding them in), and the Infinity component tweeters fit the hole exactly. An amazing almost drop in replacement. Glued them in with some Shoe Goo (fantastic adhesive for this) and it was perfect. You just have to be careful that the tweeters do not stick too far up and hit the stock grill when you put it back - just have the screen dome flush with the stock frame and it is perfect.

The toughest part was wiring in the crossover and threading the tweeter wire through the molex connector to get through the door to the cabin. I just wired the crossover in the door panel area (lots of room there) and ran the tweeter wire through the door and up through the dash. But it was a bit of effort.

Lots of other posts on here about getting through that damned molex connector, and removing glove box, etc. to get access under the dash.

The rear speakers were incredibly easy - just remove the door panels, the stock speakers, and again cut out the stock speaker from the frame. A pair of coaxial Infinity Reference 6502ix ($149) dropped right in. Nibble the ridge so it fits flush, screwed down and connector soldered, plugged in with the original plug, it goes back in the door in about 45 min per door.

If you want an easier install, without the more difficult threading of the wire through the door and replacement of the dash tweeters, I would just use the 6502ix coaxial speakers to replace both front and rear door speakers. Cutting, stripping and wiring of the crossover, fishing the wire through those damned molex connectors about double the time and triple the work of just replacing just the door speakers by themselves.

The difference in sound is incredible - I did it in stages, so I could compare stock vs. Infinity, and the clarity and bass is much improved. Still could use a sub, but I'm going to wait and see if I can find a clean, non-obtrusive install at some point. Not much room in the cabin other than in the trunk.

Hope this helps someone. I have tons of pics, some measurements, etc. if anyone wants more detail or help, ask away.
 

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#2 ·
Thanks for that, how easy was it to remove the front door panels to install speakers? Debating if I should do it myself or have a shop do it. Coincidentally, already have a set of 5.25 Infinity Reference speakers from my other car I was considering reinstalling, but if the door takes 6.5 inch, I may just get larger size speakers. Going to be listening to my favorite CD's on 5 or 6 different speakers over the next couple days and figure out which speakers sound best to my ears.
 
#88 ·
Thanks for that, how easy was it to remove the front door panels to install speakers? Debating if I should do it myself or have a shop do it.
I have not done it yet on my mazda, but was dreading removing door panels on my 03 Forester, due to past experiences with late 80's early 90's fords and the problems getting them back on 100%. Turned out on the Subaru it was a cinch, have removed them many times and always got them back on like new without any hassle. Sounds like from the the OP's description i'd expect the Mazda to be similar. Good to know.
 
#3 ·
Dead easy - there is one screw under the rubber pad in the armrest, and another behind the plastic panel (just pop it out with a screwdriver, carefully) behind the door lever. Then starting at the bottom front - pull forcefully but carefully until the plastic catches release. Then pull the bottom rear, then top rear, then top front. Then lift up, it should come loose, and disconnect two wiring connectors.

Sometimes the little white plastic catches get stuck in the door - pry them out with a screwdriver, put them back in the door panel before you reassemble. The service manual for the 2014 Mazda3 that is available at the top sticky describes it well. Careful, but firm force is required, but it is easier than most other cars I have done this with.
 
#77 ·
Thanks SnowM3, I've followed your instructions and upgraded my Mz3 speakers. Did you install a center speaker too?

Or anyone with non-Bose M3 able to install a center speaker? Is it possible (does the M3 comes with center speaker wire) and what is the recommended center speaker?

Thanks.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Yes, exactly. When you cut out the oem speaker, you cut out the cone and remove the rubber surround, voicecoil, etc before you cut out the plastic 'spider' frame to leave the hole for the Infinity - but I clipped the small copper wires as close to the voicecoil as possible. So when you drop in the Infinity speaker, they are just long enough to solder to the lugs on the Infinity. That allows you to just plug in the original oem speaker connector (in the door) when the speaker is reinstalled.

I usually like to keep the original OEM speaker in case I want to sell the car again, so it was a bit tough to destroy them, but when you see how shitty they are - tiny magnet, paper cone and whizzer - it is best to be rid of them. Some relevant pics attached:
 

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#7 ·
Thanks a lot for sharing @SnowM3!

If one is a bit lazy and don't want to do the 6500cx in front but 2 pairs of 6502ix (front and back) could they be mounted as is with it's built in tweeter both front and back? Then still keep the stock tweeters in front (or disable them?).
Maybe a stupid question, but thanks. :)
 
#8 · (Edited)
Yes, that is what I would do. Leave the OEM dash tweeters in, see how it sounds, I don't think they would be bad, just not as crisp as a new tweeters in the door. Audio purists will sneer, but it is a sound system in a noisy car, after all... Upgrading speakers is mainly to get the full frequency response of the music out, not to replicate a pristine sound stage...

Alternatively, after replacing the 4 door speakers with the 6502ix, you could perhaps purchase separate tweeters (or even a small mid/coax?) to replace those in the dash with their own crossover, and skip threading the wire through the door, which was pretty painful to do. That Molex connector.... I checked the wiring diagrams, and it appears that the full signal is available to the dash speakers, a small highpass crossover and a new tweeter would be much easier than putting the crossover in the door and threading that wire...
 
#11 ·
It does not matter, as long as all speakers are wired the same way, ie pick one side to be +, and use that on all speakers. The important part is that all speakers must be in the same phase (wired in the same way wrt +/-) so that the sound waves do not cancel each other out.
 
#14 ·
Thanks SnowM3, this is a fantastic guide! :thumbup 1:

It made it very easy and cheap to upgrade the front speakers(6502ix) in my new 3. Sound went from barely ok to great. Now I will do rears as well, possibly dash tweeters.

For those that are debating...DO IT! I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to remove door trim.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Infinity Reference 6032CF 6 3/4" Speaker Install

I am thinking that I should be able to fit these in all four doors as well. However, they're 1/16" deeper than the 6502i, and 1/4" larger in overall diameter. According to Crutchfield they won't fit the rear doors... I guess I'll find out! I picked up the recommended Infinity X Reference 5002ix as a backup just in case. Crutchfield included brackets like always, but I will try retaining the stock brackets like the OP did (awesome btw). More to follow... I'll try and take some photos too. :thumbup 1:

I eventually plan on adding a small amp to drive the front speakers, as well as an 8" sub. I just would like to see how these sound first before I buy more stuff or build a custom enclosure. I have a feeling that will happen though!

EDIT: 40% off on all Infinity speakers right now at Crutchfield. Forgot to mention that!
 
#16 ·
Anyone measured how big (in depth and magnet diameter measurement) can you fit in the doors ? Im planning DLS RC6.2 for front, but those are quite huge. Magnet diameter is 4.33inch and depth is 2.95inch.

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/DLS-Reference-RC6-2-Component-Speaker/dp/B00NC6H5KW[/ame]
 
#19 · (Edited)
This thread has been extremely informative SnowM3, thanks! I also have the 6 speaker, non Bose setup in my 2016 isport.

Have a set of component Polk MM6501's, plan on mounting them the same way as you. A JL amp and wiring kit are on the way; for now planning on just hooking up front speakers, and add a sub later on.

I understand that I need to thread the tweeter wire through the molex, in order to connect to the crossover mounted on door. And since the woofer also needs to be connected to the crossover, would I just run the woofer wires directly to the crossover, instead of reattaching the speaker to the Mazda speaker wire harness? And then wire the crossover directly to the amp?

Or should I first figure out how I'm going to wire up the amp? I'm thinking I need to connect to the tuner amp unit somehow, and want to utilize the amps speaker level inputs (instead of using a line out converter/ PAC device).
 
#20 ·
Yeah, I realize it was not clear - I cut the speaker wires that come from the dash/amp and normally attach directly to the OEM speakers, and attached that to my crossover instead. For clarity, the original speaker wires in the door were cut, connected to the crossover (which I taped up in the door cavity), and then both the new door speaker and the new component tweeter are fed from the crossover. I just liked the clean install of using the original plug for the speaker bracket.

I can't really help you on the amp side, and how to connect. But basically, you have to find the OEM stereo outputs under the dash, cut them, feed them into the amp, then back to the doors/speakers. That can be all done in the cabin, so you could install the speakers in the doors now and figure out the amp later.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Discovered that my Polk component speakers have slightly larger diameter than stock speakers, and won't lay flush with the Mazda speaker mounts (Polks rest on the lip of the mount). Proceeded to remove the lip (broke off with pliers and sanded it level). Also removed the six plastic magnet supports from back of speaker mount with hacksaw, very simple operation.






Drilled 4 holes into the Mazda mount to attach speakers, but then realized that there is very little plastic material to hold everything together.





Decided to attach Polk supplied spacer/speaker bracket to the speaker. Plan is to drill/ screw in the Polk spacer to the outer edge of Mazda mount, where the plastic is a bit thicker/ easier to secure screw from behind.





One possible problem with using the Polk bracket is it moves the speaker about a quarter inch closer to the Mazda door panel/ grill. Haven't measured yet to see if it will touch grill.

Next need to figure out best way to seal space between Mazda mount and Polk bracket. Have some stick on foam weatherstripping, along with butyl rubber (leftover from door sound deadening project), which may work.

 
#23 ·
Thanks for the how-to, also thanks to willied for the video, lots of great info here. I'm going to try this next weekend on my 4-speaker non Bose system in my 2014. One thing that's not clear to me, are the front and rear brackets the same size? I think I remember reading somewhere (probably Crutchfield) that the rears are smaller. But I don't necessarily trust them since they don't even sell brackets that work correctly.
 
#24 ·
One thing that's not clear to me, are the front and rear brackets the same size? I think I remember reading somewhere (probably Crutchfield) that the rears are smaller. But I don't necessarily trust them since they don't even sell brackets that work correctly.
I'm guessing that the brackets are different sizes.

Crutchfield gave me a set of Metra 82-8145 brackets when I purchased my Polk speakers, unfortunately, it was the wrong set. After talking with them on the phone, we figured out that the correct brackets for the front doors were Metra 82-7501.

Since they didn't have those brackets in stock, they said if I purchased them somewhere else, they would reimburse me for the cost. Found the last pair at Sonic Electronix for $15, and received a credit on my Visa. Brackets arrived in mail today, and look like a perfect fit, looks like I won't be using the stock Mazda bracket after all.
 
#26 ·
Oh, and yeah the rear brackets are different. I've already cut out the stock speakers in these pictures. As you can see, they are bolted into the door with 3 bolts rather than 4 as in the front. Also comparing my experience with the pictures of the front brackets, I'd say there is a lot less room here to screw new speakers into. I was able to pull it off but it required some very small screws (3mm) and some finagling with the dremel.

One downside with the Metra brackets seems to be that there is no wiring, so you'd have to find a wiring harness or cut the connector off of the car. Because of that I'm going to go forward with using the stock brackets.
 

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#28 ·
Interesting. It must have been my particular speakers. I had to use the outermost holes on the speaker, which meant drilling holes very very close to the outer edge of the bracket. The screw heads ended up digging into the plastic wall of the bracket a bit, but it got the job done. I couldn't use any of the inner holes on the speaker because they were too far in, there would be no place to drill into the bracket.
 
#30 ·
My Infinity speakers came in today. Going to the dealer to pick up some door snaps and plan on tackling this weekend. Got some Dynamat sheets to put in the door hope that helps with sound and calming the road noise. These posts will be helpful.
The only think I am unclear about is where to mount the crossover in the front door and how to run the speaker wire from the crossover to the in dash tweeter.
 
#46 ·
I'm in the same situation I installed all four Speakers and Tweeters The tweeters I cut out the oem tweeter drop the infinity Tweeter Inside the oem mount and used the old Connector but now it sounds like shit the tweeters are too loud and have no idea how to connect the Crossover I don't know where to tap the input wire or how to run the wire.
 
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