More sound!

[msmny]

bandg

 

[bandg]

Good luck with that.

[HELLIONMX5]

still trying to figure out where you got them fir 30? I saw like $50 for them. so it loks like we have some replacements for the rears! might not have to do a bosectomy after all... yeah right.

[HELLIONMX5]

also, what is the left half of the structure in the second picture?  looking like if it was all taken out, you can fit it in there. or something like a 4"x6" maybe?

[bandg]

Several pairs of 3.5" pioneers on ebay now for $35 to $40 shipped.  I found the set of MBQuart that I used on ebay for $58 shipped.  Focal makes a very nice round 4" setup for just over $100.  I took measurements off of a set of the 4" Focal's locally and decided they would not fit but I could be proven wrong.  The 3.5" speakers take up most of the top to bottom room on the front face of the enclosure and the depth (front face mounted as per PICTURES from OP) is still very close to the rear cover.   The 3.5" speakers I used are just over 2" deeper than stock with a magnet almost as big in diameter as the full mounting frame of the stockers.  4x6 would almost certainly mean losing the folding windblocker plate even if they would fit for height and depth.  The space inboard of the speaker location is for the mounting of the tilting windblocker plate mechanism.  I did mount the passenger side speaker as far inboard as I could get it to try to get more sound around the passenger seat back.  Got it pretty close to the mounting plate for the tilt.  I also mounted the driver side speaker as high and as far outboard as possible for the same reason.  It sounds MUCH better to me for less than $100 and a few hours of work.  I may try to make an angled tilt mount for the passenger side to aim it toward the drivers side and away from the passenger's seat back.  I was looking at some 3, 3.5, and 4 inch curved plumbing fittings for $5 to cut on the curve and use as the angled base ring.  Might also use such pipe to make a grille frame.

[HELLIONMX5]

the stock windblocker is a joke anyway. off with his head

[bandg]

Yeah, it probably does little to nothing and probably wouldn't be missed.  I still think it would be difficult to get 4x6 to fit for height and depth in the existing enclosure as I bet they are deeper than 3.5".  You would almost certainly have to move them farther inboard (more behind the drivers seat) to have sufficient height and that seems like it would be a bad tradeoff .   Give it a try and let us know.

[bandg]

And you are right about the Bosectomy.  I can really hear a clarity difference even with these small speakers.  The vocals and mids/highs are much cleaner with the MBQuarts while the front Bose speakers provide base but are really muddy in sound quality.  Maybe some Clearwater fronts would help with that.

[slick04msm]

It's mostly about the depth.  The 3.5 are more than adequate, especially 2-way.  The highs are phenomenal  for a small speaker. I mean it's right by your head!  I can drive down the highway and never go over 20 clicks. Before I had it maxed out.

[bandg]

Thanks for the idea, slick.  As you noted, I can drive along with fade to full rear and hear them cleanly.  Well worth it to me and I don't even hear that well anymore at this age and after 3 decades of high pitched whine in my ears.  Highly recommended for the younger non hip hop guys who would appreciate clean sound.

[thomsoad]

I gotta be honest.
Until this thread I never even realized we had rear speakers.
Ive never heard em

[HELLIONMX5]

I gotta be honest.
Until this thread I never even realized we had rear speakers.
Ive never heard em

LOLOLOLOLOLOL.

PLEASE email mazda with this.  Dude,  they could have done so much better.  Guess bose marketing team went all out to get Mazda to go full retard.  Lol.

[bandg]

All true about the Bose system but for as little as $35 and a few hours of dremel work you can greatly improve on this.  The sound is well worth it to me but it is, as noted, a convertible sports car and this may not be important to all.  If you want much better sound, try this and you won't be disappointed.

[HELLIONMX5]

Well I ripped out the radio.  So who knows when i well get to experiment again. 

[msmny]

I started to feel like finding the time to do my rear speakers as well, yes, it is a convertible but a little bit of more sound from t he back since everything (but the speakers) is there would not hurt. I'll make sure I take pictures when I do this.