2005 mazda 3 speed stock stereo system

[krisfnbz 10+ year member]

I was in my friends 3 speed the other day, and man im a n00b over at car audio(sort of), but his bass response was very very good for being just stock. The highs were nice, and the mids were good as well... does anybody know the speakers that are installed in those cars?

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[krisfnbz 10+ year member]

i figured nobody would know

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

You might get some answers soon. It's rush hour in the Eastern Time Zone, Central is still work hours, and Mountain and Pacific still have a ways to go before the brunt of users will have some free time.

Likely it's Bose.

 

[zSnb 10+ year member]

My friend has a Mazda. Mazda uses the Bose sound system. Its understandable for someone to like Bose if they are a noob to car audio. I had a Bose system in my first Pontiac Bonneville and I used to think it was the shit. That was until I heard after market. Even most cheap after market systems will absolutely destroy Bose. I switched out the Bose for Apline TypeS and I was fkn shocked. Now days I run some mid/high end speakers and whenver I get into my friend's Mazda I can easily tell its just stock. Right now I have some JL XR comps and I ran them the first two months without an amp and they were easily more powerful detailed and waaay louder than Bose which is simply amplified crappy speakers.

 

[W8 a minute 10+ year member]

My friend has a Mazda. Mazda uses the Bose sound system. Its understandable for someone to like Bose if they are a noob to car audio. I had a Bose system in my first Pontiac Bonneville and I used to think it was the shit. That was until I heard after market. Even most cheap after market systems will absolutely destroy Bose. I switched out the Bose for Apline TypeS and I was fkn shocked. Now days I run some mid/high end speakers and whenver I get into my friend's Mazda I can easily tell its just stock. Right now I have some JL XR comps and I ran them the first two months without an amp and they were easily more powerful detailed and waaay louder than Bose which is simply amplified crappy speakers.

I disagree. You get what you pay for. GM uses the cheapest EVERYTHING they can. MAYBE back in the 1990's you could say that but not now. In fact I don't think you can just "swap speakers" in most true Bose systems because they were driven with a dedicated amp and the factory speakers are 1ohm. A "good" factory Bose system will have separate enclosures for each driver. Bose puts more money into enclosure design than they do exotic driver materials. Which is smart if you read the sub woofer section of this forum.

One of the new Infinitys has a Bose system with 10" drivers in the front doors and the doors are tuned for the drivers.

It's going to be hard to upgrade that on the cheap. This is why so many car audio companies are struggling. To the average consumer factory systems are 10x better than they used to be so a true upgrade will cost them a couple of grand or more installed. Anyone old enough to remember buying a GM car and only getting 3.5's in the dash and 4x10's in the rear deck? I do...and an upgrade was easy. Even Pyramid was an upgrade to that.

I'm not saying Bose is the be-all, end-all of audio. Far from it. But 99% of the people in the world don't drive around at 130db 24/7. Some of us actually listen to talk radio and sports as well as music. And these new factory systems do a good job of being all things to all people and just "swapping speakers" isn't going to gain any sonic nirvana.

 

[zSnb 10+ year member]

I disagree. You get what you pay for. GM uses the cheapest EVERYTHING they can. MAYBE back in the 1990's you could say that but not now. In fact I don't think you can just "swap speakers" in most true Bose systems because they were driven with a dedicated amp and the factory speakers are 1ohm. A "good" factory Bose system will have separate enclosures for each driver. Bose puts more money into enclosure design than they do exotic driver materials. Which is smart if you read the sub woofer section of this forum.One of the new Infinitys has a Bose system with 10" drivers in the front doors and the doors are tuned for the drivers.

It's going to be hard to upgrade that on the cheap. This is why so many car audio companies are struggling. To the average consumer factory systems are 10x better than they used to be so a true upgrade will cost them a couple of grand or more installed. Anyone old enough to remember buying a GM car and only getting 3.5's in the dash and 4x10's in the rear deck? I do...and an upgrade was easy. Even Pyramid was an upgrade to that.

I'm not saying Bose is the be-all, end-all of audio. Far from it. But 99% of the people in the world don't drive around at 130db 24/7. Some of us actually listen to talk radio and sports as well as music. And these new factory systems do a good job of being all things to all people and just "swapping speakers" isn't going to gain any sonic nirvana.

Swapping speakers out of the Bose system is not hard as long as you dont use their amp or head unit. You are pretty much saying that Bose is fine for a majority of the buyers who dont really care about sound as much. But this is a car audio forum. Its full of after market enthusiasts who want the best possible sound in their car and in absolutely no way is Bose going to be even close to what else is offered. I was at the Cleveland auto show last weekend and I sat inside the Infinity with the 10" drivers and I turned it up. It didnt sound terrible. But It still didnt even sound as good as what I have and I dont even run a sub. And I never stated anything about GM or the quality of their cars or parts. In fact, I would take some of the new GM offerings over anything else.

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

In fact, I would take some of the new GM offerings over anything else.

Not me. I rode in a friends new Sequoia with the JBL system and I was highly impressed with the imaging and soundstage for it being a factory system. Not much punch in the subbass dept, but he didn't have it tuned for such, either. I'd say that the JBL system in that vehicle was one of the best I have ever heard for an OEM system. Although I did test drive a new Pathfinder with the Bose system and the entire system was substantially impressive. And I generally hate Bose.

 

[zSnb 10+ year member]

Yeah thats understandable. I know there are better stock systems than the Bose like the Mark Levinson or the Boston systems in Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep. What I meant by GM offerings was the actual cars themselves not just the systems inside them. My bad for not clarifying myself. Now that I think of it, GM offers a few different stock system options besides Bose. For example, the Cobalt SS's have the option for a Pioneer sound system, and the Buick Lucern has the option for a harman/kardon system. I've had the chance to listen to all of these when I used to work at a dealership and they are okay, but now that I've heard after market none of them are worth the expensive upgrade.

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

but now that I've heard after market none of them are worth the expensive upgrade.

Agreed 100%. Especially when I had to suffer with my Veedub's Monsewage.

 

[krisfnbz 10+ year member]

the cobalts stock sound system sounds like SHIT because my friend owns one and it SUCKS major ***.

 

[the727kid 10+ year member]

I know the Bose in the 98-03 Sevilles is probally the best Bose system ever put in a car. It is hard to up that on a cheap component set.