2016 Mazda CX5. Scanspeak, Satori, Helix, JL Audio, Sony, Zapco

[SkizeR 10+ year member]

Hello everyone, just finished up an install for a 2016 Mazda CX5 that was fresh off the lot. The goals for this car was first and foremost to have a high level of sound quality while still maintaining a good amount of output, retain the factory radio, and to retain trunk space. With that in mind and looking at the car and the set budget, we decided on..

. Helix DSP

. (2) Zapco ST-4X SQ. One for tweeters and rear fill, and one bridged to the mids

. Zapco ST-1350XM II for subs

. Scanspeak R2004 tweeters

. Satori MW19P-4 7.5" mid-woofer

. Sony XS-GS1621 Coaxials for rear fill

. (2) JL 12TW3-D4

Just a side note.. this pictures are out of chronological order, but are organized in a way to show the steps of each area of the car. That said, i let my girlfriend take my camera with her to Europe so the last couple days i didnt have a good camera and im low on photos since i was discouraged from cell phone pics. My buddy came over to shoot a few but i havent received them yet, and the customer will be getting some more for me at a later time.

First thing i did with this car was just get right to deadening. Liberal amounts were used as you can see. This car had a somewhat thick, removable plastic access panel which made deadening the outer door skin a breeze (aside from that horrible window regulator that you see in the below photo that mazda uses. if you ever plan on removing these access panels, be very careful when removing the window regulator thats "clicked and turned" into the access panel. If that falls apart on you, i assure you that you will have a bad time. Dont ask how i know)

Said access panel. front and rear got plenty of CLD coverage. All 4 got the same treatment. The door panel also got plenty of coverage to combat resonance from the larger than normal mids.

Not the prettiest since i dont have a capable router setup on hand for this, so jig saw it was. But two layers of 3/4" HDPE decoupled from the door with CCF and sealed to each other with CLD and butyl rope. Factory mounts were retained.

Heres the passenger side front door once it was completed. 2 layers of 1/2" Dynaliner was used to seal the woofer to the door panel. Some people like to use the open cell foam based pre-made ones. I cant help but think theyre not very useful considering theyre open cell foam and the point of this step is to completely seal the driver to the panel. On top of that, im not a fan of the idea of putting open cell foam in a door where it can get wet and hold moisture. All speakers in this car got XT60 quick connectors for quick and easy service while maintaining reliability. The tweeters also got a 100v, 50uF cap in line to protect in case of any equipment failure or user mishaps.

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[SkizeR 10+ year member]

Wiring of the mids.. got a little carried away with the photos. Deal with it lol.

Power wire and main fuse holder. 1/0 gauge from the front goes to a fused T-Spec distribution block in the back next to the enclosure.

The car came with a 6 speaker option and "twiddlers" were in the dash. The customer wasnt interested in that and wanted something custom that looked somewhat OEM. We settled on sail panels because i wasnt positive on how well i could match the factory fabric that was on the pillars. The sail panels presented their own challenge though.. They were relatively thin. They needed to be built out but i think i was able to make them look pretty good.

Cut out..

Rings test fitted in the car to see if the tweeter will have clearance

 

[SkizeR 10+ year member]

Taped up and mold glassed to the sail panel..

Molds pulled, trimmed, and fabric secured.

Heres where photos take a hit.. no photos of glassing the sail or laying up body filler. But here they are sanded and almost ready for primer.

Texture coated to match the factory look. Still waiting for photos from my friend of them installed in the car

Goodies for the trunk.

Spare tire ditched, triple a purchased, trunk floor deadened, and tire well glassed.

Baffle made and attached, and holes cut. If you look closely there are strips of CCF around the perimeter of the mold, as well as a few on the floor so its completely decoupled from the floor. All of the wood used in this car was 1/2" and 3/4" birch.

 

[SkizeR 10+ year member]

Beginnings of the amp rack.

Test fit and layout. The helix and wiring are hidden on the underside of the panel.

Beginnings of the beauty panel.

The cutout that reveals the amps is a shape that is mimicked from the HVAC vents under the radio. unfortunately i do not have a picture of that. but, fits like a glove.

All wire terminations were head shrunk and tips soldered to prevent fraying. Wire lugs were crimped with a hydraulic crimper and heat shrunk over.

"Can i take your camera to Europe?..."

"...he said yes"

 

[SkizeR 10+ year member]

Once the main beauty panel was made, i made filler panels for the side. They all unfortunately couldn't be one piece. This was before duraglass was used to make them sit perfectly flush against the panels. a strip of 1/8" CCF is around the outside perimeter of the main beauty panel so it sit snug against the panels, and the filler panels have some pressure to hold them in place.

Quick shot of the LED wiring before hot glue was used to insulate the connections. Unfortunately edge lit plexi was not an option as i threw these in as a last minute "yeah why not".

Enclosure (as well as the amp rack) wrapped in black suede.

One last test fit before wrapping.

Everything wrapped in a matching vinyl. Looks different against the side panels due to lighting, but you can see the match against the trim at the bottom corners of the picture. All power/ground/speaker/remote wires had the ends tinned with solder to prevent fraying, white techflex for looks, and color appropriate head shrink.

One last set of panels were made to cover up the entire setup. There is a cutout with expanded metal grill under the carpet that is flushed into the 3/4" birch for the subs to have room to play at full volume while still having the strength to hold up whatever may go in the trunk.

That wraps up this build log as of now. Still waiting for photos of the LED's when its dark, and the sail panels installed. Thank you for looking!