Mazda Protege ES

Airplay355
Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
edited August 2005 in Car Audio & Electronics
I have a Mazda protege ES with a 6 speaker stereo cd head unit and a tape deck underneath it. If I wanted to change the head unit how would I go about doing this? Do I need to buy a headunit that can power 6 speakers? Does the ohm ratting allow me to wire 4 of them in series or parallel? Do I need to get an amp? Or do I need to just not use a pair of the speakers? I'd like to change out the cd player not because it sounds bad, but because it skips easily when going over bumps and can't handle cds that aren't perfectly clean and scratch free. Plus I'd like mp3 capability because I listen to mixes that are longer then the 80 minutes of regular cds. Sooooo what do I do?
Post edited by Airplay355 on

Comments

  • neomagus00
    neomagus00 Posts: 3,899
    edited August 2005
    well, you're not going to find a 6-speaker aftermarket HU, so that's out... you could just choose your 4 favorite speakers and power them. you could rip out the factory speakers and get aftermarket ones. these you can power with the HU or with an amp (preferable, obviously). basically it's all up to budget...
    It's not good, very fundamentally simply not good. - geolemon

    "Its not good enough until we have real-time fearmongering. I want my fear mongered as it happens." - Shizelbs
  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited August 2005
    Do you think the stock head unit is actually powering 4 speakers? Or do you think that 2 pairs of them are wired together possibly in series or in parallel based on what the ohm rating of the driver is?
  • neomagus00
    neomagus00 Posts: 3,899
    edited August 2005
    it depends... if you have, say, a mid/tweet up front and a fullrange in back, then the HU could be pushing only 4 channels, with an external xover for the mid/tweet... if all 6 drivers are identical, i'd find it unlikely that the HU has 4 channels to push them all... perhaps you can pull the HU and find out?
    It's not good, very fundamentally simply not good. - geolemon

    "Its not good enough until we have real-time fearmongering. I want my fear mongered as it happens." - Shizelbs
  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited August 2005
    I think that's what I'm going to have to do. Though, I'm not great with what all of the wires in back mean and usually they aren't consistant with other harnesses and different cars so I'm going to be doing alot of guess work. I should see 12 wires together though right? A +/- for each of the 6 speakers, plus a ground, plus power, and 1 other wire that I can't remember maybe? So I should be looking for 15 wires?
  • MacLeod
    MacLeod Posts: 14,358
    edited August 2005
    I pretty sure speakers #5 and 6 are tweeters. I dont see where or why youd put a third pair of speakers.

    Check with your local shop first but Id say you could stick any old aftermarket h/u in there and it would work just fine.
    polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
    MECA SQ Rookie of the Year 06 ~ MECA State Champ 06,07,08,11 ~ MECA World Finals 2nd place 06,07,08,09
    08 Car Audio Nationals 1st ~ 07 N Georgia Nationals 1st ~ 06 Carl Casper Nationals 1st ~ USACi 05 Southeast AutumnFest 1st

    polkaudio SR6500 --- polkaudio MM1040 x2 -- Pioneer P99 -- Rockford Fosgate P1000X5D
  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited August 2005
    why would they put tweeters on the doors? there are two speakers in the front, 2 in the back, and 2 by the back window....aren't tweeters usually at ear level? doesn't make sense to put them by your feet.
  • MacLeod
    MacLeod Posts: 14,358
    edited August 2005
    OK, if you actually see 3 different sets of speakers then you do indeed have 6 speakers.

    I was thinking it was maybe a pair of mids in the front door, a pair of tweeters in the front door and a pair of mids in the back door. A lot of car companies do this. A layman will think a 14 speaker system will sound better than a 3 speaker system.
    polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
    MECA SQ Rookie of the Year 06 ~ MECA State Champ 06,07,08,11 ~ MECA World Finals 2nd place 06,07,08,09
    08 Car Audio Nationals 1st ~ 07 N Georgia Nationals 1st ~ 06 Carl Casper Nationals 1st ~ USACi 05 Southeast AutumnFest 1st

    polkaudio SR6500 --- polkaudio MM1040 x2 -- Pioneer P99 -- Rockford Fosgate P1000X5D
  • neomagus00
    neomagus00 Posts: 3,899
    edited August 2005
    Airplay355 wrote:
    aren't tweeters usually at ear level? doesn't make sense to put them by your feet.
    actually, a lot of high-performance installs have the tweets in the floor... i've personally never gotten this to work to my satisfaction, but there's something to be said for giving it a shot...
    It's not good, very fundamentally simply not good. - geolemon

    "Its not good enough until we have real-time fearmongering. I want my fear mongered as it happens." - Shizelbs
  • MacLeod
    MacLeod Posts: 14,358
    edited August 2005
    Theres a difference though betwen putting them in the floor in kicks and aiming them properly and stuffing them in the door and firing them into your leg.
    polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
    MECA SQ Rookie of the Year 06 ~ MECA State Champ 06,07,08,11 ~ MECA World Finals 2nd place 06,07,08,09
    08 Car Audio Nationals 1st ~ 07 N Georgia Nationals 1st ~ 06 Carl Casper Nationals 1st ~ USACi 05 Southeast AutumnFest 1st

    polkaudio SR6500 --- polkaudio MM1040 x2 -- Pioneer P99 -- Rockford Fosgate P1000X5D
  • neomagus00
    neomagus00 Posts: 3,899
    edited August 2005
    bah! who cares about the details... :p
    It's not good, very fundamentally simply not good. - geolemon

    "Its not good enough until we have real-time fearmongering. I want my fear mongered as it happens." - Shizelbs
  • MacLeod
    MacLeod Posts: 14,358
    edited August 2005
    Im thinking about going with kick panels myself and mounting the tweeters there as well. While these super sweet SR tweeters are doing a great job, I just prefer them not be firing off the glass.

    My MM6 tweets sounded great on the mirror sails but the imaging was horrible. Very side biased.
    polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
    MECA SQ Rookie of the Year 06 ~ MECA State Champ 06,07,08,11 ~ MECA World Finals 2nd place 06,07,08,09
    08 Car Audio Nationals 1st ~ 07 N Georgia Nationals 1st ~ 06 Carl Casper Nationals 1st ~ USACi 05 Southeast AutumnFest 1st

    polkaudio SR6500 --- polkaudio MM1040 x2 -- Pioneer P99 -- Rockford Fosgate P1000X5D
  • exalted512
    exalted512 Posts: 10,735
    edited August 2005
    mark my words, get kicks and your sound stage will be below your chest
    -Cody
    Music is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it
  • MacLeod
    MacLeod Posts: 14,358
    edited August 2005
    Yes but I prefer my tweeters to not be bouncing off the windshield.

    I go back and forth actually. I like having my stage up near eye level but every once in a while Ill catch a tinge of reflection off the glass and want to go kicks.

    Besides, there are several SQ competitors that have speakers in the kicks only and dont seem to have a problem.

    I dunno. Maybe Ill run into some dudes with full size rigs running kicks only at a competition sometime and get a chance to listen to it.
    polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
    MECA SQ Rookie of the Year 06 ~ MECA State Champ 06,07,08,11 ~ MECA World Finals 2nd place 06,07,08,09
    08 Car Audio Nationals 1st ~ 07 N Georgia Nationals 1st ~ 06 Carl Casper Nationals 1st ~ USACi 05 Southeast AutumnFest 1st

    polkaudio SR6500 --- polkaudio MM1040 x2 -- Pioneer P99 -- Rockford Fosgate P1000X5D
  • neomagus00
    neomagus00 Posts: 3,899
    edited August 2005
    that'd be a good idea, yep... the stage was exactly my problem, every time i try them in the kicks, it fails... 'they' say that an extra set of tweets, xovered at something crazy like 12kHz, up in the dash, can really help pull the stage off the floor whilst not messing with anything else too much...
    It's not good, very fundamentally simply not good. - geolemon

    "Its not good enough until we have real-time fearmongering. I want my fear mongered as it happens." - Shizelbs
  • MacLeod
    MacLeod Posts: 14,358
    edited August 2005
    Yeah that will help especially if you attenuate them some too.

    I dont know, I really like having my stage at eye level. Im wondering if I were to figure out how to aim the tweeters so that theyre not firing into the windshield. Im sure I can figure something out if it ever drops below 173 freaking degrees outside!!! :mad:
    polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
    MECA SQ Rookie of the Year 06 ~ MECA State Champ 06,07,08,11 ~ MECA World Finals 2nd place 06,07,08,09
    08 Car Audio Nationals 1st ~ 07 N Georgia Nationals 1st ~ 06 Carl Casper Nationals 1st ~ USACi 05 Southeast AutumnFest 1st

    polkaudio SR6500 --- polkaudio MM1040 x2 -- Pioneer P99 -- Rockford Fosgate P1000X5D
  • neomagus00
    neomagus00 Posts: 3,899
    edited August 2005
    i know, isn't summer fun? :D perhaps try resting the tweeters on top of the dash aimed right at your head... if that works out, perhaps you could glass them into that position right on the dash?
    It's not good, very fundamentally simply not good. - geolemon

    "Its not good enough until we have real-time fearmongering. I want my fear mongered as it happens." - Shizelbs