acid604

Hey guys. I bought my 2011 Mazda 3 Sport back in April and have always considering upgrading speakers. I kept putting it off (school/work etc comes up) but recently I upgraded the front 2 speakers to Infinity's. These: http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...45f486a6d3en02


I'm posting this thread for reference for others. I did a lot of research before doing this (I'm very paranoid about my car lol). And I found there wasn't a ton of info on the net, so I'm just putting this out there in case other people are considering similar upgrades.

The Sound: Awesome. These speakers gave me a noticeable improvement. Keep in mind I made no changes to HeadUnit, no Amp, no Sub, nothing. Everything is stock and only the front 2 were changed. I played with the EQ settings a bit and adjusted the Fader for more sound to come out of the front speakers (the infinity's) and it sounds amazing. Much cleaner bass response, I wouldn't say it gives you more bass than the factory system - but its wayyy cleaner. I'm not a huge bass-head I'm more into quality/clarity and these speakers really shine in this department.


I see a lot of ppl online wanting to do speaker upgrades without headunit changes etc. and from my experience its totally worth it. Keep in mind the most expensive speakers are probably not gonna reach their true potential without an amp so find something accordingly.

I'm really tempted to change the back speakers also. Maybe Alpines SPR68 (they usually have a little more bass response) that way the rear speakers would provide more 'umph' in my lower frequencies without a sub. But I'm also considering an amp to get these Infinity's to their potential...but I hate 'cosmetic' changes, I like the stock-look and don't wanna 'see' a sub/amp lol.

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Review of the sound is over, I'm just gonna rant about my customer service experience:
I spent a lot of time in Future Shop and Visions before deciding which to go with. Maybe this isn't the place for it but I'm also gonna share my thoughts on their service quality because I couldn't find a ton of this regarding car audio either. Also - I'm from Vancouver BC so this may not be applicable to most people here.

Visions: really good customer service. These guys actually know and care about car audio. Much more detailed information about speakers and car audio knowledge. I didn't get the install at visions so can't say how that was. They were a bit pushy for the Alpines but they have good service and work with you on price too.

Future Shop: mostly crap service. The 2 guys I spoke with knew little about car audio. Very general answers to my questions. Ultimately I found more info regarding the Infinity speakers online so I went with them, and they had a better price. Originally I was going to get my install done at Visions but for boxing week I got 50% off the install so they won again lol.

The install (future shop): absolute . Like I said I'm very paranoid about my car and wanted to watch the install process. The installer basically kicked me out of the garage - I thought fine he has the right to work in private. When I came back he didn't explain anything, he asked me sign to some forms, he was texting on his phone the whole time, didn't even test out my system (just said: "you can test it if you want"). I understand installers are not hired for their social abilities but I'm sure there's better ppl they could hire lol. He also didn't wire my window up properly. My cars driver window has the one-touch express up/down and now I have to hold the button for the window to go up/down. I called him and he said he'd fix it, but thats another damn trip for me. He should've tested everything. I'm going back in a few days to fix this. UPDATE: went back, he fixed it, didn't apologize.

I'm not saying Visions is better. But next time I would definitely go with a small private shop where the installer will speak to me before doing the work.


Thats all. Any questions feel free to ask. These Infinity speakers are awesome, definitely recommend them. Might lack a tiny bit of bass but keep in mind these are fairly small but they will definitely give you a cleaner bass response then the stock system

Colton

I'm in Prince George BC and have had the opposite experience with Visions recently. They tried screwing me when i wanted to return subs i didn't like the next day and that was the last time i dealt with them, a few friends i warned not to go there for car audio also got screwed over in the last few months.. most recent being a friend paid for install and all the gear ahead of time so Visions scheduled their install appointment 15 days later (just after 100% satisfaction return runs out of course) and when they went in they were told they now had to pay for an extra $200+ for extras or he refused to install anything. bunch of scumbags i'll never deal with again. Futureshop reps tend to know next to nothing most of the time but atleast they're polite from what i've experienced, i usually head over to AndresEE (Formally Andre's Audiotronic) for car audio and they've always been really knowledgeable here.

Enough of that though, my experience with the Infinity Reference series is they're pretty good but the highs are a bit harsh for my taste.. they did sound quite a bit better amp'd from what i heard from testing in-store though. if you want a stealth install for a 4chan amp i'd consider this- http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/produ...?itemid=120465 75w x 4 is pretty nice for such a compact amp, i'm running 65w to each set of my Energy 6.5" components and i love 'em.

If i were you though when you upgrade your rears i would stick to the same brand and series (Infinity Reference) i once tried using an Alpine set for rear fill and the result wasn't that great.. different speakers will have different tones and mixing them hasn't worked for me personally. another thing is i would probably move your new oval's (not sure if they're 5x7 or 6x8's?) to the back and get 6.5" components or some set of round speakers for the front if feasible when/if you decide to upgrade more.

acid604

Thanks for the response!

Yeah there's always this kind of variance between locations for the big-box retailers. Next time I'm only going to buy my stuff from them (if I need to) and always get my advice and installs from a reputable local shop. I don't mind paying more for a quality install and good customer care.

Thanks a LOT for the amp recommendation. I totally didn't think there would be amps out there for the 'small/stealth' market. I'm definitely going to look into that.

I am going to take a listen to the following speakers in the shop: Alpine Spr 68 and JBL GTO 8628. And see what the guys have to say. I might just end up going with the Infinity's again and just add the amp to really make 'em shine.

dbs

not all big box stores are the same...
sometimes the most knowledgeable person doesnt even work in the car audio area
not trying defend FS or Visions

the last time i was in PG , J & A stereo downtown was a decent shop

Dukk

Sorry to hear your FS installer wasn't very gracious. Which store were you at?

I typically don't let people watch me work either but, honestly, it usually winds up taking more time and it truly is a hazard having customers in the bay. When I explain this, most understand.

SDAudio

acid604,

You can fix your express window up / down feature by first putting down your window all the way till it stops... then power the window back up and hold the button up till you hear a relay click. This re-sets the window (it's in your Mazda manual).

I am glad to hear about your Mazda 3 endeavors. I bought a new Mazda 3 in 2010 and was too nervous to work on it until the car was a year old! I have all the speakers changed to 6.5's and it sounds very good. I spent a lot of time putting a ton of deadener inside all of the doors and this made a huge difference in both bass and imaging. I also put sorbothane deflex-type panels inside the rear walls. A lot of people say that the Mazda 3 is a noisy car, so this changed all that.

Sorry for your bad FS treatment.

acid604

Thanks for the responses guys!
Dukk: I was at the Langley location.

SDAudio: Your exactly right, thats exactly how he fixed it the other day. Out of curiosity - which speakers did you install into your Mazda?

I'm lovin' this system so far. I'm getting really excited to change the rears though.

splescort

iTrader: (16)

jbl and Infinity are one of the same.
they are both owned by the same corp and built in the same place.

SDAudio

acid604,

No problems with the power window issue. Just remember how to reset then whenever the power has been cut to your battery.

My speakers are the older MB Quart Q series (titanium coated drivers) from my previous car. They are amazing speakers but need a LOT of power to really make them shine. Even without the mega-watts they like, the speakers are sounding awfully good. My amps and final wiring will go in this year!

I am also using the rear door speakers for my bass extension as well. I didn't want a subwoofer in this car (I had one in my previous setups) because I really need the whole trunk space for hauling sports equipment around. I am going to use a low-pass filter on the rear doors so that it will kind of act as a subwoofer.

I hope this helps you on your install / upgrade.

Colton

How are you crossing over the rear speakers low-pass, from your deck?