2010 Mazda 3 Speaker Install - Help!

[choohum]

Hello Toronto Mazda 3 Forum,

New to this Forum... I just purchased a 2010 M3Sport to replace my 2003 Protege5 (which I loved but donated to my father). I seem to be hitting some road blocks as it relates to details around door skin removal and beyond that speaker replacements. I see very clearly that it is a 6x8 (I suspect the same as the Protege through the 2004-2009 Mazda 3 speaker). As I did my best to do my due diligence, I searched out this forum as well as many others but could find no answers on the 2010... a very handy walkthrough was found for a 2008 though!

In terms of the door skin removal, I figured out as much as the 2 screws under the silver door handle paneling and the plastic retaining clips (which I already broke 3 in the process of "discovery". I'm looking for some Mazda 3 community help on:

1: How to remove the rest of the door skin without ruining the solid feel of the skin in it's current state

2: Anyone replace their speakers yet? Is there a wiring harness available? There seems to be an assembly holding the 6X8 in place and it has a VERY non standard wiring harness and I suspect when you take the speaker out of this... there is likely ANOTHER wiring harness linking the speaker to this speaker assembly. I just don't want to go cutting wires like I did with my P5 as it's a nuisance.

Any help, pictures or info would be greatly appreciated!

[Roconne]

I bookmarked a thread over at the mazda3forums where a guy made a really detailed walkthrough for his system setup. Checkout post #27, this is where he deals with the door.

http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?topic=158293.0

[choohum]

Thanks Roconne. That was very helpful! The variation is that one is the Bose system which is physically very different from mine. The only outstanding piece is for me to get the door skin off enough to get to that assembly of the factory 6x8 speaker. The adapter that is visible doesn't meet the Metra 72-5600 wiring standard.. but inside that speaker case assembly I suspect there may be another wiring harness.

Anyone else have experience with the non-Bose 2010 GT speaker wiring..?

[Honva]

I have the 2010 non-bose sedan. The speakers are 6x8 with a thick plastic mounting base. The base is attached with some sticky foam as well. Just remove the whole thing. The connector has 4 wires. Two goes to the speaker, another 2 carries the signal up to the stock tweeters.

At one time, Jeff at Audio Heaven had adapters to use the stock connector. Give him a call to see if he still has them. eBay should have them as well. Otherwise, just spike into the wires to connect to your new speakers and leave that connector alone.

As for the wire colour +/-, search this forum. I mentioned in a thread before but cannot remember now.

[Honva]

Forgot to mention about a caution. Roll down the window completely before installing the speakers. This way you could tell if there is enough clearance for your speakers. One good thing about the 2010 is that there is no plastic ring on the speaker grill that you need to remove. There is quite a bit of space between the speaker and the door panel. If more mounting depth is required, you could raise the speaker with a wood adapter.

[choohum]

Honva,

Thanks for the heads up! I will get in touch with Jeff to see if I can purchase the wire harness from him.

In terms of the speaker depth, good tip. I have the old 6x8's from my Protege5 and I am almost certain the dimensions are the same (as automakers like to standardize and keep parts with longevity and interchangeability). The JBL GTO 6x8's I bought should be fine as they are the EXACT depth as the old P5's.. Just have a superior cone material, tweets and a fatter/heavier magnet.

Appreciate it!

Cheers.

[tycho81]

did you ever find out if Jeff had the speaker harness in stock? I need to pick up a couple and was hoping to grab some local rather than having to order online and wait for them to show up.

Anywhere else (sponsors) that might have them?

[choohum]

Hi tycho81,

I had actually ordered the 72-5600 speaker wiring harnesses that I thought would fit the 2010 but they don't. They were in transit when I found out they don't fit.

In any case, I have a set. After shipping etc it's well over $20 but I'd be willing to part with it for $20.