Miata Audio Q&A: Rear Speaker Options for the 2006-2015 Miata. Can the 3rd Millennium M200s be used?

3maudio.com - Q&A #6 where we get into the question of the rear speakers in the 3rd generation Miata (2006-2015) and upgrade issues. We go over what is installed and also answer a customer question about using our M200 speakers in that location.

[@hidan8292]

Really professionally explained, thank you

[@brian6460]

I know this is an old one but maybe some can answer this….if Mazda
Has those speakers crossed over how do they accomplish this in the non-Bose system? Is it via a capacitor? Can that be removed? (Cut it out and splice new wire in) If not… heck you’ve already got the car basically taken apart so why not run new speaker wire from the head unit or amp? (assuming you went aftermarket on one or both)

[@3rdMillennium]

Yes, there's a crossover cap on those rear speakers. And while they could produce lower frequencies below the crossover point (probably good to around 600Hz), there is no baffling for these speakers to separate the L&R drivers, so you'll start getting weird cross channel cancellation and nodal effects.
Mazda (and many auto mfgs) does this all the time. It makes the installation much easier and less complex (costs them less), but it still allows them to upsell the audio system as a 6, 8, 10+ speaker system - even if it sounds lousy.
The ideal solution is to baffle the speakers - completely isolating the left from the right by building them into some sort of enclosure.

[@TheWhstrat]

In my case, my NC1 did not come with rear speaker assembly, and when I replaced the OEM non-Bose, I found the rear speakers assembly on EBAY. I soldered new wiring to each speaker, deleting the OEM connectors, and ran the wiring underneath the center console to the replacement head unit. They don't do much but as mentioned, they add a little high freq response that is lost to the wind. These cars are just not designed for high fidelity sound.