Miata Audio Q & A: What Upgrades are Available for the Bose Audio System in a Miata?

[@AnthonyDibiaseIdeas]

Thank you. Very thorough.

[@fishtownmafia952]

I have a 2009 with Bose. Do you know what frequency range the 8cm door speakers are being fed? I'd like to upgrade them for some cleaner mid-range but if they're just used as tweeters (like the ones between the seats) It's probably not worth it.

[@3rdMillennium]

You won't get any midrange if you upgrade the bass drivers. I don't recall the exact crossover frequency but it's well under 1,000 Hz - I seem to recall it around 700Hz? If you look at those OEM Bose bass drivers you'll see why. They are a heavy, paper cone and would be terrible at reproducing midrange frequencies. So the small door fullrange speakers are reproducing 90% of all the sound. It's just a poor design - this is why so many owners elect to just rip out all the Bose equipment and start over with a nice headunit, amp, and some good door speakers.

[@fishtownmafia952]

Thanks, good to know 👍

[@samuelschelling5382]

Would it be an upgrade in this 2009 Bose system to mount BLAM LFR80 midrange and Harman/Kardon Flow80 woofers? That's if I want to keep the factory Bose amp with it's build-in crossovers.

[@whf3826]

I just bought a 2002 Miata & love the minimalist design of the radio. It has the multi disc cd with a working cassette player. Can the Bose amp be replaced or bypassed when upgrading the speakers? I would like to a 100 watt amp

[@3rdMillennium]

With the 2002 you have two choices. You can leave the Bose amp as-is and just replace the speakers with our M800s (easiest). Or you can replace the amp with an aftermarket amp - some sort of interface between the Bose headunit and the aftermarket amp may be required - check with amp mfg.

[@greeneryfurniture375]

I have a 2013 GT, with Bose. I'd like to replace the door speakers with your M800s, as well as the head unit and Bose amp. I want to avoid running new wires to the amp and speakers. Is it possible to use the existing wiring harness to power the replacement amp and drive the speakerOr am I asking too much... :). Thanks

[@3rdMillennium]

As far as the speakers go, the M800s will directly plug in to the door harness. Interfacing a new head unit to an amp will require some basic wiring work, but some more involved work tying the new amp's output into the door speakers. The headunit to the amp shouldn't be a big deal if the HU you select has RCA outputs to connect to an amp's RCA inputs. So that would be a simple pre-made RCA cable pair. I'd look for a HU with RCA outputs for all channels for this reason. For the amp output to the door speakers, you could normally get an adapter to the vehicle harness, but such adapters will be *pre* factory amp rather than to the old Bose amp's outputs. So I think you should expect to do some wiring from the new amp's outputs to the lines running to the speakers. That could be something as simple as 3M Scotchlok IDC connectors. But you'll definitely want to get a hold of some wiring diagrams to help you identify the various feeds. You might be interested in Parts 1 and 2 of a 5-part video we did of a full radio & amp install into our 2012 Miata. It's a little different in that we weren't pulling out a Bose amp, but many of the installation issues are the same such as steering wheel controls, faceplate replacement, power requirements, e-Brake bypass, etc. Link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYmkoYWBp7VrqNk

[@Stinger2222]

In which cars are the subwoofer used and where are they located?

[@3rdMillennium]

A subwoofer was an available option in the 2006-2015 and also the 2016+. It was a custom molded enclosure that mounted in the passenger footwell.

[@markcaprio9834]

Hi Glen, wish I had seen your video a few years ago before I replaced the bose head with an ATOTO that keeps the bose amp in my 2009 GT. Can I increase power to the replacement 8 inch door mid-range 2 ohm speakers using the atoto equalizer and increasing (or decreasing filtering) the response to the lower freqs? Thanks, great info! Mark

[@3rdMillennium]

The crossovers for the 09-15 Bose systems are built into the amps and each speaker is fed frequency-limited signals., so unfortunately there's nothing to be done at the headunit to change what frequencies go to which speakers. So you can boost frequencies that are already fed to each speaker, but you can't alter the range at all. I believe the woofers in the doors roll off to the little fullrange around 600 Hz or so.

[@alans.901]

So I am a little confused we have a 2009 with Bose system and the drivers door speaker is blown so what speakers should I replace them with?

[@3rdMillennium]

Our M800's are a perfect physical fit in the 2009-2015 Miata doors with stock Bose speakers, but operation of *any* standard speaker will not be correct with the stock Bose amp as Mazda/Bose built the speaker system crossovers into the amp itself so that the door woofer and tweeter are fed frequency-limited signals. This means your only real option for replacing a failed Bose speaker is another Bose speaker. I believe they are still available new through Mazda, but the price is comically expensive - close to $400, I think. The cost, and underwhelming performance is why so many owners have pulled out all the Bose stuff and installed a modern head unit and speakers. If you just want to get your current Bose system going at the least cost, look for a used woofer on eBay. As long as the seller guarantees it to work, it shouldn't be more than $40 to get a replacement.

[@alans.901]

Thank you for your advice. I probably will just rip out the bows. Get a new head unit and speakers.

[@DaveSimkus]

Do you have an explainer on the 4th generation ND Miata Bose system? I have a 2017 and the audio quality from the speakers is so poor. A lot of the midrange detail is completely lost and the bass has no detail either. I'm spoiled by my single SONOS Five speaker at home which sounds way better than the entire Bose system in the car. I tweaked the EQ in the car but it only does so much. I heard that you can't simply put new door speakers in as it won't make much difference.

[@3rdMillennium]

Hello Dave. We don't have a video done yet for the ND, but our M800 door speakers with our AD2 installation kit are a drop-in replacement for either the Bose or stock speakers in the ND. When installed, we recommend disconnecting the tweeter in the door columns as the M800s are already a 2-way design with a far superior tweeter. If you have one of the models with headrest speakers, we don't have a replacement for those (you have to pretty much remove all the seat upholstery to get at them and the average owner won't be comfortable doing that), so we suggest balancing the system so that our M800s handle 95% of the music and the HR speakers are *just* audible to help with wind/road noise. There's more info on our regular website at 3maudio.com

[@mateocarlos2674]

Bose used to make great speakers. But, this system (2007 Miata) is poor. Really bad actually, as far as sound and controls goes. Very mid-rangy. Terrible sound. EDIT: I've been using the system now for 5 months and it's actually pretty good I have an ipod feed direct and it really sounds good. it's odd that I'm figuring this stuff out now but it's true. I just set the bass boosted one and trebble up plus 6, and it sounds pretty good that way. I love the steering wheel controls too!

[@3rdMillennium]

Agree 100%. Peaky midrange and no upper/lower end. You've probably heard the saying - "No highs, no lows, must be Bose". Their pro audio stuff (PA/Live Music) is still quite good.

[@mateocarlos2674]

So, I'm trying to understand which component needs replacing the most? Is the head unit adequate? I'm thinking the speakers probably need it. But, then if I replace the speakers, the impedance change will almost certainly require a different amp. I think I'd be content just upgrading the door speakers. I've seen some good upgrade videos (five star car stereo). Any idea which component sucks the worst? @@3rdMillennium

[@3rdMillennium]

The weakest parts of the system are definitely the speakers. The HU and amps are nothing special but once you pull the speakers, you'll see how cheap they are and why they sound the way they do. So I'd suggest dealing with the door speakers first, listening for a few weeks, and then deciding if you want to go further. And impedance isn't really the problem in the system. Using a normal 4-ohm speaker the max power output of the amp will be less, but there's still quite a bit there. Our M800s will drop into place without issue in the NCs. Check out the video we have of an installation in our 2012 for some more info kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3bRiod4f9yIrqcsi=8_ox4xzpQbfluDTx

[@mateocarlos2674]

Those are 6" speakers, right? Will an 8" fit?@@3rdMillennium

[@3rdMillennium]

165mm or about 6" - the AD1 Kit included with the NB bundle allows an exact fit into the stock opening (Bose or non-Bose)@@mateocarlos2674