Mazda Protegé

protege_fan

It's funny...I read about people saying, "replace the speakers ASAP," while others say "you HAVE to replace the HU (head unit) for the first thing."

I don't mind the stock stereo. IMO, it works fine. When I really wanna listen to music, I have a nice setup at home. I know, I know....some people really like music in the car...but the best music I like when I'm in my Pro is the engine

chikoo

hafta agree with you.

and in our 99 ES, the stock FMS unit and pioneer speakers have great resolution till halfway.
At least for meaningful music with lyrics.
Beyond that u need only if ur deaf or wanna be deaf.
For those heavy metal fans, almost nuthings gonna work.

mazdafun

There are times I never turn on the audio system because that exhaust note is so darn nice.

But if I did only one, I'd do the speakers before the amp. I don't usually turn the volume more than 30% of max (on the readout) anyway, so I'm not overworking the head unit. I was easily over 50% with the stock speakers when I wanted volume though. Even then, the stock speakers couldn't produce the punchy bass the replacements do at about half the volume setting. Heck, the door-mounted ones really vibrate the doors.

And yes, for the audiophile (as opposed to autophile?), just upgrading the whole system (and adding more sound insulation) would be the only satisfactory way to go.

dsm6

In order to get any bass, and to tame the harsh highs coming from the fronts, I've had to shift the sound stage too much and imaging is poor. Highs on certain songs still hurt my ears, so I have it tuned to be more midy than it should be on top of that.

Other than that, it's OK. ;-)

It wouldn't be as much of an issue if I didn't have to drive 100 miles a day five days a week.

protege_fan

I think TRUE audiophiles wouldn't bother with a car anyway. IMO, it's terrible for acoustics.

mazdafun

Ho-hum. Boring.

ashutoshsm

Head Unit ---> Speakers ---> Amp
as the acceptable/suggested order in which to upgrade?

What order for speakers? I have an upgraded Pioneer head unit, that improved the sound from stock speakers drastically, and then I just added front door speakers, and I feel the sound quality is all I need. I usually fade the music to the front, and let the front door speakers do most of the work anyway!

And in my older car (95 DX), nothing I do drowns out (completely) the sound of the engine when it really starts revving high (no tach, so not sure what levels), but it sure does sound sweet!

dsm6

But I tune my rears only to fill out the bottom end (low frequencies), with the fronts doing most of the work. This keeps the sound stage up front and yields better imaging. That being said, I will replace head, then fronts, then rear. If I don't like what I hear yet, then I will go for an external amp, then maybe a small sub. A good head may have enough power, but more power not only adds more volume, but also can get you better clarity and dynamics. We shall see.

Since I may go with an amp in the future, I'm going to get a head unit with preamp outs. This generally works better than speaker level in. It will cost me more for the head, though.

Depends upon your tastes in sound reproduction and music, though, as to what you might like. Obvious statement, since some here (who must be tone deaf ;-) ) like the stock set-up just fine.

mazdafun

Probably in order of ease too.

HU = ISO DIN (just make sure the new one isn't too deep).

Speakers = remove trim panels and plug into existing wiring.

Amp = find someplace to mout it and run new wiring from HU behind panels, carpeting etc. and to speakers. I'm also too lazy to do this one, and don't want someone else monkeying around in my car.

vocus

I had a 1999 DX, and I liked its sound system better than the 2001 ES I had. It seems the new radio is of a lower quality or something (maybe the speakers?).

chicagopro

Check your yahoo account before you go home today.

--Dale

vocus

Everyone for the birthday wishes. Totally appreciated.

jstandefer

I have to agree with the two posts regarding the '99 and '00 sound systems. I test drove a 2001 ES 2.0 and I couldn't believe how terrible the sound system was compared to the one in my '99!

For me, though, I would say speakers >> amp >> head unit. I would put the new speakers in and see how it sounds. If I like it, I would stay there. However, if I didn't, I would go for the amp and so on and so on. The reason, for me, is that I much prefer the ergonomics and looks of the stock head unit as opposed to an aftermarket unit that looks so out of place and requires a toothpick to press the buttons!

First to go definitely has to be the speakers! In my '99, the stock speakers are 25 watt Pioneer paper and foam speakers! The head unit has a max power output of 32 watts per channel!

dsm6

You could get an amp and run speaker level in to run a new set of speakers. This would allow you to keep the stock head unit but run more power into better speakers. But - I personally don't like the idea of amplifying and amplified signal - too non-linear a response, you end up amplifying noise from the original head, and clipping could result. I hear there some amps that take care of this by regulating the input level voltage, but haven't checked into it. Anybody know more about this?

Generally, a good quality speaker with a nice flat response is less efficient than a cheap stock speaker, so if you go with the stock head without an amp, you end up turning up the gain in order to get the same "volume" you had with the more efficient factory speakers. If you have to turn up the gain too much to get any sound, then the signal gets clipped and gets dirty. This is the issue I worry about. I asked Mazda about the power rating on my 02 head unit. They said 25 Watts. They didn't say, but this must be peak power. That's weak. I'm thinking too weak. I may be wrong. It will obviously depend upon the efficiency of the new speakers. I guess you could just try it and adjust if there is a problem, i.e. go speakers>>amp>>head as Jerry suggests.

maltb

the 2001 I'm bringing on Saturday has good sound (big grin).

If only it whistled...

jstandefer

and you'll have to give us a good sound demo! However, from what I hear about that head unit, you may not have enough time during the 2 hour drive to figure it out! LOL

jstandefer

It's almost here! It's almost here! It's almost here! Gee, I'm not excited...

For anyone in the area, I still have room for 9 more vehicles on my permit! Here's what's coming so far:

6 x 1st Gen Protege's
6 x 3rd Gen Protege's
4 x Protege5's
2 x MP3's
1 x 323
1 x 323 GTX (AWD Turbo)
1 x Sentra SE-R Spec V (turbo Protege is sick)

I just can't wait!!

sunbyrne

Lots of good points here.

I agree that it's kind of silly to dump a really big pile of money into car audio, because cars are terrible places, acoustically. However, I think spending a few hundred to improve over the stock system seems reasonable if you like to listen to music in the car.

I also agree that the stereos in the 99 are better than the newer ones. My wife's 99 LX stock stereo sounds much better than my P5 did when it was stock. I know in the P5 the lack of rear deck speakers is part of the problem, but I don't think that's the whole story. OTOH, I much prefer the ergonomics and appearance of the newer HU.

I don't agree at all that HU is the first thing to upgrade, but I think that really depends on what you want. As I said, I like the stock HU's ergonomics, appearance, and lack of attention-getting from thieves. But if you want a changer or satellite radio or MP3 capability, then I agree that the HU should be the first piece.

Other than that, however, I think the first piece should be speakers, then amp if you feel you need it, then HU. Now that I have new speakers and an amp, I'm perfectly content with the stock HU. I think the people who say the HU should go first are reacting to the lack of power, but you can deal with that by adding an amp.

I am sensitive to the multi-amped problem that dsm6 mentioned, but there is a solution to it. You can get a line output converter, which steps down speaker-level outs back to line level. Not quite as clean as an HU with good line-level outs if you're going into an amp, but it is cleaner than going speaker-level into the amp. (This is what I have and it seems fine to me.)

th83

Have you forgotten that mom knows best? I'm the one who picked out the Accord. She just pointed me to the larger, more mature segment known as "Mid-size". If the Accord EX V6 hadn't been in my price range I would have sprung for the Pro instead of the Accord.

mdaffron

http://www.auto.com/reuters/2002-06-27T090404Z_01_T1155.htm

Meade

mazdafun

It depends on how the operation is run and the work ethic of the employees. You can make good-quality parts anywhere with good employees and good processes. Things go awry if any one element is lacking. Unfortunately, Ford seems to be lacking quite a bit.

boggse

I am trying to get Toyo to provide better availability on their flagship product, the Proxes T1-S Ultra High Performance tire for us lowly Protege owners. Currently, they have the OEM size for the 2001-2 ES and P5 available for special order from the factory in Japan. Turn around time on these is several months. It turns out that the 195/50R16 is a "European" size which is why they do not stock many in the US. As of yesterday, there were only 3 tires in the Toyo US warehouse. Needless to say, that is not enough to shod a single Protege in T1-S rubber, let alone if someone had a blowout. A very helpful gentleman at Toyo suggested I try to get some feedback from Protege owners about whether or not they want this size tire from Toyo. So, this is what I am going to do. I have set up an e-mail address specifically for the purpose of gathering feedback about this issue. If you own a 2001-2 ES or P5, please send me an e-mail to the address below stating what car you own (year, model & trim level) and that you would like to see more tires available for it since it is such an uncommon size, especially the Toyo Proxes T1-S. I will send all of this to the helpful person at Toyo, and hopefully he will be able to do something about it. OK, here is the address:

toyopoll@yahoo.com

Thanks for your participation.

dagpotter

What is the price?

chikoo

>>>a toothpick to press the buttons!<<<
is exactly what turns me off evertime I stand in BestBuy car audio section.....trying to find a better audio system....for 3 years I have come back home unable to pick one

'99 audio quality and cd+cassette deck ergonomics are the best.

maltb

Mazda now has all its accessories on their web-site. You still can't order from them over the web, but you can get a good view with MSRP.

mdaffron

2000s are the same as '99s!

Meade

mdaffron

says the catalog is currently not available!

Meade

chikoo

http://www.mazdausa.com/downloads/Protege_bro.pdf

mdaffron

... is the accessories brochure in .pdf form. It does not contain the price lists you refer to, which is what I wanted to see.

Meade

the_big_h

http://accessories.mazdausa.com/commerce/AccessoriesModel?selectedModelId=10118&selectedMajorCategoryId=-1

mdaffron

Meade

boggse

It depends on what dealer you go to. List price is about $150 per tire. I have gotten quotes locally for as little as $115 per tire plus labor.

jstandefer

Since the MazdaUSA site uses cookies to remember your location, you probably have to go their directly through the site and not an external link. I saw it just fine (and it appears the vast majority of the accessories are for 2001+ cars!). From the MazdaUSA site, scroll over the "Vehicles" button on the left button bar and select accessories from the submenu that appears. Those Racing Beat wheels are expensive!!! Not that it matters... won't fit on our 4-lug hubs. :-(

-Jerry

shrique

those putzes still don't recognize any other browser other than 4.x Netscape and 5.x+ IE. I like my Mozilla 1.0 dangit! Tabbed browsing is the only way to go!!

Viva Mozilla!!!

pat

(but heck, you guys do it all the time, right? )

I've been using Mozilla for about a week now. I like it a lot, but after I've used it for a while (couple of hours, three maybe?) it hoses up, won't display properly and sometimes just quits responding. The only way I can fix it is to reboot. Exiting and restarting it doesn't do anything.

Does that happen to you?

shrique

Being that it's off topic I will send you an email. (GRIN)

shrique

I'll answer it slightly in here. No. It's been very stable and I've been incredibly happy to browse the Edmunds Protege/Protege5 forums with it. However you might try killing the process. That sometimes helps.

pat

shrique -- thanks for your email. I've tried to reply twice now, but both times it comes back as "service unavailable" -- I'll wait a while and try again, unless you have another suggestion.

shrique

I sent you another mail with the a different email address to try.

ashutoshsm

I LOVE tabbed browsing too! Also, I hate the fact that more and more websites don't display correctly because writers are using silly non-standard (read Microsoft-only) html extensions.

That said, as much as I love Mozilla 1.0 and Netscape 6.2, I have been incredibly impressed by Opera (opera.com). MUCH better at all the cool things Mozilla does, MUCH quicker, and WAY more configurable. And coming from a huge Linux lover (LNX ROX - insider joke) and Open Source proponent, that's saying a LOT!

Back on topic - Zoom Zoom! Time to head home from work! Play the XM radio, and rev the little 1.5l engine, windows down (actually `window down' - not having power windows makes it a hassle to reach over and open/close the other 3 windows!)

pat

If it really does all the cool things Mozilla does better, I will be thrilled. I agree with you about your inside joke, btw.

Opera did not do one thing better than Netscape 4.x last time I tried it, but that was several versions ago - with what you've said, now I'm looking forward to seeing what the lastest version can do.

pat

Get your self back on topic, what is wrong with you?

the_big_h

yesterday took my car to get a glitchy automatic door lock actuator replaced (warranty fix!!! yikes!!!), while I was there I ordered a Mazdaspeed exhaust at the parts department. All this happened while I'm watching the Brazil vs. Turkey World Cup semifinal at the dealer's TV in the lounge.

All these excitement took place within 1 hour on a Wednesday morning, how fun!

pat

the_big_h

ashutoshsm

I'll write to you offline and tell you what it means :-)

pat

calm down - um yes, yes, looking for that ativan I lost a while ago ...

inside joke - doesn't it mean linux rocks? oh well, i'll wait to see - but THAT'S what I was agreeing with. ;->

meinrad

have to chime in too waaay of topic too. I use Opera and have been for over a year. It's great. Not every site works great with it, but most do and it's by far the best browser I've tried!

austinnerd

Zero percent for a 4 year loan? Wow!

On my new Protege', I received zero percent on a two year note. Tried to negotiate 4 years to no avail. Payments at $357 per month are still reasonable though.

By the way, my new baby was in the shop to repair dealer-induced scratches on the paint. Good service. They gave me a loaner (2002 626 loaded). What a car!

vocus

Do you agree that the 626 had this closed-in feeling that the Protege does not have? I think it does. Of course, I am 6'3 and about 270lbs. or so, so that might help.

I still have my Seabreeze Green 2002 Protege DX loaner. Put 400 miles on it already since Monday morning. Brings back alot of good memories...