Stock radio
 

Hi i am about to buy a MP5 i was woundering how the stock radio sounds... cd player.. dont compare to anythign to big just want to know if its ok....

thanks

It basically sucks. It skips easily and doesn't sound all that great. Budget money to replace it with something decent.

I think that its a pretty good stock stereo. If you don't care about block-booming bass or high ranges only audible to canines or whales then keep the stereo and save your money for something else. If you are really into stereos I can see where you might want to add components.

The real test? Go to your local mazda dealer with your favorite CDs. Probably one techno for the high end and one with hella bass. Ask the dealer to let you test out the stereo for yourself.

I do notice that burned CDs skip more than regular CDs in the stock system. I also think that it has to do with the quality of the burned CD too. Not sure.

I burn almost all my CD's, and I never have any skipping problems. As far as sound, it comparable to most stock systems. It's not great, but it's certainly not bad. For the average person, it's fine. If you're an audiophile, you'll want to look aftermarket.

What roads do you commute on? My car's stock stereo does not skip even on bumpy roads. Well a ditch, yes, but it has skipped less than 10 times, even after 12000km of rough driving.

Houston roads. The reason I don't like mine is that my Pioneer in my truck (which had a much more unforgiving suspension setup) is damn near impossible to make skip and that thing skipped every time I hit a sharp bump (especially with burned CD's). I even had it replaced and it still skipped all the time. So guess what I did? Took the Pioneer out of the truck and put it in the Protege. Not a high-end Pioneer either. Just a mid-range model that cost me like 200 bucks when I bought it for the truck. Not a skip since. Plus it sounds better than what was in there. The best stock stereo's I heard were in the Nissan Sentra (if we are looking in our class). They at least had some depth to them.

I changed it the second day I had the car. It is terrible. It is underpowered, the speakers are to weak to be powered by an aftermarket deck, and they distort at a hint of high volume. I would say budget about $500 for a new entry level deck, 4 speakers and installation/hardware.

The actual CD player and tuner in the HU are actually quite fine in audio quality, appearance, and ergonomics. However, the stock speakers suck badly, and the HU is definitely underpowered.

What you can do is install aftermarket speakers and an amp, and it actually sounds quite good, plus there's nothing to draw the attention of thieves. But replacing the HU really isn't necessary to get good sound, unless you really want a changer or MP3 playback capability.

As for skipping, I use mostly CDR's in mine and they do sometimes skip when I go over really big bumps, but it's otherwise OK.

CD vs 6disc Changer
 

When I bought my MP5 the dealer forgot to install the in-dash changer. The single disc CD player had a very hard time reading burned cd-rw and cd-r's. However, the 6disc changer has no such trouble and has been excellent. I haven't heard it skip once in 10,000 miles of driving on Illinois roads. It is underpowered and the speakers are not that great but it serves my purposes. If I were to upgrade, I would get aftermarket speakers and an amp but I'm not into the massive bass sound.

I have the single-disc CD player in my P5 and it practically never skips, plus I play mostly burned CD-Rs and they work fine. The stock stereo is OK, but as has been mentioned above, it doesn't have a lot of 'oomph'. I made the mistake of getting into my P5 after a drive in a new Audi with the 12-speaker Bose system and that pretty much banged home how the P5's stock setup was designed to be adequate, nothing more. Still, that's about all you can expect for the price.

I'm glad most of your guy's stock stereo's are working alright. About two weeks after i got mine, it started skipping like crazy, and still does. I think i will go and get it checked out, it plays all the burned cd's alright, but like someone mentioned earlier it skips more on burned cd's. Now that i got subs and a decent size amp in the back of my car, it is nearly impossible to turn anything up or let alone turn on the bass. Don't really want to spend money on a new deck right now, but instead for a carbon fiber ram air hood. I think that will be more worth my money :D

Robert