I have the base sound system and want to upgrade the simplest way. I plan to upgrade the front speakers with higher quality speakers and add my 10" Solo-baric sub from my old car.

COULD THE REAR SPEAKERS WIRES BE BRIDGED TO POWER THE SUB?
a) I don't need the rear channel for fill since I prefer my music stage in front.
b) I don't need a very loud system, just clean bass at modest levels.

Thanks for your expertise and ideas.

 

NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't EVER do that! What will most likely happen is that you completely blow out the factory amp. If it isn't intended to be bridged then it can't be. You will fry it! The Solobaric is a very inefficient sub anyways. It takes big power to run one cleanly even at low to moderate power levels. The factory amp does not have the neccessary power to run that woofer. I don't care how much Mazda says it has. Yes it will physically produce sound from the woofer but it will not be clean sounding at all. It is far more likely that you will blow up a speaker from to little power than from too much. It is distortion not power that causes most speaker deaths. You would also need to run a passive crossover in line on the speaker wires to the sub. This takes up some of the power too.

I agree that sound is meant to come from in front of you and not behind you. I've never stood with my back to a concert before so why should I do the same in the car? If you are planning to replace the front speakers anyways just get a nice 4 channel amp, run the front speakers off of 2 of the channels and bridge the other 2 to the Solobaric. Just load it in a small sealed box in the trunk and call it a day. If you get the right amp, it will already have the line level inputs and built in crossovers leaving everything else very easy. This is definitely the best way for you to go. If you try to run a sub off of the factory radio it will sound like crap and probably have an extremely short life. Do it right or do it again later.