New Headunit with Monsoon amp and speakers

[hiberto]

I just bought and installed a Kenwood KVT-514 headunit using the GM harness. I have a 98 Firebird coupe with stock monsoon speakers and am using the monsoon amp. To me, the speakers, especially the subs in the sail panels, don't sound as good as they did when I had the factory monsoon headunit installed. the bass sounds a lot weaker and the clarity in general sounds worse. I don't know much about car audio and I've read FAQs on the monsoon system and amp but still don't completely understand how the monsoon system works. Can anyone explain to me why the speakers would sound worse using my aftermarket headunit? The wiring of the monsoon system is tricky from what I've read and I'm thinking about replacing the monsoon speakers and amp with aftermarket ones if using the monsoon amp and monsoon speakers with the new headunit are causing the problems. Thanks for your help.

[R6Biker]

That tends to happen with the Monsoon system. Aftermarket head units don't usually work well with the stock speakers. My sister just bought some speakers for her Grand Am and she has the monsoon system, well you can't just "plug and play" the aftermarket speakers up because her rear speakers have the biamp wires. Which means there are four wires going to the speaker instead of just two. So I'm going to wind up just bypassing the factory amp for now until she decides to get an aftermarket amp and subs. My suggestion.....ditch the monsoon amp and speakers all together and get some good aftermarket speakers w/ aftermarket amp and maybe some small subs just for a little more bass. (unless you're not a real big Bass person!)

[cincybird98]

The monsoon system is made up of 10 speakers, the amp and the headunit. There is also the ability to add a cd changer on some models via a cable run to the rear of the drivers side in the cubby hole.The headunit is 4 ohm with supposedly some ampage and it powers the front and rear tweeters and the far rear mid range. The front 6.5" midbass speakers and 6.5" sail panel subs are powered off the 500 watt monsoon amp at 2 ohm. The sail panel subs in birds only are DVC (dual voice coil) 4ohm subs wired in paralell to pull 2 ohms. A front replacement speaker has to be 2ohms also with seperate connections for the tweeter and the woofer or you can do a component setup. Keep that in mind if you plan on replacing the speakers but keeping the monsoon system. I chose to keep everything from the monsoon system but replace the speakers and I love the way it sounds now. Im using 6.5" elemental designs eu-700 subs in the sail panels and 6.5" Infinity kappa 62.7s in the doors. I am still using my stock headunit so Im not really sure why you're having problems after replacing yours. It could have something to do with the headunits amplifier or the ohms though. Just a guess..

[R6Biker]

oh as far as your headunit not working right with the speakers. The monsoon system is designed specifically with those speakers. So the speakers aren't working with the correct frequencies of the new headunit. Kinda like throwing a ford motor in a chevy....makes it slower.... lol same principle

[hiberto]

thanks for your help guys. i am a big fan of rock and I don't want any big subs installed like for rap. I really just want to have a loud but clear sound system with strong but not overpowering bass. I'd like to have 6.5" or 6.75" subs in the sail panels so they are about the same size as factory. I'd also like to have the car look as factory as possible i.e. keep the factory speaker grilles and no big changes/cuts to the panels. The monsoon system with factory headunit sounded good to me before-wanted to upgrade headunit to 7" touchscreen with ipod capability. The speakers and subs sounded clear to me before the new headunit was installed and hope new speakers and amp will help my car sound even better than that. The factory headunit had an 8 slider equalizer on it but tweaking of the new headunit's equalizer settings seem to barely affect the sound of the speakers/subs. I have heard of people replacing all the speakers but the rear mids/tweeters because they think it's pointless since they're in the back. what do you think? what type/model speakers would you suggest to put in the door and sail panels? also, any amp recommendations?

[cincybird98]

If your keeping the monsoon system then replacing the far rear speakers and tweeters IS pointless. I told you the speakers Im using and Im very happy with them. I really like the monsoon system so I use the monsoon amp too but thats just me. I like rock too so I didnt need any big subs or anything and I still have the stock appearance. Are you looking to keep the monsoon system or replace it all?

[hiberto]

I'd like to keep the monsoon amp but with my new headunit I don't think I'll be able to for the reasons biker said. I don't know if just replacing the factory monsoon subs and keeping the monsoon amp would make it sound better since the new headunit seems to mess up the frequencies of the factory monsoon speakers/amp or something. i'm thinking replacing the amp and door speakers and sail panel speakers may be easier since the monsoon amp seems to have compatibility issues with the new headunit/factory speakers. the Infinity kappa 62.7s seem to be discontinued. if I were to replace the sail panel subs and the door panel speakers (2 way mid/tweeter), what brands/models would you recommend?

[R6Biker]

I'll probably wind up getting all aftermarket in my other Camaro. My black maro doesn't have the monsoon so my own setup was a cinch, I threw a JVC 7" touchscreen in that car and I'd like to get another one for the SS. I would like to get that stealth box with a small 10" sub because I also listen to more rock than anything and the 10" works well with the JVC unit.

[FL!nn3R]

ive never heard a monsoon, but ive bought about 4 diff brands of speakers, and i have found alpine to be the best, fosgate is next nething else i dont buy. so i get my camaro system hooked up alpine head unit, amp, and subs. n it sounds great. i dnt have tha monsoon but my factory shitters sound better than most aftermarket i have bought, but i had a deckthat i had 12s running off of, n it like made tha deck work too hard n it lost its bolume like it sound good still but not wat it was b4 that, so maybee that could be tha problem, and you get wat u pay for i upgraded last jan to a
$350 alpine deck deff worth it!!!

[Superman]

Originally Posted by FL!nn3R ive never heard a monsoon, but ive bought about 4 diff brands of speakers, and i have found alpine to be the best, fosgate is next nething else i dont buy. so i get my camaro system hooked up alpine head unit, amp, and subs. n it sounds great. i dnt have tha monsoon but my factory shitters sound better than most aftermarket i have bought, but i had a deckthat i had 12s running off of, n it like made tha deck work too hard n it lost its bolume like it sound good still but not wat it was b4 that, so maybee that could be tha problem, and you get wat u pay for i upgraded last jan to a $350 alpine deck deff worth it!!!

was this english?

[R6Biker]

^^ lol.