Stereo doesnt sound right

**p8ntmunky** · 04-17-2006, 10:08 AM

I recently installed a new head unit and replaced the front speakers with alpine type-r two ways. I ran new speaker wire to the alpines and everything works fine but ive been playing with the settings for days and for some reason they just dont sound right. When i had them in my last car they were very loud and had a good amount of bass but in my camaro they sound very quiet and dont sound liek the 150 dollar speakers they are.

im wondering is it maybe that the two fronts are re wired directly to the head unit and the others are stll running through the amp and that may be causing the imbalance in sound and voulme? I plan on replacing the rears and installing a sub also but for now any idea why i am getting so little out of my front upgraded speakers?

my camaro does not have the bose system it is the basic audio package...any help would be appreciated

**White Rascal** · 04-17-2006, 10:19 AM

Have you checked to make sure the wires are connected to the speakers correctly and that the speakers are in phase with each other? If you crossed the + and - wire to one of the speakers this would cause them to be out of phase with each other. Reverse the wires going to one of the speakers and see if it sounds any better. If it does, great... if it sounds worse switch it back and take it from there.

**p8ntmunky** · 04-17-2006, 10:25 AM

im pretty sure i wired it right but ill double check later thanks

any other suggestions?

**SSAndrew** · 04-17-2006, 01:09 PM

if you're running them off the stock head without the stock amplifier, you're only getting about 8-10 watts to them where as the factory amp (although overrated at 200 watts) is putting out about 20/channel watts. Although not a lot of power in all, it's still twice as loud as the stock head and has better sound quality. Definitely rewire it to run off the amp instead of the head. Also check the polarity of the speakers. When you get a sub, I'd suggest amping the whole car with a multichannel amp or bi-amp setup.

**p8ntmunky** · 04-17-2006, 04:17 PM

so your saying i shoudl run speaker wire from the stock amp to my new speakers instead of going straight off my new head unit? i didnt think i could do that because i couldnt use the factory wire to power my speakers in teh first place it just was static so i had to run new speaker lines just for the two

**rotwiler** · 04-17-2006, 06:12 PM

Since your not even using the Monsoon amp, your only getting the power off the HU. The stock Monsoon system probably sounds louder since your getting all the highs from the hu and the bass from the Monsoon amp and now your losing out on power. You can't wire the stock Monsoon amp to the speakers you put in unless you can bi amplify them(seperate inputs for woofer and tweeter) since the Monsoon amp does not put out any highs(is bass only).

**p8ntmunky** · 04-17-2006, 06:18 PM

So running new wires from all speakers to my head unit will make it sound more balanced but still may not be too powerful?

Can anyone suggest a good amp for my speakers or maybe a multichannel one for both speakers and a sub to be added later. Im tryin to save some cash right now so nothing to expensive just good enough to get my speakers going.

thanks for the help

**SSAndrew** · 04-18-2006, 05:50 AM

I think there are different versions of the monsoon system out there. My car did not come with tweeters in the front, so there was no crossover in the amp. In that case you can power the aftermarket speakers right off the factory amp with no problem. Why not just eliminate this issue and get a cheap 2 channel amp to run those speakers. As long as the amp has a high level in, you can use the wires right off your factory radio and you can probably find an amp like this for $100 or so. Even the cheapest 2 channel amp is going to put out more power than the monsoon POS anyway.

**p8ntmunky** · 04-18-2006, 06:29 AM

I started to look for 4 channel amps to power my two coaxials and some components on the way but are u saying i can just use a two channel one for both front and one for both the rear? would i not get as much power to them like that?

**SSAndrew** · 04-18-2006, 10:23 AM

you can run the speakers in parallel and it will be a 2 ohm load instead of a 4 ohm load, so you will get the same amount of power, just not be able to fade front to back

**Zboner** · 04-18-2006, 10:29 AM

take em back and get infiniti

**p8ntmunky** · 04-18-2006, 01:07 PM

so how would it be wired for the 2 channel? both fronts positives and negatives together on one channel and the same for the rear?

i may just get a 4 channel so i can power my sub also

**SSAndrew** · 04-19-2006, 04:22 PM

You combine the front and rear left +/- together, and the same for the right side, that way you have balance, but not fade. You could do a 4 channel and bridge the rear two channels to a sub, but at that point, why not get a 5 channel and be done the right way. The only reason I suggested parallelling the front and rears is because of the budget issue.

**p8ntmunky** · 04-19-2006, 04:25 PM

yea thats what i was thinking but ive been lookin around ebay stores and found some nice rockford amps for cheap so if i can find a 5 channel ill def grab it or just get a mono for sub.

Thanks for all the help