Monsoon help plz

**rotwiler** · 11-23-2005, 12:05 AM

Originally Posted by Mudvayne

Why don't you guys with cd player problems just get an aftermarket hu

The original question we are reponding to is getting off track. The question was "Why don't you guys with cd player problems just get an aftermarket hu".
Response should have been either, I like the look of stock, so I don't want to upgrade to aftermarket. Or, I can't afford a new HU. Or, Aftermarket HU's work great, but you would need a standard 85+ GM harness($7) a antenna adaptor($6), a dash kit(12.00) and a pac swi-x($45) to retain steering wheel controls.
None of the other things have any bearing on adding a aftermarket hu to the Monsoon. My 50wx4 Kenwood puts out 22 watts rms per kenwood specs and sounds much better than the stock. Plus the advantage of Mp3, adjusting the lower bass out of the Monsoon which in turn causes the speakers to last longer and not distort as much. With the stock Monsoon HU, the bass sounded so bad I turned it down almost all the way. Now, even when I have my subs out of the car when going to the track, I can still turn it up and sounds ok.

**MadSeason** · 11-23-2005, 12:28 AM

Originally Posted by rotwiler

The original question we are reponding to is getting off track. The question was "Why don't you guys with cd player problems just get an aftermarket hu".
Response should have been either, I like the look of stock, so I don't want to upgrade to aftermarket. Or, I can't afford a new HU. Or, Aftermarket HU's work great, but you would need a standard 85+ GM harness($7) a antenna adaptor($6), a dash kit(12.00) and a pac swi-x($45) to retain steering wheel controls.
None of the other things have any bearing on adding a aftermarket hu to the Monsoon. My 50wx4 Kenwood puts out 22 watts rms per kenwood specs and sounds much better than the stock. Plus the advantage of Mp3, adjusting the lower bass out of the Monsoon which in turn causes the speakers to last longer and not distort as much. With the stock Monsoon HU, the bass sounded so bad I turned it down almost all the way. Now, even when I have my subs out of the car when going to the track, I can still turn it up and sounds ok.

**WhiteBird00** · 11-23-2005, 04:43 AM

Originally Posted by MadSeason

Didn't guess, it's in the repair manual

Not in GM's factory vehicle service manual.

Originally Posted by MadSeason

By Definition, The only thing that classifies as woofers in the manual are the two in the doors and two in the sail panels

Again, not in GM's service manual or parts manual. The sail panel speakers are classified as subs while the doors and hatch area each have component sets consisting of tweeters and mid-range speaker elements. There are no woofers as such in the entire car.

Originally Posted by MadSeason

When you buy speakers, most people opt for the 2ways. They can be either 2ohm or 4ohm in most cases. They're either going to end up with mismatched resistance in the tweeter or woofer in the door panel, in which case most people get the 4ohm and run the woofer at 1/2 its avaliable power

This had nothing to do with buying speakers. It was about the possiblility of buying a headunit with an odd impedance requirement that wouldn't match the 4-ohm standard that the rest of the Monsoon system uses (amp and tweeters). The point was that you wouldn't need to worry about mismatched impedance unless you bought some oddball head unit that didn't have 4-ohm output.

Originally Posted by MadSeason

You're so

, since this is the only board I post to

No, somebody was complaining on another board about your posts here. They even provided a link to this thread.

Originally Posted by rotwiler

The original question we are reponding to is getting off track. The question was "Why don't you guys with cd player problems just get an aftermarket hu".
Response should have been either, I like the look of stock, so I don't want to upgrade to aftermarket. Or, I can't afford a new HU. Or, Aftermarket HU's work great, but you would need a standard 85+ GM harness($7) a antenna adaptor($6), a dash kit(12.00) and a pac swi-x($45) to retain steering wheel controls.
None of the other things have any bearing on adding a aftermarket hu to the Monsoon. My 50wx4 Kenwood puts out 22 watts rms per kenwood specs and sounds much better than the stock. Plus the advantage of Mp3, adjusting the lower bass out of the Monsoon which in turn causes the speakers to last longer and not distort as much. With the stock Monsoon HU, the bass sounded so bad I turned it down almost all the way. Now, even when I have my subs out of the car when going to the track, I can still turn it up and sounds ok.

You're exactly right. I'm glad somebody sees through the misinformation and realizes that an aftermarket HU can make a significant improvement in the Monsoon system sound without requiring any other system upgrades.

I'm going to move on to something more interesting. Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!

**98-LS1** · 11-23-2005, 04:54 AM

I can't figure out why ya'll say in order to run an aftermarket head unit you'll have to change the speakers, that's a bunch of B.S. ! I took my car to Tweeter and had them install a Kenwood head unit since my factory Monsoon CD player quit working, they said that 50W X 4 Kenwood would power the speakers just fine and they wouldn't have a problem. In my opinion the Kenwood sounds better than the monsoon, everything works great and the stock subs hit really good. I bought all new eclipse speakers for the car though and will be putting them in soon.

**rotwiler** · 11-23-2005, 10:32 AM

Originally Posted by 98-LS1

I can't figure out why ya'll say in order to run an aftermarket head unit you'll have to change the speakers, that's a bunch of B.S. ! I took my car to Tweeter and had them install a Kenwood head unit since my factory Monsoon CD player quit working, they said that 50W X 4 Kenwood would power the speakers just fine and they wouldn't have a problem. In my opinion the Kenwood sounds better than the monsoon, everything works great and the stock subs hit really good. I bought all new eclipse speakers for the car though and will be putting them in soon.

I agree, mine works fine with the stock speakers, and I have a 50x4 Kenwood too. I will go to the 2ohm Infinity's soon for better highs etc.

**lrader99** · 11-29-2005, 06:21 PM

after reading this whole post i must say that i agree with madseason almost 100%...the only reason people are arguing is that someone feels that they have a better knowledge of somthing than the next person...people are saying stuff, but the person who replies to the post is not even reading what they typed, because their answers contradict what they had just said...

with the Monsoon system....is it prewired to accept the factory 12 cd changer...even if the car wasnt equipped...ive also heard of a 10" sub that mounted in the pocket in the driver rear quarter well (adjacent to the spare tire)... was there an upgraded power output to the factory monsoon amp....are there upgradeable monsoon speakersI(aftermarket, but within the specs of the monsoon system?)

**227HAWK** · 11-29-2005, 06:33 PM

Monsoon on paper = Great
Monsoon in reality = PLEASE REPLACE @ first opportunity.

**rotwiler** · 11-29-2005, 11:36 PM

Originally Posted by lrader99

after reading this whole post i must say that i agree with madseason almost 100%...the only reason people are arguing is that someone feels that they have a better knowledge of somthing than the next person...people are saying stuff, but the person who replies to the post is not even reading what they typed, because their answers contradict what they had just said...

with the Monsoon system....is it prewired to accept the factory 12 cd changer...even if the car wasnt equipped...ive also heard of a 10" sub that mounted in the pocket in the driver rear quarter well (adjacent to the spare tire)... was there an upgraded power output to the factory monsoon amp....are there upgradeable monsoon speakersI(aftermarket, but within the specs of the monsoon system?)

I've heard some say that there is the wire for the changer already there, since my car came with the changer I am not sure. But, I do know that even if the car is pre wired for it, the braket the changer attaches to isn't there. I sold my stock 12 disc changer to someone on here and he had to buy the braket from GM to install it like stock, mine looks welded from the factory.

The Monsoon did not have a 10 inch sub option. People install subthumb box, JL audio stealth box etc....and it is made to fit in that area, if you remove the 12 disc changer and add a aftermarket amp.

With the upgradeable speakers, most of this thread was mentioning that. The stock Monsoon speakers tend to blow alot. The Monsoon amp to run optimal needs the 6.5's in the doors and sail panel that run at 2 ohm like the stock. If you go to 4 ohm like most 6.5's, you get 1/2 the power. Very few speakers are out there in 6.5's that run 2 ohm. So in past people have had good results with Alpines at 4ohm since they are efficient. I just bought new to 05 Infinity 62.7i's that run at 2 ohm and should be a perfect upgrade to the front door speakers. Guess I will see in a day or 2 when they arrive, people have claimed great results. As far as I know the Infinity are closest matched to the Monsoon amp in rms and being 2 ohm like the stock ones. Everything else in the Monsoon system runs off the head unit power, weather it is the stock Monsoon hu or aftermarket(2 tweeter in door, and rear 4inch speakers) and they are all 4 ohm. Is a odd setup for a car audio system. The convertible cars are a different setup I think though.

**lrader99** · 11-30-2005, 02:14 AM

thanks man

**MadSeason** · 11-30-2005, 03:51 AM

the 12 disc harness is only in 93-99 cars that have the 12 disc cd player option, in 2000 they all came standard with or without the cd changer. But they also changed the face and one internal part of the monsoon HU that year. One of the controller boards is different atop the cd drive internally. if you have a 2000+ system and have replaced the monsoon HU with one from an earlier year the 12 disc wont work unless you change the part... If for some odd reason this comes up I have pics of the procedure

**MadSeason** · 11-30-2005, 03:53 AM

Also look into EU-700 Speakers for woofer replacement off the monsoon amp, they sell 2 ohm and dual vc 4ohm(runs at 2ohm) that sound much nicer. Personally I'll take the Infinitys up front and the EU-700 in the sail panel for more thump behind me and a broader range in front

**Shpoone** · 11-30-2005, 05:18 AM

Originally Posted by lrader99

...ive also heard of a 10" sub that mounted in the pocket in the driver rear quarter well (adjacent to the spare tire)...

I have a custom molded box with a 10" sub in this pocket...but that's the opposite side of the spare tire of course. My amp is mounted in the space above and forward of the spare tire itself.

**Thewilldog** · 11-30-2005, 09:08 AM

Originally Posted by MadSeason

simple

1. Stock Appearence
2. Use of steering controlls without pricey adaptors
3. If you have monsoon or bose, you'd have to rewire everything in your car and replace speakers, also ditch the amp in most cases
4. 12 Disc cd changer won't work without additional adaptors or harnesses
5. made in the USA

1. Fair enough
2. Sort of, the adapter is around $50
3. No, all you have to do is buy an aftermarket harness for the new stereo and plug it into the stock wiring harness in the car.
4. True, not everyone has a changer though. MP3 compatible stereos have pretty much made changers obsolete.
5. Highly doubtful, electronics were probably made in Japan; installed in Canada or Mexico.

**Transamapleleaf** · 11-30-2005, 11:08 AM

I love this stuff...I should be paying money for this. madseason rocks! Whitebird rocks!
BTW....since the Monsoon is 80's technology...try listening to 80's hair metal only in thecar. I put a nice modern cd in and the subs are dying from the 20hz-40hz sub assault burned on to most cd's these days. Gotta hate pro-tools. But my old Van halen cd's recorded at eddie's house (5150) have nothing below 40hz on em...haha...the monsoon works fine. Keep the darn volume down too. Listen for that ambulance....save yer hearing. My car stereo will never sound as good as my home studio near field monitors or my far field monitors. I accept the monsoon for what it is. I have a left rear sub that rattles intermittantly. It's not blown. Some days it works...some days it doesn't. Dislodged voice coil??...Blown or blowing amp channel?

**Fin02-Z28** · 12-01-2005, 06:46 PM

I just bought a standard monsoon HU with CD player from e-bay. I replaced a aftermarket Sony HU that was in the car when I bought it.

But after installing the Monsoon HU I realize that the Power button doesn't work, the only way to turn it on is by putting in a CD, but then I can't turn it off, unless I unplug it. The Power button doesnt move when you push it, like it does in my Grandam GM HU. I tried to slide the side switch under the Power button up and down as well, but nothing happens.

Second problem, the lights doesn't work. So i am fumbling in the dark knowing what CD is being played.

Does anyone know if these things have some easy fixes? Or do I have to return it to the seller?

Otherwise this player works fine.

Could also someone explain in simple language the setup of the speakers in the Monsoon system, if they are treble or bass, and from where they get the signal,(HU or Amp), what ohm they should be etc..
I counted that I have 1:st set of speakers in the Doors (Original), 2:nd set of speakers in the back-seat panels(4 ohm Pioneers), 3:rd set in the trunk side panels (Original).

The 2:nd set of speakers does not play properly, just some rumbling low frequency noise. Same problem with the aftermarket HU , as well as the Monsoon HU. I have tried to switch the speakers from the trunk (3:rd pair) and they dont play in the back seat (2:nd speakers position) so it seems like the signal is corrupted.

What could be the problem?

**MadSeason** · 12-01-2005, 07:14 PM

Originally Posted by Fin02-Z28

I just bought a standard monsoon HU with CD player from e-bay. I replaced a aftermarket Sony HU that was in the car when I bought it.

But after installing the Monsoon HU I realize that the Power button doesn't work, the only way to turn it on is by putting in a CD, but then I can't turn it off, unless I unplug it. The Power button doesnt move when you push it, like it does in my Grandam GM HU. I tried to slide the side switch under the Power button up and down as well, but nothing happens.

Second problem, the lights doesn't work. So i am fumbling in the dark knowing what CD is being played.

Does anyone know if these things have some easy fixes? Or do I have to return it to the seller?

Otherwise this player works fine.

Could also someone explain in simple language the setup of the speakers in the Monsoon system, if they are treble or bass, and from where they get the signal,(HU or Amp), what ohm they should be etc..
I counted that I have 1:st set of speakers in the Doors (Original), 2:nd set of speakers in the back-seat panels(4 ohm Pioneers), 3:rd set in the trunk side panels (Original).

The 2:nd set of speakers does not play properly, just some rumbling low frequency noise. Same problem with the aftermarket HU , as well as the Monsoon HU. I have tried to switch the speakers from the trunk (3:rd pair) and they dont play in the back seat (2:nd speakers position) so it seems like the signal is corrupted.

What could be the problem?

Sounds like you need a new face for your monsoon HU, return it to the seller or get it fixed. Did your car originally come with the monsoon? It's a camaro correct?
Front speakers:
2 ohm woofers

0.6 inch, 4 ohm Dome Tweeters positioned adjacent to the midbass drivers.
Rear speakers:
4 inch extended-range speakers in the rear hatch area.
Sail panel subwoofers:
6 inch, 2 ohm subwoofers are mounted in the sail panels (rear seating area).

If your set on using a replacement stock HU I have spare parts and could fix yours cheap as long as its the model with the EQ's

**Fin02-Z28** · 12-01-2005, 07:52 PM

Thanks for your reply, Yes its a Z28 2002 equipped originally with the Monsoon system, HU with inbuilt CD player, Amplifier behind the spare tire and a 12 disk CD player on the other side. I am not sure what you meant with EQ:s?

How much do you want for a new face?

Still about the 2:nd pair of speakers (Sail Panel speakers) that doesnt work. Do you think it is because they are 4 ohms and should be 2 ohms? Or is there something wrong with my Amplifier that it wont send the right signal to the Sail Panel speakers?

I opened the cover for the Front speaker in the door and saw that there are Pioneers mounted there as well. Are the Pioneer speakers original or aftermarket?

**MadSeason** · 12-01-2005, 07:58 PM

stock speakers should say delco electronics on them. it may be a problem with the amp or the speakers could be blown in your sail panels, maybe not even hooked up right. I'll post a pic of the face in a min to see if its the same

**MadSeason** · 12-01-2005, 07:59 PM

same as yours?

**WhiteBird00** · 12-02-2005, 04:41 AM

That's a Pontiac head unit. Firebirds have dark gray faces with gray buttons and red illumination. Camaros have black faces with black buttons and blue/white illumination. Firebirds have the graphic equalizer while Camaros have normal tone controls. However, Camaros have speed sensitive volume that Firebirds don't.

As far as speakers, Camaros have tweeters and mid-range speakers that are coaxially mounted in the doors. Firebirds have tweeters and mid-range speakers that are mounted separately in the doors. Both models have subs in the sail panels but Camaro's are 2-ohm single voice coil where the Firebird has dual voice coil 4-ohm elements wired to show a 2-ohm load. The rear speakers are mid-range/tweeter combos again.

The front and sail panel speakers are 6.5S (oversized 6.5 inch). The rears are 4 inch. The headunit in a coupe powers the tweeters and the amp powers all the other speakers. In a convertible, the speaker configuration is different and the amp powers all the speakers.