Stock Monsoon Vs. Aftermarket HU with stock Monsoon components

[AznGA]

My stock HU crapped out, so I recently got an aftermarket HU that's connected to stock Monsoon speakers and amp. I can feel more output from the new HU, but for some reason the sound isn't as clear as when I had stock HU on. Maybe my speakers are bad?

[JoeyK]

For one thing the new hu is probably putting too much voltage to the Monsoon amp. Another problem; the Monsoon head unit has the tweeter crossover & amp in it. The Monsoon amp is set up to recieve mid to sub frequencies & has crossovers in the amp itself. ( it will not pass the high frequencies to your speakers)You probably are not getting much through in highs to your tweeters. I think everyone who knows much about the Monsoon will agree, if you want to replace the hu, you may as well replace the whole thing. too many obsticles to overcome. Your lucky your not getting the random popping noises or the amp shutting down randomly like many others have encountered though.

[99GrandAMSE]

... I think Shawn connected an aftermarket headunit to his 'factory' amp and speakers for a little while before he swapped the rest ... I could be wrong though

[matts]

joeyk, why do you have a "-" under your name?

[AznGA]

Ok I think I first need to find out if my stock Monsoon amp is connected or not. I had a local audio shop install the deck. But you guys are right. Stock stuff is designed to work with stock HU. I learned this the hard way. So I guess I have 2 options. Putting a stock HU back in, or replace all speakers to keep the aftermarket HU. But wouldn't I have to do eitire speaker wiring again because Monsoon has its own wiring that won't connect to any aftermarket speakers? If this is true, I might just stick with my current Monsoon system. I think stock Monsoon system with stock Monsoon amp can sound just as good as aftermarket HU, aftermarket speakers and WITHOUT aftermarket amp.

[sunrunner_pei]

Originally posted by 99grandamse
... I think Shawn connected an aftermarket headunit to his 'factory' amp and speakers for a little while before he swapped the rest ... I could be wrong though

I did, and it worked well. However, my aftermarket HU had high- and low-pass filters built in which I used to limit what frequencies reached the speakers. With that setup, it sounded better than with the factory Monsoon HU. It was better again when I installed my amps, components and sub though. ;)

For the most part they're right, if you're gonna replace the HU, you're usually better off replacing the speakers too.

[99GrandAMSE]

Originally posted by sunrunner_pei
... For the most part they're right, if you're gonna replace the HU, you're usually better off replacing the speakers too.

Of course ... I was just saying I thought you did it ;)

[JoeyK]

Originally posted by AznGA
Ok I think I first need to find out if my stock Monsoon amp is connected or not. I had a local audio shop install the deck. But you guys are right. Stock stuff is designed to work with stock HU. I learned this the hard way. So I guess I have 2 options. Putting a stock HU back in, or replace all speakers to keep the aftermarket HU. But wouldn't I have to do eitire speaker wiring again because Monsoon has its own wiring that won't connect to any aftermarket speakers? If this is true, I might just stick with my current Monsoon system. I think stock Monsoon system with stock Monsoon amp can sound just as good as aftermarket HU, aftermarket speakers and WITHOUT aftermarket amp.

Uhh,.. you might wanna do some research both here & at N-body.net before you try & put in aftermarket speakers w/ the Monsoon system. I think you'll find that the Monsoon doesn't "play well with others"

[AznGA]

Originally posted by sunrunner_pei
I did, and it worked well. However, my aftermarket HU had high- and low-pass filters built in which I used to limit what frequencies reached the speakers. With that setup, it sounded better than with the factory Monsoon HU. It was better again when I installed my amps, components and sub though. ;)

For the most part they're right, if you're gonna replace the HU, you're usually better off replacing the speakers too.
How exactly did you get this to work?

[sunrunner_pei]

Quite simple. Install your new HU using the GMRC01 wiring harness. Connect all the available leads, including power and all 4 speakers. The factory amp will accept the signal from your HU, and with the GMRC01 the amp will power on with your HU. Not saying it's the best way to do things, as with a high-power HU there is a good chance of damaging the factory components, but it is possible and I ran mine that way for several months before installing the rest of my system.

[AznGA]

So when you decided to get rid of Monsoon system to get aftermarket speakers, you had to scrape the entire factory wiring right? If so, what a PITA.

[sunrunner_pei]

Not really scrap, just ran my own alongside.

[AznGA]

So, all your harness was done behind the aftermarket HU when you had stock Monsoon speakers and amp right? Thanks a lot.