Monsoon amp blaring tone after install
03-15-2015, 05:00 PM
#1
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Monsoon amp blaring tone after install I just put a new head unit and speakers all around. When I turn it on everything works as it should. However soon as I shut it off a loud tone comes from the amp. I have to pull the plug and it stops. I have a pioneer head unit and JL TR coaxials. Used a standard gm harness everything functions normally except for the loud sound. Obviously when I pull the plug I then only have tweeters working. I didn't use the sail panel wiring. I pulled forware the hatch speaker wiring and put both high and low inputs into my new sail panel speakers. Any help is appreciated thanks.
03-17-2015, 02:48 PM
#3
How were you able to wire coaxial speakers where a set of 2ohm components is supposed to be?
Did it do this prior to your upgrades? I'm guessing no.
Then the amp is not the problem. The Monsoon amp is actually the most reliable part of the whole Monsoon system yet everybody bypasses it because they don't use the correct equipment with it or don't know anything about it so they bypass it which is a huge mistake.
Did it do this prior to your upgrades? I'm guessing no.
Then the amp is not the problem. The Monsoon amp is actually the most reliable part of the whole Monsoon system yet everybody bypasses it because they don't use the correct equipment with it or don't know anything about it so they bypass it which is a huge mistake.
03-17-2015, 06:04 PM
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I read the faq sticky which i'm guessing is old outdated and misinformed. It said I could use 4 ohm without issue however i'm guessing that was wrong. As you said it didn't have this problem before. I swapped speakers due to my stock ones being blown. Then cd player as I wanted a Bluetooth. I hooked the coaxials up in the sail panel by pulling hatch wires forward as the faq says. That way I got full range and not just bass as the factory sail harness would provide. Unfortunately I already did all the work to put em in so I just bypassed the amp and all is well. If I would have known this I would have just bought all the speakers from you guys as I see you offer a package that's compatible with factory ohm loads.
03-18-2015, 07:26 AM
#5
The FAQ is old, outdated and misinformed? Sorry that there isn't any newer information for old and outdated cars. The Monsoon system hasn't changed in the 13+ years since it was originally installed in those cars so how could any information be more up-to-date?
And as far as being misinformed, please advise exactly what part is incorrect so that I may update it. The difference between 2-ohm and 4-ohm is not wrong... it is 100% true that you can replace a 2-ohm speaker with a 4-ohm speaker with the only issue being a loss of power - there is no difference in sound quality or frequency range. But if you know of any other specific errors in the FAQ then I will be happy to correct them.
And as far as being misinformed, please advise exactly what part is incorrect so that I may update it. The difference between 2-ohm and 4-ohm is not wrong... it is 100% true that you can replace a 2-ohm speaker with a 4-ohm speaker with the only issue being a loss of power - there is no difference in sound quality or frequency range. But if you know of any other specific errors in the FAQ then I will be happy to correct them.
03-18-2015, 08:55 AM
#6
Using a 4ohm speaker isn't optimal as it cuts your power in half but it can still be used. Power does not mean audible sound output. That wasn't the question though. Your car has a separate midbass in the door and a separate tweeter in the panel which is known as a separate or component set. You replaced them with a coaxial, which has a tweeter mounted in the center like a Camaro has in it but is wired differently. So my question was, how did you wire the coaxials into the stock system when your car didn't have coaxials in it?
It never ceases to amaze me how people just grab whatever speakers off the shelf, throw them in the car and then blame the Monsoon system for the problem. The Monsoon system is a pretty decent system. The problem is that the speakers were junk and the head unit is a distortion box. Even with the stock head unit I have done hundreds of these and it still sounds pretty good with the correct speakers in them. I've done literally hundreds of these cars over the years and the biggest problem with them is guys using the wrong speakers in the car. I've had to undo all the stuff people do to these cars because they go to Best Buys or the local shop and they will sell you anything. Heck, even Crutchfield will recommend a 6.5" coaxial for the sail panels on these cars. Which is dead wrong.
The information on this website is invaluable for these cars and generally every possible question has been asked and answered here. I myself have helped answer a bunch of those questions over the years and Whitebird is a wealth of knowledge.
It never ceases to amaze me how people just grab whatever speakers off the shelf, throw them in the car and then blame the Monsoon system for the problem. The Monsoon system is a pretty decent system. The problem is that the speakers were junk and the head unit is a distortion box. Even with the stock head unit I have done hundreds of these and it still sounds pretty good with the correct speakers in them. I've done literally hundreds of these cars over the years and the biggest problem with them is guys using the wrong speakers in the car. I've had to undo all the stuff people do to these cars because they go to Best Buys or the local shop and they will sell you anything. Heck, even Crutchfield will recommend a 6.5" coaxial for the sail panels on these cars. Which is dead wrong.
The information on this website is invaluable for these cars and generally every possible question has been asked and answered here. I myself have helped answer a bunch of those questions over the years and Whitebird is a wealth of knowledge.
03-18-2015, 04:00 PM
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Sorry I didn't mean to offend anyone the faq was very helpful for wiring. The original way I wired it was the midbass and tweeter hooked directly to the front coaxials. Then I pulled the hatch wires forward using both tweeter and midbass outputs just like the front. Everything worked fine when I first turned it on. Then soon as I shut it off the amp blared a loud nonstop beep. I'd have to pull the harness plug from the amp to get it to stop. I swapped my factory cd playere back in and the same thing happened with it too. My guess is running both inputs of tweeter and midbass as directed messed things up. As you said its common for people to throw whatever in there. So I figured I wouldn't be the first to run coaxials but evidently I am or something? Figuring it sounds pretty common to run coaxials otherwise everyone would be buying your kits. Either way it works and sounds great. I rewired the inputs/outputs at the harness and bypassed the amp all together.
I will agree the shop was wrong. I was given these and was told they would work. Once the issue arrived they said oh we didn't know you actually had a monsoon system. They always see monsoon but most just say it on the cd player and don't actually have an amp. The 6.5's didn't quite fit right but I made an adapter ring to get them to work in the rear and trimmed the front buckets to get them to fit there. Same thing with having to rewire the harness... I made it work with what I have. I know once installed they wouldn't return them anyway.
I will agree the shop was wrong. I was given these and was told they would work. Once the issue arrived they said oh we didn't know you actually had a monsoon system. They always see monsoon but most just say it on the cd player and don't actually have an amp. The 6.5's didn't quite fit right but I made an adapter ring to get them to work in the rear and trimmed the front buckets to get them to fit there. Same thing with having to rewire the harness... I made it work with what I have. I know once installed they wouldn't return them anyway.
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03-19-2015, 07:12 AM
#9
... The original way I wired it was the midbass and tweeter hooked directly to the front coaxials. Then I pulled the hatch wires forward using both tweeter and midbass outputs just like the front. Everything worked fine when I first turned it on. Then soon as I shut it off the amp blared a loud nonstop beep. I'd have to pull the harness plug from the amp to get it to stop. I swapped my factory cd playere back in and the same thing happened with it too. My guess is running both inputs of tweeter and midbass as directed messed things up. As you said its common for people to throw whatever in there. So I figured I wouldn't be the first to run coaxials but evidently I am or something? Figuring it sounds pretty common to run coaxials otherwise everyone would be buying your kits. Either way it works and sounds great. I rewired the inputs/outputs at the harness and bypassed the amp all together.
There are two ways to use coaxial speakers in the doors of a Monsoon system. One is to simply use only one pair of wires - the factory mid's wires carry full range signal. Leave the tweeter wires disconnected - they carry only high frequency signal anyway. The other is to modify the coaxial speaker to work like a component set. You do that by cutting the small leads that go from the speaker's terminals to the tweeter mounted in the center so that the woofer and tweeter become separate speakers. Then attach the mid's wires to the speaker's terminals and the tweeter's wires to the cut leads going to the coaxial speaker's tweeter. The difficulty of doing this varies with different speaker models - some have the tweeter leads that are easily accessible while others don't.
The same thing applies to pulling the hatch wires forward for use in the sail panels. Firebirds have separate component mids and tweeters in the hatch so you need be sure to use only the mid's wires or else modify your coaxial speakers as I just described. Pulling both pairs of wires forward and attaching them all to the same speaker will cause all kinds of problems. Camaros don't have that issue since they don't have components in the hatch so there's only one pair of wires there.
03-19-2015, 04:49 PM
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Wow...that makes complete sense now. I guess the next question is... will it be worth it to rewire the monsoon back up or should I just amp them with an aftermarket?
Which leads me to my next question if you wouldn't mind giving an opinion. The JL Audio stealth box or a prefab box. Will I honestly tell a difference between the two if I am using a 10w3 in both?
Which leads me to my next question if you wouldn't mind giving an opinion. The JL Audio stealth box or a prefab box. Will I honestly tell a difference between the two if I am using a 10w3 in both?
03-19-2015, 05:12 PM
#11
That's going to depend on what you're looking for. In general, amplified is better than not because more power gives you more control over the sound (i.e. you can turn up the volume without being as likely to get into the distortion levels as quickly). If you can reconnect the Monsoon amp without major difficulty then it will be an inexpensive way to add more power.
On the other hand, there are certainly better and more powerful aftermarket amps available. Just be sure to find one that takes speaker level input unless you want to rewire everything. Also, you won't be able to go too big on power levels without adding separate power for the amp.
Ian (Kee Audio) would be better at answering your box question. He has tested a great number of different combinations in f-bodies so he knows from personal experience which combinations work best.
On the other hand, there are certainly better and more powerful aftermarket amps available. Just be sure to find one that takes speaker level input unless you want to rewire everything. Also, you won't be able to go too big on power levels without adding separate power for the amp.
Ian (Kee Audio) would be better at answering your box question. He has tested a great number of different combinations in f-bodies so he knows from personal experience which combinations work best.
03-20-2015, 01:06 PM
#12
To be honest a functional Monsoon system with the right speakers in it sounds really good. If your after big bass then a stealth box is the way to go though. If your after good bass response but nothing huge then the stock amp will deliver good bass if your using the correct subs and set up.
The biggest problem with the Monsoon system is that not alot of people have ever heard a fully functional one. The speakers on these goes out so easily and then shops have no clue what they are doing when they replace stuff and so they just blame it on the Monsoon being crap. It really isn't. For anyone of my customers who's had a nice low mileage car or even one with high miles that hasn't been beat on and was left alone, when they do my speaker package it really sound close to an aftermarket system. Then if they want to add the lower end, bigger bass they just add a stealth sub to it. The nice part is you can do it in stages. You can always get the Monsoon working again, you already have made one large improvement with the head unit, now get the speakers wired correctly so you have that part of the sound working right. Then you can accurately gauge what you want to do next. This way your not just throwing money at it before you really have things working right for you.
The biggest problem with the Monsoon system is that not alot of people have ever heard a fully functional one. The speakers on these goes out so easily and then shops have no clue what they are doing when they replace stuff and so they just blame it on the Monsoon being crap. It really isn't. For anyone of my customers who's had a nice low mileage car or even one with high miles that hasn't been beat on and was left alone, when they do my speaker package it really sound close to an aftermarket system. Then if they want to add the lower end, bigger bass they just add a stealth sub to it. The nice part is you can do it in stages. You can always get the Monsoon working again, you already have made one large improvement with the head unit, now get the speakers wired correctly so you have that part of the sound working right. Then you can accurately gauge what you want to do next. This way your not just throwing money at it before you really have things working right for you.