mikesarebetter

quick background, i replaced the stock front speakers because one blew.

so, not being the most tech savvy guy out there i just bought some alpine type r coaxial speakers to replace the stock ones. didn't find out til i went to replace them that it was setup totally different than what i expected, which led me here to do a bunch of reading.

i'm pretty much up to speed on my options as i've seen some people mention rewiring a coaxial speaker to pretty much a component setup, only thing i couldn't find was how. i assume it's fairly easy but wanted to run it past someone who knows for sure.

from what i've gathered i should just be able to snip the wires on the speaker that go to the tweeter and hook up the stock tweeter wiring. so is it that simple or am i missing something?

right now i have it hooked up without the stock tweeter wires running to anything, just running off of the main wires. the sound is good but i imagine it would be better if i hook up the tweeters properly, right?

oh, and this is in a 2000 camaro hardtop with monsoon

thanks in advance
mike

dragonrage

Just hook the input up to the woofer wires and leave the stock tweeter wires alone. You will not be missing out on any power in a Camaro because they both come from the same channel. If you were in a Firebird/TA then you might get some SLIGHT benefits from doing what you mentioned IF the stock tweeter filter is suitable for the speakers, but again, not the case in a Camaro. Just use the woofer wires.

mikesarebetter

thats how its hooked up now. i was just hoping it might get a little volume back with the tweeters hooked up properly. the hatch speakers are now louder and i have to adjust the fade to make it sound right. i suppose thats the 4ohm instead of the 2ohm coming into play. guess i could just change out the hatch speakers to 4ohm, should level the sound back out

Cheap Guy

iTrader: (3)

Unfortunately I can't cut and paste the link while using my tablet but do a search for "converting a coaxial speaker" and that should help. The main thing is having a set of speakers that have wires that are easy to get to. And having the tweeter connected did make a noticeable difference in sound.

Edit: Here's the link.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/stereo-el...t-monsoon.html

dragonrage

It will make a "difference" because the tweeter will be filtered differently, but that doesn't actually make it better.

Cheap Guy

iTrader: (3)

I'm no audio expert, and as we know, sound is subjective, but as a person who has done it, it sounded a LOT better with the tweeter connected, and when I used a higher quality speaker than the one I originally converted (cheap Pioneer versus Alpine), it sounded very good. Again, probably not as good as a true component, but better than the stock Monsoon components.

Here's a link to the type of speakers that I've converted:

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...-SPS-17C2.html

dragonrage

Umm, why do you keep saying with the tweeter connected? The tweeter is always connected on a coaxial and they have their own crossovers built in. The crossovers on most coaxials are cheap junk, but no worse than what the car comes with.

If you think it sounds better using the car's tweeter highpass filter then that's fine, but it's not 'better' in general.

Cheap Guy

iTrader: (3)

What I THINK the OP is referring to is taking a set of regular coaxial speakers, disconnecting the tweeter, and connecting it to standard Monsoon wiring, as shown in the link. As I said, I'm far from an expert on crossovers, etc., but what I'm saying is it's a simple solution to buying a more expensive component speaker and it works, again as evident by people who have done it.

dragonrage

It's no better than using a coaxial as a coaxial. The 'crossover' in the car sucks and the 'crossover' in a coaxial sucks. They might be a bit different due to different crossover points, but modifying the speaker will NOT be 'better.'

mikesarebetter

so with all that said, whats the purpose of even buying a component speaker? i'm not trying to get the best sound system, i just wanted to get new speakers because one blew. so, not realizing how that they were originally hooked up as component speakers i bought coaxial.

but dragonrage, the way you describe it, i'd be no better off buying component speakers because the filter in the stock monsoon system is **** anyway

dragonrage

No, no, no. Component speakers are way better because they come with good crossovers. You definitely don't want to use the shitty Monsoon 'crossover' with a real component setup.

With coaxials, I'd say it doesn't matter either way, so why spend the effort to modify it?

With components, using the stock 'crossover' WILL notably lower your sound quality... period.

Will coaxials be enough for you, though? Maybe. The component setup using its own crossover will be better. But maybe you don't care that much. That I can't answer.

mikesarebetter

no i dont think i care that much, but out of curiosity, if i were to install components what speaker wires would you use then? use the woofer wire to tie into the crossover then run that to the tweeter? cuz i will never replace the HU as i hate the looks of an aftermarket deck

Cheap Guy

iTrader: (3)

It sounds like you're going through the same process I went through. I'm not an audiophile but I wanted better sound, the ability to use my iPod and I needed to replace a blown speaker PLUS I didn't want to go broke doing it. I did a lot of research on this forum and many said the Monsoon amp was adequate but the HU and the speakers were the weak parts. Like you, I didn't like the look of aftermarket HU but they can be made to look pretty good if done right. I tried the Novak aux in mod but it didn't sound very good, so I bit the bullet and bought an aftermarket HU with Aux In and USB. Now I don't need to keep a bunch of CDs laying around. As far as the speaker part, I did the coaxial mod and I'm more than satisfied with the sound, which is much better than stock, at a cost of less than $250, keeping the stock Monsoon amp. And if you really want to get fancy, you can get the Humont faceplate, which looks really good, but runs about $60 - $80.

If you're hesitant about doing the speaker mod, I'd suggest getting a plug and play replacement from one of this site's sponsors, that way you can do it yourself and keep the stock wiring.

dragonrage

Yes, for component speakers with the Monsoon amp, you would hook the car's woofer wires up to the input on the crossover and hook the outputs of the crossover to the woofer and tweeter. The tweeter wire from the car would be ignored. It is very important with components to not use the tweeter wire from the car. Some people here have done it the wrong way and are satisfied with the sound, but it is considerably worse than doing it the right way... period.

strokerrace

iTrader: (8)

So with aftermarket comps dont use the factory monsoon tweeter wires as an input to the crossover? Use the factory sw wires split into the tweeter and sw inputs on the crossover and the outputs to the sw and tweeter right?

dragonrage

Most 2-way crossovers have one input and two outputs. Use the car's woofer wires for the input and ignore the tweeter wires.

If your crossover has 2 inputs and 2 outputs then... do the same thing. Both inputs will expect a full-range signal. Using the stock tweeter wire will not give you the proper sound.

strokerrace

iTrader: (8)

Ok ill double the input then. It has a seperate in and out for both