need advice from audio pros
need advice from audio pros First let me tell you my set up. I'm running Hybrid audio imagine front components, element design eu700 subs in the sail panels and hybrid audio mirus 4"in the hatch, all running off factory monsoon amp. Along with a CDT sub and stealth box running off an audio pipe amp. My hu is a pioneer avh3400. So here's my problem, first I tried hooking up the tweeters on the components to the original factory wires which I understand run directly off the hu and don't go through the amp, but when I did this they way over powered the mids. So instead I just wired them off the mids and didn't use the wires for the tweeters, which equalled them out. The system sounds good but when I get to the louder volumes (not super loud, just loud enough to hear with windows down cruising at 55 or so) I start getting distortion. So I'm assuming the monsoon amp is the culprit, should I just bypass the amp and use the hu amp. Because is seemed to have plenty of power with the tweeters, plus doesn't the monsoon amp have a built in crossover cutting the mids at 125Hz? I also know some guys pull the subs out of the sail panels and run full range in there, will I get better sound that way? I don't need it super loud, I just want good clear music at the volumes needed with the windows down. Any help is appreciated.
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When you say you wired the tweeters directly "off the mids", did you leave the little RC HPF module in line? How did you attach them? Are your mids and tweeters running in parallel, driven from the monsoon external amp now?
The monsoon external amp sends full freq range to the mids in the doors and hatch. Pontiac tweeters are driven from the HU integrated amp, also sent full freq range but there is a small in-line RC HPF blister in the wire. The monsoon external amp applies an LPF of unknown freq (probably around 250 Hz) to the sail panel midbass channels.
So without knowing all the details of what you did, I would advise you to make sure the little RC filters are protecting the tweeters, and make sure you didn't load the mids and tweets in parallel so they lower the impedance/load seen by the monsoon external amp. If you upgrade to an aftermarket amp, use the external crossover modules that should have been included with your component speakers.
I would not put anything full range behind the front seat as anything more than a fill effect from small hatch speakers will draw the soundstage backward. If you don't care about that and just want more volume coming at you from all directions, then go for it.
The monsoon external amp sends full freq range to the mids in the doors and hatch. Pontiac tweeters are driven from the HU integrated amp, also sent full freq range but there is a small in-line RC HPF blister in the wire. The monsoon external amp applies an LPF of unknown freq (probably around 250 Hz) to the sail panel midbass channels.
So without knowing all the details of what you did, I would advise you to make sure the little RC filters are protecting the tweeters, and make sure you didn't load the mids and tweets in parallel so they lower the impedance/load seen by the monsoon external amp. If you upgrade to an aftermarket amp, use the external crossover modules that should have been included with your component speakers.
I would not put anything full range behind the front seat as anything more than a fill effect from small hatch speakers will draw the soundstage backward. If you don't care about that and just want more volume coming at you from all directions, then go for it.
The hybrid speakers I have are a convertible type which when the tweeters are wired to the mids they use the crossover (module ) supplied on the mids. When I first wired everything up yes I left the factory module in line, but when I did that the highs were extremely loud compared to the mids. When I wired the tweeter to the mids using the crossover supplied with the hybrid audio speakers (which is a little resistor looking piece wired in on the terminal posts for the tweeter on the mids) and not using the OEM tweeter wires at all everything sounds good.
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Okay, I didn't realize the Hybrid set has its crossover enclosed completely inside the mid cone. The simple explanation would be that Hybrid uses a higher order filter than the simple first order RC HPF that came with the car. While this provides better freq separation, it also causes a greater loss of sensitivity/efficiency.
With most components sets, you would normally not use an external crossover module with the stock monsoon amp because the power loss is too great to justify the better filtering with a relatively weak amp driving them. Normally, you're better off taking advantage of the additional power the Pontiac setup provides, since it makes use of the available HU power, but provides no filtering on the mid-cone. If you go to a more powerful aftermarket amp, then it's better to use the higher order filter that came with the component set.
Since your higher order crossover is integral (by design) to the mid-cones, you can't bypass it on the Hybrid mid-cone. So, in order to keep the volume levels proportional, your best option is what you did, run everything off the monsoon amp. You might suffer some volume loss, but it sounds like you were more concerned with sound quality anyways.
With most components sets, you would normally not use an external crossover module with the stock monsoon amp because the power loss is too great to justify the better filtering with a relatively weak amp driving them. Normally, you're better off taking advantage of the additional power the Pontiac setup provides, since it makes use of the available HU power, but provides no filtering on the mid-cone. If you go to a more powerful aftermarket amp, then it's better to use the higher order filter that came with the component set.
Since your higher order crossover is integral (by design) to the mid-cones, you can't bypass it on the Hybrid mid-cone. So, in order to keep the volume levels proportional, your best option is what you did, run everything off the monsoon amp. You might suffer some volume loss, but it sounds like you were more concerned with sound quality anyways.
