Replacing Monsoon Amp - Something More Powerful?
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 45
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From: Minnesota
Replacing Monsoon Amp - Something More Powerful? All the factory speakers in my 1998 Trans Am have been replaced with Kee Audio stuff and the head unit is a Kenwood DDX374BT double din. It sounds good, but I want more clarity and punch now and I think the factory Monsoon amp is holding it back a little. I know they are only rated at 200w.
Has anyone bypassed that amp and gone to an aftermarket amp to push the speakers a little better? Did you go 4, 5 or 6 channel?
Thoughts on replacing the sail panel subs with full range speakers and then putting a sub in the back to handle bass duties?
Has anyone bypassed that amp and gone to an aftermarket amp to push the speakers a little better? Did you go 4, 5 or 6 channel?
Thoughts on replacing the sail panel subs with full range speakers and then putting a sub in the back to handle bass duties?
If I was going to do a system in your car, I would eliminate the trunk rear speakers entirely (or just run them off of deck power if you really want them) and get a 5 channel. A good 5 channel will up the power from 50w RMS to 75-100, and give you 3-500w RMS for a subwoofer (which is plenty for the open air of our cars).
Replacing the rears with full range speakers isn't a bad idea. It really depends on what kind of sound you want from your car. A solid sub will cover 80hz and below, a smaller sub like the rears would go up to about 120hz, and the front speakers will do everything above that.
That being said, it's possible it would be too "bassy" at that point and you'd want to switch to full range speakers. My advice is to do it in steps. Get the sub and 5 channel. If it's too much bass, swap the rears for full range and see how it sounds.
Replacing the rears with full range speakers isn't a bad idea. It really depends on what kind of sound you want from your car. A solid sub will cover 80hz and below, a smaller sub like the rears would go up to about 120hz, and the front speakers will do everything above that.
That being said, it's possible it would be too "bassy" at that point and you'd want to switch to full range speakers. My advice is to do it in steps. Get the sub and 5 channel. If it's too much bass, swap the rears for full range and see how it sounds.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 45
Likes: 0
From: Minnesota
I listen mainly to 70s to new rock. I much prefer clarity over bass. In my Trailblazer, i have 6.5 Eclipse speakers in the 4 doors powered by a Kicker 350w 4 channel amp and then I have 2 1995 MTX full range truck boxes fitted with JBL GT1000 subs powered by a Kicker 450w 2 channel and the thing sounds like a rolling concert hall....lol
I'm actually thinking of replicating that system on a smaller scale somehow into my TA. I just need to figure out the amp placement so they don't interfere with the t-top holders in the back hatch ditch. If these newer amps are smaller in size, I can make a bracket to put it/them in the cubby area where the 12 disk changer used to be.
And to think I was just going to buy a driver and not mess with it somehow....
And yes, more than likely replace the sail panels with full range speakers and then add a small sub box in the back. I think the odd placement of the subs in the sail panels is what sounds odd to me about the system as it is. It sounds decent, but yet odd.
I'm actually thinking of replicating that system on a smaller scale somehow into my TA. I just need to figure out the amp placement so they don't interfere with the t-top holders in the back hatch ditch. If these newer amps are smaller in size, I can make a bracket to put it/them in the cubby area where the 12 disk changer used to be.
And to think I was just going to buy a driver and not mess with it somehow....
And yes, more than likely replace the sail panels with full range speakers and then add a small sub box in the back. I think the odd placement of the subs in the sail panels is what sounds odd to me about the system as it is. It sounds decent, but yet odd.
Last edited by WhiteBird00; Jun 19, 2017 at 07:11 AM. Reason: Merge consecutive posts
I listen mainly to 70s to new rock. I much prefer clarity over bass. In my Trailblazer, i have 6.5 Eclipse speakers in the 4 doors powered by a Kicker 350w 4 channel amp and then I have 2 1995 MTX full range truck boxes fitted with JBL GT1000 subs powered by a Kicker 450w 2 channel and the thing sounds like a rolling concert hall....lol
I'm actually thinking of replicating that system on a smaller scale somehow into my TA. I just need to figure out the amp placement so they don't interfere with the t-top holders in the back hatch ditch. If these newer amps are smaller in size, I can make a bracket to put it/them in the cubby area where the 12 disk changer used to be.
And to think I was just going to buy a driver and not mess with it somehow....
And yes, more than likely replace the sail panels with full range speakers and then add a small sub box in the back. I think the odd placement of the subs in the sail panels is what sounds odd to me about the system as it is. It sounds decent, but yet odd.
I'm actually thinking of replicating that system on a smaller scale somehow into my TA. I just need to figure out the amp placement so they don't interfere with the t-top holders in the back hatch ditch. If these newer amps are smaller in size, I can make a bracket to put it/them in the cubby area where the 12 disk changer used to be.
And to think I was just going to buy a driver and not mess with it somehow....
And yes, more than likely replace the sail panels with full range speakers and then add a small sub box in the back. I think the odd placement of the subs in the sail panels is what sounds odd to me about the system as it is. It sounds decent, but yet odd.
the subs probably sound weird because the sail panel is a really poor place for those speakers acoustically. the quarter panel behind them has a tendency to resonate at low frequencies, which will eat half of your sound, plus the small speaker size limits how much air they can move, limiting bass production even further.
