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Adding two more tweeters to the Monsoon system.

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Old Aug 12, 2019 | 11:42 AM
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Default Adding two more tweeters to the Monsoon system.

I have since upgraded my stock speakers to an aftermarket brand which is sold as a kit and works with the factory amplifier. I am also using a stock Delco Electronics Camaro head unit so I did notice an improvement with sound overall compared to the Firebird head unit. I have been wanting more clarity up front since my legs do block the door panel tweeter and I have to adjust the left-to-right balance over to the passenger side to get the sound right. So, since I now have a cracked mirror trim piece, I am seriously considering buying two tweeter pods to replace those trim pieces, the ones formerly offered by 6LE. My question is the wiring.

What can I expect if I use blue wire taps to run these additional tweeter wires parallel to the door panel tweeter wires and off of the same power line? I am thinking I am going to get a loss of audio quality due to sharing the same power source between the two. What about any electrical and sound quality problems? I would like to make use of my door tweeters with these mirror trim mounted tweeters though overkill it will be, however, is the method to wire them up going to be a real problem? I can always disconnect the door panel tweeters and use that wiring for the other tweeters but as stated before, I would prefer to see if I can just use them all though overkill.
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Old Aug 12, 2019 | 03:56 PM
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Both the the factory tweeters and aftermarket replacements are going to be 4-ohm. Simply tapping into the factory wires and running additional tweeters in parallel will result in a 2-ohm load presented to the head unit (Firebird tweeters don't run off the amp like they do in a Camaro) and the head unit is not 2-ohm stable. You may get by with it for a while - especially if you keep the volume down - but eventually you will blow the output section of the head unit. Your options are to run the aftermarket tweeters (or just move the factory tweeters) in the mirror mounts without door tweeters (best overall sound) or wire the aftermarket tweeters in series with the factory ones producing an 8-ohm load for the head unit which it can handle easily. The 8-ohm load will mean you end up with less tweeter power overall but evenly split between the doors and the mirrors which will probably sound better than having all the tweeters running at full power. The reduced power is only 3dB which is the equivalent of only one click of the volume control so it's not a big deal.

BTW, it's wishful thinking that the Camaro head unit sounds better than the Firebird one. It would normally be quite the opposite because the Firebird HU has slightly better electronics as part of incorporating the graphic equalizer... but the difference is extremely small in any case. Of course it's always possible that your original Firebird HU was a lemon and anything would sound better.
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Old Aug 13, 2019 | 01:46 AM
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Originally Posted by WhiteBird00
Both the the factory tweeters and aftermarket replacements are going to be 4-ohm. Simply tapping into the factory wires and running additional tweeters in parallel will result in a 2-ohm load presented to the head unit (Firebird tweeters don't run off the amp like they do in a Camaro) and the head unit is not 2-ohm stable. You may get by with it for a while - especially if you keep the volume down - but eventually you will blow the output section of the head unit. Your options are to run the aftermarket tweeters (or just move the factory tweeters) in the mirror mounts without door tweeters (best overall sound) or wire the aftermarket tweeters in series with the factory ones producing an 8-ohm load for the head unit which it can handle easily. The 8-ohm load will mean you end up with less tweeter power overall but evenly split between the doors and the mirrors which will probably sound better than having all the tweeters running at full power. The reduced power is only 3dB which is the equivalent of only one click of the volume control so it's not a big deal.

BTW, it's wishful thinking that the Camaro head unit sounds better than the Firebird one. It would normally be quite the opposite because the Firebird HU has slightly better electronics as part of incorporating the graphic equalizer... but the difference is extremely small in any case. Of course it's always possible that your original Firebird HU was a lemon and anything would sound better.
Good thing I asked since I feared I would damage something. Okay, so it is no big deal to sever the door panel tweeters and splice in the new ones located at the mirrors. Later down the road I can ask about this again and see what a shop can do. It actually works out since this will help make door panel removal more easier now that I don't have tweeter wiring to mess with and disconnect for the panel removal. Thank you for your response!
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