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So, I'm not a car audio guy, so i'm a newb when it comes to car stereo stuff. I used to have a guy that did all my work for me, but he moved to Florida. With that said, I want to replace the monsoon system entirely with a new set up.
Currently Im running an Alpine ILX-007 head unit with Kee Audio CDT speakers with a 10" stealth sub box powered by an Alpine MRV-M500 amp.
My plan is to sell all of this (minus the sub and amp) and replace it with the following:
Head Unit: Alpine ILX W650
Font Door Speakers: Alpine S-S65C (remote mounting the tweeters on the door panel)
Sail Panel: Alpine S-S65C
Rear Hatch: Alpine S-S40
I plan on rewiring the entire car and removing the monsoon amp.
Thoughts on this setup?
Anything I'm missing or should steer away from?
I'm assuming with a 4 channel amp I would just run the front speakers and not the ones in the hatch?
Anything else I need to consider/change on the above?
As for why I went with Alpine - no real reason. Always have been a fan, I custom fit the M500 amp into the panel on the passenger side plastic in the hatch, so from a visual impact, I wanted to keep them the same. Also wasnt sure if there were gains to be made by keeping all the pieces under the same brand.
I personally like the CDT Speakers better than the Alpines. Plus they're 2 ohm speakers pulling more power from your amp. But to each their own. I wouldn't bother with the rear hatch speakers since you'll be replacing the sail panels speakers with full-range speakers.
Head Unit: Alpine ILX W650 This isn't a bad choice. I'm personally not a fan of Alpine radios (Really dun like their interfaces compared to other brands like Pioneer or Kenwood) but they are solid units with good sound quality at a good price.
Font Door Speakers: Alpine S-S65C (remote mounting the tweeters on the door panel) These speakers are probably one of my best sellers. Solid performance at a budget price.
Sail Panel: Alpine S-S65C Why component speakers in the rear? You could save money doing a set of coaxial speakers, and potentially upgrade the front speakers to something like the R-series.
Rear Hatch: Alpine S-S40 Frankly, 4" speakers in the hatch area is a waste. They are going to be blasting high mid-bass and up at your rear glass. It's going to have a severe delay when compared to your front speakers, and all this will do is pull your soundstage (where we perceive the sound to be coming from) towards the rear of the car. If this were my system, I would ignore the rear speakers entirely and put that money towards better front speakers.
Sub Amp: Alpine MRV-M500 Good, solid amp.
Amp: Alpine R-A60F The R-series amp is going to overpower the S-series speakers you've selected. The S-series are rated for around 80W (which I frankly take with a grain of salt. I've been installing those speakers for years and I know they are NOT happy at 80W) and the amp is going to output 100W. Not a horrible disparity, but you'll need to be careful setting gains so you don't blow the speakers.
Sub: JL Audio 10" Which line of JL Sub are you getting? The W0 and W1 are only rated for 250-300W, so you'll want to make sure you get something the amp isn't going to over/under power.
I plan on rewiring the entire car and removing the monsoon amp.
Thoughts on this setup?
Anything I'm missing or should steer away from?
I'm assuming with a 4 channel amp I would just run the front speakers and not the ones in the hatch? There are many ways you can wire your system. If you are dead-set on hatch speakers, you can wire them in parallel with the rear speakers. The amp will see each pair (left and right) as one single speaker, but since the rears are so far back it won't make a difference.
Anything else I need to consider/change on the above?
As for why I went with Alpine - no real reason. Always have been a fan, I custom fit the M500 amp into the panel on the passenger side plastic in the hatch, so from a visual impact, I wanted to keep them the same. Also wasnt sure if there were gains to be made by keeping all the pieces under the same brand. There aren't really any major benefits to going 1-brand, beyond the fact that companies build their amplifiers to match their speakers. But audio signal is audio signal, the amplifier doesn't know (or care) if it's powering a JL speaker, or Pioneer, or an Alpine. I will say that while I'm not a fan of their radios, their amplifiers and speakers are excellent, especially at their price point.
Thanks in advance.
Ultimately, I think it's a solid setup that will sound pretty good. One thing I want to point out is that you get around 70-80% of your sound from your front speakers, so if there was any one place to spend money, it's there. Good luck with your build, I'm interested in seeing the final result!
Damn. Thanks for the detailed reply. Too bad Tech isn’t as active as it used to be. Could have used this advice a couple of months back 😂
I ended up going with what I posted. It’s 1000 times better than the Kee Audio setup I had before. I did end up ditching the hatch speakers. I ran the sail panels as just mid bass and did tweeters by the a pillar.
im sure it needs to be “tuned” as I have zero clue when it comes to sound systems. But overall very happy.
Damn. Thanks for the detailed reply. Too bad Tech isn’t as active as it used to be. Could have used this advice a couple of months back 😂
I ended up going with what I posted. It’s 1000 times better than the Kee Audio setup I had before. I did end up ditching the hatch speakers. I ran the sail panels as just mid bass and did tweeters by the a pillar.
im sure it needs to be “tuned” as I have zero clue when it comes to sound systems. But overall very happy.
looks awesome. I’m in the middle of similar project including deadening floor, hatch and doors. Taking your custom door plate for reference. I like the amp integrated into the hatch side panel.
tuning is crazy expensive. Local wants 95 p hr and saying at least 2 hours w out a dsp. Good luck
So, I'm not a car audio guy, so i'm a newb when it comes to car stereo stuff. I used to have a guy that did all my work for me, but he moved to Florida. With that said, I want to replace the monsoon system entirely with a new set up.
Currently Im running an Alpine ILX-007 head unit with Kee Audio CDT speakers with a 10" stealth sub box powered by an Alpine MRV-M500 amp.
My plan is to sell all of this (minus the sub and amp) and replace it with the following:
Head Unit: Alpine ILX W650
Font Door Speakers: Alpine S-S65C (remote mounting the tweeters on the door panel)
Sail Panel: Alpine S-S65C
Rear Hatch: Alpine S-S40
I plan on rewiring the entire car and removing the monsoon amp.
Thoughts on this setup?
Anything I'm missing or should steer away from?
I'm assuming with a 4 channel amp I would just run the front speakers and not the ones in the hatch?
Anything else I need to consider/change on the above?
As for why I went with Alpine - no real reason. Always have been a fan, I custom fit the M500 amp into the panel on the passenger side plastic in the hatch, so from a visual impact, I wanted to keep them the same. Also wasnt sure if there were gains to be made by keeping all the pieces under the same brand.
Thanks in advance.
I just got the Alpine S-S65 for the doors, but I tried to install them in the sails and found out the only bass no mids and highs. I am using the factory deck and amp,
I am looking into getting the S-S65c for the sail but I don't know if the mid and highs with play?
Any suggestions?
Can you send some pictures of your sail speakers?
Thanks
From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
I would suggest reading the Monsoon FAQ sticky at the top of the section before continuing stereo system modifications. The sail panel speakers are subs and get only low frequency signal from the amp so no matter what speakers you install there, you will only get bass output.
Last edited by WhiteBird00; Sep 14, 2020 at 08:59 AM.
Reason: spelling
I would suggest reading the Monsoon FAQ sticky at the top of the section before continuing stereo system modifications. The sail panel speakers are subs and get on low frequency signal from the amp so no matter what speakers you install there, you will only get bass output.
What speaker are you planning you put into your sails?
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Is this a good stereo setup? 
