Amp for door speakers
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Launching!
Joined: Jun 2012
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Amp for door speakers I have a 2000 WS6 with aftermarket HU. I'm running the monsoon amp as well as a 12" sub in the hatch with its own amp. My question is that I replaced the door speakers with the CDT component set and it sounds like garbage at volume. I'm pretty positive they are under-powered. I have a Kenwood Excelon DD HU, but it's still only 60W or something. Can I add yet another amp just for the doors? How does that work with the tweeters, and can I just take the factory speaker wires off the monsoon amp and run them to my new amp, but leave everything else on the monsoon amp? Thanks guys!
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,330
Likes: 346
From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
A speaker will not sound bad because of being under powered - only quieter. This is a common fallacy perpetuated on discussion boards by people who simply don't know any better. If speakers actually lost sound quality because of reduced power then you could never turn down the volume (reduce power) on any speaker without causing sound quality problems. Obviously, that is not the case.
So, the problem must be something other than lack of power and therefore a new, bigger amp will not solve it. Many members here have installed CDT component sets from Kee Audio with excellent results. My first guess would be that you have the tweeter and mid wiring pairs reversed (connected to the wrong components). My second guess would be that you have them wired out of phase (one side has positive and negative reversed compared to the other side). This will cause the speakers to essentially cancel each other out, causing lousy sound quality.
So, the problem must be something other than lack of power and therefore a new, bigger amp will not solve it. Many members here have installed CDT component sets from Kee Audio with excellent results. My first guess would be that you have the tweeter and mid wiring pairs reversed (connected to the wrong components). My second guess would be that you have them wired out of phase (one side has positive and negative reversed compared to the other side). This will cause the speakers to essentially cancel each other out, causing lousy sound quality.
My first guess would be that you have the tweeter and mid wiring pairs reversed (connected to the wrong components). My second guess would be that you have them wired out of phase (one side has positive and negative reversed compared to the other side). This will cause the speakers to essentially cancel each other out, causing lousy sound quality.
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,330
Likes: 346
From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
I think it's safe to assume that he is just replacing the speakers in an existing Monsoon system. Using the Monsoon factory speaker wiring means there's no need (or even capability) to use the crossovers that came with the speakers. In fact, trying to use the crossovers from the speaker package could be another reason for lousy sound quality. The Monsoon system provides separate channels for the door tweeters and mids with high pass filters for the tweeters inline. Because of those inline filters, mistakenly reversing the wire pairs would sound really bad but series vs parallel isn't an issue due to the separate channel wiring.
The impedance of the replacement speakers is not much of a concern and certainly won't cause sound quality problems. In fact, speaker impedance is seldom a problem unless you use speakers with lower impedance than the amp can handle (e.g. installing 2-ohm speakers with a 4-ohm stable amp). Using higher impedance speakers won't hurt (e.g. using 4-ohm speakers in a 2-ohm system) and will actually allow the amp to run cooler. There would be a slight loss of power (3dB) but that's not significant. In this case, the CDT speakers are a highly recommended replacement for Monsoon systems so there's no need to worry about impedance matching.
The impedance of the replacement speakers is not much of a concern and certainly won't cause sound quality problems. In fact, speaker impedance is seldom a problem unless you use speakers with lower impedance than the amp can handle (e.g. installing 2-ohm speakers with a 4-ohm stable amp). Using higher impedance speakers won't hurt (e.g. using 4-ohm speakers in a 2-ohm system) and will actually allow the amp to run cooler. There would be a slight loss of power (3dB) but that's not significant. In this case, the CDT speakers are a highly recommended replacement for Monsoon systems so there's no need to worry about impedance matching.
11 Second Club
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 182
Likes: 26
From: Kentucky
The CDT Speakers are far from garbage, even off the monsoon. I agree with Whitebird, either the phase is reversed on one side and correct on the other, or you have the tweeter wire hooked to the mid-bass.
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Jun 2012
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I'm positive I have the tweeters wired up correctly. I'm pretty sure I have the midbass wired correctly too, but I suppose I could have goofed. They are the 2ohm version. They sound great until high volume and then all the high vocals (especially) "crackle". Plus, to my unrefined ear, they also sound a little muddy at volume too. They are surely under-powered by the monsoon amp, but if that isn't the case of the crackle then something else must be at issue. I do remember that when I looked at the monsoon sticky to see the midbass wiring colors, that my car had different colors than what was listed (or my wires were faded, or I looked at the wrong diagram), so maybe that could be the cause of my crackle?
Thanks guys!
Thanks guys!
11 Second Club
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 182
Likes: 26
From: Kentucky
I'm positive I have the tweeters wired up correctly. I'm pretty sure I have the midbass wired correctly too, but I suppose I could have goofed. They are the 2ohm version. They sound great until high volume and then all the high vocals (especially) "crackle". Plus, to my unrefined ear, they also sound a little muddy at volume too. They are surely under-powered by the monsoon amp, but if that isn't the case of the crackle then something else must be at issue. I do remember that when I looked at the monsoon sticky to see the midbass wiring colors, that my car had different colors than what was listed (or my wires were faded, or I looked at the wrong diagram), so maybe that could be the cause of my crackle?
Thanks guys!
Thanks guys!
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,330
Likes: 346
From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
OP, you haven't mentioned what kind of aftermarket head unit you have. Obviously, a top name like Pioneer, Kenwood, and even Alpine will be less likely to cause distortion as much as the "Walmart" brands like Boss, Dual, Axxera, the lower priced JVC models, and even many Sony models.
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