Hello, I just wanted to ask this question before I continue trying to diagnose the problem with the speakers in my car.
So I disconnected my rear speakers (back seat, not trunk) about 5 years ago because they made this crackling noise all the time, even if I turned off the sound in the back seat. That was the only way I could listen to the radio without hearing the crackling noise. So recently I wanted to try and get those speakers working again because I currently only have working door speakers. Those speakers now only produce low frequency sound now. If I remember correctly, these speakers work just like normal speakers but produce more low frequency sound than the front ones. From what I've found online, they're supposed to be "woofer" speakers. I'm not real familiar with what woofer speakers should sound like, but I don't think that these speakers are working correctly. They only produce very low frequency sound and no mid or highs. You can't hear any mids, no highs, no vocals, nothing. I'm pretty sure that they aren't supposed to be doing this since I remember them working like normal speakers before I disconnected them years ago. I was hoping that somebody else with a monsoon system around the 2002 year model could confirm that they do in fact sound like normal speakers.

As far as diagnosing, so far I have connected them to the trunk speakers wire, and they do work there. Both speakers are working but do crackle (I need to fix the tinsel wire, which I'm not entirely sure how I will fix that yet). I've connected them directly to the rear speaker input into the amp, and they work normally (so the stereo should be working fine, along with the wire leading into the amp). My next step would be to try and bypass the output wire from the amp to the back speakers to make sure that it's not the wire, but I'm pretty sure it's an amp issue, especially since it's a very odd issue that just happens to affect both back speakers, and not just one. Any feedback here would be appreciated, I think I've got it narrowed down to the amp now. Unfortunately, I've heard of other people with similar issues saying that after replacing their amps it still didn't fix their issues, so I'm afraid I might be in a similar situation. If I narrow it down to the amp though, I think my best option would be to try and repair or replace the amp.

Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Shannon

 

Bad capacitors in the amp.. OR in some device that's "close" to it sharing power..
The dimmer switch for the headlights bit me on one car..

 

This is not a problem - it is the way the system is designed.

I highly recommend you read the Monsoon FAQ sticky at the top of the forum, but the "Readers Digest" version is that Camaro Monsoon systems have eight speakers - 6.5" mid range door speakers with independent (component) tweeters mounted in the center of them, 6.5" sub-woofers in the sail panels (beside the rear seats), and 4" full range speakers in the hatch area. The sail panel subs are designed to produce only low frequency output and the small rear speakers are there for rear fill only (rather than being primary audio sources). Since low frequencies aren't as directional as higher frequencies, this allows the door speakers to be the primary audio source and produce a front sound stage with decent bass and a little rear fill as is preferred by audiophiles.

 

O ok, awesome! I referred to the FAQ several times, but I never did see that part. I guess from hearing the sail and trunk speakers together, it made the sail speakers sound more like full range speakers. That makes sense. So I got it all back together and it sounds great, but I have another problem now. I fixed the crackling noise, but my fix didn't last for very long. The tinsel wire is damaged so it crackles pretty bad, and it looks like there's no solder point on the cone for the tinsel wire (I assume the wire goes straight through?), so I soldered the wire a bit by the contact to hold it together. Is there a better (more long term) solution to fix these speakers? Is it possible to replace the tinsel wire easily, or should I try to solder the wires again? I do like the stock speakers and would like to try and fix them for now. I'm hoping I can find a more permanent solution to fix them. Thank you both for the input!

 

If by the "tinsel" wire you mean the tinned wires going between the speaker terminals and the voice coils then there's really not much more you can do other than what you've tried. They're really not designed to be repaired but someone who is skilled with soldering can sometimes do it. You have to be careful about both the small working area and the potential to use too much heat and damage the voice coils.

Considering that the factory speakers are now 20+ years old and were made with relatively cheap paper cones, replacing them might be the better option if you're more interested in good sound than originality. Check out Kee Audio for a set of CDT door speakers. They mount and wire exactly like the factory speakers (component sets with the separate tweeter mounted in the center of the woofer cone) but they are far more durable and produce very good sound. You could replace them now and not have to worry about it for at least another 20 years. He also sells replacement sub-woofers for the sail panels if you were to consider replacing those as well.

 

Treat your sound system like you have a full component setup. If your Monsoon amp is acting up I might have one from my 02 Z28 along with other audio stuff pulled from the car.

 

Well I didn't really want to replace the speaker right now, I wanted to just repair them for the time being. I tried soldering them again after one of them broke again after the first repair, but I just can't quiet get it right. I got some new lead wire for it, but I think I may be better off just giving in and buying some new speaker for the car. My fear is that I'll end up with worse speakers than the stock ones. I do really like the sound of the stock speakers, this is definitely the best stock sound I've had from any vehicle I've owned. I replaced the sail speakers in the last Camaro I owned, and the sound was much worse, but I don't think it had the monsoon system (some of them don't have the monsoon system, right?). The sound quality seemed much worse, which is why I wanted to replace those back speakers, but I ended up with even worse sound. So what should I look for in a replacement speaker? I see the Bazooka speakers will work, but do they sound as good as stock, and what other options might I have?

From my understanding, they have to be subs, and they have to fit under the speaker covers right? As far as specs, I don't really know what to look for honestly. It's good to know that those bazooka speakers will work, but I do want to explore other options and I definitely don't want to end up with worse sound quality than stock.

 

Just from the comment that replacing your sail panel speakers made for worse sound quality, I would guess that it was a Monsoon system and that you replaced the sail panel subs with coaxials or some similar full range speakers. That is a very common complaint when using normal speakers in that location - it sounds like crap. That's because the Monsoon amp filters the signal for low pass only and standard speakers just aren't good at reproducing it.

There were 4th generation f-bodies which came with a base audio system (standard full-range speakers in the doors and "extended range" speakers in the sail panels which were really just 10-ohm standard speakers) but they were mostly six cylinder models. In some years you could get Z/28s and Trans Ams with the base system but it was uncommon and almost none were ordered that way for dealer inventory.

The Bazooka subs are a very good match for the Monsoon system for both Camaro and Firebird (which have different designs). At $100 they are probably the most economical replacements for good sound and will actually improve sound quality over the stock speakers. There are other options available ranging from Pyle (aka "pyle of crap") to CDT. I put a pair of Audiopipe subs in my T/A and was very pleased with them. Kee Audio stopped selling them a while back because a bad batch had problems with the speaker leads coming apart from the terminals but I never had a problem with them. Another popular choice was the EU700 but it was deep and required spacers to mount properly.

If you want good sound and don't want to spend a lot of money then I would highly recommend the Bazookas.

 

Well my old car was a v6, so it could have just been the base system. I made a mistake by buying a cheap walmart speaker though, and not doing any research. I'm trying to do better this time!
Yeah those pyle speakers don't look real good. I found some skar 6.5in 2ohm subs, would those ones be any good? They have a lot of good reviews but I haven't heard anything about using them in the sail panels, so I'm not sure how well they work here (if they do at all).

EDIT: Am I allowed to post a link to the ones I was looking at? I'm not sure if that's allowed here or not.

 

I have seen the Skar subs before and heard that they sound "okay" in f-bodies. I have not seen any that are 6.5" 2-ohm single voice coil to match the Camaro setup. If you're looking at 2-ohm dual voice coil then you have the wrong ones. You need 4-ohm in a DVC sub so that you can wire the voice coils in parallel to achieve the 2-ohm load that the Camaro Monsoon expects. Wiring a 2-ohm DVC sub in parallel produces only 1-ohm impedance which the Monsoon amp can't handle safely. And wiring that 2-ohm DVC sub in series results in 4-ohms total which the amp can easily handle but reduces your power by half.

The other thing to consider is the speaker's sensitivity. The more sensitive, the more output volume you get for the same amount of input power. The Skar DVC 4-ohm 6.5" subs have a sensitivity rating of only 82.8dB. For comparison, the CDT subs are rated between 85.5dB and 88.5dB... every 3dB is the equivalent of about one click of your volume ****. For some reason, the Bazooka subs are rated at 100dB sensitivity but frankly that's an ILS (If Lightning Strikes) rating with no relation to reality. Still, I would expect them to be somewhat better than the Skar.

The Skar subs will work in your car if you buy the right 4-ohm model but considering that they cost about $30 more for a pair than the Bazookas for a little less performance, I would consider the Bazookas the clear choice.

According to forum rules, you may post links to a product to show product information but you may not post a link to a vendor's sale of a product unless the vendor is a sponsor here. The idea is to provide information about the product rather than to promote the vendor. So, a link to a manufacturer's page with details about the product is ideal (think pioneer.com rather than bestbuy.com). A link to Amazon or Crutchfield (because they are a known expert in all things audio) is usually acceptable - especially if we don't have a sponsor who sells that particular product, as in this case. A link to Sonic Electronix is never acceptable because their entire business is based on selling unauthorized (grey market) product at the lowest possible price without manufacturer's warranty.

 

I think if I go ahead and replace these speakers, I want to try and get something good and durable. Those bazooka subs seem nice, but I've seen some comments about them being cheaper material and not always being the best speakers. As far as the skar subs, just from looking at them, they look like they might be kinda cheap too? I'm not really sure about those ones though. I believe the bazooka speakers have a lower power rating (About 100watts peak?) but I'm not sure about the significance of that though since I don't know how much power the monsoon amp provides, or how much power the stock speakers can handle. I don't really have much to compare against, but I'm sure the 400 watt rating for the skar subs is probably.. a bit much. I don't think the amp has near that much power. I'd like to get something that I can be confident will handle power well. It surprises me when I hear somebody say that certain subs will improve the sound quality of the car, since I have been so impressed with the sound of the stock sail speakers. I'm not exactly sure what the main differences are between the stock subs and aftermarket ones, other than aftermarket ones would probably handle higher volumes better (I would hope anyways).

Also out of curiosity.. You said something about the sensitivity being an "if lightning strikes" rating, do you just mean that's not a good way to compare products, like the real rating will likely be different? Like how manufacturers for computer processors have different ways of measuring TDP so comparing them between brands is basically pointless in many cases? I just wanted to clarify what you meant by that.

Thanks for all the help here. I'm still kind of torn on what to do here, but I know a little more about what to look for, and I know there are a few good options at least. It'll be nice when I get some new subs so that I can enjoy that nice sound without the occasional distortion.

 

The Monsoon amp was originally rated at 200W into eight channels for the first couple of years then GM changed their advertising to call it 500W in later models. From 1999 on, it's exactly the same amp - they just changed the marketing materials. It's safe to say that 200W was an RMS (honest) rating while 500W was a peak power rating unsustainable over time. That means that a 100W speaker is more than capable of handling the Monsoon amp's output. Even assuming that the output wasn't evenly divided among the eight channels (tweeters get less and subs get more), there's no way the subs were getting even 50W each let alone 100W. The Bazookas are rated 100W RMS / 200W peak so they will handle anything the Monsoon can throw at them.

There are numerous design features besides power handling that can make an aftermarket speaker sound better than stock. Magnet size, voice coil design and materials, cone material, cone suspension type, and maximum extension are all specs that can make a significant difference in how a sub sounds. Just the fact that the factory subs have paper cones and are at least 20 years old is enough to make almost any quality replacement sound better.

There are better 6.5" subs available such as from CDT, Kicker, Memphis, and a few others but the reason the Bazooka subs are so popular for our application is that they sound good, can easily handle the stock Monsoon power, and are reasonably priced. If you're considering upgrading from the Monsoon amp in the future then, by all means, go with one of the better, more expensive subs so you won't have to upgrade them later. But if you just want to get the best sound out of the factory system then the Bazookas are a good choice that won't disappoint.

The ILS rating was a misplaced attempt at humor on my part. That joke really applies to power output rating rather than to sensitivity but I tend to use it when referring to a spec that is clearly impossible. Sensitivity / efficiency is an important part of speaker specifications because it indicates how much actual volume output you can get from a given input power level. A good example is with the door speakers. Many people shun replacing the 2-ohm factory speakers with 4-ohm replacements because they expect a significant loss of volume (some even mistakenly think they will lose sound quality). Doubling the impedance causes power to drop by half but the relationship between power and volume is logarithmic not linear. So half the power results in only a 3dB drop in volume (about one click of the volume ****) - an amount that is easily overcome by the replacement speaker being at least 3dB more sensitive than the factory one (almost all quality replacements will be at least that much more efficient than the factory door speakers). What I was scoffing about was the stated 100dB sensitivity rating of the Bazookas when every other equivalent sub I've ever seen is rated in the mid-80s for sensitivity. This is not like power handling where there's a peak and a running (RMS) rating - sensitivity is a single number and there's no way the Bazookas are better than even most mid-range speakers in that area.

 

The Bazooka subs are pretty loud and sound good. You'll really need to upgrade the door speakers to balance out the sound. The Bazookas will overpower the stock door 6.5inch speakers and some aftermarket 6.5 speakers as well.