01 LS1 SS

I have the stock HU & amp. Today i got Clarion speakers for the front doors and 6.5" Clarion "subs" + two 4" sony speakers in the hatch with installation (which seemed like i could have done it myself) cost $350! DID I GET RIPPED OFF? I think the stock monsoon sounded may better..w/ way more base. I regret taking it to an audio shop, I should have gotten all the components seperately and then have a little guidance w/ installation.

jkichline

iTrader: (1)

Did you only get speakers or did you get a new HU, too? Its hard to say if you got ripped without seeing how much work they did. How much were your components?
As far as it not sounding right... maybe they didn't hook it up right....

SOMSS

iTrader: (1)

If you baught 4 ohm speakers thats the problem. The Monsoon amp is set up to run at 2 ohms, by using 4 ohm speakers you cut the power approximately in half.

HiTechGent

That has nothing to do with the problem. The stock amp does not care whether you use 2 ohm or 4 ohm speakers. I use all 4 ohm speakers in my SS with the stock Amplifier and HU. There is nothing magical or superior about 2 ohm speakers.

Assuming the shop hooked up the doors correctly (they have seperate tweeter and woofer inputs, but mounted like coaxials). The problem is that you bought speakers that weren't a good fit as it relates to the basic function of the speakers. Mainly converting electrical signals to sound waves.

The number one conderation in my opinion, is sensitivity. The monsoon amplifier is fairly low power (30W to 50W RMS at best to the door and sail woofers, I don't even think the hatch speakers are amplified this much, if at all). You need rather sensitive speakers to hear anything meaningful at this power range. I'm guessing the Clarions need more.

As far as bass response, there are very few 6.5" speakers that have good low freq response.

01_LS1_SS should have done his homework on the forums here, before letting the shop just install any available speaker that fits in the car. I'm not surprised the shop didn't know any better.

As far as price, $350 for 6 speakers /w installation is a fair deal. It's a shame they didn't install speakers that are a better fit for the stock Monsoon system.

01 LS1 SS

I did have the HU & AMP, i just installed speakers. So in your opinion what would be a better fit? I did stress the compatability to the guy at the shop. He was originally getting HiFonix, but they weren't in stock so he got the clarions 6.5". Is there a diff brand that will sound as good if not better than stock along w/ base??

KEE AUDIO

iTrader: (65)

Correct me if I'm wrong but I agree your stock amp doesn't care what ohm speaker you use however, if you don't use factory ohmed speakers and the same amp your system WILL sound very different because the ohm load has now been increased so the speaker will not be as loud because the amp is getting more resistance from the speaekr. Changing from a 2ohm speaker to a 4 ohm increases the amount of resistance. Another example is when an amp is rated at 100watts rms @ 4 ohms and 200 watts @ 2 ohms. Less resistence = more power. He has changed the stock 2ohm speaker to a 4 ohm. I think GM was just trying to get away with a weaker amp so use a speaker with less resistence to make it louder. It will NOT sound as good unless of course his factory speaker was blown or something. You can use 4ohm speakers with the stock amp and HU of course but it will not sound as good. Some have had good luck with Alpine S-Type sps-170a I beleive and they are 4 ohm. Others have used 2 ohm speakers but I can't remember off hand what brand..it was on these forums though. My answer was to ditch the whole factory system because it was garbage anyway. Factory systems for the most part, there are SOME exceptions, are there to fill a hole in the dash, not to sound good. Your just now seeing a partnership from car companies and car audio companies to try teaming up to produce better sound systems.

ded71

iTrader: (7)

I used the Infinity Kappa series when I upgraded speakers. They are two ohm speakers and I had no issues with the monsoon amp, if anything it was an improvement. I put their components in the doors. As far as sail panels, I ditched them for a ten in a stealth box. I have heard some replacements for the sails mentioned on the board, if you do a search I'm sure you will find the models. Good Luck

2MuchRiceMakesMeSick

Get an aftermarket head unit and that will help out it not being loud enough. If your still not satisfied go with a 4 channel amp.

The monsoon amp is designed for speakers that have a resistance equivalence of 2ohms. Putting a 4 ohm speaker in there doubled your electron resistance.(equivalent of cutting your power in half). Sensitivity/efficiency does have a lot to do with how it sounds with X amount of watts but cutting your power in half is pretty dramatic. The bad part about sensitivity ratings is that they are so far blown out of proportion that they are not true ratings anymore. The one watt one meter test they use 'cheating' methods such as putting the transducer in a compressed space so the SPL is higher or playing specific resonant frequencies. Obviously sensitivity ratings are a factor but not the deciding factor when I go to buy speakers.

01 LS1 SS

So if i have 2ohm speakers in the front doors and 4ohm in the back seat I should hear a 1/3 improvement or just a little bit improvement in sound?

2MuchRiceMakesMeSick

Too many variables to tell you exactly how much improvment you would get.
It will be louder because your resistance will be cut in half.

todddchi

iTrader: (3)

I'm going to have to side with Hi-Tech here because I've worked with a couple systems at different stages of build.

The majority argument in here is that the Monsoon amp will put out more power to a 2 ohm driver instead of a 4 ohm driver. While this is true, in reality there is very little impact to the end sound quality of the system, if both systems are hooked up correctly.

Acknowledging the best case theory for you, let's say the monsoon amp puts out 50 watts rms to a 2 ohm load. If it is a truly variable amp, then the same 4 ohm load would equate to 25 watts. Definitely less power, but the way power output works relative to volume levels means that in reality, this is not a big difference.

Do NOT bypass the monsoon amp because if it is properly bi-wired into standard 4 ohm co-axials it will drive the speakers much harder than any aftermarket head unit (barring the new panasonics). I estimate that driving 4 ohm drivers the monsoon amp is still putting out roughly 30-40 watts rms, it will sound better than the head unit amp.

The monsoon amplifier has two things working against it from the factory:

1.) Junky speakers that cannot take the full power that it is capable of producing
2.) A distortion ridden head unit that is not capable of sending a full volume, distortion free signal to the amplifier itself.

If you properly bi-wire the speakers in the system, and you use relatively high power (15 watts rms or so) aftermarket head unit, what you are going to find is that the monsoon amp now has the ability the drive the aftermarket speakers very loud, and very well. It does not matter if they are 2 ohm or 4 ohm.

The effective difference is that the 4 ohm speaker will require a little more "volume ****" than the 2 ohm drivers. When saddled with a factory head unit this becomes a problem because the factory head starts pushing out distortion at these high drive levels. But if you elminate this problem with an aftermarket deck, the monsoon amp will drive medium quality co-axials very hard, regardless of 2 ohm or 4 ohm.

Charlie Hustle

iTrader: (8)

01 ls1 ss, honestly i feel you got ripped off big time. not to be rude or anything but i called 3 diff places here in houston, and the average install price was $150-175. that was for 4 speakers ( 2 in the door + 2 in the sail panel), 1 - 5 channel amp, and a new head unit. i ended up doing all the work my self and it took me about 3-4 hours. it sounds 10 times better than the monsoon system. i will post some pics of the install here tomorrow. let me know if you have any other questions. sorry about the big bucks install. the way i see it is you live and you learn

edit: after i re read your post i think i misunderstood. was that the price for the install and the 6 speakers? if so thats a very reasonable price. i thought you paid $350 for just the install

HiTechGent

Just to pipe in about the 2 ohm/4 ohm controversy. Elctrical power is not the same as sound power level (SPL).

True, a 2 ohm speaker will draw more current from the amp (not actually twice as much, but close enough) at the same volume (voltage) level as a 4 ohm speaker. This says nothing about the relative loudness of either speaker. The key is how efficient the speaker is at converting electrical signals into sound waves. This is the Sensitivity of the speaker. This is why you can find 2 different speakers that look equal, yet with one you have to crank the volume up just get a whisper out, while the other is loud as heck.

Sensitivity is commonly defined as the SPL produced by a speaker in decibels as measured at 1 meter, with an input of 1 watt (dB/W/m). This is the only stat that gives a quantifiable relationship between electrical power and SPL.

It is true, that with equally sensitive speakers, 2 ohms will be louder than 4 ohms. I can tell you that my 4 ohm Alpine S-series speakers (92dB/W/m) are as loud (probably slightly louder) as the 2 ohm stock door speakers were. They also have better SQ and more bass than the stockers. My Pioneer 4 ohm midbasses are equal to the 2 ohm sail stockers with considerably less distortion.

Note: Some manufacturers measure sensitivity using different reference than the standard dB/W/m. Some use a 2.83V input (2 watts to a 4 ohm speaker/4 watts to a 2 ohm speaker) to try to make this stat look better than it actually is. I have also seen this measured with an input of 1.5 watts.

todddchi

iTrader: (3)

Back on topic, although you probably got stuck a little bit, it depends on how nice the CLarion drivers actually are. Maybe you didn't get stuck too hard. But the real problem is that you are not happy with it.

You should have enough driver there now to be able to get sound that is much better than stock. Do some homework, dive in, and make sure they hooked everything up right, and you may as well go ahead and take the plunge for an aftermarket deck and be done with it.

On another note, did you get your OEM speakers back? If you got a full set the main 4 will sell on ebay for well over $100 if you list them well. Upwards of $200 in some cases. That will certainly help take the sting out.

rotwiler

iTrader: (1)

How did they connect the speakers in the front doors? Are the clarions made so they can have seperate inputs for tweeter and bass? The biggest complaint I see from people, is the shop that puts in the speakers bypasses the Monsoon amp and connects the speakers to the full range signal coming off the hu. So it really reduces the sound because it doesn't take advantage of the Monsoon amp. I see all the time people recommending certain speakers like Rockford Fosgate etc in the doors, even though there is no way they can work with the stock Monsoon amp. The only speakers out there that will sound good are the Infinity 62.7i's or the Alpine that needs a slight modification or components that are not power hungry. If a really high output hu is used like the digital 70 watt JVC or newer Alpines that run the power straight off the battery, then the Monsoon amp could be bypassed and they should sound pretty good.