Thread: From Monsoon to Alpine CDA-9885 - A Bitter Ordeal

Hi everyone.

First, some background: I had a 2003 Volkswagen Passat, which came with the Monsoon system. That system produced an incredibly warm and rich sound that I really enjoyed. I'm not sure what exactly made the sound so good (I'm not a technical guy) but recently I found some confirmation of this on the web. For example, the article below confirms that Monsoon is for "music lovers who want to be immersed in sound" and that it "envelops the cars' occupants in clear, crisp, high-performance sound." The sound was warm, thick, and pleasant.

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/p...ess027231.html

For various reasons, I had to get rid of my Passat, and got an '08 Toyota Camry LE. The Toyota stock system was awful so I immediately replaced everything there. I got the following:
- Alpine CDA-9885 head unit
- Polk speakers: POLK AUDIO MMC6500 and 690
- Alpine 4-channel external amp, ALPINE MRPF550

This was supposed to be a top-of-the-line setup; I spent $1500 on it. I was recommended the Alpine CDA-9885 as "the best in sound quality." But after I hooked everything up (including the external amp), I was disappointed. The CDA-9885 produces a very clean, loud sound, but it's not warm. I'm really missing the warmth and presence of the sound, especially after the Monsoon. It could either be the Alpine head unit, or the acoustics of my Camry (the positioning of the speakers), or something else.

So my questions are as follows:

1) What was it about the Monsoon in my VW-Passat that made it so rich-sounding and warm;

2) What is it about my current setup (particularly the Alpine CDA-9885) that's responsible for the hollow, cold sound? Don't get me wrong, the sound is all all right and very clean, but nowhere near the warmth that I had with Monsoon. Is it an issue with Alpine products? I've read that Alpine focuses on "accurate reproduction" but not necessarily warmth. Is it the fact that my rear/front speakers are far from each other in the Camry? How come that even after spending $1500 the sound is worse than the $300 Monsoon audio?

Thanks a lot for your comments!