anybody have the monsoon audio system in their volkswagon?

Crazy_Cyrax · 04-24-2005, 11:32 PM

anyway, i was wondering if anybody knew the frequency cutoffs for the crossover in the monsoon amp that leads to the four factory woofers (in an '02 jetta for example). thanks in advance for the help, i've searched for hours and found nothing on this.

Stonewall78 · 04-25-2005, 01:34 PM

That is more then likely as noone knows. Try using a test disk and a db meter and you will aprox know. Also try the 18page thread on the vwvortex it might tell you.

sdashiki · 04-25-2005, 03:04 PM

man that monsoon stuff, sucks for the price they charge as an option. My frend ripped his out of his Jetta right when he bought it and sold it for aftermarket amps and speakers. IMO all options of "better" sound systems in cars are always sub standard when you factor in the cost vs if you bought comparable parts yourself.

john_draws · 05-09-2005, 12:19 AM

I have been lookin into this same thing for awhile now. From all the stuff I have gathered from the vwvortex forums it all is a bit confusing, well kinda.

It seems to be the consences is that the monsoon amp thing in the back is more of a cross-over (Well I guess you already know that). Oh bye the way i drive a gti vr6 2001 with the single din monsoon.

Anyways, what are you tryin to do exactly?
If you are going to be using a aftermarket head unit you will get a better sound because the monsoon speakers are 2 ohm (in my 01 anyway) and the stock headunit doesnt have nearly enough power.

So all these people on the vortex forum are right when they say drop in a aftermarket unit and just run it to the monsoon amp and it will sound way better. But like you said the amp clips the frequency so that it is pointless to keep it involved in your system.

My delema is that I want to keep the stock deck for now. I will do the audio in with a blitz adapter (p.i.e adapter ect.). The real issue is the speaker clipping.

I am thinking the headunit itself must also do alot of clipping and it is obviosly
not a high end piece of audio equipment.

LONG STORY SHORT******

For now i want to hook up a pair of high quality front components powered by
its own amp. I was thinkin along the lines of these IDC to cover the odd midrange frequency
http://www.cardomain.com/item/IDSCXS54
and I have also read good things about Adire Kodas.
and of course pair them with a nice amp.

Then either 1 10" or 12" subwoofer. I havent really made up my mind on what speaker i want to use but i was lookin at JL, Rockford, and If i was to get the Adire Kodas I guess I would use ther sub but I have not read any reviews on there subs yet. I am lookin to spend between 250-300 on a good clean acurate sub..lower watts would be a bonus as I have MTX rt 202 wich is 2 x 75w @ 2 ohms, 2 x 37.5w @ 4 ohms, 150w @ 4 ohms.

For now i was just going to use the rear speaker level outs to the mtx rt 202
speaker level input. I know it is not as clean as line level but at this point it isnt clean anyways with that monsoon headunit involved.

Then the front speaker level out to the amp that will run the front component
sets. Or vice versa depending on amp needs and such but you get the point.

doing it that way i just have headunit clipping and i am only a headunit away from a much better sound.

Hope you read this and respond as i would like to talk about or find an answer to the clipping range.

What I really want is this frequency adjuster made by alpine i think that is supposed to come out in june....RED GTI VR6 had posted a link to it months ago but that I can not find the link to save my life,I think it found its way to the trashcan....I cant find it on numerous google searches either.

If you dont know what it is its a module that will take your headuntis speaker line level and convert all of its frequencies. It will eliminate clipping and such and give you a clean full range frequency band. It really is a awsome piece of equipment but the msrp was like $500 as i remember. so i figure like $350.

******ATTENTION RED GTI VR6 **********
If you see this could you please post a link to the poorly described pice of equipment described above

Thank you

RedGTiVR6 · 05-09-2005, 07:05 AM

pull 100% of the monsoon out and replace it with something better...

as was mentioned earlier - none of these "Premuim" sound systems that come in cars stock are worth two ****s....

they are underpowered and over hyped pieces o crap

=]

sdashiki · 05-09-2005, 03:17 PM

Damn straight. Even a Beamer with a Bose system is crap compared to the same amount spent on the option, spent yourself.

john_draws · 05-09-2005, 09:51 PM

Ya I know i so should pull the deck cause it is a piece..The thing is i dont want to ditch it because it looks nice with the rest of the car.

Eventually i will ditch it but untill i make custom set of buttons to replace it, its goining to stay. Im just wondering how bad the clipping would be coming from the head unit before the monsoon amp thing.

RED GTI VR6 you have a link to that fancy frequency control type crosover from alpine I think I described it in my post above..

thanks

Stonewall78 · 05-10-2005, 01:28 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by john_draws

RED GTI VR6 you have a link to that fancy frequency control type crosover from alpine I think I described it in my post above..

thanks

JL audio has one out already that does that.... it is about $400US though

You guys should be buying phatboxes are they are only about $120us right now!

NeckPayne · 07-04-2005, 01:45 PM

In case anyone still surfs to this thread, since I got confused myself.... It seems R32 Juhl figured out an answer on this. For those of us who have just enough money (and spousal support) to devote to the "carputer" and not upgrading the system with new headunits, amps, or speakers, this option needs to elaborated on.

Check out his install thread:
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=41919
Post #81 was the "Eureka"

Seems as though the HU supplies a 5v current (yes, I know voltage is differential and amperage is current) through the left speaker which acts as a turn on lead to the monsoon amp. So its possible to ditch the HU and wire straight to the monsoon amp from the soundcard. I'm not quite sure if from what I read from Juhl's post if this is the same as BTL (bridge-tied load) in which instead of a speaker signal comparing a positive voltage to ground, the voltage is balanced between the two leads. So if a 12 volt signal is used, bridge tied loads send +6V to one channel and -6V to the other. In this way, less voltage can be used to effect greater amplification.

What I'm not sure is if what Juhl's suggesting is by throwing this 5v onto the left common, if we are "creating" the BTL and balancing this against the speaker output from the soundcard. In essence, the BTL input is what triggers the amp to "turn on."

Some people have mentioned that the monsoon amp requires speaker level input. Is this because they were unsure of this BTL requirement, or is it that speaker level output is BTL and so that's why we're able to get it to work now. And then, does Juhl's solution work because we're "fooling" the amp.

Either way, I still don't understand how exactly to set this up. Also, there is some issue regarding a difference between the 2001 monsoon and the 2000 and >2001.5 monsoon system wirings. I have the single DIN monsoon from 2001, does this make it the 2001 instead of the 2001.5 or is that not the deciding factor.

Thanks for anyone's help!!

chipvan238 · 10-21-2006, 07:39 PM

My son just purchase a 2000 VW Jetta with a trunk-mounted CD Changer. It did not come with an owner manual, and he can not figure out how to open it to load the CD's. Help anyone.

archimense · 10-21-2006, 07:45 PM

Slide back the cover, then press the button on the top of the CD cartridge.

chipvan238 · 10-24-2006, 01:56 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by archimense

Slide back the cover, then press the button on the top of the CD cartridge.

Thanks arch for the info. My son have the CD changer working just fine. But my non-audio question is; There is a dashboard light that is staying on that say EPC, what do that indicate?

RedGTiVR6 · 10-24-2006, 02:34 PM

traction control.

your son probably hit the button that disabled it on the dash.

he just needs to hit it again.

usually, if you are trying to hot rod the car you will disable it.