Not that I enjoy raining on your parade, but... I'm going to rain on your parade. If I were you, I'd pick another project. The Monsoon system is designed to work together as a unit. The speakers and amp are "balanced," meaning the amp has built-in equalization to compensate for the characteristics of the speakers. Replace them independently, and the sound will be inaccurate. You may like it, or dislike it, but it won't be an accurate, high-fidelity response. The Monsoon also does some tricks with directing more low-frequency sound to the rear. The Monsoon Amp bi-amps; that is, it splits the frequencies before amplifying them, and sends appropriate to woofer and tweeter. So, you couldn't use the crossover that comes with the speakers, but neither would the crossover point be right for the speakers anymore.

I'd recommend leaving it alone unless and until you can replace all the speakers, and the amplifier, together.

In addition, the mounts for the speakers are non-standard. The woofers aren't too bad; they're an odd size, and riveted in place, but pretty easy to get something else in there. The tweeters a bit more trouble. There's no standard screw holes or mounts; they are factory attached to the back of the triangular "sail" piece near the mirror. Typically, you cut them out and improvise a mounting for the replacement. Think a Dremel and lots of JB Weld.

 

Scotts13,

Thank you very much for the clarification, I figured it was going to be a gongshow to do anything to the audio system but I had to know.
I'm going to hold off on this for now, the warning is much appreciated.

Is there any way that I can delete this thread so I don't waste other peoples time??

 

Replacing the head unit will get you significantly more gains than replacing the speakers. The stock HU is by far the weakest link in the system.

 

And no need to delete the post. IT's good for folks to see ones such as this, so they know what they'd be getting themselves into!

 

Soundguybob,

You may have convinced me to upgrade the HU instead.
Do you have any recommendations for an aftermarker HU that would be an easy install (ie pop out the stock HU, plug in some harness adaptor for the new HU, and pop the HU back in without modifying the dash... or some sort of kit that snaps into the dash I dunno lol)

Are there any specific outputs that the aftermarket HU would require (ie I have read that the Monsoon amp requires a special signal input like line voltage or something?)

And finally, would my steering wheel controls still work for volume and seek?

 

And finally, would my steering wheel controls still work for volume and seek?

Maybe, depending on the head unit and the availability of an appropriate adapter. For an aftermarket head unit, you'll need a mounting collar for many units; you'll also need a wiring harness adapter and a powered antenna adapter. There are some head units, from some brands, that will accept a steering wheel control adapter. These are active electronic devices, in the $60 to $120 range. Some soldering is usually required. If you have the external CD changer, that probably will be lost, though I've heard there are a few head units (Panasonic?) that can use yet another adapter.

 

Upgrading the head unit is a good option. The rest of the system is decent. If you feed it clean signal, it'll reproduce it. If you feed it crappy signal, it'll reproduce that.

If you feel you want more low end punch, instead of replacing your existing speakers you can add a sub amp and sub speaker to the system. You can tap signal for this at the Monsoon amp and put the sub cabinet in the trunk or back seat area.

 

Thanks a lot for the info guys, very concise and helpful.
So my car is a rebuild and the passenger side always seemed a bit different than the drivers side.... and RP door sometimes caused a parasitic drain so I unhooked the door and the drain/glitches went away.
Hopefully you guys find this interesting and want to go for a ride lol

I opened up my front and back passenger doors to see what the speakers looked like inside and found a surprise. Not the original guts inside the door!
I'll post pics in the am.

Looks like GLS guts maybe ?? the cable harness that feeds the door from the pillar is wrong, it only has one harness connector and speaker wires were cut. Not Monsoon speakers either haha ffs. One speaker even has a paper cone

Drivers side is stock GLX and has a harness with 2 connectors... everything works good on that side so it's my comparison.
The main cabling going into the pillar connectors from the head end has two connectors terminating in the pillar.

*Can I pick up a used GLX cable harness and throw that in? and Monsoon speakers. I have a good wrecker in vancouver.

I'm going to open up the amp and check for the sub tap...
*Is there power for the new sub amp in the trunk or will I need to run a new power feed from the battery?...
*through firewall? wire gauge? new ground location in trunk?
I'll post pics of the amp connections as well.

Thank you!

 

I'm going to open up the amp and check for the sub tap...
*Is there power for the new sub amp in the trunk or will I need to run a new power feed from the battery?...
*through firewall? wire gauge? new ground location in trunk?

There is speaker-level signal going into the Monsoon external power amplifier. That's one place to tap signal. This is a writeup explaining how to do this >>>>> (http://www.passatworld.com/forums/6...bile-electronics/290055-monsoon-wiring-harness-my-sub-what-wires-do-i-need.html) Which sub amp you choose will determine how you connect to that signal source. Some amps want signal-level, some speaker-level, some can accept either, some have inputs for both channels and will sum them into one. They have external devices that can mate the one to the other. That writeup talks about a LOC (Line Out Converter). That's a device used to convert speaker-level down to signal-level. It depends on what types of signal your new sub amp will accept.

In that writeup, they suggest tapping signal from the Monsoon power amplifier output. I'm not sure that's the best place. Signal that has passed through that amp has undergone signal conversion and some equilibration processing. I think you may find a cleaner signal at the input to the Monsoon power amplifier. Rely on the signal processing and EQ built into the sub amp to tailor the signal.

Another option is, if you replace the head unit, select one with a dedicated sub output and get your signal from there.

The power requirements will be dictated by the sub system you choose. A small bass tube that sits on the back seat might not need much power and may be able to run from the existing trunk power outlet. On the other end of the scale, a pair of 18" speakers and a 2500w amp is going to need some substantial power.

 

Here is the rear passenger door that some evil mechanic scabbed onto my car:
*Note the color difference lol and the woofer is made of paper... and the woofer connector has 4 wires instead of two. one of the pairs feeds tweeter

http://


The cable harness end with the missing connector and only one pair of speaker wires that run to the woofer:

http://


The stock and original rear drivers side door:
* Note there are only two wires in this monsoon woofer connector. tweeter also has its own pair back to pillar connectors. woofer sounds very weak

 

Yup, they swapped on a door from a car not equipped with Monsoon, and didn't bother moving the speaker hardware from the old door. Nice. Remember when I said the Monsoon system was bi-amped? Separate wires for woofer, and for tweeter. The system you're seeing there has the crossover in the woofer; signal from one amp channel feeds that, and the tweeter connects to the woofer. If I were you, I'd get the guts from a salvage Monsoon-equiped door and put it back the way it was.

The existing amp does not have a subwoofer tap. You'd get the signal from one of the rear woofer leads. You shouldn't simply parallel-wire that; there are active interfaces sold for just that purpose. For most normal installations you could get power for the sub amp from the accessory socket in the trunk. If you need more power, running a line up front (sometimes, all the way to the battery) is commonly done. There are right ways to do that and wrong ones; if you get that far, ask.

 

So I have decided to take the plunge. I am going to upgrade the stock HU to this:
Clarion CX501 CD receiver at Crutchfield.com
Crutchfield Cart

Does anyone know if the In-Dash receiver kit works well with Passats?
The PAC adapter says that it will integrate my steering wheel button functionality into the new HU and make wiring easier.
*I should be able to click the smaller harness connector into the back of the new HU and then just splice in power, remote and a few others???

I will also be installing this sub/amp package I was talking about earlier:
Alpine 10" Type-E Subwoofer/Mono 500 Watt Amplifier With Ported Box | SBE10PR | Visions Electronics

If you need more power, running a line up front (sometimes, all the way to the battery) is commonly done. There are right ways to do that and wrong ones; if you get that far, ask.

Looks like I'm going to get that far, any advice on getting through the firewall and routing the cables?
* I will need to run power, a remote switch line and two RCA signal level line outs to the amp correct? Anything else?

Thanks again guys, hope you all had a great weekend!

 

I'd say find a GLX part out in the classifieds and get the proper harnesses. Pretty straightforward to change out if you can pop the regulator panel off. I can find speakers at the junkyard for $5 a piece, would you like me to source two for you? Just PM me which Ohm ones you need and for price of speaker and shipping their yours (if they have em.) You shouldn't need the tweeters, those are in the door cards on rear doors. Fronts are mounted at front left corner.

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

Well I have to say thank you again, I'm a bit overwhelmed by the quality of help you guys are giving me I really appreciate it.
I hate paying other people (dealerships or Best Buy) to do work that I can do myself so thanks for sharing your extensive knowledge with me!
And I really like learning things

To keep the install as simple as possible I am going to go with a combo sub/box/amp package and it's on sale here:

Alpine 10" Type-E Subwoofer/Mono 500 Watt Amplifier With Ported Box | SBE10PR | Visions Electronics

Is this a good amplifier to keep the installation as simple as possible?

The subwoofer is Alpine SWE-1043 and it should be more than adequate... I don't want things rattling and vibrating apart lol.
The amplifier is Alpine MRP-M500 and pictures of the connections can be found here (there's front and back on this webpage):

Picture 2 of 4 for Alpine MRP-M500

The manual for the amplifier can be found here:

Alphine Mono Power Amplifier Owner's Manual | ManualsOnline.com

So since the Alpine amp can handle speaker level inputs (I think), can I tap the signal that is coming into the Monsoon amp from the HU for a cleaner input? YES
Trying to avoid using the whole LOC solution it looks mucky.
Looking at the writeup from Steve (thank you) can I just T-tap these wires coming from the HU and feed them into the Molex (square 4-pin) connector on the Alpine amp? YES, molex connector is for speaker-level inputs from left rear and right rear channels:

Here's the wires in (from the HU) on the grey connector just as a reference...


14 + In Left Rear Blu
15 - In Left Rear Brn
17 - In Right Rear Brn
18 + In Right Rear Grn​

*Will these wires be carrying speaker level signals even though I am tapping them before the Monsoon amp? YES - speaker level
*Or will it just be signal level from the HU until it goes through the Monsoon Amp? speaker level right from the HU
*Are the RCA jacks on the Alpine amp for signal level connections? YES

*Can I use the power in the trunk or would you recommend running a new power line to the battery (I'm not opposed to the idea, prob safer too)? No, run new power cable to battery minimum 8AWG wire, c/w fuse at battery end minimum 60Amp
*I don't have a CD player in the trunk so will there be a remote signal line there that I can T-tap or would I have to pull the HU out of the dash and find the remote signal wire and run that back to the Alpine amp? should be a cd player harness with remote line to tap into.

Sorry it's so long and if any of these questions are noobish with obvious answers... I'm a telecom technician so I understand the theory behind this but I've never done any car audio and I want to be extra thorough so I don't hurt my baby lol.

I will do a very in depth and expansive write up with lots of high def pictures and notes on the pictures if I manage to get this system installed.
Definitely all about supporting the community and giving back so hopefully this all works out and we can create a DIY for anyone else who wants some quick and easy bass haha.

Thanks!!

 

The sub amp instructions call for a 60A fused circuit with 8 gauge wire for both power and ground. That means running your own conductor from the battery. The existing trunk 12v power circuit isn't robust enough.

The Monsoon system sends speaker-level signal from the head unit to the amp. So, yes, even before the amp we're working with speaker-level signals.

The RCA jacks are for signal-level signal. The 4-pin connector just to the left of the RCA jacks is to take in speaker-level signal.

Even if you don't have a CD player, your car is still equipped with the harness for it back in the trunk area. One of the pins on that harness connector is supposed to go live with the radio. That's the one you'd be using for remote turn on. This harness is powered off the back of the stock head unit. If you ever swap out your head unit for an after market unit, you'd lose that remote turn on function. As long as you're running an 8ga to the trunk, you could pull a small wire at the same time for remote turn on. Hook it to the stock HU or if you ever upgrade, to the after market HU.

 

Hey guys, haven't hear back from anyone in a few days.
Hopefully my rookie questions haven't driven you away.
I am serious about this install. I have all the connections figured out now, thanks to everyone's help and advice so far!
You have also saved me a ton of trouble and cash with your recommendations against just swapping out door speakers and everything else.

Here is a picture of my new sub and amp, it's all integrated into the acoustically tuned box and it's a nice little package.
http://

Here is my existing head unit that I will be swapping out for the new Clarion CX501, which is on order from Crutchfields and yes I got the Factory Integration Adapter so that my steering wheel controls will work with the Clarion... can't wait to try out the programming feature
http://

I still need a suggestion on a route through the firewall of my V6, all I can find is write ups on the 1.8T and horror stories of not sealing the firewall and flooding the carpets.

Any and all help is very welcome and very much appreciated! :bowdown::bowdown::bowdown:

 

Anyone?
How to get through firewall for Amp cabling on a V6?

 

Some people go through the ECM box. If you take the top off the box, you'll see a path that goes down to behind the dashboard in the cabin. Make holes in the box only as big as you need to pass the cable through. Make them water-tight with grommets, silicone sealer, magic... whatever you have.

 

Thank you steve! I'll open up the ECM and take a look this weekend.

 

VVW, I just got a 05 GLX wagon with the same sound system and want to take on this project. Awesome coincidence (for me ) - thank you for your efforts thus far.

Let me know what you come up with on the wiring.

Also, I will most likely go with the same head unit (nice find), but did you find any other options for the all-in-one sub/amp unit? I am looking at price reduction mostly, but if the experts on here tell me anything less will have a dramatic effect on performance I will be going with the same sub/amp as well. It gets great reviews, so it may be the best option.

-TSW

 

You could just get a firewall grommet and drill a hole.....

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/qcr-57-810?seid=srese1&gclid=CLGcgbCLrrwCFY1FMgodZgsAxw

 

Revive! So how did it all work out? How does it sound? I am looking to do something similar in my wagen. Any tips? Things to watch out for?

 

I think he blew his $400 budget.

 

Budgets are merely little white lies we tell ourself when deep, deep down, we know ourselves better than that.