Vibe Upgrade Monsoon Audio system to Hurricane DIY

[Derf]

10/30/15 The Kenwood KDC-BT952HD is having issues with the HD FM tuner, firmware update did not fix... swapped out for another unit.

1st Part, Overview of steps to add sound deadening:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xcc4HZO7wE"
Under the spare tire, I did spots, because the car had undercoating. In reality the whole surface should have been covered with at least one continuous layer. Make sure you use foam, double sided tape, and the Acousta stuff listed below to pad cavities, and isolate plastic and body panels. The key to getting rid of rattles is isolating or immobilizing body panels so they don't vibrate against each other. When you put the body panels back on, make sure to check the fit, if they are loose, use the foam padding listed below to "Shim" the panels to get rid of gaps.
(Update 03/14/13; after testing found road noise still coming in from hatch area, determined I needed to go a slightly different route, ordered some Luxury Liner Pro to put over my base layer):
Here is a link to a decent article with an overview on how to add sound deadening:
http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/"
Here is a link to the encapsulated foam, I am trying over top of the base sound deadening:
http://store.secondskinaudio.com/why-second-skin/"
And if you mess up, or want to start from scratch, how to remove sound deadening:
http://www.kiwimotoring.com/blog/post/p ... -deadening"

2nd Part, How to correct the issues with the factory GM Sub Box:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XddO7zKtN6k"
Filling the internal space of the woofer box with Acousta Stuff breaks up the standing sound waves in the box keeping it from "buzzing". Do not over pack, leave the Acousta Stuff fluffed. Use foam padding and Acousta stuff outside the box to keep the body and plastic panels from vibrating against the woofer box. You don't need a lot of sound deadening material on the box, its the careful placement of items outside the box and keeping things "tight" that reduces the rattles, buzzes, and shakes.



3rd Part, Overview of radio and speaker replacement:
Good reference before starting your own upgrade. Their are many threads on this site that cover the same, wanted to put up a video to show more detail.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOGgu6NbOnA"

vibe_door_speaker.jpg (20.95 KiB) Viewed 18787 times

4th Part, Stock GM 200 watt amp rewiring detail:
Link shows model of amp, connectors, and how wiring was changed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_VJsQw_ywc"
Kept Monsoon sub and factory Amp. I am running four door speakers off head unit. Ran new 16 gauge speaker wires from head unit to front seat amp location. Then took the speaker wires off the factory amp and attached them to new 16 gauge wires. I skipped running new wires to the doors since the wiring boots in the doors were to small to push new wires through. I twisted the wires to reduce noise. Used 16 gauge as the stock OEM head unit wiring was 20 or 22 gauge and not suitable for powering speakers. I used the RCA sub outputs on my head unit to feed the factory amp rear speaker inputs. After hooking the system up to the stock amp, you will have to adjust your head unit sub output level and crossover settings. After this mod I ran the bass all the way up,.. no distortion! I am unsure if I reached the maximum output of the OEM amp, or if the filter cap, Acousta stuff, and other corrective measures made the stock sub "behave"

Amp after I changed the wiring around on the stock plugs.


AMP pins on the 200w amp, runs four door speakers, 2 tweeters, and sub box:


Things discovered:
-Stock speakers are 2 ohm
-Front speakers are mid-range with separate tweeter on door, amp sends separate mid and tweeter lines from Front Right / Left channels
-Rear doors are mid-range with integrated whizzer cone, again not full range
-Sub is fed from Rear Right / Left Head Unit audio, amp has sub crossover point predetermined (can not adjust)
-OEM Amp is "200" watts, but is 2 ohm and upon tearing down is as cheap as possible, filter caps are small, and somewhat undersized for being essentially an 8x25 amp
-Amp uses line level input (think RCA jacks on your home stereo) so any line level source can feed it (In theory you could use an iPod to supply audio directly to the stock AMP !), appears to be 3v line level feed
-All door speakers are paper (one was already starting to fail), the tweeters are Mylar, and the 6.5" sub is poly/fiber blend with rubber surround, the sub is the best built OEM speaker in the car.
-Found a "pin" on the amp connector feeding the driver rear speaker was not in all the way (possibly more in 2005, or just oversight on one unit?)
-Sub is in a plastic box, which explains the constant buzzing and muddy bass (have fix for this, see above)
-Their is no sound deadening in the doors or back hatch, which creates muddy sound
-OEM Amp is 8 channel
..Two front highs for tweeter, preset crossover, unable to adjust
..Two front lows for door woofer preset crossover, unable to adjust
..Two rear door, Full Range!!
..Two sub outputs, preset crossover, unable to adjust, fed from Rear Right / Left input audio.

Items used:
Head unit Kenwood KDC-BT952HD (because it has a 7 way EQ, and other features to help tune audio to car, plus it has bells and whistles )
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113BT952HD ... ml?tp=5684"

Front Speaker component system Polk Audio DXi6500 6-1/2" (got them on sale for $134):
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DXI6500 ... tml?tp=106"
Although Cruthfield sent adapting plates for the speakers, the Polk supplied adapters worked a lot better.
Rear Speakers Polk Audio DXi650 (got on sale $74)
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DXI650/ ... html?tp=95"

Acousta Stuff used to fix resonance and bad "VIBEraitons" in the plastic woofer box:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=260-317"

Sound deadening material used in the doors and back hatch and rear wheel wheels, more is better, but careful placement of foam padding is best!
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=268-204"
and spray for inside doors (very low odor, water based and dries fast)
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=268-250"
and standing wave dissipation pads for behind front door speakers:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=268-242"
Used the following over top the base sound dampening layer on some areas:
http://store.secondskinaudio.com/luxury-liner-pro/"

Filter cap used in Head unit and Factory Amp power:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... r=020-1068"
How to wire it up:
http://www.stompaudio.com/index.php?mai ... page&id=16"
I used the axial version, because it provides better separation of the + and - wires and once soldered is very easy to cover conductors with good electrical tape. These caps are polarity dependent, so do not hook them up backwards.


Looking for any input on anyone that has upgraded their radio system. I did it because I could not stand the "muddy" audio and the constant buzzing of the bass notes.

Attached, wiring pinouts for amp harness located under the front passenger seat.

[vibolista]

Great project Derf... have some questions. Are you going to replace the original paper door speakers hopefully?

What are you planning to use if you do replace the door speakers?

And you're going to leave the OEM amp under the seat to run the Sub, but install a new head unit and let it run the new door speakers... so it will be no problem to connect to OEM amp even though you will probably be running a more normal 4 ohm speaker system?

This 2 ohm figure has been the reason that I haven't replaced the door speakers and really haven't looked into it much. Is it relevant at all?

I know the door speakers are poor at best, so a new set of good quality speakers should really improve the sound in the Vibe cabin. Very interested in your project process and results.

[Derf]

Great project Derf... have some questions. Are you going to replace the original paper door speakers
- Yes, will add shopping list to original posting when project is complete

What are you planning to use if you do replace the door speakers
- I will use 4 Ohm speakers to match the Head unit (bypassing amp, Head Unit direct to speakers, I did not want to mess with the amps built in crossover, which is factory set and can not be changed):
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DXI6500 ... tml?tp=106" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(Will advise how they fit once installed, Crutchfield is pretty good about getting the correct install kit)

And you're going to leave the OEM amp under the seat to run the Sub, but install a new head unit and let it run the new door speakers... so it will be no problem to connect to OEM amp even though you will probably be running a more normal 4 ohm speaker system?
- Correct, the amp will only power the subs, the head unit will power the other 4 speakers. Since the head unit and speakers are 4 ohm no issues, and the amp will continue to feed the 2 ohm sub.

This 2 ohm figure has been the reason that I haven't replaced the door speakers and really haven't looked into it much. Is it relevant at all?
- While researching the upgrade Crutchfield had a deal on 2 ohm speakers, they are the Infinity series, which I have used before with good success, they are "brighter", more pronounced highs than other speakers, but a good match for the Vibe, if you are keeping the Sub.
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1086030CS/ ... tml?tp=106" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I know the door speakers are poor at best, so a new set of good quality speakers should really improve the sound in the Vibe cabin. Very interested in your project process and results.
- I am really disappointed in the door speakers, for adding a "tunes" package to a vehicle they are no better than stock, and in may opinion a poorly designed system, the door speakers appear incapable of producing sound below 250hz, they rely on the sub for all bass.

[vibolista]

Cool. Make sure you take pictures of the project as it goes along. Liking those Polk Audios... what would happen if you installed the Polks using the OEM head unit that currently runs 2 ohm speakers?

Have you chosen a head unit yet? What kind of fix are you thinking about for the woofer enclosure?

Will keep watching this thread for updates!

[Derf]

System is fully installed, the factory amp and sub were able to work fine with the new head unit. Fed factory amp off head unit sub RCA outputs. System now "Rocks" Will post build video and parts list in main message above. If your home stereo is considered a 10, then I would say the vibe started as a high 4, and is now at a high 8. The only limiting factors are speaker placement, budget for sound deadening material, and the hollow metal echo chamber that are car doors, otherwise everything went very well.

[vibolista]

Very encouraging to hear this. Monsoon is more like a distorted rain shower, so I may try this now that I've seen someone else successfully change the head unit and speakers... and hooked it all up with the "sub" amplifier. Need to see how that Kenwood looks in your dash!!

[Derf]

Part two of three uploaded. Third video, pending upload, will overview door speaker installation, head unit, and wiring.

[vibolista]

Great write up and info... the video will be a lot of help. Thanks for doing all this and listing everything!!!

[REN69]

awesome thread man, gives me a lot of ideas and tells me mine is not going to be easy, probably the most challenging install yet for me. (I'm used to quick installs on my toyotas lol)

I have the same system, minus the sub... quick question, if I were to run speakers wiring like you did, could I run an 8" sub (cheap Jensen tube) from the OEM amp? what do you think I'd have to do to run it? again mine does not have the sub, only the amp, I'm assuming they used the same amp so chances are... the wire is there for the OEM sub, just not installed.

could you take a picture of the amp and the connectors from it?

[Derf]

As long as you have the same amp it should work. Your JENSEN tube is likely 4 ohm, the stock amp is 2 Ohm, so overloading the amp is not an issue, but the tube may be quieter than if attached to a 4 ohm amp. As for wiring, the wiring harness in your vibe may already have the woofer wires run to the back passenger panel. They would be in a 4 wire harness inside and above the removable trim panel used to access the bulbs for the tail lights. I will check on the exact wiring color at the plug. I have posted pics of the amplifier in the original thread above.

[krieg]

Hey, this is a great write up, gave me a ton of insight into the audio in this car. I have one quick question, since the amp operates at line-level, since the line level inputs are already at the factory stereo location, could I use rca to 2-wire plugs for all 4 channels and keep all speakers running off factory amp?

[Derf]

Depending on your head unit settings, it is possible. For mine I used the sub out RCA jacks to feed the rear factory amp audio channels, which powers the stock sub. So long as your head unit can use both the RCA and speaker outputs at the same time, should work. Some have reported a thump or click when powering on or of their head unit with the factory amp feed from aftermarket head unit, appears to vary by head unit, so you may want to try the setup before making it permanent. If it works, then you have up to 8 more audio channels, albeit 2 ohm. If you chose to use the channels from the factory amp, note they have a factory set crossover for the tweeter, front door, and sub. The only speakers outputs that are full range are the rear doors.

[808 Vibes]

Is THAT what that is under the seat? Shooooot...I thought it was the ECM.
Did I ever tell you that you have the BEST color?!

[shanghei]

Thanks for the links and pics, I just received my subwoofer panel and subwoofer enclosure, hopefully it all fits in an 03.

[keko]

Post is old, but great advice! Wanted to know 3 things
1: after installing F & R door speakers, how were the wires ran? from HU to amp (connecting wire going to and going out of amp, bypassing amp) then speakers?
2: the factory bass, you ran RCA from HU to amp and just the amp to bass. Where did you connect + and - RCA wires to?
3: Did you connect all the wires going out of amp just to the bass, or just the bass wires going out of amp to bass?

Asking because its a great idea and I wish to try.

[Derf]

1: after installing F & R door speakers, how were the wires ran? from HU to amp (connecting wire going to and going out of amp, bypassing amp) then speakers?
>> From head unit to speakers, bypassing OEM amp. I ran new 16 gauge wires from head unit to the OEM amp location then tied into the wire harness going to the doors. The Vibe's door weather boots and access looked limited, so I used the stock wire. In the original past is an excel file with the wire color codes. As mentioned in the main posting, the GM 285 Watt sound system uses funny math, most aftermarket head units can provide the same power to the door speakers as the OEM amp. Plus going head unit to door bypasses all the filtering in the OEM amp.

2: the factory bass, you ran RCA from HU to amp and just the amp to bass. Where did you connect + and - RCA wires to?
>>RCA to OEM amp. You can either run full range or Sub RCA outputs to the OEM amp. The Sub output is internally filtered by the OEM amp keeping audio below 200 Hz (Guess, need to meter to determine exact OEM cutoff) You can set your head units Sub crossover to a lower frequency. In my case I either leave the sub output full range, or set to 150Hz depending on what I am listening to.

3: Did you connect all the wires going out of amp just to the bass, or just the bass wires going out of amp to bass?
>>Bass wires only to Bass OEM speakers. All door speakers were left detached. This reduced some of the distortion in the amp, since it only has to run 2 channels instead of 8, however any gain in power was at best small. In the OEM amp each channel is linear, unlike some amps that can be bridged to increase channel power. Make sure that when cutting wires, to cover the bare ends.

[REN69]

Quick question... what if I was to run the wires from the amp on the JVC head unit into the wires going to the amp (so technically feeding 10w or whatever from the HU to the amp) would this blow the amp or would it be ok?

[Derf]

The OEM amp would be damaged by direct connection to the head unit speaker outputs. Need an adapter between the head unit speaker outputs and amp inputs, such as:
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_127SOEM4/P ... ml?tp=3486" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This converts the high power of the head unit into a low level that the amp can use. With the converter you have the following Head unit > Adapter > Amp > Speaker

In may case I rewired the system. This took more time and removing additional items from the car. My wiring path is Head Unit > Speaker, however to keep the sub working, I had to use the RCA sub outputs on my head unit and wire it into the stock OEM amp. In your case, if you are looking for a solid fix, I would use the adapter. Its quick, and has some controls on it that can help adjust the head unit to work with the amp.

[keko]

Derf, again great write up and fast direct answer!
My last question of using all output amp wires or just the bass wires, if each channel is linear means a channel can't output more than it's mean't to, but if all out put are connected wouldn't it feed all 200w to the sub?
If this is to much and would blow the sub speaker, if you get an after market 6.5" 1 ohm bass speaker, would this work?

[Derf]

My last question of using all output amp wires or just the bass wires, if each channel is linear means a channel can't output more than it's meant to, but if all out put are connected wouldn't it feed all 200w to the sub?
If this is to much and would blow the sub speaker, if you get an after market 6.5" 1 ohm bass speaker, would this work?

In theory what you have requested is possible, however I would not advise it. The design specs of the amp and sub are unknown; the OEM amp would have to be 1 ohm stable to bridge to the 2 ohm stock sub, OEM amp has filtering on several channels, would need to confirm exact power output on each channel, and don't know the max power of the 6.5" dual voice coil sub. Was not able to find any specs for the OEM equipment since most people replace rather than try to "tame" the stock system. Here is a link to an article, it may help.
http://www.bcae1.com/bridging.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
If you decide to try and succeed, I am sure many would like a detailed step by step. Sure you could buy a used aftermarket amp but that takes all the fun out of it.

[Derf]

The Kenwood KDC-BT952HD is starting to have issues, started out as an occasional failure to pickup FM radio. Start car no FM radio for few minutes or entire trip, CD and iPod audio worked. Strange but attributed it to design flaw in FM tuner. Then it would start to do it more frequently. Then one day no audio, had to perform hard reset of radio. Found firmware update for radio, applied two months ago. Seemed to make issue better, but still having issues with HD radio. Talking to others appears others have issues with Kenwood HD radio tuning. I do live in the fringe area of HD radio, no local stations, but the radio is set to automatically switch between HD and analog. Of course radio is 20 months old, out of warranty discontinued etc. So looks like will be looking for replacement. The FM tuner and Bluetooth sync were real weak points of this radio, the other features seemed to work well.

Anyone else having issues with the HD tuners in their head units?

[kaflex]

I have http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/ ... EH-X8500BH" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for a year, put in when I bought the car. Only problem is getting my older android phone (gingerbread 2.3.5) to play any type of audio through the radio, I have a phone with kitkat (4.4) that I use for playing music with. HD radio and everything works great.