05-08 Factory monsoon sub, should I get?

[bigdoug]

So, I'm at the junkyard, and I've been to quite a few and seen dozens of vibes, and I finally see something I haven't seen any any of the previous ones. A stock Monsoon subwoofer.

Should I pick it up? The guy at the counter said it would be $35-40, quite a bit but cheaper than what I see on ebay ($50-over $100, JUST for the woofer and box, not the panel). But, still a decent chunk of money to throw down for something I might not like.
The Pros: I get a monsoon sub.
The Cons: It's out of a 05, so the connector is different, but not hard to rewire.
Plus, the sticker on the sound box said 2 x 50w. 50 watts seems insanely weak for a subwoofer.
And this thread says it won't work, although I'm not sure HOW it didn't work... maybe the different connectors, which is easy to just rewire if you mind which wire is which.

Some options:
A) I get the factory subwoofer and put a more powerful 6.5" sub into it. Or, I do something like this and upgrade it to an 8". My mother has a home stereo with an 8" which is quite powerful, but it's also in a wood box with a proper vent. This is in a plastic box with no vent.

B) Build my own box. Similar to this idea. I've done DIY stuff before but this would be a hell of a project, and I've never built sub boxes before so I don't know if I'd get the size of the enclosure right.

I have also considered getting a low profile under seat type subwoofer.

[nixternal]

I would think for that box to work in other Vibes, you would also need that rear panel for the Monsoon system. I have the Monsoon system in my 05 GT. If you do decide on getting it (worse would be you pay less & resell it on Ebay and make a few bucks), things I would do to make the box way better than the actual garbage that it is.... Sound proof the entire exterior of that box, and then fill it with acoustic fluffy stuff. I did that to mine and even with the stock sub, it sounded a 1,000 times better. Wasn't muddy & got rid of vibrations in the rear. Since upgraded the stock sub to a Kicker 6.5" sub. WHOA!

[vibrologist]

The original subwoofer has a bolt that screws in from the back of the housing. No aftermarket subwoofer has that threaded hole. If you use the factory subwoofer i suggest you open teh box and add a layer of quilt liner to kill standing sound waves. Also insulate around the subwoofer on the outside. BTW the original moon and tunes package has an amp under the passenger seat. You need that to power the subwoofer.

Also look at this for an alternate approach:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=43972&p=504275&hil ... de#p504271

All the best!

[jayoldschool]

I've still never found a definitive answer for adding the sub on to a 2004 M+T car. It would be nice to get this sorted out, there are many 05-up Vibes in the yards now and the sub and panel can be had for cheap.

[bigdoug]

Well I have mentioned that I do have the stock sub under the passenger seat (not sure if it works but if it didn't I think my speakers wouldn't work either!).

Also, the $35 price is for both the sub and the panel. $20 for the sub alone, but yea, I'd need the panel.

I just question how much bass you can really get out of a 6.5" speaker? CAN you get at least some bass out of one?

I know one of the things I love even about the stock speakers is that if I get a real bassy EDM song in my car with a good thump I can even feel the thump from the rear door speakers, which is why I'd want to put a set of good powerful speakers in those rear doors sometime.

[nixternal]

You can get really muddy bass out of the stock sub. Surprisingly, the Kicker 6.5" sub and the JL Audio 6.5" sub on Crutchfield, sound amazing. Now you aren't going to be bumping the neighbors windows & driving them nuts, but inside the car you will enjoy it. My favorite sound setups have always been either 2x 6.5" or 2x 8" subs or a single 10" sub, though I listen to mostly rock, country, and jazz, and a nice, tight, punchy sub is what the doctor ordered. Honestly, if you listen to EDM, then you might enjoy that muddy bass response from the stock sub, I know my daughter does.

[bigdoug]

Would like to know what "Muddy" bass is. I actually don't know what that term means.

[SlammedNiss]

Would like to know what "Muddy" bass is. I actually don't know what that term means.

Sloppy. not very defined.

[jayoldschool]

Ok, since we can't find a definitive answer on adding the 05-up sub to an 03/94 Tunes car, how about driving the factory sub from a small two channel amp? I already have an aftermarket HU installed, and have pre-outs available.

[vibrologist]

Well I have mentioned that I do have the stock sub under the passenger seat

I did not know there was a sub under the passenger seat available. I do know that M&T has an amplifier under the passenger seat.

Muddy bass is undefined low fidelity bass rendition. That "muddy sound' comes from standing sound waves and the vibration of panels and metal near the sub woofer. That is why I and others (Derf) have insulated the area and placed a layer of quilt batting inside the sub. All of a sudden this low rated original sub woofer delivers well defined bass. I don't know why anyone would hesitate adding this when an original sub and panel becomes available for less than $50.00. Just my humble opinion.

[bigdoug]

When I said Sub I meant Amp up there. There is no sub under the passenger seats, although I guess you could put one of those thin profile ones there.

Here's something I discovered while picking up the speaker. Take a look at the differences between the 05 with the sub (red), and my own sub-less car (gray), which I thought originally had a sub that may have been removed because I have a sunroof, tweeters, and amp under the seat, as well as the plug for the sub. Red circles show differences that I noticed.

sidepanel.jpg (61.71 KiB) Viewed 6874 times

doorholes.jpg (67.01 KiB) Viewed 6874 times

wheelwell.jpg (45.44 KiB) Viewed 6874 times

So obviously there's mounting hardware my car does not have.

The two at the top along the quarter panel would be the easiest. Drill holes, and I can easily reach behind to thread nuts on bolts. Door bracket is harder, because there's no way to get into the door edge cavity... I'd have to just use a steel screw or something.

The brackets on the wheel well stump me. I could easily just get brackets from a hardware store that might work, but I would rather not drill holes through the wheel well that could let in corrosion and water later on. I could possibly weld on brackets if i could find someone willing to weld them on, I guess.

Thoughts?

[jayoldschool]

Just bend up a couple of pieces of sheet metal, and use panel bonding adhesive. Drop by any body shop, they'll stick them on for you.

[Owim]

I think the bass in my 09 vibe sounds pretty nice with the monsoon system. The car has alot of road noise. Maybe I'm not very good at telling the difference between good sound system and a bad one. But I think it's pretty neat

[bigdoug]

Just bend up a couple of pieces of sheet metal, and use panel bonding adhesive. Drop by any body shop, they'll stick them on for you.

I hope so. Looking up that panel adhesive, it's $40 for a small bottle. I had also considered JB weld but wasn't sure how well it would stay on.

An idea I had was to run very long threaded bolts/rods from the inside panel the speaker is attached to and to where the brackets would normally be. Or, screw pieces of wood from that panel to where the brackets would be, and then attach the bottom of the speaker to the wood beams.

Speaking of which, maybe I should go back to that car and try to cut those brackets off. You guys think I'd be able to do that? They don't allow power tools that release sparks (like angle grinders and cutting wheels) into the yard, but drills are okay.

[bigdoug]

Anyone ever modify the 09-10 stock subwoofer? Stock it seems to be 8", I'm wondering if you could do similar to what the other guy did with the first gen subwoofer box, where he converted it to 8". I am wondering if you can convert it to 10" and stick it in a first gen vibe.

I found one in a junkyard. The panel off the 09 won't work with the first gen anyway, it's too tall and a bit short. But I'd have to cut a hole in my cargo panel for it anyway. From what I can tell, with some mods you might be able to make the sub box work with the older car. The thing is, it would require cutting out an interior panel, this panel, which looks spot welded on:

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Here's a picture of the second gen box with a circle that's 10.5" in diameter, which is about as big as I'd say most 10" subs are. Never mind the rocks, it was quite windy. Seems to fit. Of course there would be a sub mounting ring underneath that. Might be something worth giving a try.

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