'06 Vibe Monsoon Amp?

[b3617]

Hey everybody! kinda new here, so I hope this is a new topic..I just got an 06 Vibe 4-speed automatic with the 7 speaker Monsoon audio setup, and have been starting to install my stereo gear from my last car. My head unit, an Alpine from a few years ago, installed without any problems except one: the audio gain is too high.Before, in my last car, the Alpine would be at a comfortable listening volume around 10-12 and sometimes up to 18-19 with the windows down. But in the Vibe, i can't go past 5 or 6 without losing my hearing. I know that the Monsoon system is powered by it's own amp, so the question is this: Where is the Monsoon's amp located in the Vibe and can the gain be adjusted on it? If not are there any ways to work around this? Thanks in advance for the help! -b

[BlueCrush]

Welcome to GenVibe! The Vibe's amp is under the front passenger's seat. I don't recall seeing any way to adjust anything when I had it out to install sound deadening on the floor. But then again, I wasn't looking for it either.

[b3617]

Hi BlueCrush,Nice ride. Really digging what you have done to it.I took a look under the passenger seat, and exactly like you said there is an amp for the Monsoon system, and no, there are no controls for it.However, I wrote to Crutchfield.com and they came up with 2 perfect solutions. Since my Alpine is pumping out power to an amp which is pumping out even more power, the volume output is dramatically increased. To correct this, he suggested the following:"1. You can install a level converter to drop the level output from the radio down to allow a broad volume sweep on the stereo. 2. Instead of connecting the speaker wire from the radio to the adapter you can connect the RCA outputs to the factory connections. This would require splicing some RCA terminals onto the adapter harness then plugging into the front and rear RCA outputs on the radio. Either would fix the issue with #2 providing a little better sound quality but more work."I'm going to try the 2nd option considering my HU has front/rear preamp outs. I will let you know how it turns out! Thanks again and I hope this helps some other Vibe drivers out there with their aftermarket gear.-b

[Sublimewind]

Welcome to your new second home..!!Are you "ok" with splicing things like RCA cables? They can be difficult... Also, running your HU at lower volumes is NOT a bad thing.... It keep you well away from distortion, pushes things less, and give you lots of overall "headroom". You just have to adjust to the lower settings, is all.... I really don't see a problem, do you???

[b3617]

Hi Sublimewind,At first I did not really mind the lower volume numbers when I installed the Alpine HU. Just thought it was a little strange. The volume goes up from 1 to about 30 and it's limiting me to about 7 at Max.However, when I installed my MTX sub and amp into the car, the speaker just wouldn't pump anything out. When disabling the power coming out of the HU to the Monsoon system, you could tell that the sub was just waiting for the numbers to get up into those double digits. So the output to the Monsoon system needs to be controlled and taken down, otherwise a really powerful amp will need to be used to power the sub to catch up to the Monsoon. It seems like a common issue with car systems pre-installed with amplified systems like JBL, Bose, Premium, etc. And if an RCA splice will fix it, then I'm game.

[Sublimewind]

Yep, i wasn't sure if you were bypassing the stock sub or not... You could always bypass the whole amp and just run from the Alpine....

[RePo]

I've gathered that your setup looks like this:Alpine head unit with the high level speaker outputs connected to the line level inputs on the factory amp. (The only factory speaker wiring between dash and amp are line level). Then the subwoofer amp is connected to the proper line level output on the alpine HU. That would explain why the audio level increases exponentially with the volume knob, while the sub woofer only sees low volume levels (only 7 on the volume dial). I agree that the line level outputs on that HU would solve the excessive volume problem.

[Sublimewind]

What you really need is at the top of this page... http://autosound2000.com/adaptor_products.htmWhich is Navone Engineering and the only LOC (line output converter) i would ever put in a car...

[L8Apex]

I also have an '06 Vibe, I replaced the stock head unit with a high-end Kenwood unit and I'm tired of the amp-feeding-an-amp thing. I simply want to completely bypass the stock amp by just jumpering the amp connector.I was wondering if anybody had the stock amp connector pinout to save me the trouble of ohming the wires out? Thanks-