New NB Owner Needs Head Unit Advice

[WWHSTD]

Howdy, I am 1 week into my NB and loving it but I want to put in a different head unit so I oan have real ipod control and XM. I went to Best Buy and they said that with the monsoon system having 8 speakers I would lose 4 speakers by switching head units. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I want to keep all 8 speakers.

[warren]

i don't have the monsoon system.

might be worth a call to crutchfield to see if the explanation you heard at BB is the real deal.

1-800-955-9091

btw, welcome to the .org!

Warren

[O 16581 72452 5]

It can be done, but it's kind of tricky. The speakers have to be ran in a series. You can't just bridge one channel in to two speakers by running the positive to the positives and the negatives to the negatives. You have to run the positive from the head unit to the positive of the first speaker, from the negative of that speaker to the positive of the next speaker, then the negative of that speaker back to the negative on the head unit.

You'll blow speakers or channels doing it wrong. I have no idea how a monsoon system is, it may already be in a series? I doubt it has 8 channels, but i'm far from an expert.

[macdave]

Just switch the radios, the monsoon amp runs off front and rear speaker level outputs. It will work the same a the stock radio. Just get a regular VW harness adapter or a Blaupunkt radio, they have the VW plugs already on the radio. Do not cut or modify the factory wiring.

Run away fast from Best Buy they have destroyed many cars cutting up their wiring harnesses.

[sean_fabanich]

im not sure running speakers in series is a very good idea. most headunits are designed to push wattage at just 4 ohms.

im pretty sure the monsoon system uses a different impedance value for there speakers, but the only way you could run them in series and bypass teh monsoon amp would be if they were 2 ohm speakers. even then it wouldnt sound nearly as good as the original set up.

if you get a headunit make sure you can integrate the monsoon amp...otherwise you wasted money on your monsoon system. someone suggest calling crutchfield...and thats just what i would do.

they must have some special integration harness...other wise youd be sending an amplified signal from the radio...to the amp...which in time would have to ruin the amp or blow the speakers.

if they do make the integration wiring harness, i strongly suggest pioneer, alpine, or kenwood. and definetly look into get a model that has a built in eq, high and low pass filters, and a multiple line display for easier ipod searching. i always suggest time corrrection, but its a hard feature to find built in..im pretty sure only kenwood offers one of those.

good luck

[dmbluebeetle]

The OEM radio only has 4 channels out the back of it. It is not until the audio sound gets to the Monsoon amp that it is split into 8 channels coming out of the amp to the speakers.

The wires are twisted pairs and none go to ground.

The NB uses 4-4 Ohm speakers (2midrange/2tweeters) and 4-2 Ohm speakers (2full range/2subwoofers).

As long as you get a 4 channel radio everything should still work ok.

[sean_fabanich]

in response to dmbluebeetle:

does the original in dash monsoon radio have an onboard amplifier?

i cant imagine it would...it would probably have a low wattage output signal to the amp in the rear bumper...

when you swap to an aftermarket radio that has an internal amp...youd be sending a 15-20 watt signal into the monsoon amp...wouldnt that eventually burn up the amp?

just wonderin?

[dmbluebeetle]

Yes, the NB radios have regular audio output chips just like a normal radio. You will find the heatsink for them on the left side of the radio. If you use a volt meter and probe the speaker plug you will find about a 7 volt reading with the volume turned down to MIN. Normal signal output is 6-8 volts amplitude using an oscilloscope. The Amp is protected by a coupling capacitor on the speaker imputs inside the amp so that the audio signal voltage is stepped down as needed inside. The standard audio output stage was 4*20W

Delphi used the same circuit board in the Passat/Jetta/Golf radio and the NB radio. The only difference is the outer case and front bezel. The dealer can turn on or off the "Monsoon" by entering a code into the radio with a VAG 1552 Tester.

I really miss working on them.

[sean_fabanich]

good stuff man,

kinda odd thou....vw actually made something easier than harder...haha