Concert sound III - how many speakers and what sizes

[Dennis Edwin Fothergill]

thank you for that, thats good to know! since im not a huge audio nut, but i value the rear speakers doing something, that may be something to try down the road lol. But do you know for sure if the rear 2 on the regal is processed normally like the doors on park avenue?

yes the Monsoon system is strictly stereo but the amps will plug right in and all you need is an upgrade in your 6x9's to get good sound!

 

[abudjak]

Replying again just to correct some info! The factory speakers that were in there were actually 4ohm speakers. I'll attach an image below. This one has the amp and 9 speaker system, so perhaps they just differed year to year.

View attachment 36964

Wow, I really need to keep a Closer eye on my conversations sometimes, lol...
Almost a year later...
Good info Taxi, you might be right about different years. All the documentation I've come across said that those were 10 ohm, but I've honestly never had my trunk empty enough to get my head under the back dash and actually look. I do know that the amp changes slightly from different years (been doing a lot of research on this system since we last spoke here), 97 and 98 were each unique, 99-04(ish) were another, and 05+ was yet another. And I'm told that the 05 6x9's and amp were far better sound than the older stuff. Main stage were fine (tho it's a very common recommendation to replace the center dash speaker with one taken from a back door, as they won't be sun rotted), but the newer 6x9's sound better (possibly the lower impedance?) And the crossover settings in the DSP are much better with the 2005 amp. Less mid bass and vocal coming through the subs, and a much deeper frequency response, which I know from mine is badly needed. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to dig up the newer generation parts yet, so I'm going based on forum information on this one.
I've found with a little experimentation over the last year or so that running with the audio settings on C&W makes for the best sound on the factory head unit, by far. Running manual with just the Bass and treble dials doesn't get nearly the same sound at either end of the frequency scale as using that particular automatic one... Just a tip for those still using the factory head unit.
Also, I've found that with this setup, I can push the volume to nearly Max with little to no clipping, as long as the music isn't really bass heavy. I'd say between 75 and 85% volume, sometimes more. The factory amplifier is very well matched with the original speakers, and even approaching maximum output, the sound is still very clean.

One thing that I'm messing with right now is making an older Pioneer double din touch screen bt head unit work in the car. I've definitely run into the clearance issues mentioned before, there is material that needs to be removed (very carefully because the defrost ducting is right behind it and very soft and easy to damage) in order for the deck to sit fully into the dash and be able to put the dash face panel back on, lol. Plus space back there for extra modules like the steering wheel control box is extremely limited, lol.
I've got the new head unit working with the amplifier, however I've noticed that the new deck distorts way sooner than the factory unit. Factory deck is definitely much cleaner and almost louder than the aftermarket. Possibly the difference is power output of the deck itself, but I'm also curious, and others with more experience with the cs3 system might know, the one thing that I can't do anything with between the deck and amp is the digital data link signal line. Does that lack of digital signal somehow affect the DSP? I only had the new deck hooked up briefly just to test function and sound, so I didn't do a whole bunch of testing, but I'm just curious if using the aftermarket deck will still allow the DSP to function or not?

 

[HotZ28]

This thread is 4-yrs old & the OP (BGFM) has not been around here since 2-14-23. I hope she was not beamed back to Mars, or snowed in Wisconsin. Either way, we miss her & hope she is doing well!

 

[Dennis Edwin Fothergill]

The concert sound III system has 2 6x9's on the rear deck run as subwoofers, meaning they only get ~150hz and down in the sound field.
The Rear door speakers are 5 1/4" round and get ~150-15000hz.
The front door speakers are 5 1/4" round and get ~150-7500hz.
The front door tweeters are 1.5" round and get ~6000-20000hz.
The center channel speaker is a 3.5" round and gets ~2000-20000hz.

All the different speakers are active crossover type, meaning the amplifier runs the crossovers digitally inside with sound processing. The amplifier takes a standard 4 channel input(Front/Rear Left/Right) and uses it' built in digital sound processor, then outputs it on the 9 channels it has.

You have 3 options when replacing the deck.
1. Integrate with the factory amplifier. It is a 20WRMSx9 unit, meaning it has more power than any deck you will put in, and 9 channels output. Crutchfield and others sell integration harnesses so all you have to do is plug in at the front and it handles all the integration required.

2. Run your new aftermarket deck with an amplifier bypass. You will be required to fabricate passive impedance matching and crossover networks so you can run all the speakers. The impedance or ohms, is the load the amplifier sees. Aftermarket decks can run on a 4ohm load, but will shut down if you drop to 2 ohms. The power is halved if you go up to 8 ohms. It is way more complicated than this, but this is the easy way to explain it.
Basically you would run the front door 2 speakers through a passive crossover device. The center channel would have to be tied in to one door or the other, also through the device.
The rear doors and rear deck speakers would have to be tied together, also through a passive device.
Like this: Amazon.com: PCZXO - 2-Way Passive Car Audio 12dB/octave Crossovers Compatible with All Car Audio Component Systems. Made by Alphasonik, Sold in Pairs.: Cell Phones & Accessories
You would need 1 per set of speakers tied together.
Since you asked about replacing speakers, a new component front set comes with the passive device in the box.
The rears could be run full range, with no crossover network, but you would need to wire them all in series, dropping the impedance to 8 ohms and lowering output from the deck.
If you choose this version, do component fronts, coaxial rears, and delete the center channel.

3. Run new aftermarket amplifiers with digital crossovers. Many companies sell smaller 25x4 amplifiers. You can usually pick them up new for $200 from solid manufacturers, or used at pawn shops for $50. Run 2 of them and you can then amp each independent speaker and dial in it's digital crossover.
This is obviously the most labor and most in parts.

Personally option 1 is more than enough unless you have blown speakers. Now the factory speakers are just paper garbage, but if they work, I wouldn't mess with them until you need to.
If a significant number are blown I would do option 2.
If you are going to add real subwoofers down the line option 3.

 

[Dennis Edwin Fothergill]

the rear door speakers are not 5 1/4 inch, they are the smaller ones!