CALL911

My BOSE system in my 95 Z sounds awesome. I have the Monsoon system in my Formula in my sig, and its system doesn't even come close to the quality of my BOSE. Both systems are 100% factory.

My question is, which year/system was the best or most powerful for the F-bodies? I'm assuming its a 4th Gen, but I could be wrong.

CALL911

Uhh.... I was asking which was the best, not how to mod my Monsoon.

fredmr39

uhhh.........wtf I didn't post that here.......but that somehow appeared as my last 3 posts on threads -- I have no idea what happened, and I already responded to this message:

97+ with the Monsoon are all identical -- the 200W system is identical to the 500W system they later advertised it as. If you wanted to choose the one with the most power, it would be the Pontiac version of the Monsoon, and their 10 speaker setup (6 speaker locations) - would that make it "the best"?? I guess it depends on who you're asking...you like the '95s better, so that would make it the best to you. The Monsoon system isn't that bad - the worst 2 things about it are the Delco HU distortion and the cheap build quality of the speakers.

CALL911

My Formula has the 10 speaker monsoon, and trust me when I say that everyone who heard the difference between the two would unanimously say that my BOSE in my 95 sounds better and is more powerfull.

valter

Long time ago, when they both worked, I liked '96 Bose more then '97 Monsoon. Right now I have all rights to say, they were both equally a total crap.

CALL911

When I first bought my Z, I had intentions to upgrade the stereo system in it. But then after I cranked up the factory system for the first time, I never even thought about changing out a thing! Out of all the cars I have heard the stock stereo's in (and it has been a lot since a long time ago I worked for a car dealership), my Z still has the best.

I don't know if it was the most powerfull, or best sounding out of the factory F-bodies or not. I have heard the stock stereo in my now sold 94 Formula (non BOSE), and it sucked, and I have heard half a dozen Monsoon systems including my 10 speaker Monsoon in my 98, and non of them seem to come close to the quality and power of my 95 factory BOSE.

Does anyone know which year actually had the most powerfull system?

valter

I believe, all years Bose's and Monsoon's had a very close power ratings. I wouldn't be concerned too much with Bose or Monsoon "power", as these systems are not even capable of producing clean watts of the power they are rated for, so this would be an imaginary, spec's war. They begin to distort pretty bad very quickly with volume a bit over a half. You can easily check this with a scope. I agree, that stock systems on a majority of other cars are absolute crap, hands down.
Otherwise, stock to stock, Bose sounded better

fredmr39

Monsoon systems had more power I think - based on logic and specs.....but that doesn't mean they sounded the loudest. Those sail panel woofers take up a lot of power....I would imagine that the Firebird system, between the Delco HU powering 4 tweeters and the Monsoon amp powering the woofer components and the sails that it would technically have more power. According to general specs they give, that seems to be the case as well.....but we all know thos specs are

The Delco HU in Monsoon systems is an absolute POS - causing almost all of the distortion (you can scope after HU swap). From what I understand, the Bose system was a lot better in that area.....that could be part of the reason it sounds so much cleaner to you, and when something is played cleanly and more precise - you do not need as much power to produce the same amount of sound. Or maybe you Monsoon speakers are just crapping out.......who knows.

fredmr39

Same here in the beginning, when I wanted my money in performance first. Spent money on HU, amp/sub and was happy. It mostly depends on the previous owner...mine was owned by a cop as a weekend/summer car, and I imagine he didn't necessarily crank the music entirely because everything sounds and looks very clean compared to other f-bods I have worked on. Also...the sooner you get that Delco HU out of there the less distortion your speakers will see, though the cheap materials used will still give out eventually.

Coasterkid

My vote goes to the monsoon.My daily driver (2000 Camaro) has the monsoon and my one month a weekend car (96 Z) has the bose. I think the bose has a better low end to it, but good god the high end sounds like complete sh#%...... I feel the monsoon system is more balanced to the acoustics of the car when compared to the bose system, since they have 3 speakers more. That rear midrange in the back of the bose system just sucks, and actually the 2 mids in the monsoon are probably the best sounding of the speakers. It is no secret that monsoons have distortion out the butt, but it still is one of the better sounding factory stereos out there. The system had pontential to be simply suppurb if they used way better speakers, and if they eliminated the distortion. I will have to say there are certain songs that sound simply amazing on the monsoon, and others that don't. That is my number one complaint!

CALL911

I'm not trying to say I know for a fact my BOSE in my 95Z is the best, but again, it does sound superior both low and way up in the volume than the 10 speaker Monsoon does that I have in my Formula. For those that have heard one but not the other you can't really claim "this one is better", as just hearing either of them, you get the notion that it is a great stereo system.

Does anyone have the actaul facts about the stereo systems throughout the 4 gen F-bodies?

Coasterkid

There is a posibility that if I replaced every single speaker in my Bose 96 my mind might change. But I doubt it. The fact that each speaker in the bose system is fed by its own "amp" might make the bose sound better but I just perosnally don't think that the bose sounds as good. But than again I'm the type of person that listens to the stereo while I drive, and at a pretty loud volume, but I don't need 2 12" subs in the back to get my turned on..... What sounds good to one person sounds like crap to another.

97QuasarBlue3.8

I agree...Bose was the best system in the Camaro. The monsoon was just loud and could produce some bass from the two 6" sail panel woofers, but Bose had refined quality and that classic Bose bass sound.

One thing I noticed about the Monsoons was that about after 5-7 years of use and being inside the car -- hot, cold, humid, dry, parked inside/outside...the paper speakers started breaking down pretty badly and the sound quality degraded.

CALL911

Well, my BOSE in my 95 Z is 12 years old and counting, and it still thumps as loud and as crystal clear as it did when I got it.