adding an equalizer to a passat

Hi all, I have a 2002 Passat with the Monsoon sound system. It is definately loud with plenty of bass but the highs need some work.

Has anyone added an equalizer to your Passat? If so, what brand and model? I HATE to do it but the shrill sound of the highs just kills it for me.

??

ALSO: Does anyone know if there is a Line In to the system? I am using a cassette tape adaptor (yuk) to get my MP3 player to play through the factory radio.

Thanks. Rich

Reply to
Rich
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Have you tried turning down the treble knob a tad?

-- Mike Smith

Reply to
Mike Smith

Yup. I have a bass/mid/high selection. I've tried the high but it isn't at the right frequency range to be very helpful. The best I can do is tune the fader slightly to the rear, then at least some of it is absorbed.

I've also tried the mid but that is too low to have any affect on the shrill sound.

: (

Reply to
Rich

I've done it with a Jetta... put it in the cubby above the stereo, but I also put a new MP3-playing stereo in there too and added back-shelf speakers.

Not sure about the Monsoon system. I've heard there's an embedded amp in the trunk or under the passenger seat or something. I know in the Jetta the speakers are all on their own plug that comes out of the back of the stereo as 4 twisted pairs of wires. Presumably you'd just cut into those and loop them through the EQ. My stereo has line-outs, so I just loop those to the line-in's on the equalizer.

My EQ is a (cheap) Pyramid 705CD:

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People often deride Pyramid, but I can't complain. I've had it for 5 years and it does its job. It has line and speaker level inputs, a front jack for external input, VU meter that, despite looking like eye-candy, is actually a pretty good indicator of whether you're overdriving the inputs, fader, internal volume control (good if you've got a mix of EQ'd and non-EQ'd speakers and you want to balance their output levels), and it's full-height, so it fits nicely in the radio-cubby (I cut the front trim from the rest of the cubby insert and it makes a near-perfect fit "collar" for the equalizer, so it looks great in the dash.) Only thing is I have to turn on both the radio and the equalizer when I want to listen to something and remember to turn them both off again afterward. I suppose I could have done something fancy with the radio's "power antenna" lead and a relay, but frankly I'm just too lazy. It also lets me just turn on the equalizer when I am plugging in an external source. The speaker-in's also loop through to the speaker-outs when the power switch is in the "off" position, if you need that function.

...Sean.

Reply to
CheetoDust

HHmmm. I wonder if I should get a service manual and check. I would be happy to set the EQ and hide it (I don't want to change the factory look). The highs, just below the very high end are too bright. An EQ would fix that. There is a large caged box on the passenger side of the rear deck. I thought maybe it was a sub woofer.

Thanks for answering with this info. I appreciate it. I wonder if it is the frequency response of the tweeters. Maybe new (diferent) tweeters would sound better(?)

Well, I'll loook into further. The amp and bas sound so good, I hate suffering through the highs. I actually am wearing my Sony headphones in the car ! Ugh.

Thanks again. Rich

Reply to
Rich

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