Hi everyone/anyone, I am new here and glad to have found a possible source for help. My speakers and the sub-woofer/control module all work fine! It says 2002 on the bottom so I guess I've had them since at least then. I loved them while they worked well, but when the small control pod began to malfunction I had to disconnect them. This would have been about two to three years after I got them. What happened was that the bass control on the pod began to cut sound off altogether when I tried adjusting. It also introduced a lot of noise when turned at all. Sound would cut out altogether, would get louder or softer and have a lot of static too. On occasions when I was able to finally get things adjusted to where they seemed to be just right, volume level would soon self adjust up or down or off, accompanied by static. I had to remove the speakers. Of course, by this time they were no longer being made/sold and I could fine no help anywhere. Searched the web on a whim recently and found this site and am hoping someone can help me get them up and running right again. I have no electrical skills, although I can wield a soldering iron as a result of working in stained glass for a few years. I have looked inside the pod and have no idea what to do. I have shot up the switches inside with Micro Care contact cleaner a couple of times but to no avail. I'd be glad to include some pics if they would be helpful. Sorry this is so long, but I didn't want to forget anything. Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions. Dunolde
I had Monsoon MM700 and the amp in sub was giving me problems like yours. The stereo 1/8" input connector - audio out from PC - on the sub amp was my problem. I removed the sub amp and re-soldered the 1/8" connector connections. Worked fine afterwards...
When you jiggle the audio in connector on sub does it help or cut out?
When you jiggle the audio in connector on sub does it help or cut out?
I own the Monsoon PlanarMedia 14 2.1 speaker system. I am based in Seattle. While working a Cruise Lines gig as a musician in the mid-Aughts, I was stuck on a ship going round trip from Seattle to "Shagway" Alaska for months in a small cabin and really needed a speaker system to "pump up the jams" in my shared cabin. One of our stops was Prince Rupert, BC with a tiny little retailer that offered this AMAZING Monsoon speaker system. It was a bit arduous humping this box on my shoulder, but I was determined to procure this system. I also knew that I would deploy these back home as well. They remain on my desk in my home recording studio and use them as a secondary reference for my recording projects to check my final mixes. In another life, I have also sold Hi-Fi and instinctively knew that Planar-styled drivers offer a high degree of fidelity. Planar-designed speakers are deployed by Magnepan and Martin Logan in systems costing thousands. To this very day, planar speakers are almost virtually impossible to find in computer desktop media speakers. Cone mid-woofer and soft-dome tweeters are just cheaper to manufacture.
As you are probably already aware, this smallish company out of Richmond, BC, Canada no longer exists. There are no schematics that I have seen, but some simple troubleshooting is in order. You definitely need some experience troubleshooting and testing basic electronics components to help determine where the fail point is occurring. Typically, the fail point on these systems are always the control modules and that is usually the cable or the connector. This is a very unique controller so there is no picking a replacement off the shelf. That's the bad news, but the good news is this design is fairly simple. The actual components in the controller are most likely simple passive components, but the LED indicates whether the system is active or muted. You need to figure out what the cable spec is (how many conductors). 1. volume control 2. bass trim 3. Mute control 4. LED. If the controller is defective, you need to test the pots and identify values to find possible replacements. This might be the hardest part if there is not a direct physical pot with the very same dimensions and physical attachment style. The cable itself is also a possible fail. You would need to determine how many conductors it is, and if they are shielded in pairs (we are dealing with an audio circuit here after all). Using a multimeter, you can trace each trace of the cable to its 9-Pin (7-PIN?) Mini-DIN connector. It is the cable itself that is a weak point because it can be damaged in a lot of ways. The good new is that multi-conductor cables are not that expensive and the mini-DIN male connectors are as cheap as $1.99, but try to use the best quality parts you can procure from all the usual Electronics Parts companies like Mouser and Digi-Key. This is not an entry-level type of repair. I had 2-years of electronics in high school and 3-years in college. I would have been able to do this repair in my first year in high school.
Here is an interesting workaround. The magic of these speakers is the Planar speakers themselves. This guy bought a small sub and a crossover with another small amp to create a new system. This is a consideration if your sub is the problem. But a quick search showed me that some people are selling their subs from this system because they usually have trouble with their cables and don't have the skill to repair them. There are also scads of good YouTube channels that walk you through how to troubleshoot various audio systems too. They are good for reference, but you need to have a basic foundation in electronics. Here is that workaround post on Reddit. Good luck!
Google "A Tale of Monsoon Speakers Resurrected" on Reddit
As you are probably already aware, this smallish company out of Richmond, BC, Canada no longer exists. There are no schematics that I have seen, but some simple troubleshooting is in order. You definitely need some experience troubleshooting and testing basic electronics components to help determine where the fail point is occurring. Typically, the fail point on these systems are always the control modules and that is usually the cable or the connector. This is a very unique controller so there is no picking a replacement off the shelf. That's the bad news, but the good news is this design is fairly simple. The actual components in the controller are most likely simple passive components, but the LED indicates whether the system is active or muted. You need to figure out what the cable spec is (how many conductors). 1. volume control 2. bass trim 3. Mute control 4. LED. If the controller is defective, you need to test the pots and identify values to find possible replacements. This might be the hardest part if there is not a direct physical pot with the very same dimensions and physical attachment style. The cable itself is also a possible fail. You would need to determine how many conductors it is, and if they are shielded in pairs (we are dealing with an audio circuit here after all). Using a multimeter, you can trace each trace of the cable to its 9-Pin (7-PIN?) Mini-DIN connector. It is the cable itself that is a weak point because it can be damaged in a lot of ways. The good new is that multi-conductor cables are not that expensive and the mini-DIN male connectors are as cheap as $1.99, but try to use the best quality parts you can procure from all the usual Electronics Parts companies like Mouser and Digi-Key. This is not an entry-level type of repair. I had 2-years of electronics in high school and 3-years in college. I would have been able to do this repair in my first year in high school.
Here is an interesting workaround. The magic of these speakers is the Planar speakers themselves. This guy bought a small sub and a crossover with another small amp to create a new system. This is a consideration if your sub is the problem. But a quick search showed me that some people are selling their subs from this system because they usually have trouble with their cables and don't have the skill to repair them. There are also scads of good YouTube channels that walk you through how to troubleshoot various audio systems too. They are good for reference, but you need to have a basic foundation in electronics. Here is that workaround post on Reddit. Good luck!
Google "A Tale of Monsoon Speakers Resurrected" on Reddit
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PlanarMedia 14 specs:
http://www.laaudiofile.com/pm14.htm...edia 14 is said,Volume and Bass Level control.
http://www.laaudiofile.com/pm14.htm...edia 14 is said,Volume and Bass Level control.
I pulled apart a single FPF-1600 unit a while back:
I sent the woofers off to get measured since I dont have the hardware, I attached the results. The FR graph ignore below 100hz. I was surprised how they were being used, not optimal for sure.
I also have collected a bunch of the Monsoon tweeters, which I find to be just the absolute best imo. The midrange drivers im not really a fan of, but I have 4 or 6 of them too, maybe ill sell them this winter.
Attachments
Wow, this model seems like they were swinging way above their pay grade. Yes, this model seems to exploit their fantastic Planar design tweeters, but what is the phase cohesion of this model? A very interesting tear-down on the woofers and mids here. The SPL of 88dB is impressive for sensitivity.
I don’t know if they were mirrored, I only got one tower, the original owner sent its sibling for repair after delivery and fedex lost it. Gave it to me basically new in box after sitting probably 10 years.
Dual woofers in a ported enclose, funky custom port built into the cast iron base. I think the box was rather small imo.
It was a pretty basic crossover, reviews were positive but not glowing. Price was a big factor.
The mids and tweets were a bit set back from woofer. Doubt it was truly phase aligned. If it were re-done as active I bet it would be killer. I’d have closed box the woofers, mids cross over at 600, crossed to the tweeters at 2.5k. the mid panels get so narrow up high, and have a big dip in the response below 600hz. Trying to cross them at 300hz seems crazy, but necessary given the driver spacing, and it may have kept the passive xover parts more sensible.