# Cruze premium sound vs. Pontiac Monsoon



## gman19 (Apr 5, 2011)

Our 2006 G6/GT had the Monsoon system. We no longer have it, but I can tell you that from what I can recall, the Monsoon system did have a more powerful, fuller sound than the Pioneer in my Cruze. I also do not know how the 2 systems compare on specifications. 

The Pioneer system in the Cruze sounds great to me, but I do not listen to it wide open as I would have a number of years ago!

So I guess to make a fair comparison, one has to evaluate their listening habits as well.

Just my two cents....


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## Eugene_C (Mar 15, 2012)

Thanks for the input. I don't want to waste a salesman's time by testing a radio until I'm ready to buy the car so I'm just gathering data at this point. 

One would hope that GM would want to understand what features that younger buyers want in a car. And a really great stereo and nice wheels are two key features. I'm willing to pay at least $1000 extra for a premium stereo, all things equal because it will cost me at least that much to put one in if the OEM one sucks.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Eugene_C said:


> Thanks for the input. I don't want to waste a salesman's time by testing a radio until I'm ready to buy the car so I'm just gathering data at this point.
> 
> One would hope that GM would want to understand what features that younger buyers want in a car. And a really great stereo and nice wheels are two key features. I'm willing to pay at least $1000 extra for a premium stereo, all things equal because it will cost me at least that much to put one in if the OEM one sucks.


If you're willing to pay $1000 for a premium stereo, do it yourself. It's really not that difficult and there are a lot of people here who can walk you through it. Get a car without the premium pioneer sound, and spend $1000 upgrading and I can guarantee you that you will get one **** of a badass sound system.


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## mcg75 (Mar 5, 2012)

Eugene_C said:


> Can anyone offer an opinion on how the Cruze's premium sound system compares with the Pontiac Monsoon system? Has anyone driven vehicles with both systems? Thanks!


The Cruze doesn't have a setup for audiophiles at all. Because most people associate bass with a good stereo, the Cruze is extremely bass heavy with the pioneer system. 

However, with some tweaking of the settings and a good quality sound source, the Cruze can sound very good.


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## TKECruze (Oct 23, 2011)

yea mine sounds great with the settings i adjusted it too. well my brother in law did it lol. but yes the system was very bass heavy n i have it at -7. bass still sounds strong but the tweeters in front sound much better with the bass lower


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## Eugene_C (Mar 15, 2012)

I used to do aftermarket systems but they may not integrate as well with OnStar. Plus, they can affect the trade-in.


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## mcg75 (Mar 5, 2012)

TKECruze said:


> yea mine sounds great with the settings i adjusted it too. well my brother in law did it lol. but yes the system was very bass heavy n i have it at -7. bass still sounds strong but the tweeters in front sound much better with the bass lower


Yep, I've got mine on 3 and everything is nice and clear in front.


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## Eugene_C (Mar 15, 2012)

It's pretty easy to drop in a pair of audiophile front speakers and really improve the mid and high end nicely, but you've got to have sufficient power and decent sub someplace to fill in the bottom.


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