Car Stereos: monsoon audio system /2003 Hyundai Santa Fe, hyundai santa fe, monsoon stereo

Question
I purchased a new stereo - a Kenwood (model KDC-MP342U) to replace my Monsoon stereo in my 2003 Santa Fe. I also picked up the parts including the XM Direct 2 tuner, the harness connector, the Hyundai mounting kit for oversized radios and the XM Direct 2 Kenwood Connector.

My question is the amplifier on the Monsoon system that is under my passengers seat, will this work with this new Kenwood stereo?  If so are there any additional parts I need to make the amplifier work?  If it will not work with the Kenwood then what size amp should I buy to replace the Monsoon Amplifier since I am keeping the original speakers in the Santa Fe with the new stereo?

Thanks!
Chris

Answer
Hi Chris,

The Monsoon amplifier should be compatible with the Kenwood head unit, and you shouldn't need any additional parts to make it work (other than the harness adapter).  The factory Monsoon amplifier is designed to accept a speaker-level input, so you just need to wire up the harness normally, but be sure to connect the amplifier's turn-on wire to the blue/white remote wire from the Kenwood head unit.  The factory turn-on wire color is blue with an orange stripe, and it should match up with a blue/white wire in the adapter harness.

It's possible that you'll run into a level mismatch--ie, you may find that the system gets too loud, too quickly after the new head unit is wired to the factory amplifier.  However, I don't think you'll have a problem.  If necessary, you can install a premium sound adapter with adjustable level controls.  I'd try it without the adapter first, though, and see how it sounds.

Hope this helps!

Brian