meissenation

iTrader: (2)

Alright guys, I had the fun of upgrading speakers on my girlfriend's 2002 Firebird with a Monsoon system today, and I wanted to share my findings with everyone else. Typically, what I've heard everyone say is that you either buy the specific speaker that works well with the amp, or you have to rewire from the headunit to the speaker so that you bypass the amp. The local major audio store that's in this area (Mickey Shore) told me to tap into the wires from the headunit so I could use the regular Infinity Reference series 6.5" speakers for the side/sail panel location. Using the wiring diagram found here, I tapped into those wires and then had to run new wire from the headunit to the side panels, which was very time consuming and required removing/unbolting interior panels to tuck wire behind them. When I wired the side speakers straight from the headunit to the speaker, bypassing the amp, the speaker sounded 100x better than the same speaker being powered by the amp (read the Monsoon amp for discussion on why). So, the decision was made to rewire the front door speakers too to effectively bypass the amp. The problem was running wire from the headunit to the speaker, having to go through that grommet that passes through to the inside of the door. Then it hit me,

THE EASY WAY TO BYPASS THE MONSOON AMPLIFIER FOR SPEAKER UPGRADES:
1. The Monsoon amp is located behind the spare wheel on the passenger side rear quarter panel. Remove the spair tire and equipment so you can easilly reach in and disconnect the large connector from the amp.
2. Once you have the connector unplugged, use the following wiring diagram for Camaro or Firebird and find out what wires come from the headunit and what wires go out to the speaker. Because I just did this for my girlfriend's 2002 Firebird, below I'll use an example of what wires to splice together. Basically, the idea is that you're literally taking the wire that was supposed to go into the amp and connecting it straight to the wire that was supposed to go from the amp to the speaker -- effectively bypassing the amp, and bypassing any needs for running new wires! My job rewiring and running new wires to the side panel speakers took 7 hours, whereas it only took me 1 hour to rewire the front speakers using the amp bypass approach.



2002 Firebird with Monsoon Amp Wiring Summary:
I only had to bypass the amp for the doorpanel speakers and the side/sail panel speakers. Here is the wiring I used:
E1 - Dark Green - Right Front Input (Negative) CONNECTS TO F6 - Dark Green - Right Front Speaker (Negative)
F1 - Light Green - Right Front Input (Positive) CONNECTS TO F7 - Orange - Right Front Speaker (Positive)
E2 - Grey - Left Front Input (Negative) CONNECTS TO E16 - Light Blue - Left Front Speaker (Negative)
E3 - Tan - Left Front Input (Positive) CONNECTS TO E15 - Dark Blue - Left Front Speaker (Positive)
E4 - Dark Blue - Right Rear Input (Positive) CONNECTS TO F14 - White - Right Rear Speaker (Positive)
E5 - Light Blue - Right Rear Input (Negative) CONNECTS TO F13 - Grey - Right Rear Speaker (Negative)
E6 - Yellow - Left Rear Input (Negative) CONNECTS TO F16 - Purple - Left Rear Speaker (Negative)
E7 - Brown - Left Rear Input (Positive) CONNECTS TO F15 - Red - Left Rear Speaker (Positive)

Using this idea, you'll have the front door speakers and the side/sail panel speakers bypassing the amp, while the stock tweeters and the stock subwoofer in the rear quarter panels are still powered by the amp. In my case, I just disconnected the crappy sounding "subwoofers" in the rear quarter panels and left it to be just a 4 speaker system with 2 additional tweeters in the front doors.

I hope this helps make life easier for you guys!

2001chevroletz28

iTrader: (2)

Awesome man I am gonna give it a try ...

GPz1100

This is old news, but apparently some folks don't do it because they have difficulty reading the diagram or understanding it.

This method works extremely well, and keeps things really simple. You just need to make some jumpers and secure them once the various pins are jumpered out.

WhiteStripes

iTrader: (1)

Hmmm, awesome man. Sticky???

sgt0704

iTrader: (3)

haha, this is exactly the info i needed.

meissenation

iTrader: (2)

Might be old news, but there's absolutely no mention of it in any of the posts in the sticky at the top, atleast not that I saw. Just tryin to do my part and help the community.

GPz1100

Lol One of those undocumented things I guess. I went this route when I first got the new HU. It was pointless to use the amp since the built in power was at least the same if not more so (on the camaro).

I recommend using 14 or 16 guage wire, tinned at both ends as jumpers.

sgt0704

iTrader: (3)

for those with camaro's, i'm hooking everything but the 8"s subs i have in my sails to the HU so i'm gonna hook up the front tweeters to the rear's full range so then it would be:

E14->E6
E13->E7
F3->E5
F2->E4

sgt0704

iTrader: (3)

what do you mean by jumpers? i assume that's keeping the monsoon plug? i plan to hack that damn thing off.

GPz1100

Hacking it off would be a stupid thing to do... Leave it there, but jumper the proper pins to connect the amp output side with the amp input side. That way you're driving the speakers with the HU, but leaving the wiring intact..

PewterNHRA2001

iTrader: (1)

will this work the same for a 2001 TA convt?

sgt0704

iTrader: (3)

what is jumping? i've never heard that before. i have no plan of keeping the stock system, and my monsoon amp is fried any how. so why keep the speaker wires attached, if i don't need to. i could just solder them together.

sgt0704

iTrader: (3)

and do you have a pic of this "jumping". i'd like to see what the amp plug looks like jumped.

GPz1100

This is hilarious... I guess what I said above holds true about why most people don't do this..........

Anyways, here's a pic of a jumper (used in a cdrom or hard drive)

http://csciwww.etsu.edu/tarnoff/labs...ard/jumper.gif

For the fbody the application is reversed. The harness connector at the amp is female, is pins plug into it.

A small length of wire (1-2") is cut, ~3/8" of insulation is stripped at either end, then the wire (JUMPER!!) is inserted in the respective pins of the amp connector). You'll need 2 jumpers for each speaker.

Why do you want to do this instead of hacking off the connector.

For one, the order of the pins will be maintained. If you decide to sell the car, the next owner will not have a headache figuring out which wires are what should they decide to go back to stock.

For any vehicle, it is always advisable to maintain stock wiring if at all possible.

sgt0704

iTrader: (3)

So how do you keep the wires from coming out of the pin?

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

The concept is the same but the wires are different. The convertibles have eight speaker elements all powered by the amp - mids and tweeters in each door, and woofers and tweeters in each quarter panel.

Bear in mind that this is for speaker upgrades (one speaker per location rather than two) so there will be wires left unused. The factory system has input wires for four locations but output wires for eight speakers. It doesn't really matter which of the output pairs you connect to as long as you connect your new speakers to the same pair at the other end. In the following list I have used the mid or woofer wires for output rather than the tweeter wires (for no particular reason).

E1 - light green - RF input positive - connect to F7 (orange)
E2 - tan - LF input positive - connect to E15 (dark blue)
E3 - gray - LF input negative - connect to E16 (light blue)
E4 - light blue - RR input negative - connect to F13 (light blue with black)
E5 - dark blue - RR input positive - connect to F14 (dark green)
E6 - brown - LR input positive - connect to F15 (dark blue with white)
E7 - yellow - LR input negative - connect to F16 (light green with black)
F1 - dark green - RF input negative - connect to F6 (dark green)

The pins are numbered E1 thru E16 across the top row and F1 thru F16 across the bottom row when looking at the business end of the connector with the locking tab on top.

GPz1100

Some duct tape over the wires then a a cable tie around the harness plug. Surprisingly it worked well.

sgt0704

iTrader: (3)

sounds kinda ghetto. i think i'd rather just hack off the plug and solder the wires together.

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

I agree with GPz1100...hacking off a plug when it's not necessary seems ghetto to me. The best way to make electrical modifications is to always do the least destruction possible and leave it easy to undo later if necessary.

In this case you could spend money on buying the proper pins to put on the ends of your jumper wires but tinning the wire ends works just as well without the expense. The tape is just to keep the wires from coming loose - what's ghetto about that?

Another way to do it would be to use ScotchLock connectors crimped across the pairs of wires you want to connect. It would be easy to do and also easy to remove later (although a future owner would probably have no idea what they were there for - the purpose isn't as obvious as jumper wires).

GPz1100

Regarding rewiring, if you do decide to do that, PLEASE leave the original wires intact. Tape them off or cable tie them to something, but don't cut them.

I went this route when rewiring my doors and sail panels (nothing in the hatch but a sub).

When time comes to sell this car, I will likely pull all my equipment out and buy some cheapy walmart HU and speakers. Installation will be a snap because all the wiring will be intact.