Capricio

Hey guys,

I have a 2000 WS6 with some upgrades already in place. I got much of it through Kee and it sounds very good. So far I have:

10" CDT HD1000F DVC sub powered by a Kenwood KAC-8105D 300W RMS@ 4 Ohm
6.5" Bazooka DVC sail panel subs
CDT CL-61CV 6.5" Components in the doors.
Pioneer DEH-6200BT with pre-outs for front, rear, and sub.
Hatch speakers are stock.

I've come to accept that in home audio terms, the car is now basically a 2.1 system with the doors and aftermarket sub dominating. The "problem" is now the CDT sub is dominating at high volumes. I know I can tone it down proportionally, but I also know the door components are rated for 100 W RMS and they are getting nowhere near that from the stock Monsoon amp. So, rather than leave that unrealized potential on the table...

I really am keen on some of the new full-range class D amps out there. The Powerbass XAX-2160FD and the Pioneer GM-D9500F are appealing to me for their low power consumption, low heat, and small footprint. So, questions are:

Does anyone have experience with Powerbass amps? There isn't much feedback online, but what little there is seems mostly positive. Are there other Full Range multi-channel class D's to consider in the $150 range?

Should I even bother with 4 channels on the new amp? Is it even worth considering adding power to the sail subs or hatch speakers? Will the monsoon amp be able to drive them harder if I give it relief from driving the door channels?

If I wanted to the drive the sails separately later, would I be better off replacing them with full range co-axials? Is there any practical way to feed them amplified mid-bass with the current bazookas without the monsoon amp doing the filtering?

I assume I should use the crossovers that came from CDT for the doors, and intercept the door speaker wires at the monsoon amp plug. I guess the tweeter will get a high pass filter twice with the little in-line filter in the door, but shouldn't matter? Is the wire gauge adequate?

Just looking for some validation or other suggestions before I put money forward. Thanks for any feedback.

99transamws6

hey i am really interested in doing the same thing, adding a 2 channel amp for the front doors only. Can't really give you much advice as I don't know as much as you lol. But was wondering if you would know how to wire in a new amp and still use the existing one for the rest of the speakers? I didnt want to start a new thread.
I have in my car
6.5" Bazooka DVC sail panel subs
CDT CL-61CV 6.5" Components in the doors.
jvc in rear hatch

Capricio

Assuming you have a HU with separate RCA pre-outs for front channels, just hook them up to the amp input.

Assuming you have aftermarket components of some kind in the doors, run the two pairs of speaker wires into the external crossover modules that came with them.

Now you have 4 pairs of speaker wires coming from the crossover modules, two for tweeters and two for woofers. If you have a Firebird, you're going to have to run speaker wires all the way to your doors from your new amp. You can put the crossover modules inside the door itself to save on wire. The reason the Firebird is different is because it doesn't loop the HU front channel output through the monsoon amp like the Camaro does. I think it just splits the HU front channel output and relies on the resistor LPF on the tweeter pig tail. You can remove that piece if you use an external crossover module. The firebird uses the extra pins on the connector to drive the DVC sails.

If you have a camaro, it's going to be easier. Buy a set of insulated bullet connectors. Put female terminations on the Monsoon amp side of the connector (this will allow you go back to stock quickly and easily), and on the speaker wires from the new amp/crossover modules. Put male connectors on the severed outbound wires going from the old monsoon amp back to the doors. You can figure out what wires you need to create quick connects for from the FAQ.

This is lifted from the camaro pin out:
E13 - BLACK - left front speaker tweeter positive output
E14 - YELLOW - left front speaker tweeter negative output
E15 - DARK BLUE - left front speaker midrange positive output
E16 - LIGHT BLUE - left front speaker midrange negative output
F2 - LIGHT GREEN - right front speaker tweeter positive putput
F3 - PURPLE - right front speaker tweeter negative output
F6 - DARK GREEN - right front speaker midrange negative output
F7 - ORANGE - right front speaker midrange positive output

I'd just buy a 4 channel amp and route speaker wires directly to your JVCs in the hatch, since that is an easy route. See my post here:


Assuming you have a HU with separate RCA pre-outs for front channels, just hook them up to the amp input.

Assuming you have aftermarket components of some kind in the doors, run the two pairs of speaker wires into the external crossover modules that came with them.

Now you have 4 pairs of speaker wires coming from the crossover modules, two for tweeters and two for woofers. If you have a Firebird, you're going to have to run speaker wires all the way to your doors from your new amp. You can put the crossover modules inside the door itself to save on wire. The reason the Firebird is different is because it doesn't loop the HU front channel output through the monsoon amp like the Camaro does. I think it just splits the HU front channel output and relies on the resistor LPF on the tweeter pig tail. You can remove that piece if you use an external crossover module. The firebird uses the extra pins on the connector to drive the DVC sails.

If you have a camaro, it's going to be easier. Buy a set of insulated bullet connectors. Put female terminations on the Monsoon amp side of the connector (this will allow you go back to stock quickly and easily), and on the speaker wires from the new amp/crossover modules. Put male connectors on the severed outbound wires going from the old monsoon amp back to the doors. You can figure out what wires you need to create quick connects for from the FAQ.

This is lifted from the camaro pin out:
E13 - BLACK - left front speaker tweeter positive output
E14 - YELLOW - left front speaker tweeter negative output
E15 - DARK BLUE - left front speaker midrange positive output
E16 - LIGHT BLUE - left front speaker midrange negative output
F2 - LIGHT GREEN - right front speaker tweeter positive putput
F3 - PURPLE - right front speaker tweeter negative output
F6 - DARK GREEN - right front speaker midrange negative output
F7 - ORANGE - right front speaker midrange positive output

I'd just buy a 4 channel amp and route speaker wires directly to your JVCs in the hatch, since that is an easy route. See my post here:




For a more comprehensive "everything amplified" approach on a budget.