STA

iTrader: (1)

After living with my "okay" monsoon system for a while I am going to build a whole new system. When it comes time to install it, could I use the stock speaker wires that came with the monsoon? That way I dont have to run new speaker wire for the front components. And, what is the speaker wire gauge for a 98 Trans Am w/monsoon? If I can use the stock wires, how do I do this? I am going to use a new H/U, 4 channel amp, front components, and subthump box. Thanks and sorry for all the questions, Im new to this stuff.

Daley

Sure, you certainly can use the factory wiring. How to do this is really quite simple. Just wire the replacement amp in at the factory amp's location, and hook the speakers up in their respective locations. The absolute truth here is that if you use factory speaker wire, you're limiting the amount of power that the speakers will 'see'. Look at it this way - if you use quarter-inch fuel line, your car will run, but not well. If you upgrade to 3/8 fuel line, you've greatly improved performance. Going to one inch fuel line is completely overkill and unnecessary.

Going off an educated guess, I'd say the factory wiring is somewhere around 18-20 gauge, if even that. If you were to re-wire or start from scratch with speaker wire, you'd want to use at least 16 guage for the speakers, and 12 for the subs. Either way, you'll need to run wire for the subs, so make sure you at least get yourself some 12 for that.

STA

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Daley, I was hoping that the factory wiring would be at least an 18 gauge. Oh well, I guess I'll just rewire with 14 gauge for the speakers and 10 gauge for the sub.

LS1_2NV

iTrader: (3)

I just did this when installing my MTX 5-channel amp. I basically used wire taps to get access to the speaker leads at the harness going into the monsoon amp, that way I can always go back to stock. I believe the stock speaker wires are 18 gauge, at least that's what I stripped them as. I am running about 60 watts RMS to my Audiobahn 6.5s and they sound great. Much easier than running all new wiring, so I am very happy. Have had them running for a few weeks now with now problems! Let me know if you need the wiring codes for them as I have it lying around somewhere still.

STA

iTrader: (1)

Hey 98Zee28, when you tapped into the speaker wires at the monsoon harness, does it have the wire for the tweeters. I think I read somewhere that these are run off the stock deck and not the amp. This damn monsoon has me so confused Would the stock wiring significantly affect rms power from my MB quart RAA4200 because it is a smaller gauge, db wise , compared to 14 or 16 gauge wire?

LS1_2NV

iTrader: (3)

There were no wires that were labeled with tweeter. They were labeled with Front - and +, but I'd venture to say that they are definitely not there. As for db wise, I seriously doubt you'd "notice" the dropoff by using a bit smaller gauge speaker wiring. I know everybody recommends larger wire, but I think unless you're seriously into competition and spl then the stock wiring is fine (up to a certain wattage of course).

My car is a daily driver, and the system definitely does get turned up loud, and I am more than happy with it!

STA

iTrader: (1)

I think I am going to use my stock speaker wires. I found a site that has a calculator for db loss with different speaker wire gauge. You just plug in the gauge, rms power, wire length, and speaker ohms, and it tells you what the db difference is. A 100 watts (rms thru 18 gauge, 15 foot wire which is what I will have) would be less than 0.4 db which is inaudible. Do you still have those wiring codes 98ZEE28?

LS1_2NV

iTrader: (3)

There are two sides of the connector, and are clearly marked on them. Just look really close, they have the numbers listed:

Pin Wire Color Circuit Number Function
E1 Dark Green 117 Right Front input -
E2 Grey 118 Left Front input -
E3 Tan 201 Left Front input +
E4 Dark Black 46 Right Rear input +
E5 Light Blue 115 Right Rear input -
E6 Yellow 116 Left Rear input -
E7 Brown 199 Left Rear input +
E8 Black 650 Ground
E9 Black 650 Ground
E10 Unused Unused Unused
E11 Orange 1040 Fused battery feed
E12 Orange 1040 Fused battery feed
E13 Black 1856 Left Subwoofer +
E14 Yellow 1956 Left Subwoofer -
E15 Dark Blue 1857 Left Front speaker +
E16 Light Blue 1957 Left Front speaker -

F1 Light Green 200 Right Front input +
F2 Light Green 1852 Right Subwoofer +
F3 Purple 1952 Right Subwoofer -
F4 Light Blue / Black 315 Right Subwoofer -
F5 Dark Green 1795 Right Subwoofer +
F6 Dark Green 1953 Right Front speaker -
F7 Orange 1853 Right Front speaker +
F8 Unused Unused Unused
F9 Unused Unused Unused
F10 Light Green / Black 1794 Left Subwoofer -
F11 Dark Blue / White 346 Left Subwoofer +
F12 Unused Unused Unused
F13 Red 1955 Right Rear speaker -
F14 Tan 1855 Right Rear speaker +
F15 Tan 1859 Left Rear speaker +
F16 White 1959 Left Rear speaker -

LS1_2NV

iTrader: (3)

Forgot to mention though, that I don't remember which side of the harness was E and which was F because they weren't marked, it was only the numbers that were. But, simply pick a number, note the color of the wire, and match it up to either side. Pick a few to make sure you know which half of the harness is E and F. Not terribly difficult, just a lil deductive reasoning

LS1_2NV

iTrader: (3)

Damnit, I'll just post which wires you use exactly, cause in the listing there are two sets of wires listed for the subwoofers.

Use these ones:

E15 Dark Blue 1857 Left Front speaker +
E16 Light Blue 1957 Left Front speaker -

F6 Dark Green 1953 Right Front speaker -
F7 Orange 1853 Right Front speaker +

F10 Light Green / Black 1794 Left Subwoofer -
F11 Dark Blue / White 346 Left Subwoofer +

F4 Light Blue / Black 315 Right Subwoofer -
F5 Dark Green 1795 Right Subwoofer +

STA

iTrader: (1)

Cool, thanks for the help!

mrbobo

I did what your talking about - used the factory wires for the front speakers (crossed over at about 90hz). Run your own, large wire for a subwoofer. My system sounds killer.

MBQuart Q218 - 6.5" front components
JL Audio 10" dual voice coil sub, JL Stealthbox
JL Audio 250x1 sub amp
JL Audio 300x2 front amp
1 Farad digital cap.
NEO hard drive mp3 player, 80 gb drive - wired to aux. input of head unit
Alpine CDA 9833 head unit