ians02ta

Does the 2nd connector, the black 9-pin connector, from the stock unit need to be wired to the aftermarket unit? If so, does the wire harness that's suggested in the FAQ connect the 2nd connector to the aftermarket unit?

I have a monsoon system in a 2002 Trans Am if that makes any difference.

Brennan

The monsoon system has an onboard amplifier. There are 2 ways to make this work, the first and easier way to do it is to hook the blue wire with white stripe coming out of the back of the aftermarket cd player into the SOLID blue wire on the harness that plugs into the factory harness, what this does is turns on the factory monsoon amp, which in turn plays through it. The drawback to doing it this way is the high power from the aftermarket cd player is dumping into what is supposed to be low power into the monsoon amplifier, so at high volume levels, there is usually a noticeable decrease in sound quality.

The 2nd option (and the CORRECT way to do it) is to rewire from the cd player to the speakers throughout the car, which is a pain, but its technically the correct way to do it.

so basically, if TOP sound quality isnt really a big deal, do it the first way and dont look back.

sorry for the long post, just wanted to explain thoroughly

ians02ta

Thanks for the help. How noticeable is the decrease in sound quality? I always have my music turned up loud, so if it is that noticeable, i would rather have it done correctly. If i take it somewhere to get installed, will they take care of that for me?

Brennan

You should be ok, it's one of those things that if you do it the fast way and aren't happy, you aren't out any money or anything, so its nothing lost. Try it the fast way and give it a spin, when i worked at a stereo shop over 3 years I probably only hard wired 1 due to a sound quality issue. You should be just fine!

ians02ta

Thanks again. Is the blue wire with the white stripe the only one i need to plug into the wire harness?

pentavolvo

ok first off the other wire the 2nd harness is prly for ur cdchanger

the monsoon amp does not require a remote turn on and if u have factory speakers there is no reason to bypass the amp at all (the stock headunit was the weak link, plus with monsoon amp u will properly power the oem subs)

the monsoon takes speaker level inputs not low level so there are no issues with dumping highpower into low power what so ever

ians02ta

Does that mean i don't have to hook up the 2nd connector?

Dimitri-

iTrader: (10)

yea i was going to say.. the 9pin is the cd changer.. and if you dont use a cd changer then it doesnt have to be plugged into anything..

ians02ta

At the risk of sounding like a complete fool, by cd changer do you mean the single in dash or the 6 disk optional for the trunk?

KEE AUDIO

iTrader: (65)

CD changer is the optional one in the trunk on F-bodies. There is no factory CD changer built into the factory dash CD player like on newer GM and other model CD players.

ians02ta

i hate to keep asking question, but posting this made me more confused than i was in the first place. As long as i get a wiring harness and connect it to the two 10 pin connectors, my sound system will be fine?

pentavolvo

YES just plug it in

ians02ta

Thanks for all the help guys.