Monsoon and Non-Monsoon Options
04-26-2010, 08:59 PM
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Monsoon and Non-Monsoon Options Hello everyone! I'm brand new to this board and am an extreme novice regarding car stereo systems. So, I'm looking to tap into your knowledge on this one. Please be patient.
First, I read the Monsoon sticky and have to thank WhiteBird00 for that information. That was like going to school for this.
Here's my situation. I have had a 95 TA for a few years that I rescued and have been fixing up. The kid that had it before me had gutted a lot of the interior parts and it came to me without a stereo or any rear (trunk) plastic parts.
I picked up a stock CD unit off of Ebay a while back. Nothing fancy, but works well except for the illumination going off when I turn my headlights on. My factory rear (sail panel) speakers work and my door speakers do not. I have the older set up with single 6.5" speakers in the doors without places for tweeters.
I recently came across a steal of a deal on a Monsoon CD unit out of a WS6. The guy said as soon as he got the car, he replaced the head unit and this one looks brand new. It is part number 9390782, manufactured 6/19/2001.
I also recently came across a deal on two sets of Rockford Fosgate P1653's to replace my door and sail panel speakers. Finally, I just paid a kid $10 for the two trunk plastic panels with the speaker openings ( I currently have the delete ones in my car). There is only a factory 4" speaker in both panels I just purchased and the other place in them for a speaker ( I think a tweeter) is vacant.
My goal is to have a decent system in my car...no sub woofers, no rattling the doors of the cars next to me at the traffic light... I'll let the LT1, the longtubes and Magnaflow do that!
Here are my questions:
1. Can I just switch out the Monsoon unit with the other without any problems?
2. Do I bother replacing the speakers in the trunk panels and running the wire for them? If so, that would give me a total of 8 speakers (2 door, 2 sail panel and four in the trunk). Or, do I just replace the door and sail panel speakers and call it a day?
3. If I go with the 8 speakers, do I bother running an amplifier, and if so, can I just grab one out of another Firebird/TA? I do have a thick wire with bright red insulation running from the engine compartment, through the cabin, between the seats and into the trunk. Don't know if that was for a previous amp or disc changer. I'm not interested in a disc changer for the car.
Thanks in advance for your patience and I welcome your advice regarding this.
First, I read the Monsoon sticky and have to thank WhiteBird00 for that information. That was like going to school for this.
Here's my situation. I have had a 95 TA for a few years that I rescued and have been fixing up. The kid that had it before me had gutted a lot of the interior parts and it came to me without a stereo or any rear (trunk) plastic parts.
I picked up a stock CD unit off of Ebay a while back. Nothing fancy, but works well except for the illumination going off when I turn my headlights on. My factory rear (sail panel) speakers work and my door speakers do not. I have the older set up with single 6.5" speakers in the doors without places for tweeters.
I recently came across a steal of a deal on a Monsoon CD unit out of a WS6. The guy said as soon as he got the car, he replaced the head unit and this one looks brand new. It is part number 9390782, manufactured 6/19/2001.
I also recently came across a deal on two sets of Rockford Fosgate P1653's to replace my door and sail panel speakers. Finally, I just paid a kid $10 for the two trunk plastic panels with the speaker openings ( I currently have the delete ones in my car). There is only a factory 4" speaker in both panels I just purchased and the other place in them for a speaker ( I think a tweeter) is vacant.
My goal is to have a decent system in my car...no sub woofers, no rattling the doors of the cars next to me at the traffic light... I'll let the LT1, the longtubes and Magnaflow do that!
Here are my questions:
1. Can I just switch out the Monsoon unit with the other without any problems?
2. Do I bother replacing the speakers in the trunk panels and running the wire for them? If so, that would give me a total of 8 speakers (2 door, 2 sail panel and four in the trunk). Or, do I just replace the door and sail panel speakers and call it a day?
3. If I go with the 8 speakers, do I bother running an amplifier, and if so, can I just grab one out of another Firebird/TA? I do have a thick wire with bright red insulation running from the engine compartment, through the cabin, between the seats and into the trunk. Don't know if that was for a previous amp or disc changer. I'm not interested in a disc changer for the car.
Thanks in advance for your patience and I welcome your advice regarding this.
04-27-2010, 03:55 AM
#2
This is a good topic for me too, as I'm trying to replace my Monsoon cd unit with a Monsoon cassette unit, but I'm under the impression that all T/A's, at least from the '99 year and up, all had Monsoon units except for the base F-bird. Can you just replace a non-Monsoon unit with a Monsoon unit and vice-versa? I'd like to know too...
04-27-2010, 07:28 AM
#3
Yes, you can swap a "Monsoon" head unit in place of the stock HU in any 4th generation f-body except Camaros that had Bose. The reason for this is that there is absolutely nothing special about the Monsoon HU - it's just an ordinary Delco HU with an extra label on it. The Monsoon system is all in the amp and the particular speakers connected to it. You can swap between Camaro and Firebird models without any problems but some of the features are different and the face and illumination colors are different as well. For example, Camaro HUs have speed controlled volume that won't work in a Firebird because the speed signal wire isn't in the Firebird stereo harness.
Your 95 Firebird doesn't have a Monsoon system. In fact, it doesn't have the 10-speaker "premium" audio system that preceded the Monsoon. So it has no factory amp and the sail panels are not subs. The base audio system had four full-range speakers mounted in the doors and sail panels. There were no separate tweeters in the doors and no hatch area speakers.
The replacement hatch panels you got are out of a Camaro. Camaros came with 4" full-range speakers in the hatch whereas Firebirds came with components (separate tweeter) in the hatch.
Installing a factory amp (either the Monsoon or the older 10-speaker premium) would be way too much trouble for the results you'd get. Your car is currently like most other cars as far as stereo equipment - it's got a head unit directly powering four full-range speakers. Your options for upgrading are almost limitless so I would forget about trying to make it into a factory "upgrade".
How you upgrade is really going to depend on your budget and your listening preferences. A nice basic system might consist of a 5-channel amp running four aftermarket 6.5" speakers and a 10" sub in a stealthbox.
I would leave out the hatch speakers unless you configure your system with mid-bass or subs in the sail panels. Otherwise you'll have too much sound coming from behind you.
Sorry for the lengthy post. I'll leave recommendations for specific speakers and amps to others - I just wanted to give you an idea of what is possible.
Your 95 Firebird doesn't have a Monsoon system. In fact, it doesn't have the 10-speaker "premium" audio system that preceded the Monsoon. So it has no factory amp and the sail panels are not subs. The base audio system had four full-range speakers mounted in the doors and sail panels. There were no separate tweeters in the doors and no hatch area speakers.
The replacement hatch panels you got are out of a Camaro. Camaros came with 4" full-range speakers in the hatch whereas Firebirds came with components (separate tweeter) in the hatch.
Installing a factory amp (either the Monsoon or the older 10-speaker premium) would be way too much trouble for the results you'd get. Your car is currently like most other cars as far as stereo equipment - it's got a head unit directly powering four full-range speakers. Your options for upgrading are almost limitless so I would forget about trying to make it into a factory "upgrade".
How you upgrade is really going to depend on your budget and your listening preferences. A nice basic system might consist of a 5-channel amp running four aftermarket 6.5" speakers and a 10" sub in a stealthbox.
I would leave out the hatch speakers unless you configure your system with mid-bass or subs in the sail panels. Otherwise you'll have too much sound coming from behind you.
Sorry for the lengthy post. I'll leave recommendations for specific speakers and amps to others - I just wanted to give you an idea of what is possible.
04-28-2010, 04:46 PM
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Im in the same situation I have some experience with speakers but im not sure what i want to go with on this car. I previously owned a 85 iroc Z28 and I just bought a 2002
Z28. It has the usual monsoon system which I agree with whitebird aint nothing special. I am looking at a poineer head unit just cause i have had success with them in the past. I would like some advice on what people think about the speaker variations I got 2 JL audio 12s but no other speakers or amp. Just some ideas on a amp and door and sail speakers and trunk speakers. Thanks for any input.
Z28. It has the usual monsoon system which I agree with whitebird aint nothing special. I am looking at a poineer head unit just cause i have had success with them in the past. I would like some advice on what people think about the speaker variations I got 2 JL audio 12s but no other speakers or amp. Just some ideas on a amp and door and sail speakers and trunk speakers. Thanks for any input.
