Sylar

Hi all!

First post of many I'm sure....

I bought my daughter a 1998 Pontiac Trans Am and it needs some help in the stereo department. It has the Monsoon system and it distorts as soon as you try to turn it up or add any amount of bass from the HU. The HU has been acting kind of flaky so I am definitely replacing it! How can I tell if the Monsoon amp and speakers are still in good working condition? If I can just wire a new HU into the Monsoon system that would certainly be easier than rewiring every speaker connection....

So...do I try to keep that amp or just junk the whole system?

Thanks!

Blu99T/A

iTrader: (5)

Sounds like the rear sail panel subs (rear seating area) are shot (very common). Contact Kee Audio on here and he can fix you up. Get those subs replaced and you will be good to go again, although the factory headunit is not very desireable in my opinion.

psuturtle7

any recommendations for a new head unit? I think I went through 3 Monsoon head units when my car was under warranty. New ones appear impossible to find, and I just don't think I can trust a used Monsoon unit.

I've been doing some reading, and it looks like my options are single or dual DIN since 1.5 DIN don't really exist anymore. I like the look of some of these dual DIN units and have found a couple of the dual DIN kits that will work for an 01 TA.

I don't drive my car much anymore, so I don't need nav. Maybe a touchscreen if i can stay under $300. I did want to keep my steering wheel controls if possible. Thoughts?

psuturtle7

Oh, and +1 for Kee audio for subs. Bought a pair of Bazooka DVCs from there to replace my sail panel subs, and they work great. Well, when the head unit is working that is

Blu99T/A

iTrader: (5)

TBH- anything is better than the stock headunit. I have a single din pioneer headunit that I paid around $150 new for and it blows the old monsoon headunit away in every aspect.

CRCustoms

iTrader: (2)

I went through the same thing. There is not a good way to diagnose one or the other without replacing something. I would wait on replacing the sail panel speakers untill you work out the source hardware first.. For diagnostic purpose. Even though they can be inexpensive 6.5s, and take about 20 min total for anyone with a screwdriver and a wire crimper to install.

The rewire is not so bad if you can be patient. My advice is replace both. You don't need to spend a lot of money to get much better sound. I replaced the head unit and added a 4 channel speaker amp/ disabled the monsoon amp. Actually, having the amp back there saves you running wires from the head unit If you do it correctly.

All of the wires you need for the speakers are in the back passenger corner near the spare tire, where the amp is. Use the monsoon sticky to get wire colors, and unless you are really set on it just leave out the rear hatch speakers. the front tweeters/ mid range speakers are separate channels, 4 channels in front doors alone.

The most time consuming part was routing the power wire for the amp through firewall.

I did the double din conversion in my 99 ta. I made my own dash kit because I didnt want to pay the prices they were charging for the piece that could take 2-3 weeks or whatever they said to get to my door. I sell and install stereos and alarms professionally and im accustomed to 10$ dash kits...

I made it out of diamond plate steel, polished and clear coated the bare metal. If you are creative you can do your own stuff for cheap.

Just my .02