Monsoon Amp PN Cross Reference
10-14-2005, 10:18 AM
#1
Monsoon Amp PN Cross Reference Guys,
There is an active post in the main stereo forum... but I think I may have stumbled upon something pretty significant thinking through it.
For us CONVERTIBLE guys, there are two factory arrangements. There is a base system under various RPO's which has no amp, drives off the head unit, and has 4 ohm fronts and 10 ohm rears. The main RPO is U62 for this setup. I don't think this is very common, probably V6's most likely.
The most common, by far, is the U59 arrangement, which has bi-amped drivers at all four locations, and the rear tire well amp we know and love. 4 ohm tweeters, 2 ohm woofers. Full range fronts, bass is filtered from the backs.
My question is - are ALL of the Monsoon amplifiers the same PN, coupe vs. convertible???
Can someone check if the Monsoon amp used in the coupe's W54/W55 RPO is the EXACT SAME part number as our U59?
If so... that means there are the four unused subwoofer channels in our amps. The coupe cars have dual voice coil 2+4 ohm subs (strange). I find this terribly interesting because it raises the possibility of adding a pair of small 4 ohm dvc subs just wiring off the factory amp arrangement.
I know there wouldn't be alot of power... but even 20-30 watts to a 6-8" sub would be a nice boost and pump the factory setup for all it's worth. The direction I am thinking of is making a small plate mimicking the separator panel, and just wiring them up the unused amp channels. Cheap, simple, no major wiring, and should be a nice boost.
There is an active post in the main stereo forum... but I think I may have stumbled upon something pretty significant thinking through it.
For us CONVERTIBLE guys, there are two factory arrangements. There is a base system under various RPO's which has no amp, drives off the head unit, and has 4 ohm fronts and 10 ohm rears. The main RPO is U62 for this setup. I don't think this is very common, probably V6's most likely.
The most common, by far, is the U59 arrangement, which has bi-amped drivers at all four locations, and the rear tire well amp we know and love. 4 ohm tweeters, 2 ohm woofers. Full range fronts, bass is filtered from the backs.
My question is - are ALL of the Monsoon amplifiers the same PN, coupe vs. convertible???
Can someone check if the Monsoon amp used in the coupe's W54/W55 RPO is the EXACT SAME part number as our U59?
If so... that means there are the four unused subwoofer channels in our amps. The coupe cars have dual voice coil 2+4 ohm subs (strange). I find this terribly interesting because it raises the possibility of adding a pair of small 4 ohm dvc subs just wiring off the factory amp arrangement.
I know there wouldn't be alot of power... but even 20-30 watts to a 6-8" sub would be a nice boost and pump the factory setup for all it's worth. The direction I am thinking of is making a small plate mimicking the separator panel, and just wiring them up the unused amp channels. Cheap, simple, no major wiring, and should be a nice boost.
10-14-2005, 10:40 AM
#2
I think I just found my own answer. All the amps are 8 channel units, but what I'm not sure about is how the bass is removed from the rear speakers. In convertibles, all 8 channels drive the speakers, tweeter and woofer at each location.
In a coupe, the four tweeters are driven by the head unit. So the amp is re-configured to deliver the four corner woofers, and four subwoofer coils.
What I propose seems possible, it'd be terribly painful to implement, because you'd need to get the h/u driving the tweeters, and make the amp arrangement mimic the coupe setup. It'd be a pita.
However, if the rear fills have a bass blocker at the speaker, it might be possible to divert those amp channels to small subs. If those channels are filtered, it seems as if the amps must be different...
Radio/Audio System Circuit Description
For THEFTLOCK Anti-Theft feature or for radio features and control operations refer to Radio/Audio System Operation-Theftlock
The radio receives battery voltage at all times circuit 640 from the PWR ACCY Fuse 7 to keep clock and preset station memory enabled when the ignition is off. With the ignition switch in the ACCY position, the RUN position or during Retained Accessory Power (RAP), voltage is applied from the RADIO Fuse 17 to enable radio operation.
When the park lights or the headlights are turned on, voltage is applied to the radio from the headlamp switch in order to illuminate the display. With the headlights or the park lights on, the radio display may be dimmed manually using the IP dimmer switch. The IP dimmer switch varies the voltage on to the radio to control display dimming.
Speakers: Chevrolet UQ0 and Pontiac W53, W54, W55 Entertainment Systems
With the base speaker system, the audio signals are amplified within the radio, and the output signals go directly to the speakers.
Speakers: Chevrolet UZ7 (6 Speaker Sound System)
All radio audio output signals are connected directly to the amplifier. All of the 6 speakers in the system are connected to the amplifier outputs and are driven by the amplified radio audio signals. The amplifier is used to drive two rear extended range speakers, two rear subwoofers, and two front speaker assemblies consisting of one tweeter and one midrange speaker.
Speakers: Chevrolet U59 Entertainment System (8 Speaker -- Convertible Only)
All radio output signals are connected directly to the amplifier. The eight speakers in the system are connected to the amplifier outputs and are driven by the amplified radio audio signals. The amplifier is used to drive two front speaker assemblies consisting of one tweeters and one midrange each and two rear speaker assemblies consisting of one tweeter and one subwoofer each.
Speakers: Pontiac W54 and W55 Entertainment Systems (10 Speaker Sound System)
Radio audio output signals for two front tweeters and two rear tweeters are amplified within the radio, and the output signals go directly to the speakers.
All radio audio output signals are also connected to the amplifier. The other six speakers in the system are connected to the amplifier outputs and are driven by the amplified radio audio signals. The amplifier is used to drive two front midrange speakers, two rear midrange speakers, and two rear subwoofers with dual voice coils.
In a coupe, the four tweeters are driven by the head unit. So the amp is re-configured to deliver the four corner woofers, and four subwoofer coils.
What I propose seems possible, it'd be terribly painful to implement, because you'd need to get the h/u driving the tweeters, and make the amp arrangement mimic the coupe setup. It'd be a pita.
However, if the rear fills have a bass blocker at the speaker, it might be possible to divert those amp channels to small subs. If those channels are filtered, it seems as if the amps must be different...
Radio/Audio System Circuit Description
For THEFTLOCK Anti-Theft feature or for radio features and control operations refer to Radio/Audio System Operation-Theftlock
The radio receives battery voltage at all times circuit 640 from the PWR ACCY Fuse 7 to keep clock and preset station memory enabled when the ignition is off. With the ignition switch in the ACCY position, the RUN position or during Retained Accessory Power (RAP), voltage is applied from the RADIO Fuse 17 to enable radio operation.
When the park lights or the headlights are turned on, voltage is applied to the radio from the headlamp switch in order to illuminate the display. With the headlights or the park lights on, the radio display may be dimmed manually using the IP dimmer switch. The IP dimmer switch varies the voltage on to the radio to control display dimming.
Speakers: Chevrolet UQ0 and Pontiac W53, W54, W55 Entertainment Systems
With the base speaker system, the audio signals are amplified within the radio, and the output signals go directly to the speakers.
Speakers: Chevrolet UZ7 (6 Speaker Sound System)
All radio audio output signals are connected directly to the amplifier. All of the 6 speakers in the system are connected to the amplifier outputs and are driven by the amplified radio audio signals. The amplifier is used to drive two rear extended range speakers, two rear subwoofers, and two front speaker assemblies consisting of one tweeter and one midrange speaker.
Speakers: Chevrolet U59 Entertainment System (8 Speaker -- Convertible Only)
All radio output signals are connected directly to the amplifier. The eight speakers in the system are connected to the amplifier outputs and are driven by the amplified radio audio signals. The amplifier is used to drive two front speaker assemblies consisting of one tweeters and one midrange each and two rear speaker assemblies consisting of one tweeter and one subwoofer each.
Speakers: Pontiac W54 and W55 Entertainment Systems (10 Speaker Sound System)
Radio audio output signals for two front tweeters and two rear tweeters are amplified within the radio, and the output signals go directly to the speakers.
All radio audio output signals are also connected to the amplifier. The other six speakers in the system are connected to the amplifier outputs and are driven by the amplified radio audio signals. The amplifier is used to drive two front midrange speakers, two rear midrange speakers, and two rear subwoofers with dual voice coils.
10-17-2005, 08:36 PM
#3
TECH Apprentice
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: IL
Posts: 324
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Todd,
There are no extra channels in the convert Amp (U59). These extra channels per se are used to drive the tweeters, as opposed to the coupe where the radio drives the tweeters. I have opened up the U59 Amp and this is what I see. I could be wrong but I did not see any extra channels. Thus as you stated above for the U59, that is all it is and no more.
What I did before I ditched the Monsoon Amp is a follows:
Put Inifity 6002i speakers in the door and sail panel. Hooked the doors tweeter lead to the tweeter part of the 6002i, hooked the midrange lead to the midrange part of the 6002i (remember factory is 4 ohm tweeter and 2 ohm midrange). Knowing this ohm thing I then spliced into the wires leaving the Monsoon amp and going to the door midrange and ran the wires to the sail panel midrange of the 6002i. Thus the door and sail panel midrange part of the speakers run in parallel thus produce a 2ohm load. Hooked up tweeter part of sail panel 6002i to tweeter wires going to sail panel. This left me with the sub wires going to the sail panel. I extended these wires to a pair of cheap 6.5 subs I found at Pep Boys just for this test. It worked out pretty good and I kept the Monsoon Amp.
Like I said, I have since removed the Monsoon amp with 2 amps but kept the 6002i speakers and added 2 RFP4406 6.5 subs inplace of the cheap subs I used for the test.
Hope this helps.
There are no extra channels in the convert Amp (U59). These extra channels per se are used to drive the tweeters, as opposed to the coupe where the radio drives the tweeters. I have opened up the U59 Amp and this is what I see. I could be wrong but I did not see any extra channels. Thus as you stated above for the U59, that is all it is and no more.
What I did before I ditched the Monsoon Amp is a follows:
Put Inifity 6002i speakers in the door and sail panel. Hooked the doors tweeter lead to the tweeter part of the 6002i, hooked the midrange lead to the midrange part of the 6002i (remember factory is 4 ohm tweeter and 2 ohm midrange). Knowing this ohm thing I then spliced into the wires leaving the Monsoon amp and going to the door midrange and ran the wires to the sail panel midrange of the 6002i. Thus the door and sail panel midrange part of the speakers run in parallel thus produce a 2ohm load. Hooked up tweeter part of sail panel 6002i to tweeter wires going to sail panel. This left me with the sub wires going to the sail panel. I extended these wires to a pair of cheap 6.5 subs I found at Pep Boys just for this test. It worked out pretty good and I kept the Monsoon Amp.
Like I said, I have since removed the Monsoon amp with 2 amps but kept the 6002i speakers and added 2 RFP4406 6.5 subs inplace of the cheap subs I used for the test.
Hope this helps.
10-18-2005, 09:41 AM
#4
Thanks Tom, it took me a little while to realize that the front tweeters were off the amp... some information posted before said they were off the h/u (like the coupes) and I never really bothered to verify that. So I thought there were 2 unused amp channels left.
What really had me curious was the idea of using the back or spare amp channels to drive some small 8" subs.
Do you know how the bass if filtered from the rear midrange drivers? Is it in the amp or on the drivers? I know the factory amp is crap. Probably 15 watts RMS a channel if even that. But being that things are limited in the vert I like the idea of working with what's there.
I'm going to end up using something like slim's vert box, I think. But since the rear speakers aren't doing a whole lot the idea of using the factory amp channels to drive a couple 8" subs seemed pretty attractive, especially if the monsoon amp is happens to have a couple stronger channels.
Has anyone ever found a spec sheet for the amp? I'd like to know what's there to work with. They've done a pretty good job of mixing crossovers/filters, speakers, and ohm loads to make it a guessing game.
What really had me curious was the idea of using the back or spare amp channels to drive some small 8" subs.
Do you know how the bass if filtered from the rear midrange drivers? Is it in the amp or on the drivers? I know the factory amp is crap. Probably 15 watts RMS a channel if even that. But being that things are limited in the vert I like the idea of working with what's there.
I'm going to end up using something like slim's vert box, I think. But since the rear speakers aren't doing a whole lot the idea of using the factory amp channels to drive a couple 8" subs seemed pretty attractive, especially if the monsoon amp is happens to have a couple stronger channels.
Has anyone ever found a spec sheet for the amp? I'd like to know what's there to work with. They've done a pretty good job of mixing crossovers/filters, speakers, and ohm loads to make it a guessing game.
10-18-2005, 08:33 PM
#5
TECH Apprentice
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: IL
Posts: 324
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The Monsoon amp does all the x-over, there are no in-line filters in the speakers or wires going to the speakers. If you can waste $15 dollars you can do what I did for my testing. Go to Pep Boys (if you have them) and look for the cheap subwoofer box. It has 2 6.5 subs and 2 horn tweeters. I unhooked the horn tweeters and feed the Monsoon wires for the sail panel subs to the cheap subwoofer box to power the 2 subs. The box is small so you can lay it on it's back in a vert where the plastic divider was and still be able to lower your top. You will get better base than the stock speakers.
I used these cheap subs for about 6 mos and they actually sounded better than the stock ones. This is just an idea and you will only be out $15.
-Tom
I used these cheap subs for about 6 mos and they actually sounded better than the stock ones. This is just an idea and you will only be out $15.
-Tom
