I Have Been Reviewing Almost All Of The Threads In This Forum For The Last Few Days And Haven't Found Anything For Those Of Us Poor Saps Who Don't Have The 500w Monsoon. I Want To Upgrade But I Don't Know What The Wattage Of The Regular Amp Is And Whether Or Not It Would Power The Alpines And R.f. Subs In The Sail Panel. Sould I Try It And See? Or Should I Just Get An Aftermarket Deck And Two Small Amps For That Highs And Lows. Or Sould I Mabye Buy A Monsoon Amp From Someone On E-bay And Have The Benefit Of Not Messing Around With The Wiring.
Appreciate The Help

 

Just go with a new H/U, 4 channel amp, components for up front and a 10" sub in the hatch. There is no external amp in the non-monsson cars, it's just the head unit. Basically, you can treat it like you treat every other stock system. There are a ton of threads about Monsoons, becasue they are particularly tricky to deal with.

BTW - Isn't It Hard To Type With A Capital Letter In Front Of Every Word?

 

There is no amp with the factory system, it runs off the headunit power. Buy whatever cheap speakers you want, or replace the HU get an amp or two and some speakers... Dont bother to install a Monsoon setup, more work than aftermarket stuff and basically a waste. And please dont type capitalizing every word it drives your eyes completely insane...

 

Sorry about the caps. I have been typing all day and was getting lazy. I just pulled out the spare tire in the back, and sure enough, there is a delco amp back there. Part #167something. So does that mean that I do have the Monsoon system and just not the sticker on the HU??

 

sounds like it... IMO

 

Well after talking to Rouge Leader it seems that I do have a Monsoon system. Just that soneone switched out he HU. I won't have to deal with the bother of buying a couple of new amps and re-wiring the car. What a releif

 

That's the first time I've EVER heard that refering to the Monsoon system! Usually the other way around.....

 

I am a little short of cash right now, but I dont want crappy sound. This way when I do get the money I already have the speakers I can buy a couple of decent 2 way amps and wire them in.

 

Generally, if you didn't have the Monsson, we'd suggest you:
A. replace the deck
B. replace the speakers with good components
C. Add a 4 channel amp with a good crossover

The best advice I ever got was to plan ahead for the final goal. Build from there. It's much easier than replacing amps/subs/comps when you want to upgrade.