Will I hate myself (and Monsoon) in the morning?
06-02-2005, 05:38 PM
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Will I hate myself (and Monsoon) in the morning? Hi to everyone. I'm a newbie. I've got a 2000 SS (Navy Blue Metallic) and it kicks truckloads of a$$. I love it and I will probably be buried in it unless I will it to a child that I don't yet have but, I digress. I've been reading alot of your posts the last few days about replacing the stock speakers that are hooked to my Monsoon. Now, I know alot of you don't care for the Monsoon but, I've been extremely pleased with it ever since I bought the car. Door speakers are now shot. Based on what I've been reading, I bought some Infinity Kappas to drop in the doors and hatch locations (7" and 4" respectively). Is is going to be a painless operation with just some wire splicing? Or, am I going to run into BIG problems. Just so you know, I'm not a mechanic or electrician/stereo guy. I can turn a wrench or two, and I can take apart my Mac and put it back together but… this ain't my thing.
06-02-2005, 06:17 PM
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Splicin wires is cake, just take you time and make sure you have the positive sides and nagitive sides correct. Not too hard at all. Its much harder to build a Mac then to doin minor Auto electric 
06-03-2005, 12:13 AM
#6
Those are nice speaker's I'm an Infinity man myself. I have about 4 grand worth of them in my living room 
But anyway's Your probably going to have to get rid of that factory amp to get the full pontential of those speaker's. I don't think the factory amp will be EQ'd right for those speaker's. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
But anyway's Your probably going to have to get rid of that factory amp to get the full pontential of those speaker's. I don't think the factory amp will be EQ'd right for those speaker's. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
06-03-2005, 09:05 AM
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AnimalSS. I too was in the same boat as you. I just didn't want to mess up my Z-28. There are a lot of good informative post on here. At the top of the thread list there is a link to commonly asked questions. There are wiring diagrams, wiring color codes. Suggested replacements speakers, where to buy, and a ton of other information that will have you doing this like pro.
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06-03-2005, 09:12 AM
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…so what's involved with changing the factory amp? And, what would be a good replacement? I want everything to remain stealth. Is it a plug and play operation or is there alteration and wiring involved?
06-03-2005, 09:44 AM
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Well, I explored the plug and play and the making my own wiring harness. Making your own harness works really well, and takes less time and money but can be very tedious. The PAC-OEM-1 is probably your best plug and play option. They cost anywhere from $35.00 to $50.00 dollars and they do just that plug and play. There are two option with the PAC device. you can add an aftermarket amp and keep you Monsoon HU or replace the HU and keep the amp. When you purchase the PAC-OEM-1 you just specify what you want to do.
At first I made a factory plug the interfaced at the amp itself. It wasn't too difficult just very time consuming. I did this for two reasons. I wanted to retain the factory wiring for the ease of having speaker wire all ready ran and I wanted to retain everything factory becuase it's a 35th aniversary car. I didn't want to not be able to change it back. Metra make a 32 pin female plug I think the number is 72-2001 That will allow you to interface at the factory amp basically eliminating the amp. The problem with this plug is that it's wired wrong for this application. You have to rewire it to use it the way I did. It just allows you to not have to run speaker wire to each speaker from you amp. There is a wiring diagram for this in the commonly asked questions thread some where. I think that's where I found it. Now you can use all of the pins if you run High Level inputs on you amp and run everything except your power and ground from this metra plug. It will illiminate the need for the PAC device.
Now heres the proble. Your front speakers are wired funky. The woofer section ( if you will) is powered by the factory amp. This is not the problem. The tweets are trhe problem. They are power from the factory deck itself. Most people just get rid of their front speakers and use an aftermarket speaker that either has components or the splice the wiring and find whcih one has signal from the amp and use it. My factory fronts work but I'm going to replace them anyway. Probably will do that today.
As for the amps. I am using a SOny Explode 4 channel amp and a two chanel crunch usa. Both of these amps work okay. The provide more power than the factory amp. I installed them using an amp rack from www.subthump.com I can still use my t-tops and everything looks really clean on the install. I'm also using a single 10 sub. It's an INfinity Kappa. Sounds great and works well with the subthump enclosure. Once again, very clean install with great sound and when the hatch is closed everythings hidden. You don't see any of the wiring or any of the equipment. when the hatch is closed.
There is a guy who posts on here who has mounted his amps to the spare tire by making some brackets and a plywood donut. This is completely stealth. Takes a little more time and some wood working skills. I think his screen name in banddirectorblkz-28 I've talked with him through email. Look for his post somehwhere in commonly asked questions. He know his stuff.
I hope this helps you out.
At first I made a factory plug the interfaced at the amp itself. It wasn't too difficult just very time consuming. I did this for two reasons. I wanted to retain the factory wiring for the ease of having speaker wire all ready ran and I wanted to retain everything factory becuase it's a 35th aniversary car. I didn't want to not be able to change it back. Metra make a 32 pin female plug I think the number is 72-2001 That will allow you to interface at the factory amp basically eliminating the amp. The problem with this plug is that it's wired wrong for this application. You have to rewire it to use it the way I did. It just allows you to not have to run speaker wire to each speaker from you amp. There is a wiring diagram for this in the commonly asked questions thread some where. I think that's where I found it. Now you can use all of the pins if you run High Level inputs on you amp and run everything except your power and ground from this metra plug. It will illiminate the need for the PAC device.
Now heres the proble. Your front speakers are wired funky. The woofer section ( if you will) is powered by the factory amp. This is not the problem. The tweets are trhe problem. They are power from the factory deck itself. Most people just get rid of their front speakers and use an aftermarket speaker that either has components or the splice the wiring and find whcih one has signal from the amp and use it. My factory fronts work but I'm going to replace them anyway. Probably will do that today.
As for the amps. I am using a SOny Explode 4 channel amp and a two chanel crunch usa. Both of these amps work okay. The provide more power than the factory amp. I installed them using an amp rack from www.subthump.com I can still use my t-tops and everything looks really clean on the install. I'm also using a single 10 sub. It's an INfinity Kappa. Sounds great and works well with the subthump enclosure. Once again, very clean install with great sound and when the hatch is closed everythings hidden. You don't see any of the wiring or any of the equipment. when the hatch is closed.
There is a guy who posts on here who has mounted his amps to the spare tire by making some brackets and a plywood donut. This is completely stealth. Takes a little more time and some wood working skills. I think his screen name in banddirectorblkz-28 I've talked with him through email. Look for his post somehwhere in commonly asked questions. He know his stuff.
I hope this helps you out.
06-03-2005, 11:18 AM
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Hey, iosigma… I read something about that PAC OEM-1 somewhere else in here. I want this to be as EASY as possible. I don't mind spending a little dough if I can avoid any wiring or fabrication. Does this thing plug in on the HU or in the amp location?…btw, where can I get one?
06-03-2005, 11:59 AM
#11
Yes the PAC OEM would be your best bet for plug and play. I still would recomend running a new power wire to to the amp.
This is the AMP I would recomend. GTO75.4 II It's made by JBL. You don't here about them much. But JBL make's very nice quality amps. Or if you want to keep it all Infinity run this amp REF7541A. But Infinity and JBL are owned by the same company Harman International. These amps probably come off the same assembly line and are probably made the exact same way. I would just get which ever one is cheapest. Both are very nice
This is the AMP I would recomend. GTO75.4 II It's made by JBL. You don't here about them much. But JBL make's very nice quality amps. Or if you want to keep it all Infinity run this amp REF7541A. But Infinity and JBL are owned by the same company Harman International. These amps probably come off the same assembly line and are probably made the exact same way. I would just get which ever one is cheapest. Both are very nice
Last edited by skewba98z28; 06-03-2005 at 12:10 PM.
06-03-2005, 12:06 PM
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Here the best, (most reliable ) place I have found to get one. http://www.logjamelectronics.com/pacaoemgm21.html
This is completely plug and play. Comes with your remote turnon wire and two sets of rca pre-outs. It's the easiest way to add an afetrmarket amp. It plugs in behind the stereo. As far as running a power wire, I ran mine through the grommet in the firewall right behind the cars computer module. That's the easiest place to punch through. Subthump also carries the PAC-OEM-1 but last time I check he had to ordered them.
I think logjam has them in stock.
This is completely plug and play. Comes with your remote turnon wire and two sets of rca pre-outs. It's the easiest way to add an afetrmarket amp. It plugs in behind the stereo. As far as running a power wire, I ran mine through the grommet in the firewall right behind the cars computer module. That's the easiest place to punch through. Subthump also carries the PAC-OEM-1 but last time I check he had to ordered them.
I think logjam has them in stock.
06-03-2005, 06:10 PM
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Thanks for all the advice guys. My confidence level is building. I've been tracking my FedEx shipment all day trying to figure out when the new Infinitys will arrive. I'm anxious to take a stab at it. While I'm at it, I decided to adapt my aux. button (CD changer) for iPod use. I'll let you know what happens…
Peace
Peace
