Did the '97 WS6 come with an optional monsoon sound system? Or was it only an LS1 option? If not, how was the speaker setup? 4 or 6 speaker? I know my buddy's '94 only has 4, and the doors don't have the tweeters seperate from the woofer. I'm planning on a six speaker system powered by three two channel amps and stelath box with a 10" mounted in back (amp on rear wall), all with a stock head unit. Any info or opinions would be appreciated, thanks!

 

facts:

LT1 cars are simple four speaker systems. You only have factory provisions for 4 6.75" speakers. There are adapter plates that allow for smaller drivers, but that's what you got from the factory.

If you want to have components up front, then you can try to find a set of Q-forms for the doors, or just surface/flush mount the tweeters on the dash or in the pillars.

opinion:

1.) A four amp system with a factory head unit is silly. You spend all that money on drivers, amps, wiring, and send it a shoddy signal. I know what you are thinking, that the factory head unit actually sounds pretty good, right? I thought this too, and honestly, it doesn't. It sounds "ok" but there is actually a lot of distortion that most people don't notice until they can do a A-B on the spot comparison. It fatigues your ears faster at any volume. If you are serious enough about the system to use components and separate amps - then replace the h/u. At the very minimum you will need a four channel line level adapter, Scosche makes a nice one for about $20.

2.) I see no reason to use 3x2 channel amps unless you already have them. Space is at a bit of a premium, as is power. I would recommend either a 4+1 amp or a 4 channel amp with a separate sub amp. Fewer parts, less wiring, cheaper and more reliable.

3.) Buy some dynamat or equivalent for your doors. The plastic isolator basket is not quite as good on the LT1 cars, and by now the foam is probably pretty worn/rotton. I would also recommend at least some dynamat for the rear sills. You are mounting with sheet metal screws to 2mm thick sheet metal, it needs some help to quiet things down.

4.) You may be able to achieve your goals with a strong head unit driving four coaxials and a amp sub added on. I have a Kenwood h/u that allows you to apply a hi-pass filter for the deck amps. 20-25 watts is enough to get fairly strong mids and highs. Panasonic is also rolling out some h/u with about 30 watts / 70 watts peak.

Take a look at your budget and goals, go from there.

 

The three 2-channel idea was for a six speaker system, but now it looks like I'm giong single 4 channel for the doors and backseat. The dynamat is a good idea for sure. And will a nice 10" with a good amp in a stealth box from subthump give me enough bass? Because those 6.75"s wont put out too much bass if I had to guess (compared to a big 6x9).

I wouldn' immagine power being an issue with a 200 amp alternator from excessiveamperage.com and a Optima red top battery, am I right?

The whole stock head unit thing is silly really, but I like the look of it with the rest of the red-backlit dash way too much! I would probably cry if there were a goofy looking green/blue headunit in that dash! (if it were a Camaro I wouldn't care). Would the line level adapter give a significant improvement to the signal? I would use in-line EQs also. If I did go aftermarket on the headunit (which I know I should) I would want one with a red backlight, any suggestions? Thanks again

 

Most mid level on up units have switchable illumination. You certainly don't have to live with Green or Blue. Amber is quite common. In the birds, a flush mounted aftermarket h/u can look quite nice.

You certainly have enough juice.

Use the amp crossovers to take the bass out of your coaxials, and drive a hearty dvc sub ran for a 2 ohm load on a dedicated sub amp - that will be fine. One 10" is plenty to fill out the bottom end and be loud enough. You won't be tripping any car alarms but it will be perfectly fine unless you want a bass cruiser.

I recently picked up an Alpine V12 amp (50x4 + 150x1) off eBay for less than $90 shipped. The only reason I push using 1 amp is because there's not a lot of room in the hatch to mount amps and keep them hidden. If you like show then no problem. I like stealth.

 

I prefer stealth as well. The Rear Wall Amp Rack from Subthump seems stealthy enough and looks like a good way to free up some space. I still wonder if a stock h/u with the line level adapter and eq's would be sufficient, hey what's to stop me from trying that first? $20 in the hole if I decide otherwise, small beans. I currently have a Soundstream ega4160 80wRMSx4 powering a pair of Soundstream 4x6's in the doors and Powerbase 6x9's in the rear of my Buick and have been impressed since day one. I could use that as my 4 channel couldn't I? Only thing is that it's been in use for going on two years, any issues there?

 

Are you sure about the LT1 cars only having a four speaker system? I'm looking on ebay and seeing '97 WS6's with six speakers. Any LT owners here?

 

There are two shitty speakers in the "trunk" area....but they are for ****, and you can't find any decent speakers for that area...most people disconect them, or at least i did....

 

Far as I know LT1 cars are 4 speaker systems. eBay lists many things as 93-02 because they will fit 93-02 cars. Doesn't mean they came that way.

There may have been some early builds but I think the mid cycle fix (LS1 in 98) is the changeover time. It should be very obvious, on 6 location cars you'll have 4x6's in the hatch side panels as Hawk said.

Since you are going with a clean install and using a sub, it doesn't really matter. I'd stick with using only the door and rear sill locations. Put the best quality coaxials or components up front, maybe skimp a little on the backs. A good arrangement would be a high quality component set up front with a coaxial from the same product line in the back, so things are tone matched.

In six location cars, the rear speakers are subs, and the hatch speakers are for rear fill. Going to a seperate stealth sub there is really no reason to keep this arrangement. You dump the hatch speakers completely, and use the rear seat locations for rear fill.

 

So a 6 location setup would have what size coaxials in the rear seat locations?
Another question, if I did keep the six speakers and planned to run a 2ch amp to the hatch 4x6's (or put them on the 4ch with the rear seats and run a 2ch dedicated to the doors ), are they on the same channel as the rear seat "subs"? I guess this question would also apply if I planned on running all the speakers on headunit power alone. There aren't any six channel headunits out there...are there?
By the way SLPhawk300, I have some killer 4x6's (100W RMS), one got run over by my Buick during the install (still works), you want them?

 

Are there actually 6 cahnnels for the system? Or do the hatch 4x6's share a channel with the rear seat speakers?