Amp Bypass Harness
Amp Bypass Harness Does anyone know if there is a harness made to bypass factory amp. I want to upgrade head unit and speakers but dont really want to run new speaker wires. 2000 z28 with monsoon system.
I do not believe there is a harness. However the pinouts can be found if you look around.
I typically don't recommend using scotchlocks but this is a pretty good place to use them. Use the scotchlocks for jumpers then tear them off if you go back to stock. You could also wire jumpers up as needed. The good news here is you can just jump one set of wires and hook it straight up to the normal speaker - no need to deal with bi-wiring.
However, I'd recommend you drop that head unit and speakers in and give it a shot. The monsoon amp (contrary to popular belief) is not the weak point in the monsoon.
The monsoon head unit is responsible for most of the high volume distortion. The monsoon speakers are responsible for the weak clarity. As an intermediate step in my vert I had a kenwood h/u driving alpine speakers using the monsoon amp and it sounded very good. I was extremely surprised. The amp definitely drove the speakers much harder than the Kenwood's 15x4 rms would have.
But if you do this it is important to bi-wire your speakers up appropriately. Check the stickies.
I typically don't recommend using scotchlocks but this is a pretty good place to use them. Use the scotchlocks for jumpers then tear them off if you go back to stock. You could also wire jumpers up as needed. The good news here is you can just jump one set of wires and hook it straight up to the normal speaker - no need to deal with bi-wiring.
However, I'd recommend you drop that head unit and speakers in and give it a shot. The monsoon amp (contrary to popular belief) is not the weak point in the monsoon.
The monsoon head unit is responsible for most of the high volume distortion. The monsoon speakers are responsible for the weak clarity. As an intermediate step in my vert I had a kenwood h/u driving alpine speakers using the monsoon amp and it sounded very good. I was extremely surprised. The amp definitely drove the speakers much harder than the Kenwood's 15x4 rms would have.
But if you do this it is important to bi-wire your speakers up appropriately. Check the stickies.
Last edited by todddchi; Feb 7, 2006 at 04:36 PM.
I just bought a Pioneer head unit for my car. I know I'll need the installation kit, the wiring harness, and the antenna adapter, but do I HAVE to have an amp bypass harness for my car? I have a 1997 Formula with the Monsoon.
I thought I found an adapter from PAC or PIE that converted the stock plug into RCA outs a while back when I was looking at replacement options. You might want to search their sites for them.
If I understand what you are doing you will not be using the stock amp at all. I started an amp install page but never put the text in it. Check this page. The 4th image shows my bypass harness. I picked up two GM radio adapter plugs at Walmart, I bought two since they only came with a few pigtails for a normal radio install. I de-pinned the two completely and plugged wires in to just the pins I wanted to use. I wrote some notes which I do not have handy but there is no hacking of the car at all.
In my case I took the rear speaker wires coming in and routed them right to the rear speaker tweeters directly. I wired my new speakers to those wires at the speaker locations. Those are the loops sticking up in the photo.
The black harness I made comes from my amp and goes to the front speaker tweeter wires. The prong terminals connect to the amp speaker outputs. Like the rear I wired my new speakers to those wires at the speaker locations. Only four wires are used here since the outputs from the amp going into the car harness to get to the doors. The amp uses RCA cables from the head unit.
I can simply unplug the harness from the car and plug the amp back in to undo everything.
In my case I took the rear speaker wires coming in and routed them right to the rear speaker tweeters directly. I wired my new speakers to those wires at the speaker locations. Those are the loops sticking up in the photo.
The black harness I made comes from my amp and goes to the front speaker tweeter wires. The prong terminals connect to the amp speaker outputs. Like the rear I wired my new speakers to those wires at the speaker locations. Only four wires are used here since the outputs from the amp going into the car harness to get to the doors. The amp uses RCA cables from the head unit.
I can simply unplug the harness from the car and plug the amp back in to undo everything.
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From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
Originally Posted by blind527
I just bought a Pioneer head unit for my car. I know I'll need the installation kit, the wiring harness, and the antenna adapter, but do I HAVE to have an amp bypass harness for my car? I have a 1997 Formula with the Monsoon.
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Originally Posted by WhiteBird00
No, you don't have to bypass the amp. Using the wiring kit you bought you will be able to plug your Pioneer head unit directly into the factory radio harness and still use the Monsoon amp.
I got a head unit and they said *Best Buy* said I needed an amp bypass. Never got one, and it worked like a champ. Figured the same with this. 
Staging Lane
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 64
Likes: 0
From: Anderson, IN
Originally Posted by blind527
Figured. On my old Mustang... I got a head unit and they said *Best Buy* said I needed an amp bypass. Never got one, and it worked like a champ. Figured the same with this.
I got a head unit and they said *Best Buy* said I needed an amp bypass. Never got one, and it worked like a champ. Figured the same with this.
Originally Posted by WhiteBird00
No, you don't have to bypass the amp. Using the wiring kit you bought you will be able to plug your Pioneer head unit directly into the factory radio harness and still use the Monsoon amp.
