Ok I've tried to get the info I need from the 1000 or so threads on here about replacing this or that on the monsoon system. What I want to do is keep the head unit and replace everything else while using the stock wiring harness. Can this be done and if so how the hell do I do it.

I've done very basic installs before....headunits and speakers. but I havent messed with amps at all.

One of you audio gurus have any ideas (step-by-step) for a old man with one speaker that works??

Thanks
TJ

 

It can be done and you didn't search very hard as most of the information is in the sticky at the top of this section. Just kidding.

You can replace the factory speakers with bi wired speakers in the front. Infinity Kappa's 62.7i's seem to be a popular choice. Those are also 2 ohm so they match pretty well with the Monsoon amp. There is an Alpine that is cheaper as well.

For the sail panels you can pull the hatch leads back to the sail panels and replace the Bose Subs with a good set of 6.5" speakers. The factory sail panels only get bass so you cannot use thsoe leads unless you put some 6.5" subs in there. I don't suggest that as the sails are actually closer to your ears than the front speakers most times and they tend to drown you with either too much sloppy bass or not enough.

I would not even bother with the hatch speakers. they are too far back to provide anything decent. You could also add a stealth sub for better bass.

Ok, all that being said the factory HU is not very good and will ultimately limit you. I know most people don't like the look of a standard DIn in our cars but there are ways to make it look nice. Try HUmount. They have a nice kit that makes the DIN look much better IMO.

Oh and all the above applys to my 02 Camaro. The know some aspects of the Firebird are slightly different as some years are as well I believe.

 

Thanks Mike,
I know most people here are looking for a bad *** thumping stereo. I'm the exception. I want a system that uses the stock headunit then replace the amp and speakers while using the existing wiring.

I looked at the stickys at the top but didn't really see what I was looking for.
I talked with a stereo install shop today in Tucson, all I got from them is I have to rewire the whole car to do this.....I don't know that much about stereo gear but I think that was BS.

If this is do-able let me know and steer me in the right direction.

Thanks
TJ

 

For you just replacing the speakers in the front and sails may be fine. You will get better sound but not much bass. At least not hard thumping bass.

The easiset way to do this is to buy 4 Infinity 62.7i speakers. Pull the front speakers out and cut the connector off the factory front speakers and then attach the factory speaker connector to the 62.7i speakers. There are 4 wires coming off that factory connector. Make sure you know which ones go to the tweeter and which go to the mid bass on the factory speaker before cutting the connector off as both sets of wires are red and black. Connect the wires to the tweeter and mid bass on the Infinity speakers and then just plug into the factory connector. That way you don't cut any of the factory wiring harness. What I did was to cut the wires off the Infinity Cross overs in the front and soldered those to the wires that I cut off the facory speakers. You DO NOT need the Infinity cross overs for the front door speakers.

Now remove the sail panel speakers. The grille should pop off preety easily by squeezing it in on the sides and top and bottom. The next step is to pull the panels out of the hatch. First remove the cargo flap buy pulling it straight out. The driver side hatch trim piece is only held in by pine tree fasteners. Remove that. You should see a 4" driver there. disconnect the wire and using your arm push the wire back to the sail panel opening. This is fairly easy to do. If you have the CD changer you need to do the same method as I explain on the passenger side if you do not have the factory changer you should have plenty of wire to push the whole connector including the changer cable to the sail panel on the driver side. Do the same thing with the speaker. Cut the cable off the old factory sub in the sail panel. On this speaker you will need the crossover that came with the Infinity speakers. connect the red and black wires from the Infinity crossover to the red and black wires of the speaker connection you just cut off. Now plug the speaker bac into the factory plug that you pulled back from the hatch area.

Now you need to move on to the passenger side hatch area. There are 3 slotted connectors you need to trun to "Unlock" then the panel should come right off. unplug the hatch speaker and again you need to get that wire back to the sail panel location. This one is not as easy as there is not enough wire. the way I did this was to use a staright piece of coat hanger. I pushed the coat hanger from the sail panel location back through the trim then connected the Infinity cross over speaker end connections (Yellow, Green Blue and White I believe) cable to it and carefuly pulled it through it the sail panel location. I then tucked the actul crossover box behind the trim. I again wired the red and back connection from the cross over to the red and black from the connector I cut off the speaker and plugged it in to the factory harness.

Remount both speakers in the sail panel location and your done. Reattach the panels in the hatch and the cargo cover and fire up the radio. It should sound much better and cleaner but you won't have a great deal of bass. There is still some bass but the "thump" the factory stereo produces is gone. Too most of this this is a good thing but I do prefer clean hard hitting bass. The front speakers are only sent mid bass and highs but the rear spekers are sent a full range signal so you shouldhave some bass.

I had the Infinity's in for 2 weeks before I decided to gut the entire system and start from scratch. I did not like the sound of the Monsoon HU or amp and was used to much better hard hitting bass. I also thought the Infinity speakers were a little bright for my taste. You can set the tweeters on the Infinity;s for 0db or +3db my suggestion is to set them at 0db before installing them.

There is a proceedure here for how to bypass the factory Monsoon amp but it is not that easy and if you just looking for a bit better sound I wouldn't bother. You could also bypass the amp and add additional amps but again that would probably not be worth it as the Monsoon HU is the weakest link besides the speakers. At that point I'd say the stereo shop is right and gutting it all is the way to go. That is what I am doing....I'm leaving all the factory wiring in case I ever seel it but I'm replacing everything.

Have fun!

 

If you still insist on bypassing the Monsoon amp I bumped the theread that tells you how to do to the top. Here is the direct link...

https://ls1tech.com/forums/wiring-stereo-electronics/547488-easy-monsoon-amplifier-bypass-wiring.html

 

Mike's right - if you're keeping the stock head unit there isn't much point in replacing the amp. The amp is probably the best part of the whole Monsoon system. If you want more thump then you can add a separate amp and sub.

 

Mike, whitebird, thanks for the info....after reading some more posts and finally figuring out the search function, I think I'm gonna replace everything but use all the factory wiring. As far as I can tell that won't be that big of a task.
I'm gonna source the male and female plugs so everything is plug and play with no cutting of the harness. What do you think.....have I missed anything...or is it really that easy?

Thanks
TJ

 

I don't think you can get the amp plug separately - at least GM doesn't show it in their parts list. There was a thread here a few weeks ago about using jumper wires to bypass the amp without cutting the harness.

The head unit plug is easy to get. Just go to any stereo shop (or even WalMart) and get the same GM harness adapter used to install an aftermarket head unit in any late-model GM vehicle.

This will work fine if you plan to run the speakers off the head unit. If you want to use the new HU's pre-amp output and an external amp then you'll pretty much have to rewire anyway. The factory wiring has no provision for this setup and besides, the wiring is a little small for any kind of power increase over stock.

 

I've seen the thread about the jumpers. Unless I can't find the plugs I'll do that. Seems kinda ghetto though. I'm only going to put a high quality small amp in the system. Not looking for a ginormous amount af power. Just want nice clean power. Suggestions??
Head unit is gonna be the Poineer DEH p77 dh. I like the 1.5 DIN plus it's sirius capable.
Speakers are gonna be the Alpine I think.
Stealth box in the trunk.

thanks for the help

TJ

 

My opinion is you are going to an awful lot of effort to keep the factory wiring....why? Leave all the factory stuff alone and rewire for the new stuff. Your going to spend more time and effort keeping the factory wiring working and in the end the factory wiring can't support ANY decent quality amp or sub from a power perspective anyway.

If you insist on using the factory wiring just power the speakers off the HU power, bypass the Monsoon amp and run an RCA low level signal to an amp to power a sub.

It is your car but I equate what your trying to do to buying a Ferrari but only using it in reverse gear.