replacing the amp

[MrCoffee]

alright, I've got the monson system. I was wondering if its possable to just replace the amp. Eventually I'll replace the speakers, and the HU but it'll be father down the road. Right now I'd like to replace the monsoon amp. Keeping everthing else stock. Is this possible? I would like to put the amp in the same spot the stock one is too. How many channel amp do I need to get, and would there be a restriction on the size of it since i'd like to keep it in the stock position?

[96firebird311]

This is similar to IFlyLow's topic. Like I said, I don't have tons of experience with the monsoon system but I don't think you can replace JUST the amp and not stock speakers or JUST speakers and not stock amp. Sorry.

[SunsetOrange98Camaro]

The stock monsoon amp does not have any rca's as the input, instead it detects a signal from the HU to turn itself on. So you have speaker wires going in and out of the amp. Also the factory speakers are weird ohm's. Not the 4ohm or sometimes 8ohms you usually see in most speakers, especially aftermarket. So you basically cannot replace just the amp or just the speakers in the monsoon system without having some problems. But, however, you can add an amp to the monsoon system with the PAC OEM-1 adaptor. Its plug-n-play with the HU and gives you two pair of RCA outputs. Send these to the amp of your choice then to the speakers of your choice but you cant keep the stock ones. This is basically what Ive done with my system. Hope this helps.

[MrCoffee]

yes that helped alot! Where can I get this adapter, and how many channel amp should I get? do the tweeters and trunk speakers run off the hu and then the amp runs the middle and dorr speakers?

[SunsetOrange98Camaro]

The cheapest place that I have been able to find this adaptor is here. Kind of funny how supply and demand works because I bought this from the same place back in December for 39.99 shipped. Everybody has been buying from them since the competitors want around 80 or 90 bucks for it. Anyway, give them a call, they are very easy to work with. About the monsoon amp I know the front tweeters are powered by the HU and Im not positive about the hatch speakers but it seems like their powered by the amp, I cant remember. I know the firebird has 2 extra speakers b/c there is a component set in the hatch instead of the coaxial the camaro's have. I replaced my monsoon amp with two amps. One for the front components and the backseat midbass and one for the sub. So thats a 4-channel and a mono amp. Many people say you dont need the backseat speakers so you could get by with either a 4-channel powering the 2 up front and 2 of those channels bridged to power the sub or a 2-channel and a mono amp. Let me know if you have any more questions.

[ June 10, 2002: Message edited by: SunsetOrange98Camaro ]</p>

[TokFan]

Sunset is correct, the monsoon system's speakers are 1.2 ohms I believe. The's how thy can put a 500W rating on that dinky little amp.

You will need to replace the speakers along with the amp unless you are able to find an amp that is stable all the way down to 1.2 ohms (I think there may be some sub-amps that are stable all the way down to 1 ohm). I would not reccomend trying to keep the speakers.

This is also the reason why you can't replace the monsoon speakers while keeping the amp.

The monsoon powers 6 speakers, front doors, back seat and in the trunk. If you are replacing them you really only need 4 channels, the speakers in the trunk are pretty useless, and there isn't enough room to put anything decent in there.

[SunsetOrange98Camaro]

I agree with TokFan about the hatch speakers being useless. I think their 4" coaxials (on the Camaro's) and there is no point in putting money into those. Ive heard of people cutting out that area and putting 6x9's in there but supposedly 6x9's are one of the worst speakers you could buy. Something to do with sound quality. Anyway, afer I put my system in I kept the hatch speakers running of the monsoon amp but later decided to just disconnect them since they slightly affect the imaging in my car. So now Im completely monsoon free, except for the HU. Almost there.