New to Pontiac. Questions about subwoofers

[P0NTIAC]

Hello forum!

I just started working on a Pontiac, and I realized there were no In/out plugs on the back of the stock Monsoon Radio . I have never hooked up subs or anything of the nature before so I apologize if this seems like a really dumb question, however; is there any way to still connect subs and all that to the stock radio system? If so could someone explain how or what I would need to purchase to go upon doing this!

Thanks to all!

 

[dedwards]

Hey Pontiac, Welcome to the forums!


I'm Devan, I have an '03 grand am SE 5 speed, and I have the stock monsoon as well. The stock amp is a huge obstacle for every Pontiac owner, but here's my suggestion(s):

You can attach speaker wire from the positive and negative to your rear speakers. This is called drawing signal, you put the positive and negative into your Sub, which gives you signal through your speakers, thus causing bass response like so. This is the unpreferred method.

There is an adapter, depending on your year of GA. This adapter retains all chimes, and also indicator lights in your dash. This part runs about $100 - $150, but is more than worth it, this is to hook up an Aftermarket Stereo to your vehicle, where your current head unit is. The fact of the matter is the Monsoon Amp is not a bad amp, and most of your ampage for a sub is going to come from your aftermarket stereo, my suggestion is leave the stock amp, and run from the head unit by getting this adapter.

Link to the adapter: http://www.installer.com/cars/by_car.php?carid=4697

Also recommend getting the Dash kit as well. Check the output ampage on the box when you decide on an AM stereo, generally the higher the price the more ampage is put out, the harder the kick. As long as you're not looking to blow windows out while driving down the street, this will work just fine for you. I personally bridged two 500W kickers off each rear speakers independantly, and have had no problems.

Hope this helps!

 

[802]

If you wanted to run subwoofers with the stock stereo it would be a very difficult task, but doable. The monsoon system does not have RCA outputs so you wouldnt be able to wire it the traditional way. The monsoon system also has its own factory amplifer, which powers the two rear 2ohm dvc speakers. I would not suggest drawing signal from these rear speakers.

The biggest downside to replacing the stock reciever is the fact that you need an adapter. The adapters can be pretty pricy, but not always. If your going to be hooking subs up to this car save yourself a boatload of trouble and just upgrade the reciever. If you go to Crutchfield and enter your vehicle they will let you know what works and what doesnt, and provide you with the correct adapters face plates ect. They will also give them to you at a discount.

 

[dedwards]

If you wanted to run subwoofers with the stock stereo it would be a very difficult task, but doable. The monsoon system does not have RCA outputs so you wouldnt be able to wire it the traditional way. The monsoon system also has its own factory amplifer, which powers the two rear 2ohm dvc speakers. I would not suggest drawing signal from these rear speakers.

The biggest downside to replacing the stock reciever is the fact that you need an adapter. The adapters can be pretty pricy, but not always. If your going to be hooking subs up to this car save yourself a boatload of trouble and just upgrade the reciever. If you go to Crutchfield and enter your vehicle they will let you know what works and what doesnt, and provide you with the correct adapters face plates ect. They will also give them to you at a discount.

I tapped signal from two Sony Xploderz in the back, runs pretty well, but doesn't hammer as hard as you'd want it to. Mine are ran from a stock monsoon system including the HU and the Amp.

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[802]

@dedwards, as its very possible and practical to do what you've done, generally it's not a good idea to amplify an amplified signal.

 

[dedwards]

Maybe we misunderstood eachother lol when I said tap signal from the rear speakers I don't mean using the stock amp for power, I mean power, signal, the works come from tapping my Sony Xploder, inevitably I'm going to have to replace my HU for the RCA hookups, you can get adapters that go from RCA to +/- connection for your amp, so you're drawing signal and ampage from the back of your AM HU, this is essentially the least expensive route. Trust me, my friend did this to me and left me with this project because he thought he knew what he was doing, don't try and piggy back/rewire the cluster for the stock monsoon, it's a ***** to rewire (I need new friends...)

 

[richardgriese]

I gotta agree with 802 ^^ I would just replace the headunit with a good one that could be used later and has plenty of RCA connections in the back. I did it on my 2005 impala and plan to on my 2000 Grand Am GT. My impala has 2 amps and it is so much easier to just have an aftermarket HU

That's a nightmare ded!

 

[802]

Maybe we misunderstood eachother lol when I said tap signal from the rear speakers I don't mean using the stock amp for power, I mean power, signal, the works come from tapping my Sony Xploder, inevitably I'm going to have to replace my HU for the RCA hookups, you can get adapters that go from RCA to +/- connection for your amp, so you're drawing signal and ampage from the back of your AM HU, this is essentially the least expensive route. Trust me, my friend did this to me and left me with this project because he thought he knew what he was doing, don't try and piggy back/rewire the cluster for the stock monsoon, it's a ***** to rewire (I need new friends...)

I may have misunderstood you. If you were to tap signal from the rear speakers (which are powered by the monsoon amp) then you would be amplyfying an amplified signal. NOW if you were to rewire the cluster going into the monsoon amp and completely bypass it that would be a different story. Seeings as you've allready torn apart your cluster you may not find this information useful, but they do make wire adapters to bypass the stock amps. Hell of a lot easier to work with and you can put everything back the way it was if needed.

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