Easy Monsoon Amplifier Bypass Wiring

[meissen]

Alright guys, I had the fun of upgrading speakers on Angie's 2002 Firebird with a Monsoon system today, and I wanted to share my findings with everyone else. Typically, what I've heard everyone say is that you either buy the specific speaker that works well with the amp, or you have to rewire from the headunit to the speaker so that you bypass the amp. The local major audio store that's in this area (Mickey Shore) told me to tap into the wires from the headunit so I could use the regular Infinity Reference series 6.5" speakers for the side/sail panel location. Using the wiring diagram found here, I tapped into those wires and then had to run new wire from the headunit to the side panels, which was very time consuming and required removing/unbolting interior panels to tuck wire behind them. When I wired the side speakers straight from the headunit to the speaker, bypassing the amp, the speaker sounded 100x better than the same speaker being powered by the amp (read the Monsoon amp for discussion on why). So, the decision was made to rewire the front door speakers too to effectively bypass the amp. The problem was running wire from the headunit to the speaker, having to go through that grommet that passes through to the inside of the door. Then it hit me,

THE EASY WAY TO BYPASS THE MONSOON AMPLIFIER FOR SPEAKER UPGRADES:
1. The Monsoon amp is located behind the spare wheel on the passenger side rear quarter panel. Remove the spair tire and equipment so you can easilly reach in and disconnect the large connector from the amp.
2. Once you have the connector unplugged, use the following wiring diagram for Camaro or Firebird and find out what wires come from the headunit and what wires go out to the speaker. Because I just did this for my girlfriend's 2002 Firebird, below I'll use an example of what wires to splice together. Basically, the idea is that you're literally taking the wire that was supposed to go from the headunit into the amp and connecting it straight to the wire that was supposed to go from the amp to the speaker -- effectively bypassing the amp, and bypassing any needs for running new wires! My job rewiring and running new wires to the side panel speakers took 7 hours, whereas it only took me 1 hour to rewire the front speakers using the amp bypass approach.



2002 Firebird with Monsoon Amp Wiring Summary:
I only had to bypass the amp for the doorpanel speakers and the side/sail panel speakers. Here is the wiring I used:
E1 - Dark Green - Right Front Input (Negative) CONNECTS TO F6 - Dark Green - Right Front Speaker (Negative)
F1 - Light Green - Right Front Input (Positive) CONNECTS TO F7 - Orange - Right Front Speaker (Positive)
E2 - Grey - Left Front Input (Negative) CONNECTS TO E16 - Light Blue - Left Front Speaker (Negative)
E3 - Tan - Left Front Input (Positive) CONNECTS TO E15 - Dark Blue - Left Front Speaker (Positive)
E4 - Dark Blue - Right Rear Input (Positive) CONNECTS TO F14 - White - Right Rear Speaker (Positive)
E5 - Light Blue - Right Rear Input (Negative) CONNECTS TO F13 - Grey - Right Rear Speaker (Negative)
E6 - Yellow - Left Rear Input (Negative) CONNECTS TO F16 - Purple - Left Rear Speaker (Negative)
E7 - Brown - Left Rear Input (Positive) CONNECTS TO F15 - Red - Left Rear Speaker (Positive)

Just use your wire cutters and cut these wire pairs one at a time, then solder them together. It's a VERY easy job and you will spend more time removing the tire and equipment to get to the monsoon amp than you will actually cutting and splicing the wires together.

Using this idea, you'll have the front door speakers and the side/sail panel speakers bypassing the amp, while the stock tweeters and the stock subwoofer in the rear quarter panels are still powered by the amp. In my case, I just disconnected the crappy sounding "subwoofers" in the rear quarter panels and left it to be just a 4 speaker system with 2 additional tweeters in the front doors.

I hope this helps make life easier for you guys!

[pHEnomIC]

Good info. Yeah i agree that system is messed up. Idk why they designed it the way they did. I had such a hard time wiring up a sub and then i blew it lol because i ran it at the max recommended watts instead of the rms, no big deal. The sub was a bit misleading. I also noticed that i think some of the colors, there are more than one wire of them. Like for example theres like two wires that use lt blue or something like that its been a while. I was really confused.

[02hawk796]

If you think it's a good idea, you could just do this:
1. Purchase the special GM plug/connector from GM for the male side and for the female side.
2. wire the two plugs using your prescribed wiring directions.
3. sell them on the net, buyers would just unplug the original connection, and then plug in your adapter between the original plugs. Among other benefits, this allows future stereo people to just remove what you put in, and then they don't have to call you all the choice names that you will be called by the next person asked to fix your work.
4. Make megabux.

[meissen]

If you think it's a good idea, you could just do this:
1. Purchase the special GM plug/connector from GM for the male side and for the female side.
2. wire the two plugs using your prescribed wiring directions.
3. sell them on the net, buyers would just unplug the original connection, and then plug in your adapter between the original plugs. Among other benefits, this allows future stereo people to just remove what you put in, and then they don't have to call you all the choice names that you will be called by the next person asked to fix your work.
4. Make megabux.

That's actually a great idea.

[phoenix_rising]

Stickied! Seriously Sticky it Mod!!!

[GETGONE]

I picked up the PAC RCA output adpter that's going to go in my car when I can afford a good amp or two and some new speakers. That way I can keep the factory dash look and keep the steering wheel controls and have 2 pair of RCA's to run front and rear amps and add a sub. I just wish I could do it now...gotta save money first!

I always try to avoid cutting factory wiring if I can. I always use adapters for the head units and if I'm using factory speaker wiring I'll pull the plug off the old speaker and wire it up to the replacement speaker so I don't have to ruin the wiring. When I get rid of the vehicle I can just throw some stock speakers and headunit in and I get to keep my good stuff!