factory f-body monsoon amp swap?

[Doubt_Incarnate]

500watt 10 speaker monsoon system in a car it wasn't meant for...has anyone been there done that? I've been wrackin my brain to figure it out. going into my old jbody. I think i have most of it figured out, excpet gm did the whole clincher thing buy throwing in a pair of 2ohm midrange speakers. where on this planet can you get those other than from a f-body?

[onefastV6]

I am just the man that you are looking to talk to. I am currently working on swapping my Monsoon amp in my Grand Am to the 500 Watt system that they use in the Firebird/Trans Am. Yes there is a big difference between the Camaro and the Firebird.

This site lays it out http://www.houston-f-body.org/tech/monsoon/, the Firebird seems to be a 4 ohm system where as the camaro is a 2 ohm system. The reason I am swapping is because as you might know it is hard to find 2 ohm speakers and 4 ohm speakers are readily available.

As for my setup I plan on switching a few wires on the amp harness and running 6.5" DVC 4 ohm subs in the rear deck and focusing my mids and highs up front. The subs that I am going with are from elemental designs and run about $100 for the pair.

If you need wiring Diagrams let me know and I will see what I can find.

[Doubt_Incarnate]

i have the helm manuals from my cavi and the trans am, from what i can see the tran am system has only 2, 2ohm speakers in the doors, and the rest of the system is 4 ohms. i also noticed in the schematic that they show the dvc subs as having a 4 and 2 ohm coil, but the subs themselves say 4/4 on the back.

i was going wriggle some (2) 8" kicker 4ohm dvc subs in the rear panels, along with a 2 tweeters, some customization of the doors for the front mids(4) 4" pioneer 2 ways ( this is suposed to be 2 ohm, i'm thinking 2 4ohms in paralel for each door...?), rear mids (4) are going to be in the fiero seats ( i'll be replacing them with 8ohms in paralel...?), and 2 tweeters in the front dash under the windsheild. comes out to like 14 speakers, i think... but i also think i can make them all fit without looking whack and out of place, like boxes.

[Guest]

I'd seriously not try and install that system in any car, not even the F-body.

You get much better components in the aftermarket, that are easier to interface.

Besides, the "2 ohm" rating is only nominal, and actually varies quite a bit accross the frequncy range.

You can use a 4 ohm speaker in place of those ones, the system will still work fine.

[Doubt_Incarnate]

i've never actualy built a system before, i wonder if the monsson amp can actualy drive all those speakers and sound good.

[bszopi]

If a passive crossover setup is built properly, you can pretty much run just about as many speakers as you want off of one amplifier. But, it really has to be built correctly. I once had an 11-speaker setup running off of a single amp, including a subwoofer and center channel setup. It was all run through a somewhat large passive crossover with L-pads (volume controls) for the various speakers to "tune" it to that all the speakers were playing at relatively the same volume.

As far as impedance fluctuation, it can be controlled (as far as what the amplifier sees) with a Zobel network, although I doubt many people would even want to get that much into it....

[Guest]

If a passive crossover setup is built properly, you can pretty much run just about as many speakers as you want off of one amplifier. But, it really has to be built correctly. I once had an 11-speaker setup running off of a single amp, including a subwoofer and center channel setup. It was all run through a somewhat large passive crossover with L-pads (volume controls) for the various speakers to "tune" it to that all the speakers were playing at relatively the same volume.

As far as impedance fluctuation, it can be controlled (as far as what the amplifier sees) with a Zobel network, although I doubt many people would even want to get that much into it....

Yeah, that's getting pretty anal, and if OEM components are being used, zobels are not in the cards.

[Doubt_Incarnate]

pretty much the only oem component is the amp itself, and a headunit. i just wonder if the amp can push enough to make all those speakers sound good. the subs are rated for 200watt, 4"ers are 20 watt nominal 100watt max each, i havent checked into the seat speakers yet, nor the tweeters. if the amp has only 500wats to disperse thru 10 speakers, its like 50 each. i'm sure it doesnt actually work that way, but how would 200watt subs sound with only 50 watts behind them?

[onefastV6]

pretty much the only oem component is the amp itself, and a headunit. i just wonder if the amp can push enough to make all those speakers sound good. the subs are rated for 200watt, 4"ers are 20 watt nominal 100watt max each, i havent checked into the seat speakers yet, nor the tweeters. if the amp has only 500wats to disperse thru 10 speakers, its like 50 each. i'm sure it doesnt actually work that way, but how would 200watt subs sound with only 50 watts behind them?

The Monsoon system is a very odd setup. Here is the deal on the so called 10 Channel system.

Pontiac and Monsoon both quote a 10-channel amplified system. This is because they are counting the channels from the source unit as well. The head unit powers the system tweeters directly, in addition to providing input signals to the 6-channel amplifier. So basically they count their tweeters as seperate speakers.

[bszopi]

Yeah, that's getting pretty anal, and if OEM components are being used, zobels are not in the cards.

True, but I was just saying...

As far as anal goes, you might be the only person that remembers this, but at the time I was competing in the 1-50w class in IASCA, so trying to get a full-range system running off of only 50w total, you had to be anal.

Here is a pic of the setup...

[Doubt_Incarnate]

i noticed that all tweeters were connected to the head unit, and the amp, i guess thats how the amp gets its signals. my head unit for the car is stock late 80's maybe early 90's unit. one where gm made a smaller connector for a few years then went back to the larger style, small anttena plug. conveintly enough gm also made an adpater to put that radio in my '86 car. here is a diagram of what i have planned, i dont show all connections, just about 30% of them. top is front of car, the pairs in the middle are the seats and the ones at the side are the doors.

[Doubt_Incarnate]

i'm sure there are some fiero guys here, does anyone have an ohms impedance spec for thre stock fiero seat speakers? if not im sure i can ohm them out myself if i can find a meter.

[Doubt_Incarnate]

i ohmed out the seat speakers, i got 10 ohms apeice. looks like i wont be using those. i bought some 3.5" replacment from aubiobahn with a 4ohm impedance. why dont one of you smart guys tell me how im'm going to make 2, 4 ohm speakers look like 1, 4 ohm. PLEASE!

you made me use the "P" word...

[Guest]

i ohmed out the seat speakers, i got 10 ohms apeice. looks like i wont be using those. i bought some 3.5" replacment from aubiobahn with a 4ohm impedance. why dont one of you smart guys tell me how im'm going to make 2, 4 ohm speakers look like 1, 4 ohm. PLEASE!

you made me use the "P" word...

You can't.

[Doubt_Incarnate]

well that sux. if i wire them in paralel could use one of those "L-pads" so i can tune them down?