Premium Sound System for 97 Questions

sdm1234 · 09-18-2005, 08:50 AM

I bought a used 1997 Trans Am with the 10 speaker Premium Sound System. I'd like to replace the speakers all around but I'm not sure if I can. I heard somewhere that premium systems do not use 4 ohm speakers, but instead use 8 ohm. When I pulled out the speakers, they all were the factory 4 ohm though. But, the 2 factory back seat side speakers don't produce sound and neither does the front left tweeter... Did they blow or is there simply a bad connection? Do you think the guy before me screwed something up or put in wrong replacement speakers? Can I go to CircuitCity and buy aftermarket speakers or will they blow? Thanks everyone.

**DrMilhouse** · 09-18-2005, 09:51 AM

You say you have the premium sound in your car, does it say bose or does it say monsoon?

sdm1234 · 09-18-2005, 12:11 PM

it says delco

**DrMilhouse** · 09-18-2005, 06:10 PM

okay, I'm really rusty on the whole pre - LS1 systems so I'm unsure if that is the premium system or not. It's been a while since I've had to deal with it. Take out one of the speakers (doesn't matter so much which one you use). How many wires go into the speaker? If 4 then one set is for the amp that is at the speaker, the other is for the signal going to the amp. Take a look and count the wires. it might not be as bad as you think.

sdm1234 · 09-19-2005, 03:54 PM

there are many colored wires going into the speakers through a plug. after the plug, there is the usual red and black wire. i don't know what all the different wires were. if i had a wire diagram, then i can figure it out. thanx for input so far.

**DrMilhouse** · 09-19-2005, 06:32 PM

How many wires are actually on the plug that the speakers are plugged into?

sdm1234 · 09-20-2005, 02:41 PM

oh man i don't remember... i would have to take out the panel again and check. what if I was to say 6?

**DrMilhouse** · 09-21-2005, 06:37 AM

Then I would say bose is what you have. I'd say that two sets are for signal wires, the other set is for power for the amp that's at the speaker. I'd say that the best way to go about this is to remove all the factory speakers and the factory head unit all at once. Replace all of them at the same time and run speaker wire directly from the head unit to the speakers. It's kind of a pain, but it's the easiest way to go about it.

sdm1234 · 09-22-2005, 10:03 AM

OK i found out exactly what I have. I have the Monsoon 500 watt system with 10 speakers. Can I buy aftermarket speakers and just replace them by splicing the wires or do they have the wrong amount of OHMs?

**DrMilhouse** · 09-23-2005, 05:22 AM

The front speakers are 6.5s (s = oversized which is actually 6.75"). You can replace them directly with another 4 ohm aftermarket 6.5s. You would NOT want to use a coaxial 6.5 because the tweeter in your car is separate. From glancing around, it's a 50/50 chance on if the stock speakers are 2 ohm or 4 ohm. I didn't actually test it personally when I tore mine apart. Even if the factory speakers are 2 ohm, you'd still be safe at 4 ohm. If you're replacing the door speakers, you might as well get a set of separates while you're at it to replace the tweets and the door midbass drivers.

HTH

sdm1234 · 09-23-2005, 05:37 PM

Ok great! Where can i find tweeters to replace, and do they have to be a special kind? Also, since the front speakers are oversized, can I buy speakers that fit (without all that adapter hassle)? Can I just buy regular 6.5 in. ones? Thanks a lot thus far. You've been a big help!

**DrMilhouse** · 09-24-2005, 05:22 AM

Seriously, the 6.5 would fit, but the extra hassle isn't worth it. You'll have to worry about making custom speaker mounts for the 6.5 to fit the 6.5s hole, then you gotta worry about speaker clearance so that the cone can extend as far as it should with out hitting the speaker grill. You'd have one more place for a possible rattle. eh... do what you want, but I'd say just go for the 6.5s. Pretty much any aftermarket manufacturer that's worth a damn makes speakers in that size.

ehhh... after re-reading your question, most of that really doesn't pertain, but I'm leaving it there for anyone else's reference since I've already written it.

To answer your question: Yes, you can buy 6.5s (oversized 6.5" speakers) from any decent shop.

The stock tweets are just a little over 1/2 in. Actually, from what I found, they're .6" in diameter. Any decent place you buy your speakers would have a speaker/tweeter set sold together including a crossover.

The Camaro doesn't have a separate tweeter. I'm not 100% sure if if you'd need a crossover for your tweets or if that would be done at the POS Monsoon amp. I don't THINK that the crossover is in the amp since the deck is really what drives pretty much everything but the sail panel "subs".

You'll really want to consider an amp to power those aftermarket speakers or you'll likely just end up blowing the aftermarkets too.

If you can't afford to do much, replace the blown speakers and your next upgrade should be a deck. All the sound from the system originates from the deck. Better sound source = better sound output. i.e. even the most expensive amps and speakers can only reproduce crappy sound if that's what the sound is to begin with.

HTH