I want a new HU for my 04 grand am...circuit city says problems and big $$$$ involved

[IM_ALL_IN]

Hey guys. I recently found the forum and have been searching through the archives with very limited success on this topic.


I'm a total noob when it comes to car audio so I went to circuit city to ask about new hu's. First thing he said when he heard moonsoon was "uh oh" :( . Apparently hu's are a nightmare to install in grand am's with the moonsoons. He says the entire system may need to be rewired and possibly new speakers as well depending on if there is an amp on each speaker.


Am I handcuffed here? What are my options without paying $150+ to rewire and possibly buying all new speakers? I am mainly looking for a deck that has a usb for the ipod but not sure if it's worth it if I have to change everything out.

I found this but it's 4 years old kit to change hu (http://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=105)


Thanks

[tubpub11]

it's not a pain to change the hu. just get the wire harness that you saw on the forum plug it in and way you go. the harness is a bit pricey(mine was $100 CND. you can get it cheaper online). That harness will give your chimes back. you can get a regular harness as well you will just loose your chimes is all. but you will have to buy that harness online because a store won't sell that to you because they say your airbags won't work if you don't get the more expensive harness. (which is crap). you don't have to change any speakers.

[IM_ALL_IN]

Thanks for the reply. So will this harness adaptor still deliver the same sound quality? Will CC install the hu with the adaptor or will I have to look elsewhere? What are the downsides of installing a harness? It sounds like this may be a good option b/c I can always have them put the stock moonsoon back in and keep the new deck if I decide to sell the car.


What do you mean by chimes?

[tubpub11]

if anything sound quality will be better because you new hu should have a better output. chimes i mean the door chime. There is no downside to installing the harness. I don't know if I would take my car to CC if they didn't know this already. or maybe they do know but they wanted go get more money out of you either way thats not real cool of them. but ya they technically should be able to install it for you.

[AznGA]

Circuit City does not know jack shit.

I would take my car elsewhere.

All you need is that adapter behind the new HU and you are set to go.

[cardude007617]

if you really want to see gains though, buy aftermarket spaekers and run new wiring to em all. i dont know if its the case on all monsoon systems or not, but i could literally crank my pioneer deck all the way and still not get that much volume, and now that i ran new speaker wire from my deck to my infinitys i can tell a huge difference.

short story, get the harness, get the deck, ull be good to go

[AznGA]

I have a nice Alpine HU hooked up and my Monsoon speakers still sound good.

[Nighthawk243]

Generally new speakers are a good investment anyways. Most of the time, they are multitudes better than the stockers, even the Monsoon ones.

[Blackhawk]

And new wiring usually helps things out too, especially when you think about how many shortcuts GM took, what didn't keep them from doing the same with your speaker wire?

[nineteen88ga]

Unfortunately alot of shops aren't well informed on the particulars on certain factory integrades. mom n pop store, or big box. The monsoon is virtually like any other stereo...just a harness will do, but you will need to hook up the remote turn on in the GM harness to the remote turn on from the deck inorder to to get sound.

Like everyone said EVERY vehicle will bebefit by upgraded wire to the speakers drirect from the source, but its not a necessity.

[cardude007617]

if u have an extra 200 bucks, get 2 pairs of speakers, stop at a car audio store for speaker wire (i paid .20c a foot for good stinger wire) and ull have a great system