Stereo & Electronics - Monsoon compatibility??

I am getting ready to pick up a Monsoon head unit, 6-disc Cd changer and the 2 rear speakers from a 98 SS and putting them in my 99 Hawk. I'm not sure yet about the amp, although I think he said he has it. My questions are will that stereo fit in my Hawk? Will it work without the amp if I don't get that? Do I have the wiring for the changer in the rear? My car came with the regular stereo and the head unit won't eject discs, plus I like the Camaro head unit better. My last question is will it still sound okay if I don't get the amp through the stock speakers and the 2 new rear speakers? Will it sound okay if I get the amp and run it all through my stock speakers? I know this is a lot of silly questions, but I searched and came up with nothing. If there is no wiring in place for the changer, any suggestions on how to make that happen are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I am getting ready to pick up a Monsoon head unit, 6-disc Cd changer and the 2 rear speakers from a 98 SS and putting them in my 99 Hawk.
You are probably going to wish you spent the money on aftermarket equipment.
I'm not sure yet about the amp, although I think he said he has it. My questions are will that stereo fit in my Hawk?
It should. If the amp came out of a monsoon trans am you should be fine. If it came out of a camaro you might run into problems. The camaro and the trans am monsoon systems are different. Trans am has 10 speakers, camaros have 8.
Will it work without the amp if I don't get that? Do I have the wiring for the changer in the rear? My car came with the regular stereo and the head unit won't eject discs, plus I like the Camaro head unit better.
It might. I know the headunit has a high power output to run the tweeters in the camaro. But that would only give you 4 channels. I believe the wiring is there for the changer already. Look in the cubby hole for it in the back.[/QUOTE]
My last question is will it still sound okay if I don't get the amp through the stock speakers and the 2 new rear speakers? Will it sound okay if I get the amp and run it all through my stock speakers? I know this is a lot of silly questions, but I searched and came up with nothing. If there is no wiring in place for the changer, any suggestions on how to make that happen are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
It will sound ok with the amp. But then you will get tired of not being able to crank it up and eventually replacing factory with aftermarket as most people here have done.

Well, there's good news and bad news. Since the Monsoon head unit is just an ordinary Delco radio with a Monsoon label on it (all the differences are in the amp and speakers) it will plug right in and run your factory non-Monsoon speakers without a problem. If you do put the Monsoon amp in then you probably should change out the speakers because of the different impedance ratings (4-ohm vs. 2-ohm).

Now the bad news - it doesn't matter if your car has the CD changer harness installed because the 98 CD head unit wasn't capable of controlling the changer. That capability was only available with cassette head units until it was added to CD head units in the middle of the 99 model year.

Well, there's good news and bad news. Since the Monsoon head unit is just an ordinary Delco radio with a Monsoon label on it (all the differences are in the amp and speakers) it will plug right in and run your factory non-Monsoon speakers without a problem. If you do put the Monsoon amp in then you probably should change out the speakers because of the different impedance ratings (4-ohm vs. 2-ohm).

Now the bad news - it doesn't matter if your car has the CD changer harness installed because the 98 CD head unit wasn't capable of controlling the changer. That capability was only available with cassette head units until it was added to CD head units in the middle of the 99 model year.


Ah ha, I forgot to mention that the head unit I am getting is the cassette head unit, not the cd head unit. So I should be fine then right?

Yep. The cassette HU from any model year will work with the CD changer.

BTW, if your car doesn't have the changer harness then let me know - I have a brand new one in the garage (somewhere) that came with the changer when I bought it even though my car already had the harness installed.

Yep. The cassette HU from any model year will work with the CD changer.

BTW, if your car doesn't have the changer harness then let me know - I have a brand new one in the garage (somewhere) that came with the changer when I bought it even though my car already had the harness installed.


Where would the harness be located? I looked behind the driver side wheel well where the changer goes and didn't see anything at all. Would it be tucked under the trim piece where the speaker goes? I know I have the connections for the rear speakers. I'll have to pull it all apart tonight when I get home and look for anything that might help me. I will definitely be interested in the harness if I don't have one though.

It is taped to the left rear speaker harness under the trim panel in the hatch area.

Thanks alot, I'll check it out tonight.