Stereo & Electronics - Stereo Upgrade ??

The monsoon system in my car has performed very well but one of the sail panels subs has just taken a dump. I want to install the previous stereo system I used in my 96' TA using the factory speakers yet since they still sound good and bypassing the sail panel subs. As you all know more than likely, the 96' TA's did not have the monsoon amplifier or any of those components so it was relatively simple. I have a JVC KD-AR3000 Head unit, an external amp and a 10" JL Audio Sub in a stealth box. Here are the questions I have on this installation:

1. First of all, does the monsoon amp power all the speakers or just the 2 sail panel subs?

2. If I disconnect the sail panel subs should I let the monsoon amp continue to power the rest of the speakers (if it does) or let my JVC HU deal with them directly, bypassing the whole amp? Which would sound best?

3. Has anyone kept the existing sail panel subs connected while using another subwoofer? Does this sound alright or is it best (or easier) to just disconnect those and run your own hardware? I plan on disconnecting the sail panel subs for now and just running my 10" Sub with an external amp. If I ever get around to buying a replacement stock sail panel sub would it add much to my system to hook those back up while continuing to run everything else?

I have a convertible which has a slightly different setup but should be the same for your questions.

1. The monsoon powers all speakers in the car
2. The monsoon amp will still power the rest of the speakers if you disconnect the sail panel subs. I would let the monsoon power the rest of the speakers instead of swithing it to the HU I think you'll probably get more power using the monsoon versus the HU.
3. I would leave your sail panel subs connected when you put the 10 in. Its really something you have to judge when you have everything hooked up.

As far as I heard in the past, the Monsoon amp powers the main 6.5 speakers. The HU powers the highs. I think the wires run into the monsoon amp, but the Monsoon doesn't power them. I added 6.5 inch Kappa Infinity 62.7i speakers in the sailpanel and like them. With a kenwood 790 hu, 2 memphis audio 10's, a mtx old school amp and the 4 infinity 62.7i's, the stock amp powers them great and they are 2ohm. Overall I think the stereo sounds really good now and the upgrade was cheap. the 62.7i's in door connect exactly the same as stock and are a simple upgrade, the sailpanel is simple too, but you need to wire the tweeters to the rear speakers if you want highs. I found them on ebay for around $100 for a set. The far rear 4inch speakers I don't even use them now.

The 62.7i's in the sailpanel round out the system and give the midrage. I disconnected the far rear 4inch speakers and ran the wire to the tweeter on the 62.7i, I directed the tweeter away from the seats to not have it right in my ear. I set my Kenwoood to play the 62.7i's in the door at 80hz and above and the sailpanel speakers to play 100hz and above, then set the subwoofer output to play 100hz down(might be set at 80hz, can't remember). I faded my speakers about +2 to the front to make the soundstage up front and added a bass control knob under the dash to turn up the bass when I need more. Overall it sounds very good and I like deep bass, but I like the sound quality to go with it. I'm running about 500 watts rms to the subs at 4ohm and it hits really hard and no audible distortion in the subs or from the monsoon amp. Before I upgraded the monsoon speakers distorted bad and bass was horrible and after awhile my subs in the sailpanel started falling apart(loose wire and would come on and off at times). I added about 6 square feet of eDead sound deadening under the rear hatch carpet and behind the covers in the back, made a big difference. Since you have a T/A you have seperate tweeters in the door, but there is another model Infinity you could use if you want to keep the seperate tweeter too.