Chevrolet Impala Audio

dobie110

o.k., I've been reading through all these posts on the radio forum for the past few nights on this by-pass, and want to try it myself too! I'm assuming that with my car having a build date on the door of 1/00, that I will get positive results from this. couple questions: Is it that difficult to push the wires into these small round receptacles in the plug, and have them stay secure? also, in jumping the wires, there is reference to jumpng A1 to A9, A2 to A10 etc. are these numbers marked on the plug holes and easily visible? and then, I know each individual is performing this alteration at our own risk, but, what if you cross a wire wrong, or one wire touches another, after all is in place, can this backfire, and damage the radio, or something else, or is there not enough voltage here to damage anything with what we're all trying. I am not particularly mechanically inclined, and wondering if I should par take in this venture for the pursuit of better sound. also, do you start the wire jumpers on the outside holes, and work your way in? wondering what the easiest approach is. sorry for all the questions, but I'm a detail person, and try to get any qestions I have answered before I under take a project. thanks for the help, and the assurances you have already provided, and hope to soon do this. one more question for now, the other plug which is for antenna I guess, are we leaving that plugged in, or unplugging that too. thanks.
DJ

duraflex

If you go to this website on yahoo, you'll see apicture in duras impala photo album.

http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/impala2000

duraflex

JUMP to posts 180 and 181 on this forum to answer most of your questions.

This isn't rocket science and it's very low risk.
If you don't like the new sound- just pull your jumpers and plug the plugs back into the amp.

The worst part of it are the physical contortions required to do the work.

Yes - the C1 plug is marked but NOT clearly.
Unless you have good vision, you'll probably need a flashlight and / or magnifying glass.

I did my amp bypass on June 10th - never once considered switching back.

BUT remember- NO GUARANTEES - THis is at your own risk.

Good Luck!!!

chimp00

I too made the 'jump' a couple days after Duraflex.
I used 14 guage wire, fits fairly snug, rapped the whole connector with duct tape and used plastic ties to make it all snug.
If you pre cut and strip all the wires it will only take about 19 minutes to complete.

Two hints:
1) Turn the bass and the volume all the way down prior to jumping the wires. When you turn it back on you don't want to blow anything. I also verified, by using the fader and balance to assure, that I had sound coming from all speakers.
2) Fold down the back seats to enter and exit the trunk - much easier than climbing in and out of the trunk. (I of course didn't have the 'brains' to figure this out myself, it was another poster who supplied this info after my experience)

Good luck and enjoy. (-8

duraflex

I posted this on Impala VIII yesterday but thought I'd put it here as well.

I won't spill all the news but here are some
features you might enjoy.

1-The CD player remembers where you left off. If
you're in the middle of a song and turn off the
power, the CD will pick up right where you left
off. Also picks up after switching to tape or
radio.

2-If you eject a CD and do not retrieve it within
a minute or so, the player will grab it and ingest
it so it doesn't fall out by just hanging there.

3-Tape player will skip to the song of your choice
by hitting the seek/scan button +1, +2, -3, -6 or
whatever. This only works if you have a quiet
break (about 3 seconds) between songs.

4-Auto Tone settings can be stored with programmed stations, AM or FM. Just re-punch the pre-programmed button after you change the tone setting.

5-Radio, CD or tape will play for about 5 minutes
after you pull the ignition key. When you open any door, it will shut off immediately.

chevyrulz

Hey,rascal! I STILL haven't gotten to that dadburn bypass yet, but I'm getting closer.All I have left to do this weekend is to hook up my Mom's new t.v. with the picture-in-picture deal,(Wal-Mart LOVES me!),drive about twenty miles out to a friend's house to check out the front end of his Bonneville(on twisty backroads at that.),and then on to the bypass! This may get done before the drive so that I'll have a chance to try it out going over there. As for the radio, it seems like a great system to me,also. I love being able to listen to John Boy and Billy in the mornings,but I'm not a real big fan of classic rock,so I switch back and forth between CD's and the radio.It's nice to come right back to where you left off on the CD player, then just push the mode button on the steering wheel to go back to radio.(Have you gotten as hooked on your steering wheel controls as I have?) ANYWAY, I'll let you know something tomorrow. Take care until then.

wwnf

I did a bypass last night or this morning I should say at about 2am. I was reading all the post in this topic. Just a few notes on the bypass, I'm glad that I turned down the volume and all the bass settings before hand. Instead of having the volume at 75% and the bass all the way to the +, I have the volume at 25% and most of my cds the bass has to be in the negative side, woo hoo!

I'm getting a rattle from the right front, I think that it's just the crap i have in the storage bin in the passenger door, .

NOW I can look for that other noise. When I run my AC or anything with the blower I get a high pitched noise coming out from the passenger console. I believe it to be the fan/blower because it goes away when I turn the fan setting to OFF. My dealership says that I can't get a manual for it, but I read some posts that you can get one for $130. This type of noise in my car drives me nuts, I must oil this dang blower soon. Any help would be greatly rewarded with a nice big Yee Haw.

later

wwnf

car details
Navy Blue
LS
bought from lot Aug 21st 1999

rconley

I have encountered a very perplexing and very frustrating problem in trying to swap the base AM/FM radio in my 2000 Impala police car with the mid level AM/FM/CD radio( Not the cassette one with the amp). The radio plugged up and powered up but displayed the "locked" message. I went to the dealer and they put the Tech2 on it and tried to reprogram it. This didn't work as the radio refused to accept a new VIN #. Further analysis showed that the car's Body Control Module was bad and they replaced it today and again tried to reprogram the radio but it still wouldn't take. Here's the $64,000 question: Can the swap actually be done? The Tech2 would activate the radio and it would work fine until the ignition was switched off and back on again. The dealer thinks the radio itself is bad and I am going to take it to the Delco radio service center. Surely GM allows for customers to upgrade their factory radios or do they? Does anybody have any ideas or thoughts on this?

watusi

has anyone installed speaker baffels? if so did they make noticable improvement?

duraflex

I was going to add the foam baffles that Crutchfileld sells - at least in the front doors.

Never did.

Now I'm thinking dynamat for road sound absorption. IMHO, this car has lousy sound insulation. Ever ride with rear seats down lugging something? - really bad noise. Even with rear seats up, driving on concrete road surfaces is LOUD and NOISY. My wife's 1998 Camry is far quieter.

dobie110

I stopped by a radio shack today to pick up some 14 guage wire to do the by-pass on my car, and they did not have it. my question before I go further is, do I need 14 guage wire, or will something else suffice for the job? please let me know what the safe options are.

duraflex

You really should read all the posts on this forum at least starting with #180 to get the full picture of what you're getting into.

Different guys have used other gauges of wire.
Some have stuck the wires in the front of the plug; some in the back.

Some "tinned" the jumper wires meaning they added solder to the ends.

I used wire I had laying around the basement - a lot thinner than 14 gauge. (lower # is thicker wire, higher # is thinner)

Some used stranded; some used braided.

One guy even customized a plug.

As far as safety goes, who knows?
As I've said, time and again: NO GUARANTEES!
This is AT YOUR OWN RISK.

This whole trunk amp bypass thing was a workaround.

Chevy and GM were not listening to our complaints. Dealers said the system was working as designed.
Some car audio dealers didn't even want to touch it.
No standard catalog or off-the-shelf amp could be easily substituted.

The bypass was what three of us came up with and it worked. Next week will be 4 months since I did mine. No problems.

Go to yahoo clubs and see a picture of what it looks like on my photos webpage:
duras impala or something like that.

If your Monte is like my Impala was and you can
stand the shrill sound and lack of bass - don't even bother. BUT if you're not satisfied with the way your audio sounds, quit stalling and try it! It's incredibly simple.

This isn't rocket science! Good Grief!!!

dobie110

I have read the posts, although, it was a while back sometime, and I wrote down what was said to be needed for the job, and 14 guage wire was requested, I don't remember by who. as for any wire working, I just wanted to check to find if there were benefits of one over another. I hope to pick up the wire soon to try this. hey, you're the guy spearheading this alteration idea, so, I had to ask you! wish me success, I'll report back when I get time to do this.

molloni

Hey, I know you live in my area. If you are really reluctant about the whole amp bypass thing, I suppose we could meet on common ground somewhere in CP and I can show you what the bypass looks like, and how to set it up...Let me know.

duraflex

Very nice offer molloni.

If dobie HEARS your bypassed system before he tries doing his own, it will make it very easy for him to decide if he really wants to do it to his own car.

What a great gesture. I see this sort of thing among classic and antique car owners all the time.
Kind of rare among new car owners although I have neighbors with a base Impala and we have compared notes a little.

molloni

I can be too trusting sometimes, but if someone needs help, and it's something that I know about, I will offer to help. It's just how I was brought up. And the Monte is destine to become a classic, so I might as well get the take the opportunity now. Besides, it's how I "give back." I mean really, without the work of you guys, I would still be bleeding out of my ears...so to thank you, I'll help someone else. It's up to Dobie...

dobie110

hey molloni, that would take all the guess work out of it, as far as wondering how it sounds. then I can see how your wiring looks too. I am sure I can do the jumper connections, but I am curious how it sounds once it is done. let me know what's good for you, and we can catch up somewhere. I assume you work days during the week (me too), and work weekends pretty much also, so let me know what could work for you, and I'll try to arrange around you, maybe meet at saltys parking lot or something like that. talk to you soon...

molloni

Dobie, I'll be busy this week and the weekend as well (you aren't by chance involved with the Boy Scouts, are you?). Sunday afternoon I'm free. Next week I'm free during the week (except for Tuesday night), but not the weekend. What's good for you? Let me know...

dobie110

molloni, I can be available pretty much anytime during the week, if you have a morning you're not working during the week, let me know, my schedule is pretty flexible. no, I'm not involved in the boy scouts. just weekends I'm tied up working, unless it were sunday mornings. let me know as the week goes on, maybe I can work out a time when you're available, this week or next....

molloni

Sorry, I've been really busy last week to reply, so it looks like this weekend is out.
Do you work in Schenectady? Maybe we could meet during lunch.
Sunday mornings may work out, depending on what time, but next Sunday I'm having friends from out of town, so we'll have to wait till the 29th, but I'm hoping we can do something during the week instead.
I don't get home from work till 5:30pm or so. It sounds like you work later in the day. Makes it a bit tougher, but I'm willing to try and work something out. Are you available in the evenings at all?
Let me know.

dobie110

I'm off work during the week, mon., tues., wed., at around 5:00 or so, mondays the only day that's tied up in the eve., I think I'm taking wednesday off this week if that helps. I work in mechanicville, so, it would be hard to meet at lunchtime. I believe you're at knolls on balltown rd., so there's a distance in between. keep in touch, and we'll figure something out, can't wait to hear your sound to motivate me. keep in touch...

molloni

Ok, Tuesday nights are out for me, so it looks like Wednesday will be the best days. This Wednesday I'm free after work, so if you want to try to set something up for the early evening of the 18th we could do that. I can meet you in the CCM lot, or I think you mentioned Salties, around 5:45 or so.
Let me know what works for you.

Nick

molloni

If you're taking today off, I'm hoping you'll check the posts. I'm checking at work, so if you still want to meet today after work, just let me know. Oh, and I'm not at Knolls, I'm at GE Power Systems in SCH...not that it really matters...

dobie110

sorry, I did'nt end up taking wednesday off (the weather made me go to work instead), I want a good day to take off, work to do outside, anyway, let me know what else is good for you in the next few days, I'm off thursday and friday mornings, and sunday morning available, hope something works, or if not, next week sometime. whatever is convenient for you...

molloni

Dobie, I'm getting company from out of town this weekend, and I'm not sure what time they will be leaving on Sunday. It may be in the morning, but I doubt it...We may have to wait till next week, but we'll get this going...
The weather today was crapy...I'm glad I didn't wash my car on Sunday!

dobie110

molloni, hopefully next week we can find time to catch up, I forgot sunday morning I'm going to the dog show at HVCC, so I will be busy sunday morn. It's supposed to be a great weekend, so take some time and give your car a good bath over the weekend, and enjoy...talk soon.

molloni

Dobie - how does Wednesday after 5:00 sound this week? Let me know.
We did have great weather this weekend. We went up to Lake George on Saturday. Sunday I gave the car a well needed bath...
Hope to hear from you.

dobie110

hi molloni, I can't believe it, but, I can't make the wednesday meet, usually I'm free, but this week I have a birthday to attend at dinner time. I still hope we can figure something out. I am off tomorrow, but, I know you're working all day. one of my tasks tomorrow, is to wash my car in the morning. I think the next time that is possible is sunday morn.? I don't know about your schedule. we'll keep trying 'till it works. let me know if something else works for you.

molloni

Dobie - How about Thursday? I have to bring the Monte in for diagnosis as it is clicking, and I want them to check it out at Northstar. My appointment is for 5, so I will probably be out by 5:30 or so. If you want to meet Thursday evening, let me know. I'm also free Friday (as it stands right now). The weekend is also wide open. Sunday I get out of church at 11:30 and my fiancee and I head over to Bruggers in the Hannaford plaza. That may work out. Let me know your thoughts. We'll work something out here...

dobie110

hi molloni, thursday does not work at night for me, I work on thursday and friday eves., till 8. sunday morning is o.k., but I believe you're tied up then, maybe either tues., or wed. night next week. thanks for staying persistent on this, we'll get there sooner or later. boy, that "mdtriv" sure wants to light some fires with us monte owners huh!!

molloni

Dobie - Tuesday will actually work out really well. I don't have my normal Scout meeting, so I will be available. Or, if you want to meet up earlier this Sunday, I can probably get myself out of bed earlier, so let me know...I'm unavailable between 10:15 and 11:30 Sunday morning. We can try to meet before or after that time slot. It's up to you.

mdtriv - don't get me started on him...

dobie110

sleep in on sunday, actually, tuesday may work well. also, tomorrow is going to be cold and windy, and possibly wet, not a pleasant sounding sunday morning. we'll keep in touch to confirm tuesday, and a time, too bad it's going to be dark so early now, oh well, I guess we have to get used to it for a long while. I still don't understand all the people that think our cars are unattractive, I just think they are so unique and sharp. I saw for the first time a car exactly like mine, right near my house too, we both looked and waved as we passed each other. he was probably thinking the same as me. oh well, later...

molloni

Dobie - Tuesday will work just fine (although as you can see, I am up checking the postings; strange as I did not see yours last night around 9:00pm). But anyway, I can be anywhere around 5:30 or so. Just let me know what place is convenient for you. There are many spots, I've named a few, but if there somewhere in particular, just let me know. I hope to have my radar detector hardwire done by then.
I remember several months ago I saw a silver SS on the Northway. I pulled along side, waved, kinda got a strange look, then just kept going. And there is still that silver one on B-Town road. When I saw the color options, I thought silver would be a wash out color for this kind of car, as a co-worker of mine has a silver Jetta which looks nice. But when I saw a silver MC, I really liked it...the color really helps the curves stand out, and it doesn't look washed out at all. Even white looks really nice.
Oh well, gotta get ready. Keep in touch. I would almost give you my phone number, but there is no private way to do it here...so just keep posting, and I'll keep checking.

duraflex

You guys are a riot!

Reading your posts on this forum has been like watching a tortuous soap opera where the plot line is strung out forever. (My wife and I are hooked on CBS' "Bold and Beautiful" which we regularly watch on tape delay in early evening.)

Will dobie ever get the audio bypass?
Tune in next time, same place, same website . . .

dobie110

you have to give us an "A" for effort, and we have'nt given up. forget the tape delay, "titans" is on prime time on NBC every wed. night, and you don't have to tape it, and it's got more panache. wait a minute, this is about radios here......molloni, you got me to thinking when you mentioned your phone, I tryed looking to see if it was in the local phone book (assuming I have your name right), but I did not see it in the book. we can meet at CCM or saltys if you want. we'll get back in touch between tonight and tomorrow.....

dobie110

molloni, if you want to put your phone in my mailbox at hotmail, it's djf110@hotmail.com it's up to you.

molloni

Yea, I didn't think too much about what others have been reading here, but considering no one else has posted anything new, I didn't think it would matter. Sorry if I'm taking up too much bandwidth...
The question will be "Will molloni ever be able to hardwire his radar detector?" It's not turning out to be as easy as I planned...there's no such thing as a 10 minute job...

Dobie - check your e-mail...Talk to you soon. All this work will be worth it once you hear how much better the bypass sounds.

duraflex

If so, how does it sound?

molloni

Duraflex - I met with Dobie on Tuesday and showed him what to do. We also shared Monte stories and ideas. It was nice to be able to associate a face with the person. I'm not sure when he will get to the bypass. I'm not sure if these posts will survive the migration to the new system (or is it done?).

I will say this, I forgot how poor the original system sounded until we played a song in my car, and they quickly got out and into his and tried to adjust the settings to match the sound in my car. The bass was significantly reduced (the bass can actually vibrate my car), and the treble sounded muffled and not very crisp. The experience was good just to remind me what it sounded like a few months ago. I've been taking it for granted for a while. Now if only there was a way to make it even better without adding another head unit...

duraflex

Finally!

I know you (Molloni)like the bypassed system but what did Dobie think?

Is Dobie going to do it? He seemed so reluctant in the posts.

Regardless, it was a very nice gesture on your part.

Enjoy the ride and the sound.

dobie110

I have not done the by-pass yet, but not out of reluctance, just a matter of taking the time to do it. molloni was thoughtful enough to supply me with the wire too, so it's just a matter of getting around to do it. It did sound good, and I will do it for sure. It was real neat meeting up with someone else that has an enjoyment for their car, and to talk about them and compare things too. I'll post when I complete it....

frankencat

Just wanted to drop a note and say that I did the amp bypass tonight. Took about 20 minutes to cut and tin wires and make connections. Lots more bass, definitely. Not sure if I like it yet. I'll keep it for a few days and see. Thanks for the info.

duraflex

Some adjustments are necessary post bypass.

Try using manual tone control only.

Set TREBLE at center.

Set BASS at three hand clicks counter-clockwise -
(NOT three visual marks). This will put the visual BASS indicator to the left of center.

That's about as good as it gets. If you like it - great!
If you don't like it, switch it back - no harm done.

duraflex

Make that one or two clicks to the left.
The point is - the trunk amp really acts more like a bad frequency limiter on than an amp. It cuts out most of the low end. The trunk amp also fouls up all the other frequencies making performers sound like Bizarro versions of themselves.

After bypassing it and using only the in-dash amp, the bass is much stronger. If you don't keep the bass toned down, it will muddy the overall clarity of the sound and possibly blow the speakers in the process by overdriving them if played at high volume. Not to mention what that does to your ears, your brain and your concentration on driving.

duraflex

Okay car fans - here in the PA I am seeing an ever increasing number of cars with what I think are called "low profile" tires.

I'm talking about what look like somewhat oversize DIAMETER chrome rims - maybe 17 inch - and rather low sidewall tires. What's up with that?

It would seem these odd looking tires would not ride well and that they would be more susceptible to blow out and bending a rim if you hit a pot hole.

Please enlighten me.

duraflex

I meant to post that on Impala 10

molloni

And here, duraflex, I thought you were trying to drum up some business with the postings...The neighbor kid's Accord has really low profile tires, and I don't know what the advantage is.

Dobie - did you get around to that bypass yet? I still have to do my radar detector hardwireing...

frankencat

thanks for the tip. definitely more bass and volume with amp bypassed. a little distorted to my ears though. my wife and i were driving around today and we decided to switch it back to see what it sounded like. it definitely sounds "tighter" with the normal setup (amp in the circuit) but not as much bottom and not very loud. i LIKE loud :-) with the amp bypassed, it sounds good but a little "woof-y" on the low end. i am a part-time pro audio/recording engineer for 15+ years now and am used to hearing things with and without the usual exaggerations of heavy top (treble) and bottom (bass). that said, i am really having trouble figuring out exactly what this "box" in the trunk does. it is not and "amp" in the sense that i am thinking of and is probably more like a preamp. the best i can come up with is that it may be that there is a crossover in the box and we are bypassing IT which has the effect of sending all frequecies (aka more bass) to all speakers as opposed to just hi freqs to the main speaks and low freqs to the subs which is what the xover would be used for. other than that, your guess is as good as mine. gonna bypass it again tomorrow and listen some more. does GM have a system diagram of the audio system anywhere?
oo frank.

duraflex

In this forum, Read posts 220 and 180 in that order. Good Luck!

molloni

Ok, everyone has wanted to know if there have been any problems with this by-pass...I haven't had any problems, but I did have a minor inconvenience. When I loaded up my trunk for my Thanksgiving trip, I stacked two suitcases on top of each other (to make room for our 25lb turkey). I knew I was in for trouble. Half way through the trip, I realized that I was only getting sound out of half of my speakers.
When I got to my destination, I found the problem, and as I thought, one of the groups of wires had all been pulled out of the holes they were in.
So, the next day, I got out the electrical tape, and I worked a way to hold the wires in place better with the tape. I also covered both connectors with a plastic bag and taped that shut to keep moisture out.
Again, nothing major, but keep in mind that the jumpers are only lightly held in place, so you may want to do something more to keep them put.
Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!