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Comments
The amp doesn't bother me that much, it's the entire service that I didn't get. I was constantly lied to and treated like a blonde, and I have dark brown hair.
Chrysler, from my experience, has much better service than GM. Yes, most of their cars have more recalls and TSB's but that's not a bad thing, it means they find and report more of their problems to keep thier customers happy.
later
wwnf
I got just the same story - it works according to the specs, I don't know anything, they don't know of any problems with it and other BS. Going to another, extremely cooperative dealer solved all my amp problems.
The JBL GTO series speakers that I had temporarily installed were also a big improvement over the factory speakers. They are an excellent value, and will be good enough for most folks, I think. They are one of the few good bargains you'll find at Crutchfield. (The JBL "P" series is much cheaper elsewhere.) I just prefer the smoother highs of the P series.
Personally, I prefer 3-way 6x9's, despite what roderacer's car stereo guy says. The mid-range driver fills the sonic gap between the low-end driver(woofer) and high-end driver(tweeter). To each his own, I guess.
Be forewarned. If you anybody decides to go with the JBL P series, it tales a few days for them to break in. At first, the low end is a bit light. After a few days, however, you get a full, rich, and tight bass response. The mids and highs are just incredible.
I simply printed the directions on how to get the Amp replaced, took them to my dealer, and left my 2001 Impala (build date 10-00) for a tech. to check. The service manager asked me to leave the directions I got from the web site and I believe this greatly expedited the process.
Thanks, Joe D. for your help!
Well, maybe it depends on the brand, but when I heard the Alpine 2 ways compared to Eclipse and Boston 3's, it shocked me as well.
I am getting the speakers installed today, actually in about 2 hours barring any catastrophe here at work.
I'll post when I can.
Enjoy those JBL's!
Thanks,
RR
I would also recommend replacing the Goodyear GA's with a quieter tire. The less road noise you have, the better the stereo will sound.
That's what I did. I also get the added benefit of better handling. So, I got that going for me...which is nice. ;-)
I took my car (2001 LS, sandrift - build date 10/00) in today and the job was finished in about 25 minutes. Just as others have reported - the difference in bass response is remarkable. If it were not for this forum I would have just put up with a mediocre radio.
A great car is now even better. For those who have not yet gotten the amp replacement - GO FOR IT!
The only issue I have, which souldn't be an issue at all with new speakers, is the right front
6 1/2" seems to clip a bit. I don't think it is the amp or all of them would show signs of clipping. I am calling the tech today to schedule a time to bring it back in. Hope I just got a bad speaker.
RR
Enjoy your new AMP!
Dan - NJ
I was looking at the door area and noticed the lower grill cover was off, so I removed the grill. To my surprise, I finally saw the "other 2 speakers". I was wondering where they were since the car is adv. as a 6 spkr. system....
Anyway, it seems that the clearance from my surround is minimal between the door panel and surround. I am thinking the bass makes the surround bump against the door panel causing that buzzing I have been whining about.
I am going to look into it more, but if that is the problem, I have to take an exacto knife and trim the back of the panel down.
RR
The service invoice lists qty.1 #10309548 with the description of "booster 9.651" replaced under warranty at n/c.
I feel sorry for anyone whose dealer doesn't take this issue seriously enough to do a little research in order to solve the problem.
I went to my dealer, described the problem, and provided the part number necessary to cure the issue.
As far as sound, the bass is so strong, it can be extremely boomy or thumpy, it sounds like a sub woofer being overdriven. I am quite sure that upgraded speakers will fix that. I just wish it wasn't such a pain to replace the rears. Can someone who did their rears let me know how it went please?
As far as 2 ways or 3 ways, the most important thing is the quality of the components and what frequency the crossover is at, either type can be a tremendous improvement over stock. I usually prefer the 3 ways, but it really does depend on the speaker itself. That would be the disadvantage of shopping at Crutchfield or on-line. It would be beneficial to go to a car stereo retailer and compare them side by side in their a/b room.
John
Also, if the screws holding the speakers aren't in tight, or if there is no gasket material, the speaker frames my vibrate against the mounting bracket. If the bracket isn't mounted tightly against the door, the same is true. The wires behind the speaker might also vibrate, if the installer left too much slack, or didn't tuck them in ptoperly.
Does the "buzzing" stop if you keep the grill off? Maybe the fact that the grill was loose, was causing it to vibrate against the door panel. Finally, the speaker might be blown.
I've already upgraded twice. My first upgrade was with JBL GTO's, which have a very tight and punchy low end. They are an excellent value. I've since upgraded to the JBL P series, which isn't as punchy in the low end, but makes up for it with breathtaking mids and highs. There's still plenty of bass. It's not as thumping as the GTO's, but much smoother and richer than the sloppy, muddy bass of the factory speakers. I'm sure you'd get similar results with Infinity, Boston Acoustic, Alpine, etc. They'd just cost more.
Swapping the rears is easy, just more time consuming than it should be. You have to remove the rear seatbacks in order to lift up the rear deck cover. Be careful. Like much of the Impala interior, it's cheaply constructed. (basically of cardboard.)
To remove the seatback, you must also remove the bottom cushion to access the two nuts that secure the bottom of the seatbacks. First, remove the four 10mm bolts that hold the top of the seatback frame to the rear deck steel, then remove those lower nuts. You'll also discover how cheaply constructed the upholstery is, during this procedure.
Before attempting to remove the speakers, make sure you disconnect the speaker wire connectors from the speakers. The speakers are not bolted directly to the car. They are screwed into a plastic mount. Each mount is held to the deck by one fixed tab and two squeeze tabs. You remove the whole mount, and unscrew the speakers outside the car, which is nice.
The whole thing should take about 30 minutes to an hour.
The fronts are much easier. Just pop of the grills. Unscrew the speakers from the mounts. Cut the wire to the tweeter. Put in the new speakers. Make sure the ones you use will fit "oversized" GM 6-1/2" openings, which are sometimes refered to as 6-3/4".
Good luck.
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/y2kmontecarloclub
I'm actually looking forward to my commute tomorrow. Maybe they'll let me run a network cable from my office down to the car. Then, I can sit in it and work from my laptop all day with the stereo on. Maybe not.
I am really not too concernerd anymore; it seems I am just fighting a loosing battle with it. Until I can get some Dynamat on the door panels, I'll live with the minor buzzing for now.
Where on the door panel did you mount the tweeters? I know the system is sounding sweet. I had to wait a few days until the speakers 'came into their own'. The surrounds need time to loosen up, creating more movement in the cone and deeper bass.
Thanks!
RR
I mounted my tweeters on the very top of the door panel, just before the plastic piece that covers the side view mirror wires. They point upwards, with a slight inward angle. You'll see what I mean, if you check the contour on that area of your door panel.
Placement really depends on the tweeters that you choose. I assume you'll get Alpines to match the rest of your system. You might even be able to surface mount them, and avoid drilling holes, depending on the design.
http://www.luckyjdr.homestead.com/impala.html
Oh, well, I will have to grim and bear it for a bit then to the shop we go.
Thanks!
RR
Let's hope the problem doesn't 'disappear' for the Service Dept. tech.... I'll keep you posted.
Thanks,
RR
Nah, that's not it, I just haven't uploaded the newer stuff yet.
M&R Electronics has a new Delco changer that is designed to work with the 00-01 Impala/Monte Carlo with RDS and OnStar for $299.95. The magazine, $59.95, is not included. http://mnrelectronics.com/par25del12di.html
However, if you enter the part #'s 25708970 and 25659168 at www.partszoneonline.com they are $270 and $30, respectively.
Also, according to a number of qualified sources that I spoke to, the harness that is already installed in most of the Impalas should work. You just have to re-connect the two connectors located under the passenger side dash, which were left disconnected at the factory. See Nathan's web page for a photo of the two connectors:
http://home.hawaii.rr.com/impala/CDchanger.html
I plan on purchasing this changer and connecting it to the existing harness, within the next two weeks. I'll post my results. If anyone beats me to it, or has come up with a different solution, please post your results. Thanks.
I've actually gotten quite accustomed to the in-dash single CD player and I don't have any plans to go the changer route. However, it will be good to know if the process has been simplified as you indicate (in case I change my mind)!
It's my way of thanking you for that floor mat tip. FYI, I discovered that my dealer, MY DEALER!, sells the Lloyd mats for less than online.Way less, plus a 15% off coupon to boot!
BTW, I decided to get silver embroidery, not blue, to better match the car. If I had the blue exterior, I would have definitely gone for the blue thread.
I look forward to hearing about the CD changer.
Stop on over to check out my free club,the url is as follows: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/y2kmontecarloclub
Man I love this car!
http://www.luckyjdr.homestead.com/impala.html
On a related note, an Impala owner may be able to get the amp plug so you can replace the factory amp with an aftermarket one without cutting the harness. This is the path I want to take and will post more info as I get it.
http://home.hawaii.rr.com/impala/
The combination of the UP0 head unit (RDS, CD, Tape) with the 103 amp sounds absolutely brilliant with the new speakers. The only complaint I have is in regard to the radio reception. I will try an FM booster inline with the antenna. That may help.
I'm looking forward to the CD Changer as well. I keep having visions of slamming into the back of a mini van, because I'm searching for a new CD in the console.
As has been discussed here in the past, 'good' is subjective, what one thinks sounds good, another, blah, blah, blah......
The sound is now very 'boomy' not unlike my home stereo with the loundness switched on, not very desirable if you ask me. I've backed off the bass, but now find it odd that I went through the trouble of getting a new amp, only to back-off the feature I sought to improve. Looks like new speakers are on the horizon, then a new head unit. "This is a premium sound system?" It's a shame, as otherwise I love the car.
Once you replace the speakers with high quality, high-efficiency speakers, you will definitely see an incredible difference. Full, rich bass, not boomy mud. Crystal clear mids and highs.
Personally, I recommend the JBL "P" series. Another member used Alpines, and loves them. It's unfortunate that a "premium" sound system comes equipped with such cheap speakers, and no in-dash CD Changer as well.
http://home.hawaii.rr.com/impala/
I also found out more information about the radio's Theftlock system and that's in the Instrument Panel Trim Plate how-to article.
However, I have a theory...
Maybe, it's because of the new glass in the 2001?! The 2001 Impala has a metalic glass for UV protection that the 2000 doesn't. After all, the antenna is stuck to the rear window. Maybe my dealership will replace my rear windshield with one for the 2001. This should be possible since they're the same bodies.
The only reason why I know this about the glass is because the tag for the automatic toll system in my area (EZ-Pass) has to be mounted on the exterior of the 2001 just for this reason.
Does anyone else have a different theory?
Static and drifting are common. And, the audio quality of the radio is not nearly as good as that of the CD, which sounds magnificent with the new speakers. Some difference between FM and CD should be expected, but not that extreme. Perhaps I notice it more with the new speakers.
I am considering adding an FM signal booster, which can be purchased at Radio Shack and elsewhere. It is normally installed in the dash area, inline between the antenna and radio.
However, I am considering mounting it in the trunk area, as the antenna is located in the rear window and there is a power source from the amplifier. It would seem to be easier than removing the dash panel to get at the back of the radio.
You might try an using one. It should improve reception. It won't improve the audio fidelity, though.
How much?
Where did you get them?
How are they different from the OEM units?
I am also interested in the FM signal booster.
Pls keep me posted...
Thanks
Chris