A little background first. I read the write up by fierosound titled "Fool Everybody, Stereo looks stock, sounds great" and loved the idea. I finally bought the recommended subwoofer but can't find the recommended amplifier anywhere! So I started looking at factory amplified systems that gm offers in their current model line up. One that stood up was the solstice monsoon system that uses an amplifier to power two 4 inch speakers in the back, two one inch tweeters & two 6 inch speakers in the doors and an 8" subwoofer behind the passenger. The system is rated at 225 watts max power.
I guess I'd like to fiqure out if an amplifer from a solstice could be used the same way in a fiero. I'm pretty sure it can, but I'm afraid it may over power the tang band W5-1138SM 5-1/4 inch subwoofer.

I've been trying to find out how much watts RMS the solstice monsoon amp sends to the sub but havent been able to get a straight answer. Does anyone here know?

Overall, good idea or what?

Get a real amp, stock sucks. No matter what it came out of. Compared to aftermarket. Most stock crap uses IC chips in their amps which will only put out 12.5 watts, no matter what they are rated. Mosfet amps put out more. Remember that auto makers want to keep everything cheap to make.

Get like a soundstream, autotech, zapco or something like it if you want real power. I have not looked into the monsoon systems, but stock is stock. and who wants stock? stock speakers are rated at 10 ohms so a good amp will only put out 0.4 of the rating they have being that they are rated at 4 ohms. just some info for ya'

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"DRIVE IT LIKE A FIERO"
'84 Fiero, engine to be determined
'87Blue GT 3.4L Swap Completed!!!!!!!!
Las Vegas Fiero Club
Fiero Road Club Of Northern Nevada

I'd love to use a real amp, problem is the 50 watt RMS subwoofer that I want to use. I can't seem to find an amp that won't over power the sub. The Xtant 1.1i recommended by fierosound seems to be impossible to find - trust me I've been looking!.
I'd love to put in a real sub - even purchased a pioneer 8" shallow mount sub but I don't really want to cut up my car in order to mount it behind the passenger seat. I've had the sub in the centre console before but that got stolen a few years ago. I just want some bass and to keep the sub out of sight.
Again I want to keep the system appearing stock and sounding good enough, that's why I'm looking into the Solstice monsoon amp.
But if anyone can suggest an alternative amp to the Xtant 1.1i, then please let me know.

To find the xtant go here and enter your zip. I would have done it for you and found your local dealer but you don't have your zip listed. I know there is one in Bellvue Washington but dont know about Canada.
http://www.xtant.com/html/dealerLoc.cfm

I think you can order it here. Be careful though I know nothing about this site and it looks pretty cheesy.
http://www.lightav.com/car/xtant/damplifiers.html

Here is some info for those who want to know more about this amp.
http://www.caraudiomag.com/...car_audio_amplifier/

Stay away from stock if at all possible. Good luck!

a 1 watt amp into a 100 watt speaker does way more damage than a 10,000 watt amp into a 100 watt speaker. I can run speakers at 200% rated power if there is very low distortion. I can also destroy any speaker with a 1 watt amp with high distortion.

Distortion is typically coupled to DC current in the speaker wire, DC will fry a coil in a speaker.

Get a bigger than you need amp, turn the gain down, everything will be better than getting a amp at the same rating as the speaker.

also look at the THD rating on the amp, is the THD is greater than 0.05% the amp is junk.

Thanks for the info guy's. I'll keep looking for the xtant amp as it is the better match. Fieroseverywhere, thanks for the links. I'll see what I can find. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any xtant dealers in Canada but I'll see if I can find some in the US that will ship to Canada. Also, I'm still keeping an eye on ebay.

For those interested in the Tang Band 5-1/4 sub recommended by Fierosound, they are available on partsexpress.com. I ordered two last tuesday and got them yesterday. All I need now is that bloody amp!

Thanks again for the input.

quote Originally posted by Eau_Rouge: Thanks for the info guy's. I'll keep looking for the xtant amp as it is the better match. Fieroseverywhere, thanks for the links. I'll see what I can find. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any xtant dealers in Canada but I'll see if I can find some in the US that will ship to Canada. Also, I'm still keeping an eye on ebay.

There's an Xtant 1.1i on eBay right now
http://cgi.ebay.com/Xtant-1...QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

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3.4L S/C 87 GT www.fierosound.com
2002/2003/2004 World of Wheels Winner &
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