Can the factory radio in my Cutlass have an amp mounted to it?

[Mark 97 Cutlass Coupe]

I want to keep the factory cd/cassette radio with the steering wheel controls in my Cutlass Coupe. I really like the stock look, but I definately want to upgrade how the stock crappy system sounds. Obviously I want new speakers, but I want some more power too. Can an amp be mounted in the trunk, routed to the factory head unit, and work ok? I don't want to get crazy with subs, and additional speakers. I just want it to look stock inside the car, but sound a bunch better. Any thoughts on speakers?

[Crazy K]

investigate and answer the following:

 

is there a separate tweeter in the front door (seen as two differently sized speaker grills in each door)

 

do you have the performance speaker optional subwoofers? Look in trunk, two or four wires to each speaker.

 

See if you have the stock amp: remove the plastic plate under the steering wheel (four 7mm bolts) and look to the right and see if you have the optional amp present. It is gray and has two trapezoidal mounts that fit into the two trapezoidal holes to the right of the column.

 

results?

[Mark 97 Cutlass Coupe]

investigate and answer the following:

 

is there a separate tweeter in the front door (seen as two differently sized speaker grills in each door)

 

do you have the performance speaker optional subwoofers? Look in trunk, two or four wires to each speaker.

 

See if you have the stock amp: remove the plastic plate under the steering wheel (four 7mm bolts) and look to the right and see if you have the optional amp present. It is gray and has two trapezoidal mounts that fit into the two trapezoidal holes to the right of the column.

 

results?

Unfortunately my wife is gone with the car for the day, but from memory I can answer 2 of the 3 questions. It does have tweeters in each of the front doors (it's a coupe) and the rear shelf speakers look different from normal speakers. They have 4 wires going to them, and what looks like a capacator about the size of a cigarette but is attached to the bottom of the speaker. Hopefully this gives you the answer you need, but if you need to know for sure about the under dash amp, I can look tomorrow when it's light and get back. Thanks.

[Crazy K]

Others will have their own recommendations, but what I have done in several similar cars is get the front 5.25"ish round speakers from a mid-90s H-body with "concert surround" (look in Olds 88,98 and Lesabre) and substitute them for the front roudn door speakers. they tend to be quieter, but clearer. I disconnect the front tweeters when i do that though. I've done this mod about eight times at about $8.00 a car for used speakers.

 

One car I have had someone swap Polk Audio speakers front and rear before I got it. I have intended to experiment comparing them by hooking up one of each set type I have experimented with, but both the polk and the stock upgrade sound good to me. Cheap but good works well.

 

I also have a pet peeve, which is things that do not last. I have seen many aftermarket speakers that simply rot and break. They are all flashy and sound anywhere from good to shitty...

Edited November 30, 2013 by Crazy K

[George]

I've had very good luck with Infinity Reference series speakers. They have a high signal to noise ratio which means they are efficient and work well with low powered decks, such as a factory deck with out additional amplification at a reasonable price (about $60/ pr.) however they can handle decent power if you want to add an amp. My 6 1/2 in rear side panel speakers were removed from a different car when I sold it and are now about 9 yrs old. They still sound great. I can't help much with adding extra amps to factory system, but if you were planning on bypassing your factory amp and replace all your speakers, that's a different story.

[Nas Escobar]

To answer your question, yes you can hook up an amp to the factory radio, but it would require a lot of wiring. You would need either an amp that can be turned on when the radio is on by connecting the speaker leads into the amp (this would also provide the signal to the amp instead of a RCA cable) or you could get a RCA converter.

 

The advantage of the first option is that you get to keep your balance and fader functions, but at the cost of running double wires... a set from each speaker location that would be hooked up from the stock connection to the "high level input" plugs on the amplifier and the set that goes from the amp to the speakers themselves.

 

The advantage of the 2nd option is that you can do mimimal wiring... you only have to wire the speakers to the amp and that's it, and you just tap into one of the connections which in turn would make your RCA connectors for the "input" of your amp but at the cost of sound quality and the loss of fader/balance.

 

You could also just do the high level input connection from one speaker and then jump that signal to the rest of the amp, but I personally never seen that done.

 

As far as speakers, it all depends on the amp you want to install and what music you listen to. I personally recommend Alpine or Kicker based on their durability but Polk Audio or Infinity are good choices as well.

[RPE1992GPSE]

I wired a Monsoon amplifier from a 1997 Firebird into my 92 Grand Prix. It accepts speaker level inputs, is relatively small, and doesn't operate on a remote turn-on like most amps do.

 

It was a shitload of work but dude, it hits like a mutha and it sounds like it belongs in there.