stereotypicalv8guy

I have a 2009 Cobalt SS and I wanted a USB port so I swapped in the model 20789372 radio out of the 09-10 Cobalts and G5s without subs. Now my turn signals and door chimes are noticeably louder, the volume is much more sensitive (louder), and overall sound quality seems a bit off. I'm assuming this is because this head unit has an amp inside whereas the other just relied on the external amp. So now I basically have an amp powering an amp and then driving the speakers. My concern is I'm going to damage the external amp in some way and I was curious if it's at all possible to bypass the head unit amp.

Any audiophiles in here?

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

that's a correct assumption and no way to bypass. it probably sounds off bc of the different eq in each radio but assuming you keep the volume lower and don't crank it then there's no harm. sucks about the chimes thou

c4w18

you can't bypass the headunit's amp, but you can bypass the external amp, which seems to be your only option.

stereotypicalv8guy

I don't think that the head unit would power the subwoofer to my liking. Is there any way to bypass the external amp in regards to all of the speakers except the subwoofer? This really isn't my area of expertise. If I knew what I needed I could read up on it and install it from there but it's kind of hard when you have no idea what you need =/

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

possible yes good idea no

stereotypicalv8guy

Why wouldn't it be a good idea? I just don't see how the head unit can effectively power everything by itself.

c4w18

You have to get signal to that external amp somehow.....the only kind of signal you can give it is already amplified, which is going to exponentially increase your chances of burning up that particular channel on the external amp...Funny because just today I had to deal with that....one of my ex-coworkers didn't check if this tahoe we were working on had a factory amp....he wired up an alpine KTP445 powerpack to the harness and a couple months later the tahoe is back and the left channels are burned out....ended up having to bypass the factory amp, power the four channels with the KTP and power the sub from the radio...The sub was aftermarket, a base model memphis, but it didn't perform all that bad to be honest, being powered from only an alpine deck I was surprised....

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

what year tahoe was it? doing a bypass in the like 03ish ones isnt that bad but the newest body sucks in comparison

stereoguy honestly there is no right answer. the radio you bought isn't meant for the vehicle and that's it. you can try a quasi amp bypass where you power only 6.5 and 6X9 off the radio and tweeters/sub off the amp but not only would that sound pretty shitty but you have probably about the same chance of blowing the new radio due to the 2 ohm drivers as you do blowing the factory amp with the amplified radio. Unless you really plan on putting new speakers in the front and rear then just leaving the stock amp and sub alone. That's really the best option but then again its really not

c4w18

04-05 i believe... I could be wrong though...I got thrown on the job at the end because my coworker cut the **** out of his hand on the beam behind the glovebox where the amps at....

I agree he's in a shitty situation....I suppose he could just cut the sub wires from the back of the deck and run a high low to an aftermarket amp to power the stock sub? Still though....sticky situation....

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

ah ya thats the one i was thinking of. surprised he cut his hand thou.

NCC-2000

Easiest way to fix this mess is to get a USB deck from an SS and use that instead.

stereotypicalv8guy

Unfortunately I couldn't find a USB deck from an SS or I would have bought one. I've found one or two that came in Pontiac G5's with the Pioneer system but they were black so that doesn't work either unless there is a way to replace the bezel. Is there anything wrong with cutting the sub wires at the back of the deck and running an aftermarket amp for the sub? That sounds pretty doable to me but you made it sound like it's still not such a good idea.

NCC-2000

Faceplates on these decks can be taken off and swapped. There's only four screws and a few clips holding them on.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

right faceplates can be swapped. but im not sure what your looking for to be honest. your OP was u were afraid the new deck would damage the external amp which is possible but a new amp for the sub doesn't negate that. so idk

stereotypicalv8guy

My thought was to make the head unit power everything but the subwoofer and have a monoblock amp to power only the subwoofer. Now that I know I can replace faceplates I guess the easiest way would be to just grab one out of a G5 with the Pioneer system and swap the plates.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

right and that makes sense if you wanted more bass but not really what u wanted in ur op. for swapping the plates a very thin flathead or 2 will be ur friend its not hard to do but if you dont have patience and a lil flat i can see someone breaking the tabs (then again since its screwed in not sure how much if any that makes a difference)

stereotypicalv8guy

More bass would be a plus but my main thing is making sure I don't burn up the amp. Sorry I wasn't more clear in my original post...it's hard to explain things when you're a newb to the topic. I know how to swap out head units and speakers but that's about the extent of my audio knowledge.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

lol thats cool u just had me confused. but ya buying the ss radio and swaping faces should do it