[mstrjon32]

I bought a GMOS-LAN-04 so that I could connect a Pioneer DEH-80PRS to my stock Monsoon system. The receiver hasn't arrived yet, but the LAN-04 did. I was dismayed to discover that the adapter has been redesigned--the original version included RCA connections which plugged into the pre-amp outputs of your receiver, but the new version is designed to connect to the amplified outputs of the head unit.

I don't know why they went ahead with such a change, but it seems really unnecessary to me to connect the amplified outputs to the adapter, have the adapter then convert that signal to line level, then feed that back to the stock amplifier before connecting to the speakers.

I contacted Metra and they claim that the adapter itself is different, so if you connect these inputs to the preamp outputs, it won't work correctly. I think am going to try and find an older version of the adapter somewhere that allows me to use the pre-amp outputs. This only makes sense to me, especially with a unit like the 80PRS, which allows you to disable the internal amplifier if nothing is connected to it.

I don't know if there are other manufacturers that make a suitable adapter--I see that Scosche appears to make one, but I've read it's only for the non-amplified system, but I'm really unhappy with the design of this new adapter.

 

[TomatoSoup]

One reason might be that, because the Monsoon amp has balanced inputs, they need the higher power inputs to the GMOS to drive balance transformers without losing too much signal. Just a guess.

I often wondered with these GMOS devices, do they simply 'translate' the GMLAN chime signals to send to an external speaker (only)? Or do they merge the chime audio onto the head unit's audio signal to the amp?

 

[mstrjon32]

I found someone who claims to have a copy of the GMOS that still accepts the preamp outputs, so I bought it. When it arrives, I'll install and if all is well, I will send back the newer design unit.

I'll post an update if I run into any problems.