I have the crappy basic "Performance" sound system too. Speakers are not a problem. I am presently swapping mine for Polk Audio DXi6501's. The amp may be an issue. Does your basic system have an amp in the left rear quarter panel? In any case, you may need to do a software load for it to work.

 

To be honest, I havent looked, but as I understand it should bet right there... I just Sony want to mess with plastics One Time too many

 

Dont*

 

i tried to put in a premium sound amp in my performance sound (basic) but there most probably needs to be software update for it to work BUT it wasn't guaranteed that it would work when i asked the volvo dealer a few years back.
so i never did it. what i did was to change the back speakers to Zachry XLNT 520 2-way kittsystem. but never did the front for some reson.
the speakers are all plug and play and the wires for the tweeters is already there so thats the easy part but i haven't heard about anyone successfully changing the amp to a better one, unless they rebuilt the entire sound system.

 

I swapped the rear speakers for the Polk DXi6501 and am not impressed so far. I think the 20watt Performance system amp is just too weak to drive anything. I have another set to put up front when I get a chance. It will have to sound better than the factory dual-cone crap.

Since I am also replacing the headliner, I applied damping material (similar to Dynamat) and insulation to the roof. I also applied damping to the rear doors and will do the fronts when I change those speakers.

My overall plan is to get a Bluepower BLP-990 and run some Alpine amps that I have around to drive the speakers. Even the BLP-990's 60 watts amp should be an improvement though. Another half baked option is to use a line-level converter off the factory amp and feed the signal to the Alpine amps. However, I really think these cars benefit from some equalization which the Performance (basic) system lacks. I could add a eq but then I'd be getting into the price range of the BLP-990.

 

I swapped out the front speakers for Polk DXi6501 woofers and the premium sound midrange and tweeter. The sound is anemic. I dried swapping the woofer for an old Polk MM6500 that I had in my previous V50. That V50 had the Premium Sound and the Polk MM6500 sounded really good. In this set up with the Performance sound system, it is anemic.

The conclusion is; I gotta get away from this 20W amp if I want even decent sound. I wonder if the amp is bad or was Volvo aiming for the stodgy Volvo driver who only listens to talk radio.

 

By my thoughts Volvo aimed with basic sound system to people, who dont care ... I will try to just simply exchange all 4 speakers and all 4 tweeters... could be a little upgrade... If it doesnt satisfact me, I will have to try something out with amp. This is the only thing I hate about my car. I used to drive an Audi and it was so simple, still I wont give up so easy

 

I did get mine sounding a little better. I reseated the connector at the amp and it seemed to come to life. Crank the bass up half way and it starts to sound decent.

 

So basicly any tweeters should fit in nicely? I am thinking about these... https://www.ebay.com/itm/263267409880

 

Tweeters are tricky to fit. In the rear doors it was not much of an issue. I just glued the aftermarket tweeters in place. The fronts are an issue. For now I just put factory tweeters in from the premium sound system until I figure out how to fit the Polk tweeters.

 

Just ordered all four tweeters, gonna exchange them as soon, as they arrive and after that... gonna look for speakers

 

I have a 2006 V50 with basic sound as well. I did the following:

- removed the stock CD player/amp
- installed Sony head unit with CarPlay
- replaced all 4 door speakers with new Pioneer 3-ways
- installed OEM tweeters in the rear door positions
- installed back up camera to connect to the head unit

The head unit has 55w per channel amp for all 4 speakers, plus pre-amp if I ever want to add setup in the trunk. Sounds awesome in comparison to the original setup and came out, in total, for about the same cash as the outdated BluPower head unit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I have a 2006 V50 with basic sound as well. I did the following: - removed the stock CD player/amp - installed Sony head unit with CarPlay - replaced all 4 door speakers with new Pioneer 3-ways - installed OEM tweeters in the rear door positions - installed back up camera to connect to the head unit The head unit has 55w per channel amp for all 4 speakers, plus pre-amp if I ever want to add setup in the trunk. Sounds awesome in comparison to the original setup and came out, in total, for about the same cash as the outdated BluPower head unit. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hello! I'm a musician myself so I do very much like a decent sound. Here is what I have. - Volvo v50 2004, basic (no aux) but there's an amp on the back left in my trunk. ???? Normally a basic audio doesn't have an amp? I like the Sony 1-din solution. (But knowing Volvo a little bit, they don't make it that easy) Is it plug and play or are there other things to be done? Do you still see the volume, airco,etc... on screen? Bluetooth ok? Thanks!!

 

Sony head unit with CarPlay is pretty costly ... And wasnt the install an pain in the ass?

 

The Sony XAV ax100 is what I installed. You can pick it up for less than $400. The best part about it is that the main body of the receiver is single DIN and the screen is double DIN. So, after modifying the waterfall to allow the double DIN size screen, the rest of the body is hidden nicely and doesn't show on the back of the waterfall. You can see pics of it here...

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?114242-What-did-you-do-to-your-car-today&p=5853297#post5853297

The install was frustrating, but only really in the modification of the waterfall. The wiring, speaker replacement, and backup camera installation were pretty straight forward.

 

I am interested in the wiring of Sony head unit itself... I have heard that integrating it inside these volvos is hard, or is it just plug and done?

 

Sorry to say upgrading the sound system in the P1s is not plug and play. If you want aftermarket, you will need to get creative. There are plenty of threads on this forum for upgrading the sound system, recent ones as well.