I believe the speakers are now made by Harman Kardon/Becker/JBL (same company different names). I understand that the head unit and amp are still from the same vendor (Alpine).
check out this thread:
http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?153628-Premium-Sound-System

In my comparison shopping, the base level "High Performance" system was very good and close to the "Premium" system. In my opinion the Premium system had better bass response - I think it has excellent subwoofers that are not on the High Performance system. But for 2011 if you wanted the navigation (which I did) you had to get the Premium system - no choice.

 

Drive with the top down, turn the music up ... Volvo audio has always been pretty good. In a convertible, it won't matter 90+ percent of the time.

 

Thanks for the replies. Got an email back from Volvo themselves saying they are made by Harman Kardon. So at least not some cheapass brand. I still think the Dynaudio would have sounded better because it was amazing in my MK1 C70 coupe.

 

FWIIW, I had two Volvos (2008 S40, 2010 V70) with Dynaudio speakers and have two current ones (2012 S60 and XC70) with the Harmon-Kardon speakers. My overall impression is that the Dynaudio speakers were marginally better, particularly on the top end, but the Audyssey-tweaked equalization in the S60 and XC70 makes the audio system better adapted to the individual car's interior acoustics. In any event, the implementation of the Dynaudio speakers in the C70 was far superior to that in the other pre-2012 MY Volvos because of the subwoofers. I have regrettably never bought a C70, largely for practical reasons, but I still covet having one. I have had several as loaners and they were a blast.

 

I extensively tested the sound system in my car today and I am dissapointed to report that it is not as good as the Dynaudio package in the original C70. In fact its quite a lot worse.

 

Please correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that the 2011 MY premium sound system consisted of Dynaudio speakers. I am checking around on the internet and so far everything from Volvo states that the Dynaudio speakers were used in the 2011 C70 with the premium sound, at least here in the US. Other Volvo models seem to use different speakers for the premium sound option.

 

I assume that my 2011 has Harman Kardon speakers since I have the "Premium Sound" badge on the center speaker (and not the old Dynaudio badge which looked so much better). I still have a 2011 C70 brochure and there is no mention of Dynaudio, only "Premium Sound." Some time ago I test drove a 2010 with the Dynaudio system and I remember awesome sound but I did not play with the audio that much.
I'm fairly happy with the Premium Sound system. I did tweak the EQ settings quite a bit using various audio sources (Sirius, iPod, HD radio) and found a mix of settings that definitely improved it for me.

 

What eq settings?

All I can see is bass, treble, centre speaker, and surround effect

 

There is separate equalization for the front and rear speakers as well as volume control for the center channel and subwoofers.

This is what I was referring to when I thought that the 2011 C70 had Dynaudio speakers, this is from the Volvo site.....

2011 Volvo C70
Multimedia Package
Dynaudio Premium Sound System
12 Dynaudio speakers
Dolby ProLogic II Surround Sound
4 x 130 watt general amplifier
1 x 130 watt center speaker amplifier
2 x 8" subwoofer system with 2 x 130 watt amplifier

(14 speakers total; 12 Dynaudio and 2 subwoofers)

Volvo Navigation System with Real Time Traffic, remote control and Map Care

 

So I finally found the equaliser settings today and it has much improved the sound quality. It was sounding very flat before but I have increased the EQ on the front and rear speakers from 1k and above. I also had to reduce the centre speaker and surround effect slightly. It sounds crisper now and closer to the Dynaudio setup I had before.... but the bass was still a bit smoother in the Dynaudio. Still its very good and I love the USB connection!

 

I have premium sound but it's not as good as what I had in my old car ( alpine head unit+ focal speaker + focal amp)

The sound has less clarity and depth, and I already tried the equalizer.

Has anyone done any upgrade on the new system? Is it easy to swap amplifiers?
I read some of the posts and it seems hard to replace speakers since they are all tuned for surround sound

 

My MY2007 C70 has the Dynaudio system, and it is the best-sounding car audio system I've ever had. While H-K is a very reputable brand, they make things to a broader range of price-points than does Dynaudio. My Subaru has an H-K "premium sound" system, and although it sounds pretty good, it is not in the same class as the Dynaudio system. (As an aside, the Subaru H-K system also required a fair amount of tweaking of equalization settings to get a fairly flat/neutral tonal balance.)

The Dynaudio system in my 2007 has a two-way center speaker, 3-way front speakers (with 8" bass drivers), two way rear side speakers (also with 8" bass drivers), and dual 8" "sub-woofers" behind the rear seats. So 14 drivers in all, and a total of six 8" drivers.

The bad thing is that if you use the ProLogic II mode, the two side 2-ways in the back seat area are just providing the matrixed rear channel, without much content/volume (basically intended to be the echo of the fronts, providing spatial ambience. As a result, I tend to use the "3-channel stereo" mode most of the time - it still has a matrixed center channel, but the rear side speakers are duplicating the fronts, rather than providing echo....

H-K (or really Harman) also owns the JBL and Infinity brands, and they sell car audio systems under all three labels. They also own various other brands, some of them quite high end, like Mark Levinson, Lexicon, and AKG (and I think also Revel speakers).

 

There's no way one can compare an HK system in a subie to a Dynaudio in a volvo! lol The soundproofing and tightness of the car's door panels alone determine a lot of how the speakers sound (which is quite dramatic when you compare a Volvo to a Subaru). Plus as mentioned, Harman makes many different levels of speakers depending on what the client's budget is, and I would assume that Volvo is going to be wanting nicer speakers than Subaru in their cars.

The HK system in the S60R, for example, is very good and a source of praise from most that ride in my car. People usually assume I have a subwoofer when it's really that I have the 4 8" woofers in the car, two in the front doors, two in the rear parcel shelf. I suppose in a sedan, the Dolby surround sound works better as the rear speakers are further away from those in the front as mentioned. Plus because it's II, they aren't band-passed like in I and as such work as additional subwoofers. Dolby also helps focus the sound quite a bit better, using the center channel more effectively.

One must consider that each of these sound systems is typically optimized from the factory, and I know that HK for example did some tuning of their own for the Volvo systems. I still have my bass and treble turned up, of course.

The headunits to my knowledge are produced by Mitsubishi, and I'm unsure of the external amps, but I'm pretty sure they aren't Alpine.

 

There's no way one can compare an HK system in a subie to a Dynaudio in a volvo! lol The soundproofing and tightness of the car's door panels alone determine a lot of how the speakers sound (which is quite dramatic when you compare a Volvo to a Subaru). Plus as mentioned, Harman makes many different levels of speakers depending on what the client's budget is, and I would assume that Volvo is going to be wanting nicer speakers than Subaru in their cars.

The HK system in the S60R, for example, is very good and a source of praise from most that ride in my car. People usually assume I have a subwoofer when it's really that I have the 4 8" woofers in the car, two in the front doors, two in the rear parcel shelf. I suppose in a sedan, the Dolby surround sound works better as the rear speakers are further away from those in the front as mentioned. Plus because it's II, they aren't band-passed like in I and as such work as additional subwoofers. Dolby also helps focus the sound quite a bit better, using the center channel more effectively.

One must consider that each of these sound systems is typically optimized from the factory, and I know that HK for example did some tuning of their own for the Volvo systems. I still have my bass and treble turned up, of course.

The headunits to my knowledge are produced by Mitsubishi, and I'm unsure of the external amps, but I'm pretty sure they aren't Alpine.

+1 New C70 Dynaudio and S60 Premium Sound are two of the best sound systems I've heard in their price ranges so far. The next step from them would be B&O in them Audi A8, or Mark Levinson in a Lexus LS...