Is there a forum or sub-forum for in-car entertainment?

[Sotosound]

Hi

Although I've temporarily postponed plans to swap my manual Mondeo Mk 4 Titanium for an automatic P3 V70 SE Lux D4 (ONO), I do find myself pondering what to do about the music listening that I do in my car when I do make the change.

My Mondeo has the Sony 6CD DAB head unit and premium speakers and is very sweet sounding, if ultimately a little lacking in power.

My old P2 V70 D5 S had the basic stereo for that generation of car but it acquitted itself very well.

Even the most basic stereo in the P2 V70 SE, however, trounces both of the above.

Move onto the P3 V70 and things don't sound as sweet. From test drives I've worked out that the basic unit found in SEs is.... basic and weedy and worse than all of the above.

The High Performance system (in my opinion) doesn't live up to its name and (again in my opinion) is trounced by the old P2 SE basic system.

I understand that there is a Dynaudio upgrade but I've never seen one advertised as part of a used vehicle.

So... what should I do? What are the actual options and what upgrade paths are there without loss of functionality and without excessive expense?

Many thanks in advance.

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by Sotosound

Is there a forum or sub-forum for in-car entertainment?

No.
The various audio systems are so quirky and model type/year specific, I would ask in the dedicated P3 section for real world experiences.

[green van man]

I have a P3 xc 70 with the high performance sound system, it works for me as in car entertainment, I have a stack of lp's on a memory stick or listen to radio 4.
It's background while traveling, if I want to listen to music I use vinyl and an old Sony hi fi stacking system. No in car system is going to match that, for a start cd's do not have the dynamic range of vinyl and downloads don't match cd's for quality in my opinion.

It's not Hi fi but it's good enough for me with its 6 speakers, check the tweeters behind the door mirrors are connected, a lot started to buzz and dealers just disconnected them as most owners never noticed the difference, was a cheap warranty repair.

Paul.

[Sotosound]

Originally Posted by cheshired5

No.
The various audio systems are so quirky and model type/year specific, I would ask in the dedicated P3 section for real world experiences.

Will do. Many thanks.

[Sotosound]

Originally Posted by green van man

I have a P3 xc 70 with the high performance sound system, it works for me as in car entertainment, I have a stack of lp's on a memory stick or listen to radio 4.
It's background while traveling, if I want to listen to music I use vinyl and an old Sony hi fi stacking system. No in car system is going to match that, for a start cd's do not have the dynamic range of vinyl and downloads don't match cd's for quality in my opinion.

It's not Hi fi but it's good enough for me with its 6 speakers, check the tweeters behind the door mirrors are connected, a lot started to buzz and dealers just disconnected them as most owners never noticed the difference, was a cheap warranty repair.

Paul.

I recognise that an in-car stereo will never match what's at home, but the important thing for me is whether I enjoy listening to it on long journeys or whether, for instance, I find it harsh-sounding or unmusical or too weedy-sounding. For me, it's the soundtrack to my daily 50-miles-each-way commute rather than just background.

Different strokes.

[MikeGMT]

I'm by no means familiar with all the different sound systems in Volvos' but I believe with the introduction of Sensus connected cars, the hierarchy, top to bottom is Premium Sound, then High Performance Sound and then the Performance system.
Have a look here and you may find some useful info. Clicky select the model year then a drop down menu gives you more choices.

[Sotosound]

Originally Posted by MikeGMT

I'm by no means familiar with all the different sound systems in Volvos' but I believe with the introduction of Sensus connected cars, the hierarchy, top to bottom is Premium Sound, then High Performance Sound and then the Performance system.
Have a look here and you may find some useful info. Clicky select the model year then a drop down menu gives you more choices.

Interesting. Many thanks. The P2 info always boasts about a 9-speaker 225W sound system as standard on the SE. The P3 info, taking 2013 MY as an example, tells the reader nothing.

Sad!

[1monkey600]

If you look at page 236 of the MY13 owners manual it will tell you what features are available on each spec level of infotainment, eg
https://az685612.vo.msecnd.net/pdfs/...B_TP_15282.pdf

if you want to know how many watts, speakers, etc look at 'interior' sections of an old pricelist:
https://assets.volvocars.com/uk/~/me...t.pdf?la=en-gb

My 2016 car also has a subwoofer as an option but I didn't notice it during qiuick glance in the linked price list.

[Sotosound]

Originally Posted by 1monkey600

If you look at page 236 of the MY13 owners manual it will tell you what features are available on each spec level of infotainment, eg
https://az685612.vo.msecnd.net/pdfs/...B_TP_15282.pdf

if you want to know how many watts, speakers, etc look at 'interior' sections of an old pricelist:
https://assets.volvocars.com/uk/~/me...t.pdf?la=en-gb

My 2016 car also has a subwoofer as an option but I didn't notice it during qiuick glance in the linked price list.

Many thanks for this.