'Performance' audio upgrade lessons

[Peterfreeth]

I just upgraded my 'performance' (basic) stereo in my 2010 V50 using bits and pieces of info gathered from around this forum and other sites, and I thought I'd share what I learned in the process that fills in the gaps and which I hope will be helpful to others.

I had two goals, add USB mp3 playback, and improve sound quality. The original stereo is truly dreadful, not a patch on Volvo audio systems of a few years back. I think the 'FoMoCo' stamp on all the components is the clue. To make a CD player in 2010 that doesn't play mp3s is ridiculous, even my 2008 Saab 93 did that. The speakers look identical to those in the Jaguar X Type too.

First, mp3. I went for the Grom Audio MST4 for £250. It hooks into the fibre optic MOST connections and pretends to be the CD player. A cleverly reverse-engineered solution limited by the CD player's controls. It does work, though.

The Volvo amp isn't up to much unfortunately, however the difference in quality from the new speakers is stunning. The paper Volvo speakers sound like you're listening through custard, I had to have the bass and treble up just to bear the sound. The Pioneer speakers allow the bass and treble to be set on neutral - as it should be. The audio quality of the Grom unit is very good, and it seems very well engineered.

I read about the MOST security option, where the car rejects the Grom unit because it isn't the original CD player, Grom are very careful to tell you about this. I didn't have any problem with my 2010 V50.

The Grom instructional video is quite helpful, the problem I found is that the video just goes too fast and only has text on screen, not verbal instructions, so my advice is to write down the steps because pausing a video while fiddling with fibre optic cables is quite fiddly. Wiring in the power was the hardest part because my car had the add-on Volvo/Motorola bluetooth handsfree unit which takes about a mile of cabling and crams it under the carpet. I removed all of that because I use a bluetooth earpiece, and the Motorola unit just adds an unnecessary layer of complexity. Once that was out, the Grom video made more sense and I was able to get to the power wiring. I still had to remove the floating dash to reach the wires and that was a hell of a job in itself. Here's how to do it.

With the screen bezel off, you'll see Torx T25 screws. Take those out and the top of the floating console is free. The bottom is secured by another two screws which are underneath the centre tunnel. You may find that you can pull the console away enough to reach the wiring.

Next, pop off the small panel to the side of the handbrake. This is a pretty tough one, I could see that even the dealer who fitted the bluetooth had made a mess of the plastic by using a screwdriver to prise it off. I broke off one of the securing clips/tabs but that didn't seem to cause a problem when I put it back afterwards. I think brute force is the only way to remove the panel, using as broad a tool as possible.

In the back of the main storage box, there's a panel which is fairly easy to remove, revealing another two T25 screws. Remove those. The centre tunnel is now free but won't come out. I wrestled with this for ages. At the very front of the tunnel, behind (forward of) the floating console is a storage tray. Take out the rubber liner and you'll see a little plastic tab sitting in a square hole. It looks totally innocent, like there's no way it could be holding anything in. Lift it gently with a small screwdriver and the whole centre tunnel now slides backwards.

Only slide the tunnel back a couple of inches and you'll now see the two T25 screws holding the bottom of the floating console. Remove those and you can take the console out and get free access to the wiring.

An alternative to this is to remove the CD player. Two Torx T15 screws underneath the CD slot allow you to pull it out but be VERY careful because the 3 cable looms that connect into the back of it are attached to the bottom of the unit, and if you pull it out you risk damaging the cabling, especially the fibre optics. The cable loom attachment points slide sideways and then come away neatly from the underside of the CD player.

The power wiring was a bit confusing, I'm used to wiring car accessories to a switched 12V. The Grom video shows connecting the Red 12V on the Grom to a Red/Yellow in the loom, and Black ground on the Grom to a Black/Red in the loom. The Red/Yellow appears to be a permanent 12V, not switched, which I find odd. I couldn't find a switched 12V anywhere in the loom so let's hope my battery doesn't run flat.

Once everything's wired in and the fibre optics are connected in the correct direction, you can tuck the Grom unit and its wiring into the space behind the display, under the existing CD player.

When testing the unit, I find that one of my USB sticks intermittently doesn't play at first, and the display shows "BL/FW" and "14/36". I have to ask Grom support what that means. Another one seems to play OK. The Grom unit remembers where it was on each USB stick, which is very handy.

Now, the speakers. I went for Pioneer TS-G1733 which are cheap and cheerful. In the past I've found Kenwoods to be good too, and I've found JBLs to be below my expectations. I actually didn't figure out the Pioneer model numbers until they arrived, the 1733s are 3 way, I should have ordered the 1732s which are 2 way. Never mind.

Getting the door cards off is pretty tough. You do not gently pull them off as other posts/sites indicate. You need a crow bar.

First, you'll need an angled pry tool to get the inner section of the door handle, that's easy, it just pops out. Then the main handle body lifts up with a bit of help from a pry tool at the rear edge and you can unplug the window cable. Then you'll be able to access two T25 screws through the back of the handle.

About that crow bar - I have a small Stanley breaking tool, it looks like a crow bar but it's flat, about 1" wide and very handy. I used a plastic pry tool to ease up the edge of the door card at the bottom and then inserted my crow bar. A screwdriver just doesn't do the job. The clips that hold the card on are very strong and a screwdriver puts too much stress in a small place. So, lift the edge, slide in the main tool and pull hard and fast. Don't try to do it slowly, the key is speed. Start at a bottom corner and work your way round. Once the circular clips are out, the rectangular clips across the top come out easily, just pull the door card straight away from the door.

The Volvo (Ford) speakers are riveted in. Drill out the centre of the rivet and the speaker will come away. I fished the backs of the rivets out of the bottom of the door as I wouldn't want them rattling. Offer your new speakers up to the hole and mark where you want your screws to be, because you'll have to drill holes. I found that the screw holes needed to be right on the edge of a curved section, hard to drill, so I used a screwdriver and hammer to mark a groove for the drill bit to sit in, and drilling was then easy.

You need to make sure the speakers are all in phase, and the Volvo speakers aren't marked + and -, so the only guide is connecting the same coil lead and hoping that the speaker coils are wound the same way. I found that the new speaker connector with the bigger tab went to the white wire on the Volvo connector, nearest to the longer locating tab on the plug. The grey wire then connected to the speaker wire with the black stripe on the smaller speaker connector.

To connect the new speaker to the Volvo connector, I soldered the end of the wire to make it rigid, flattened it with pliers and pushed it into the Volvo connector. You could of course cut the connector off and solder the ends together but I didn't want to make too make changes.

The speaker frame is flat but the metal door panel isn't, so if you just screw the speaker on with 3 or 4 screws you'll warp the speaker and distort the cone. I fixed the speaker with just two screws on exactly opposite sides and put self adhesive sponge around the edge of the speaker so it's sealed to the metal panel but not distorted.

It goes without saying that if you have the radio on while you're working, you'll know that everything works as you go along.

There's no way you can get the door cards off with a plastic tool, but with a metal tool it's inevitable that you'll scratch the paint behind the card. I used a paint pen to touch over the scratches to prevent any potential rust problems.

Getting the door panel back on - locate the card onto the top rectangular clips and push gently on. Now, hit the door edge as hard as you can with the heel of your fist to push the clips in.

To summarise the main points that I had to learn the hard way:

1. You might need to take the floating console out to reach the wiring, or remove the CD player
2. Don't expect to see a switched 12V in the wiring loom
3. If you see the BL/FW message try a different USB stick
4. You need a metal tool to get the door cards off

You're all done!

And that's what I did this weekend...

[crockey1]

Thanks for the long detailed post very helpfull, I have the standard performance stereo.
Did you notice a large improvement in quality by just upgrading the speaker's alone, or do you thing it would be worth retro fitting an aftermarket amp via the high level inputs ?