OldnDecrepit I have a 1998 Volvo C70 but the head unit is faulty and has no USB interface. What are the best upgrade options?
Ex850R You will have a dolby decoder/interface to amp under the ashtray and amp under the drivers seat as per any x70 with dolby, if you have Dynaudio upgrade, a 300W amp in boot too plus the greatest speakers ever in all the spots! (although the Volvo x70 and 850 speakers were made by Dynaudio with lesser spec cones)
OldnDecrepit I was aware that it was a very good stereo system but the head unit has gone a bit "gaga". Only one CD slot seems to work and there's no USB connector. I use USBs in my other Volvos. Where in the boot is the amp? So may be all I need is a new head unit?
Ex850R Someone repairs them, and call Mark. Or just use a plug in USB adapter, a Grom or the like. Plugs into the cd changer socket on the back, works great!
Ex850R I have a "Yatour" others use "Grom" Easy installation., plug in and connect power wire. Into harness.
Ex850R Vee_Que;103447 wroteI'd replace the old thing with a shiny new unit and an external modern amp. Dolby decoder and the way Volvo wire the speakers would mean it would not work.
Ex850R It means a judicious wiring solution to the centre speaker then. Nothing wrong with the alpine systems Volvo branded as theirs, old tech is good tech. Years ago in home hifi we patched the left and right 2nd set of outputs to speakers on the amp, +on left to - on right on one speaker, but somebody came up with that idea and it did a good job. I don't do it now though. Maybe this can be the solution if you go with a new amp. Or, use a mono amp for that, getting complicated now, just get an adaptor.
nickm Get a Yatour unit like this it bumps into the CD stacker allows USB SD and AUX in. Leaves the dash stock. ebay.com.au/itm/USB-SD-AUX-MP3-CD-changer-Adapter-VOLVO-HU-603-S60-V70-S-80-XC70-V40-S40-/192109832729?hash=item2cbaa36a19:g:BvcAAOxyBvZTSq7G
Ex850R ^ thats mine , does the job well. Grom is the other one peeps here have used. https://www.google.com.au/aclk?sa=l&ai=DChcSEwjoo7fo1YDTAhULCbwKHWi6BhEYABAPGgJ0Zw&sig=AOD64_066WEkY4krzCRoqtOWXYjaR2CgXg&ctype=5&q=&ved=0ahUKEwjU5rTo1YDTAhULTrwKHXcrBEIQpysISA&adurl=
OldnDecrepit Bought a Yatour unit and installed it. Just get error messages for CD6 - tried various USBs which work fine in my other cars. Removed the unit Yatour - sigh. Looks like upgrade time.
jamesinc Replicating a centre speaker isn't hard at all, you can easily do it with a passive crossover between the front left and right speakers, or alternatively you can buy speakers with dual voice coil, e.g. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_068R48N/RetroSound-R-48N.html
OldnDecrepit Ex850R;110979 wroteIt's the HU itself having issues not with the Yatour. Yes it probably is. Just another reason for upgrading the HU.