Radio connection question

[hanzzo]

Hello,

I just bought a 2000 volvo c70 convertible and i love it, but when i bought it there was no radio in it.
I'm a pretty tech savvy guy so i thought i'll install a nice radio.......... WRONG!!!!

so i got the radio, the metra plug and the dash kit.

connected all the wires the way they are supposed to go. but no sound.
the radio turns on but there is no sound but i did find some plugs i've never seen before behind the dash

I've never had a problem with car radio's before.

here are some pics of what i'm dealing with

So there are no speaker wires in the plug that comes from the car????
are the somewhere else? did someone remove them?

please let me know if you know what this is.....

[mikealder]

The rectangular plug contains the power in and possibly center speaker wiring, the small round plug with lots of pins is for a remote CD changer which could be in the boot or under the passenger seat, the other round DIN (is it 6 pin) plug is the feed from the head unit to the amplifier mounted in the boot.

Assuming your new head unit has RCA pre-out connections then you can get an adapter to go between the 6 pin DIN plug and the headunit so you still get the benefits of the Volvo amplifier. All the speaker wiring will emanate from the Volvo Amp in the boot, to get that lot extended to the center of the dash will be no small feat - Mike

[BEJinFbk]

You're dealing with a very nice Volvo/Alpine optioned OEM system.
The original SC-901 HU had jacks for two "block style" multi-pin connectors
that handle power and speakers ( for most models ). The one in your C that's
full is the "A" connector and contains power, ground, and a power antenna
control lead. That's what one connector of the Metra kit plugs into.

The other one, that only has one lead ( the speed signal for auto volume )
usually has speaker connections for the 4 corners in the car. Not in yours.
This car shipped with one of two good sized Alpine amp options in the back.
That's why you see the Metra connector with speaker leads looking empty.

The other connectors are a 6 pin DIN to the amp, a small DIN for an
optional 6 disc changer that gets installed in the trunk, a larger, higher
count DIN that connects the outboard Dolby Surround module, a 5 pin
connector that has two wires for the center channel speaker and two
antenna connections, a main and a sub for the 901's diversity tuning.

Bummer is, you haven't got the SC-901 head unit...Options?
Find the stock HU and enjoy a sweet, matched factory system.
Or - As mentioned above, use a 6 pin DIN to RCA adapter and
integrate you're aftermarket HU with the factory amp/speakers.

You can find several versions of the DIN to RCA cable out there or build
your own if you have decent soldering skills. It's just a simple adapter cable.

Here are some pages from the wiring diagrams that may be useful:

00 C70 Vert Radio w Amp Diagram.pdf

(235.28 KiB) Downloaded 1053 times

00C70 Vert Radio w Amp component locations.pdf

(220.11 KiB) Downloaded 856 times

All in all, the stock stuff made for a really nice system. A three way set up front
and some of the 'verts even shipped with a pair of subs in the rear seat backs.
( They're controlled by a switch in the rear of the center console ).

If you wish to modernize an SC-901, you've got options there, too.
Several adapters are available in the aftermarket that will allow
you to port in iPhones, USB, bluetooth or other audio sources.

To me, the best thing about the stock system is the stealth aspect.
They generally don't get stolen. Something to think about with a 'vert.

[hanzzo]

Thanks alot guys this is a great help