Audio upgrade 1998 V70: Dolby, amp, speakers

Post by **cardiegoV70** » 27 Jan 2013, 16:52

Many thanks to this great site for helping me through the heater core, thermostat and temp. sensor change. Also the tricky turbo coolant line fix. All good there. The care is in a great state of tune, but now I need some tunes!

The local Volvo wrecker was kind enough to gift me a Volvo head unit that he said was much better than the stock GLT unit. Has a CD player and better function buttons. No more grazing the sliding controls for bass and treble while adjusting volume. These ones hide after a change. I took this pic of the back of the unit in the hopes someone has done this before.

I did a bit of reading before posting this but after the mechanical marathon (which required HOURS of study) I'm hoping for some easier answers. I'm a newer Volvo owner. My 1997 960 bit the dust after two years and I did nothing to it because it was pretty beat. The new one is really nice so I'm treating it like a car I plan to keep.

He pulled mine out to pop the new one in but said "it's missing a wire." Since the GF picked up the car there was no clarification so I thought I would ask here. Thanks in advance for any insight.

Post by **cardiegoV70** » 27 Jan 2013, 19:52

I can take a pic of the connections if that helps.

Post by **cardiegoV70** » 27 Jan 2013, 20:32

Here's the back of the unit:

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 28 Jan 2013, 02:20

That's either an SC-900 or 901. Nice Alpine built HU.
It requires the optional external amplifier to work.
That missing "wire" may well be the round 6 pin DIN plug
that connects to the jack on your new HU marked "AMP".

Post by **cardiegoV70** » 28 Jan 2013, 09:07

That's helpful, thanks. I'll ask the guy if he has the amp. Any idea what models have these systems lurking in them? I saw some pics of external amps in the sub forum, but no model numbers.

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 28 Jan 2013, 13:34

You may get some useful info here:
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=30204

Post by **cardiegoV70** » 28 Jan 2013, 17:56

Now that was the thread I'd been looking for. My takeaway is that the 901 can be used with my existing harness (no mods) if I get the amplifier connection and amp. Off to eBay!

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 28 Jan 2013, 18:01

Pay close attention to the chunk of
harness that runs to and from the amp.
Very important.

Post by **cardiegoV70** » 28 Jan 2013, 18:11

I found this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Factory-Amplifi ... eo&vxp=mtr

Channels: 4 Model: 1384848

Is that the correct one? $100 is easier than spending the day and gas to maybe recover one from the junkyard.

Post by **cardiegoV70** » 28 Jan 2013, 18:14

Looks like these things aren't so rare:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Volvo-Amplifier ... eo&vxp=mtr