95 850 Stereo Refresh

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 25 Oct 2016, 23:20

So I would like to finally have a working sound system in my T5R. I have no experience with sound systems and electricity and magnetism have always been black magic to me so any dumbed down advice will really help me out.

My stock system has 4 components: headunit, under dash amp, speakers, and a trunk mounted CD changer.

I'm interested in quality sound with solid bass (not like glass rattling giant subs, but I like a solid bass) with some method of plugging my ipod in.

What I don't have a good grasp on is which parts of the system have the most effect on sound quality. Is that more a result of a good head unit? Or does the amp matter more? Or perhaps nothing but speaker quality matters. Or do all three need to be top quality?

In other words, when building a new system should I start by picking a head unit and matching the other components to its specs? Or Would it be easier to pick speakers and work backwards from there?

Thanks!

Sommerfeldt · Post by **Sommerfeldt** » 26 Oct 2016, 03:13

I've found it easiest to pick speakers - from my 850 experience, the HU, amp and the woofer in the T5R are good (do you have the woofer?) stuff, but switching out the speakers made a world of difference. They're 20 years old, after all.

The Volvo tweeters are pretty good, but the door speakers deteriorate.

The only thing to watch out for is that you might want to bring the bezels and hardware in when you get new speakers, and write down all the specs (ohm and whatnot), so you can ask for some advice and get speakers that will fit the hardware. Been there, done that and broken lots of stuff...

And I don't understand electricity and all that stuff either, so it was kind of a PITA.

- S

Post by **jreed** » 26 Oct 2016, 05:06

Not sure what your budget for time and money is on the project... but offering my experience in case it would be of interest....

We replaced our original SC816 head unit a couple years ago with something simple and cheap (a Kenwood, ~$100) that had a USB port so we could connect smartphones/memory sticks to play music. We didn't change the speakers. The sound quality is good. So far it has been working well.

Post by **Clemens** » 26 Oct 2016, 14:05

Best route as far as others say in forums say is a yatour usb adapter that you connect to the changer cord (you delete the 6-disc changer that way). Keep thw original HU and amp, they are really good quality. There is no sub on the 850ies, but the door speakers create really nice bass as long as you don't cut up the plastic adapter.

Front doors are 3 and a half inch I believe (check crutchfield for that size), the rear ones are 5 and a quarter. Crutchfield lists the rear with 4 inch, but that is wrong and too small. You won't get a decent bass that way (especially through blowby).

The biggest problem will be that the old speakers are 8 ohm and you basically just get 4 ohm speakers over the counter or online. Using 4 ohm speakers should work, but you could thoretically blow the amp or HU if you turn the volume all the way up.

What i'm gonna do when i find some time is: replace front speakers in door and dash as well as the rear door speakers. If you have wagon, leave the d-pillar speakers as they are, if you have a sedan you can replace them as well.

Search the forum, there is an older thread from 2012 or so that is pretty detailed.

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 26 Oct 2016, 14:29

Just for kicks, drop an SC-901 in there and check it out.
You have a compatible amp and changer, so it's plug and Play
and has MUCH better sound than the stock 850 HU's.

+1 on CD changer input adapters, too.
Have a look at the Grom line.

In any case, I'd start with a new HU, a sub and then
follow behind with speakers if you feel the need.
Good sound starts at the source!

Post by **scot850** » 26 Oct 2016, 21:07

The Yatour has a bluetooth version if I recall. I have a USA SPEC unit from Crutchfield. It works with any of the SC-XXX head units and only needs 2 connections into the HU wiring harness, a live and a ground. Only issue is that it only has a connector cable (extra) for an AUX jack plug and a Apple connector. It works fine and was fairly easy to install. I think I wrote a how to on here somewhere. Again, there may now be a newer version with bluetooth or USB connector.

To be honest I don't really find the SC-901 much better than the SC-815 I had in a 97 850. Both are good though, but the SC-900/901 don't have a built in amp.

Neil.

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 26 Oct 2016, 22:34

More people than less seem to prefer the 901.
( I count myself among them, but that's just me.

)
And, he has an amp, so no worries there.
Add the Dolby decoder and it easily pulls away!

I have a USA Spec, too, but the newer, higher end Groms
also offer Bluetooth, hands free calling and a USB port.

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 27 Oct 2016, 21:59

Thank you for the ideas! My system hasn't really worked since I got the car and presently the headunit is unplugged completely. Before though, I would only get sound from the dash tweeters and one of the front door speakers.

Above all else I'm lazy, so I'm going to skip the diagnostic step and simply replace everything. I think I am in favor of staying with a P80 HU, and if all I need is a yatour usb adapter to run my ipod then the 901 sounds like a good option. And from what I've read here the stock under dash amp is good as well. I believe those are relatively easy to come by so I'll try to find a working one somewhere. Do these amps fail often or is that rare? Like I said, I haven't actually done the work to see if mine still works correctly so it's certainly possible it doesn't need replacing.

If I stay with the stock amp and an SC901, what parameters do I need to match when choosing new speakers? I have a sedan for reference.

Thanks again everyone!

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 27 Oct 2016, 23:53

Speakers that fit, sound good to YOU and stay within your budget.
And start looking at subs...

zhenya · Post by **zhenya** » 28 Oct 2016, 07:32

The 901 is a great unit, but any unit with an external amp will sound pretty good. Honestly the stock speakers, if they aren't blown or damaged, will likely sound better than aftermarkets that don't fit the brackets properly and are of the wrong impedance. Unless you intend to replace absolutely everything which will be expensive and probably not sound that great, you, or someone, is going to need to do some troubleshooting.