Are there GOOD looking replacement stereo's on the market?

[Rob Guenther]

Hello Everyone

Well, the 11 year stereo in our 1993 960 has just about had it. It still has AM functionality, but the volume knob is crackling a lot when you adjust the volume, the FM has been dead over a year, and the tape deck stopped working silently for 6 months.... And it has no CD player to top it off.

I have my parents thinking aftermarket stereo, but they, like me have come to the conclusion that there are absolutely NO distinguished, elegant looking car stereo's on the market.

Maybe we are going to the wrong places... we don't want to pay thru the nose either. All we need is CD, nice to have tape, and AM/FM.

Does the 960 have its own amplifier?

 

[James Sweet]

Hello Everyone

Well, the 11 year stereo in our 1993 960 has just about had it. It still has AM functionality, but the volume knob is crackling a lot when you adjust the volume, the FM has been dead over a year, and the tape deck stopped working silently for 6 months.... And it has no CD player to top it off.

I have my parents thinking aftermarket stereo, but they, like me have come to the conclusion that there are absolutely NO distinguished, elegant looking car stereo's on the market.

Maybe we are going to the wrong places... we don't want to pay thru the nose either. All we need is CD, nice to have tape, and AM/FM.

Does the 960 have its own amplifier?

It most likely does have a separate amp which could be bypassed. If you want something plain looking (and I couldn't agree with you more, most of the new stuff is beyond fugly) look for something cheap, a couple years ago I got a basic Blaupunkt CD player at Costco, it's black, clean and fairly plain looking, and it works great, best of all it was only $100.

 

[Mike F]

Hello Everyone

Well, the 11 year stereo in our 1993 960 has just about had it. It still has AM functionality, but the volume knob is crackling a lot when you adjust the volume, the FM has been dead over a year, and the tape deck stopped working silently for 6 months.... And it has no CD player to top it off.

I have my parents thinking aftermarket stereo, but they, like me have come to the conclusion that there are absolutely NO distinguished, elegant looking car stereo's on the market.

Maybe we are going to the wrong places... we don't want to pay thru the nose either. All we need is CD, nice to have tape, and AM/FM.

Does the 960 have its own amplifier?

I don't think that there's any elegant looking stereos on the market either. For ergonomics, you sure can't beat the Volvo radios. And there's not too many out there that also do tapes and CDs in the dash. You can find SC-816 in black from a later 960 or 850, or the more common gray used in the x70s. For example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38640&item=2454302878 There is also the option of the gray only SC-901, but that one requires an external amp, if you don't have an amp it's not too easy to wire one.

You can find out if you have an external amp by looking for the 6 pin DIN plug on the back of the radio. (My brother's 97 960 didn't have a separate amp.)

 

[Peter Milnes]

Those radios that don't have external amplifier have an internal one so it is much easier to suss out the speaker wiring.

Cheers, Peter.

Rob Guenther wrote:

Hello Everyone

Well, the 11 year stereo in our 1993 960 has just about had it. It still has
AM functionality, but the volume knob is crackling a lot when you adjust the
volume, the FM has been dead over a year, and the tape deck stopped working
silently for 6 months.... And it has no CD player to top it off.

I have my parents thinking aftermarket stereo, but they, like me have come
to the conclusion that there are absolutely NO distinguished, elegant
looking car stereo's on the market.
...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38640&item=245 4302878

There is also the option of the gray only SC-901, but that one requires an external amp, if you don't have an amp it's not too easy to wire one.

You can find out if you have an external amp by looking for the 6 pin DIN plug on the back of the radio. (My brother's 97 960 didn't have a separate amp.)

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

 

[Rob Guenther]

I'm not worried about the wiring... I'm an industrial electrician (or at least in training to be one) and i've always been great at electrics/electronics.

I'd prefer it if the car had it's own amp, as the current stereo sounds quite nice, this is always an amp related thing, as it is what you pay for... Anyone can build a tuner/CD player.

Any brand recommendations? James said Blaupunkt, and I tend to agree, they have some alright looking plain units... Harman Kardon has GREAT looking units, but 700 USD is a little pricey.

 

[Rob Guenther]

Would a radio from an 850/900 series late models/older S/V70s work in my old 960? Looks like the unit would slide right in, but sometime they change stupid stuff like wiring over the years.

 

[James Sweet]

I'm not worried about the wiring... I'm an industrial electrician (or at least in training to be one) and i've always been great at electrics/electronics.

I'd prefer it if the car had it's own amp, as the current stereo sounds quite nice, this is always an amp related thing, as it is what you pay for... Anyone can build a tuner/CD player.

That's not nessesarily true, even the very best amplifier is garbage in - garbage out. There's lots of opportunities for noise and distortion in the tuner, CD player electronics, and preamp.

 

[Mike F]

I'm not worried about the wiring... I'm an industrial electrician (or at least in training to be one) and i've always been great at electrics/electronics.

I'd prefer it if the car had it's own amp, as the current stereo sounds quite nice, this is always an amp related thing, as it is what you pay for... Anyone can build a tuner/CD player.

Any brand recommendations? James said Blaupunkt, and I tend to agree, they have some alright looking plain units... Harman Kardon has GREAT looking units, but 700 USD is a little pricey.

As far as I know they'll just slide into your older 960, but I've never done it first hand. When I was thinking of changing the radio in the S70, I didn't find one that I liked enough to make the switch, so I have no recommendations.

 

[Mike F]

Those radios that don't have external amplifier have an internal one so it is much easier to suss out the speaker wiring.

Cheers, Peter.

The SC-816 does have an internal amp, so an external one is not necessary. The SC-901 does not have an internal amp so an external one is necessary.

 

[Jim Kelly]

Not to mention lousy radio reception in difficult areas!!

| That's not nessesarily true, even the very best amplifier is garbage in - | garbage out. There's lots of opportunities for noise and distortion in the | tuner, CD player electronics, and preamp. | |

 

[Rob Guenther]

How can I tell which I have. It has Tape, AM/FM, Controls for the CD changer (not installed) 6 speakers.

 

[Mike F]

How can I tell which I have. It has Tape, AM/FM, Controls for the CD changer (not installed) 6 speakers.

You don't have either radio I've mentioned. Both have AM/FM/cassette and 6 pack CD changer controls. The SC-816 has a single CD in dash, the SC-901 has a cartridge that will allow 3 CDs to be inserted at once in dash. To see pictures, go to ebay, search on "volvo radio" (no quotes)
and you'll see pictures.