Radio Fit

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ritchard Findlay
  • Start date Start date
R

Ritchard Findlay

Hey y'all.

I have the bug. Yesterday I picked up my fourth old Volvo, (have two right
now) a really lovely '89 765T.

Today's question: the original radio in the car is a bit funky; the display
is broke. Does anyone know if later year double DIN sized radios will fit
properly in this double DIN space in this car? Right now it has two
separate DIN chassis, one for the radio, and one for the cassette.

As well, say I had found a nice Volvo SC 810 radio out of a '93 850 on Ebay.
If that fit properly, what kind of input does it have on the back to accept
a CD changer? (came installed in car). I would think it would be a DIN plug
of some kind, if so, is it easy to buy or build a DIN plug that will accept
RCA outputs from the Sony Changer?

Thanks in advance for your answers.

RF


--
Ritchard Findlay
Toronto, CANADA
[email protected]
(remove "nospam." to reply)

'85 760 GLE (the PVR was'nt all THAT bad)
'86 745T (zoom zoom before Mazda ever thought of it)
'89 740 GLE 16V (smooth, runs like a new car at 271,000 kms) ***May shortly
be for sale***
'89 765T (Sweeeet)
 
Bear in mind that a CD changer needs control info to and from the head unit.
It's not just a case of feeding the audio signals into the head......

Why not fit a single DIN head unit and get an accessory box for the other
space? That's what I did with my 850...
 
"LaoFuZhi" <the.real.address [email protected]
thing.not.too.hard.to.work.out> wrote in message
Bear in mind that a CD changer needs control info to and from the head unit.
It's not just a case of feeding the audio signals into the head......
Click to expand...


The changer has a separate mars-bar sized controller on a cable.

Why not fit a single DIN head unit and get an accessory box for the other
space? That's what I did with my 850...
Click to expand...


Considering that as well. Just trying to get some kind of workable solution
that's not too spendy. (Paid for this car yesterday, just came from giving
the lawyer the cheque for the downpayment on the house we are getting
tomorrow. Son #1 needs braces in February or March. Sucks to be me.)
Where would I find a DIN-sized accessory box? A little more storage is
always a good idea.

RF
 
Good luck finding a radio that doesn't look completely stupid mounted in
your nice Volvo interior. I've been looking for one for weeks for my parents
960, nothing on the market is just plain black, with a soft backlight of
green, and is HIGH QUALITY (there are tons of cheapo radios that are all
black, and have fine lighting, but I need something that will match the
original sound... which was quite nice).
 
Good news is that any late model double-DIN radio from 850, 960, S/V90, as
well as the old S/V/C70 and S/V40 (excluding the new V70 and the Phase II
S/V40) will fit your '89 760 with little or no modification. They are
certainly listed to fit your car in my genuine Volvo accessories brochure.

Why not get a SC-816 or SC-900? SC-816 has a in-dash single CD player,
while SC-900 has in-dash triple-CD player. Both can still be connected to a
6-Disc changer. The only other significant difference is that SC-816 has a
built-in amp (but you can connect it to external amp if you wish), while
with SC-900 isn't equipped with a built-in amp so you have no choice but to
coonect it to an external amp.

With the 6-Disc CD changer, if you don't want to buy a genuine Volvo one due
to cost, then it's easiest to buy an Alpine one. You can easily purchase
Volvo radio to Alpine changer adaptor cable.
_________________
Will
'90 Volvo 744 GLT
B230F converted to B230FB (531 Head & VX3 Cam)
 
Ritchard said:
I know what you mean, all the radios look like they are from science
fiction. Frickin' ugly, in my opinion. That's why I am most intersted in
finding a later model factory radio to install.

RF
Click to expand...

Well I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one that thinks the new fancy
radios are too gaudy. They seem like they've spent too much engineering
money on impressing the purchaser and his buddies with visual effects.
They take up half the face of the radio with the display, then only have
room for tiny buttons that you can barely see, let alone press when
you're wearing a glove.

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

NOTE: new address!!
Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)
 
[Mike F] (Fri, 23 Jan 2004 08:34:21 -0500):
Well I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one that thinks the new fancy
radios are too gaudy. They seem like they've spent too much engineering
money on impressing the purchaser and his buddies with visual effects.
They take up half the face of the radio with the display, then only have
room for tiny buttons that you can barely see, let alone press when
you're wearing a glove.
Click to expand...

I actually have to cover up my stereo when driving in the dark ;)
 
All good news, Will, thanks for the info. As for the changer, the car came
equipped with a Sony 10 Disk changer in the rear. Since the Sony has RCA
outputs, do you know anything about getting the right proprietary DIN
connector to put them together? The changer has a cabled remote control.

RF
 
I know what you mean, all the radios look like they are from science
fiction. Frickin' ugly, in my opinion. That's why I am most intersted in
finding a later model factory radio to install.

RF
 
It's bad... and the radio's that look the best and are the most functional
to use give the worst sound quality. They put all the good audio technology
on something that looks right at home in 1970's science fiction shows.

Give me an AM/FM radio, with CD, hopefully a cassette deck (my cars all have
double DIN, why don't they make some double DIN radios!.... ohh that's right
a lot of those domestic cars, and Japanese cars that people tune out and
throw the ugly stereos in only have single DIN.... darn) then put in
something like a 30W RMS per channel amp, with 4 channels, and then throw in
a Dolby Pro Logic II DSP in there for good measure (ProLogic 2 because audio
just sounds so much better when sounds are distributed over 4 speakers, and
not just doubled stereo front and back), let me adjust my bass, treble, and
midrange the proper way; with knobs, sliders, or a GOOD electronic
adjustment. Give it a black finish, not some shiny silver paint, then give
it the backlight so many cars use.... LIGHT GREEN...... not pulsating saturn
orange on a hypersonic blue background, while pink buttons pulse to the
music.... What am I driving here, a car or a cheaply made space capsule from
a 70's sci-fi?

We people with sane tastes need aftermarket radio's as well, you know ;-).

Maybe I should just see what the dealer wants for a Volvo radio, and cry
when he gives me a price.
Svein Tore Sølvik said:
[Mike F] (Fri, 23 Jan 2004 08:34:21 -0500):
Well I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one that thinks the new fancy
radios are too gaudy. They seem like they've spent too much engineering
money on impressing the purchaser and his buddies with visual effects.
They take up half the face of the radio with the display, then only have
room for tiny buttons that you can barely see, let alone press when
you're wearing a glove.
Click to expand...

I actually have to cover up my stereo when driving in the dark ;)
Click to expand...
 
Check eBay regularly, SC-816 comes up quite often. A Volvo factory
reconditioned unit with 1 year warranty through Stranberg Auto's is US$275,
here's a link -
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38640&item=2456121730,
the starting bid for a 2nd hand unit starts from as low as US$49, here's a
link -
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38640&item=2456221285
and there's about 3 or 4 more currently around US$150. There are 2 versions
of SC-816, black face and grey face. Black face match the dash colour of
760 / 850 / 960, while the grey face match the dash colour of S/V40 and
S/V70, apart from that they are identical. Seems to me the grey face one is
easier to find. There is also an older version called SC-815, I'm not sure
of the exact difference. But try to go for the 816, they're newer.

SC-900 and SC-901 are harder to find, but they do occasionally pop up on
eBay. I think 901 is a newer version of 900. These are the triple in-dash
CD player, but they only come in grey face and as I said earlier, you'll
need to fit an external amp with this one. The three CD's are inserted into
the head unit using a CD caddy, and I've heard a few cases of the CD caddy
jamming and unable to eject, including on my friend's father's S70 T5.
There's one on eBay in the Netherlands right now, not sure if the seller's
willing to ship overseas, here's the link -
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2455049637&category=38736
_________________
Will
'90 Volvo 744 GLT
B230F converted to B230FB (531 Head & VX3 Cam)
 
Dang, that's car audio poetry.


Rob Guenther said:
It's bad... and the radio's that look the best and are the most functional
to use give the worst sound quality. They put all the good audio technology
on something that looks right at home in 1970's science fiction shows.

Give me an AM/FM radio, with CD, hopefully a cassette deck (my cars all have
double DIN, why don't they make some double DIN radios!.... ohh that's right
a lot of those domestic cars, and Japanese cars that people tune out and
throw the ugly stereos in only have single DIN.... darn) then put in
something like a 30W RMS per channel amp, with 4 channels, and then throw in
a Dolby Pro Logic II DSP in there for good measure (ProLogic 2 because audio
just sounds so much better when sounds are distributed over 4 speakers, and
not just doubled stereo front and back), let me adjust my bass, treble, and
midrange the proper way; with knobs, sliders, or a GOOD electronic
adjustment. Give it a black finish, not some shiny silver paint, then give
it the backlight so many cars use.... LIGHT GREEN...... not pulsating saturn
orange on a hypersonic blue background, while pink buttons pulse to the
music.... What am I driving here, a car or a cheaply made space capsule from
a 70's sci-fi?

We people with sane tastes need aftermarket radio's as well, you know ;-).

Maybe I should just see what the dealer wants for a Volvo radio, and cry
when he gives me a price.
Svein Tore Sølvik said:
[Mike F] (Fri, 23 Jan 2004 08:34:21 -0500):
Ritchard Findlay wrote:

I know what you mean, all the radios look like they are from science
fiction. Frickin' ugly, in my opinion. That's why I am most
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
intersted
Click to expand...
 
Rob Guenther said:
It's bad... and the radio's that look the best and are the most functional
to use give the worst sound quality. They put all the good audio technology
on something that looks right at home in 1970's science fiction shows.

Give me an AM/FM radio, with CD, hopefully a cassette deck (my cars all have
double DIN, why don't they make some double DIN radios!.... ohh that's right
a lot of those domestic cars, and Japanese cars that people tune out and
throw the ugly stereos in only have single DIN.... darn) then put in
something like a 30W RMS per channel amp, with 4 channels, and then throw in
a Dolby Pro Logic II DSP in there for good measure (ProLogic 2 because audio
just sounds so much better when sounds are distributed over 4 speakers, and
not just doubled stereo front and back), let me adjust my bass, treble, and
midrange the proper way; with knobs, sliders, or a GOOD electronic
adjustment. Give it a black finish, not some shiny silver paint, then give
it the backlight so many cars use.... LIGHT GREEN...... not pulsating saturn
orange on a hypersonic blue background, while pink buttons pulse to the
music.... What am I driving here, a car or a cheaply made space capsule from
a 70's sci-fi?

We people with sane tastes need aftermarket radio's as well, you know ;-).

Maybe I should just see what the dealer wants for a Volvo radio, and cry
when he gives me a price.
Click to expand...

Definitely got to agree with all of the comments on this thread. I went
with the nice funky radios for a while in my 440 (Alpine - great quality,
but looking back at it pretty ugly!!). Then when taking over the 740, I
really needed RDS, and managed to pick up the Sony MP30, which plays MP3's
from CD too. Pretty decent quality radio too I found, but it sooo didn't
fit the car (Red and blue lights). My latest radio is the SC-805... plain,
simple, decent buttons (so much safer on the roads - VERY easy to use). Yet
it's also by far the best quality radio of them all. I also like the fact
that when I dim the dashboard lights, the radio lights dim too! Volvo's
radio definitely wins my vote (though looking at the retail prices, when new
just the upgrade price from the basic radio to the SC-805 was around £400!!
Ouch!)

Mark
 
[Mark Seeley] (Sun, 25 Jan 2004 02:25:25 -0000):
Definitely got to agree with all of the comments on this thread. I went
with the nice funky radios for a while in my 440 (Alpine - great quality,
but looking back at it pretty ugly!!). Then when taking over the 740, I
really needed RDS, and managed to pick up the Sony MP30, which plays MP3's
from CD too. Pretty decent quality radio too I found, but it sooo didn't
fit the car (Red and blue lights). My latest radio is the SC-805... plain,
simple, decent buttons (so much safer on the roads - VERY easy to use). Yet
it's also by far the best quality radio of them all. I also like the fact
that when I dim the dashboard lights, the radio lights dim too! Volvo's
radio definitely wins my vote (though looking at the retail prices, when new
just the upgrade price from the basic radio to the SC-805 was around £400!!
Ouch!)
Click to expand...

If it's got line in, use it with an Ipod or another mp3-player..

Hmm..
I'll start looking for the 805 here in norway..
 
Speaking of 'line-in', anyone know if any Volvo audios have this to
suit a Pocket-PC based navigation system? It would need to be able
to allow a 'voice-over' addition to whatever was playing at the time
(not like a AUX setting that would suit an mp3 player, etc).
Actually the facility used by the mobile phone where the (eg) CD
mutes as the incoming sound is heard, then returns to the (CD).

Cheers,

Jim Kelly

| [Mark Seeley] (Sun, 25 Jan 2004 02:25:25 -0000):
|
| >
| >Definitely got to agree with all of the comments on this thread.
I went
| >with the nice funky radios for a while in my 440 (Alpine - great
quality,
| >but looking back at it pretty ugly!!). Then when taking over the
740, I
| >really needed RDS, and managed to pick up the Sony MP30, which
plays MP3's
| >from CD too. Pretty decent quality radio too I found, but it
sooo didn't
| >fit the car (Red and blue lights). My latest radio is the
SC-805... plain,
| >simple, decent buttons (so much safer on the roads - VERY easy to
use). Yet
| >it's also by far the best quality radio of them all. I also like
the fact
| >that when I dim the dashboard lights, the radio lights dim too!
Volvo's
| >radio definitely wins my vote (though looking at the retail
prices, when new
| >just the upgrade price from the basic radio to the SC-805 was
around £400!!
| >Ouch!)
|
| If it's got line in, use it with an Ipod or another mp3-player..
|
| Hmm..
| I'll start looking for the 805 here in norway..
| --
| Svein Tore Sølvik
| 1996 Volvo 850 2,5 20v
 
Good luck finding a radio that doesn't look completely stupid mounted in
your nice Volvo interior. I've been looking for one for weeks for my parents
960, nothing on the market is just plain black, with a soft backlight of
green, and is HIGH QUALITY (there are tons of cheapo radios that are all
black, and have fine lighting, but I need something that will match the
original sound... which was quite nice).
Click to expand...

Becker looks quite good.

Sean
 
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