2013 XC60 "Premium" Sound System Specification
 

Having dealt with all the engine issues (one oil leak, one leaking radiator and one split vacuum actuator feed line) on my recently acquired D5 XC60, I am now turning to the sound system. It's not broken, per se, but to call it premium is certainly being very generous. The fidelity is tolerable to about halfway up the volume scale and rapidly descends into pure noise after that. As someone who likes their music loud and clean, I am going to have to do something about this.

Unfortunately, I have had little success so far in ascertaining exactly what the 2013 Premium Sound setup actually consists of. Volvo's own press piece on the XC60 for the 2013 model year describes it thus:

"The most advanced audio unit, Premium Sound, has a Class D digital 5x130W amplifier with circuits from Swedish experts Anaview, Dolby Digital in combination with Dolby Pro Logic II Surround, the latest MultEQ from Audyssey Laboratories and 12 loudspeakers."

But this seems inaccurate to me. I've had the driver's side door panel off and there's one paper cone mid in there with a tweeter up top. Assuming all four doors are the same, that's 8 speakers. There's also something under the grill mesh on the dash, but it's definitely not a sub. And if it is, it's not one any audiophile would take seriously.

The claim of a 5-channel amp pushing 130W per channel also sounds dubious. My last car was running a 4-channel Kenwood amp at 100W per channel, and that setup (paired with 4 JBL Stage 600CE 50W component speakers) makes what I'm hearing in the Volvo sound like pure garbage by comparison.

So unless I've got this all wrong, the sound system in my car - which is labelled "Premium Sound" - is either not what Volvo is describing above, or it is and the hardware just isn't fit for purpose. Assuming it is the first, does anyone know what the system I have might be and what the spec is for it?

Any info would be greatly appreciated. Once I have some idea of what I'm dealing with, I will come up with an effective way to overhaul without replacing the factory head unit and get a post up and running on here to track my progress in case anyone is interested.

Sorry I cannot help with identifying your system. My V60CC has the standard fit audio system I believe.

But I would be interested in following any progress you make modifying yours. I've previously dabbled with audio upgrades in previous cars and was always a fan of Alpine amps and JBL speakers.

I've recently been looking at Eton subwoofers too

Is the system labelled "Premium", or were you told by the seller that it is "Premium"?

This thread (which includes details of my own DIY upgrade to the High Performance system) may be of interest.

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=288566

Thanks, what was your verdict on the Eton10?

I ran the Eton intially with high level (speaker level) inputs from the stock amplifier which was a significant improvement to the low end. I paid about £300 on Amazon, but I've seen it at around £230 since then. I tapped off the speaker outputs of the underseat Volvo amp using a modified Parrot phone cable (see my original post in the linked thread). At that time I also upgraded the front speaker to Audison Voce components.

I really wanted more volume and ability to adjust speaker timings etc so subsequently added an Audison Prima DSP 8.9 amp. The Eton is now driven from low level outputs from the DSP amp which allows more control over volume, timing etc. The final resulting performance is fantastic.

However, the Eton 10 sub was a good upgrade by itself. I mounted it on 2 pieces of wood glued to the boot floor. I removed the underfloor storage tray to accomodate it as I didn't want to cut the tray. The unit is too big to fit under the passenger seat so needs to be in the boot. A friend did an Eton-only upgrade to his Q5 which was also excellent. He also upgraded his speakers to Audison Prima components with the stock Audi amp. Once again a good improvement.

Brilliant, many thanks for the detailed reply