We had extraoadinary weather here in Toronto yesterday and I was out washing
"Runka". Anyway a great ozzy tune came on the radio......and needless to say I pushed the envelope with regards to sound listening levels. Please keep in mind this is a standard stock radio and it performed very well and actually sounded better to listen to than at moderate volume. So as Ozzy belted out War Pigs and the lead guitar and top hat interacted intermittantly, I gradually increased the volume. As I sat there with all the windows closed and the rearview mirror reverberating in time with the music......
Somewhere in the climax of wailing and heavily distorted and crisp guitar notes something went wrong. For a moment there was silence and then the realization that I had intentionally pushed this poor tired radio past its capabilities. There was no indication that something was about to happen and the sound quality was quite good ( eight speaker set: 2dash/2frtdoor/2reardoor/2bkdck )
I sat in awe and could actually feel the music. Did I mention that this was the wifes vehicle and this was her one source of enjoyment when driving, ( the radio and the sunroof ) Now the only sound that remained was a castrated Ozzy, forced to sing through an old christmas paper wrapping tube and his accompaniment in a different realm of the frequency range struggling to be heard and I in a brief moment of shock, What had happended. I checked out the usual suspects and found out that one of the Three fuses had blown and was easily replaced.

Can anyone explain why this radio has more than adequate power output but struggles in reproducing it. All suggestions appreciated.

Thanks
AG

Do you now only have sound from the dash speakers, and no kick?? Or is it something else you are left with?

The 760 and 960 uses a 6 speaker system; the small dash speakers are driven by a 7.5watt audio amp in the head unit, the four door speakers are powered by a separate power amp under the dash. You can tell if you have this type by whether the larger DIN plug in back of the head unit is used or not (the smaller one is for the CD changer). If it's unused, then all the speakers are powered from the head unit and one of the internal amps may have fried. Or is that Ozzified?

After the ozzification of the radio, I was left with only the front dash speakers working. I replaced one of the three fuses linked to the radio and everything was fine again. I am the second owner of this vehicle and am not that familiar with it yet. You mentioned that this model should have 6 speakers
2 front dash and 1 in each door. Are these 4 or 8 ohm ??? should I assume that the rear deck speakers were added after??? and would it make a difference if the added speakers were not of the same ohm rating???

any thoughts appreciated.

It sounds like you found the answer and all is back to normal. Is that right?

If it's not, the power amp may have its own fuse on the case. The amp is usually mounted to the left side of the steering column, behind the dash.

I don't think your car had 8 speakers originally. By pulling the power amp fuse, you can tell whether the rears are connected to the head unit or the power amp. If it's the power amp with the original rears, it's anybody's guess whether they are connected in series (OK) or parallel (too much load) with the rear door speakers.

If I remember correctly, Volvo equipped all '92 sound systems with an OOPC relay(Ozzy Overload Protection Circuitry) for just this reason.

The good news is that your system can be salvaged. Just call your local Volvo dealership. They can supply you with a 4-digit code that will restore your radio to "almost new" condition. The one drawback is that from then on, it will only pick up National Public Radio stations. But that shouldn't be a problem, right?

(Sorry, I just couldn't resist!)

Jeff Pierce


--
'92 Mercedes 190E (my daily driver), '93 945 Turbo (a kickass family car), '53 Willys-Overland Pickup (my snow-plow truck/conversation piece)

I thought I was the only one that could own something as wierd as that. Mine is a 1949 willys overland jeepster. Flat head four so quiet you don't know its runnin. thanks to a overdrive it stays up to a good 55MPH pace as long as I stay out of the mountains.

Paul,

Have you seen this site: http://www.public.asu.edu/~grover/willys/

It's dedicated to Willys vehicles. Mostly pickups, but some wagons, jeepsters, and cab-overs. The Gallery is AWESOME! Also some great maintanance and other info.

Check it out. (I haven't submitted a pic of mine yet -- I've been meaning to for the last 3 years)

Jeff Pierce
--
'92 Mercedes 190E (my daily driver), '93 945 Turbo (a kickass family car), '53 Willys-Overland Pickup (my snow-plow truck/conversation piece)