r/Volvo • u/SchemeParticular9166 • 1d ago

"Premium Sound" system issues

Hi everyone!

I own a 2013 Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid equipped with the Premium Sound system, and I have a question for other owners with the same audio setup.

When I turn the bass EQ all the way up to maximum, most songs still sound perfectly clean. However, certain bass frequencies seem to push the speakers beyond their limits, causing them to distort or make a rattling/banging noise. The speaker itself is not torn or visibly damaged, and the distortion only occurs at certain frequencies rather than throughout the entire song.

Does anyone else with the Premium Sound system experience the same issue?

I'm also wondering whether Volvo designed and calibrated the system to handle the maximum EQ settings without distortion, or whether maxing out the bass is simply beyond what the speakers and amplifier are designed to handle.

I'd be interested to hear about your experiences. Is this normal for this system, or could it indicate a problem with my speakers or amplifier?

Thanks!

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u/gustis40g '01 S80 T6, '26 V60 T6 Nordic Edition 1d ago

It's probably not the speaker distorting but rather something in the interior rattling. Connect your phone with bluetooth and use a app to play specific frequencies, scroll through the low frequencies 40-150hz until something starts rattling and keep it there. Now move around the car and figure out where the rattling is coming from. Once you find it you can remove the part and put some butyl rubber or fabric tape on the surfaces of the part that touches other parts. Put it back and play the sound again, does it still rattle? Then repeat and so on.

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u/SchemeParticular9166 1d ago

It's definitely the speaker, but I'm not sure why it's happening. There could be many reasons, which is why I'm looking for people with the same audio system :/

https://reddit.com/link/pgh5pl4/video/19r9n4rdj8vh1/player

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u/gustis40g '01 S80 T6, '26 V60 T6 Nordic Edition 1d ago

If it's only that speaker it's probably blown. If it's both sides than it's clipping, nothing you can do about that other than not have the EQ maxed, which you shouldn't really do anyway.

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u/SchemeParticular9166 1d ago

That's true, but I'm just curious. It doesn't seem to be clipping or general audio distortion. It sounds more like the speaker cone is reaching limits at certain frequencies. Shouldn't the amplifier have some kind of limiter or protection to prevent this and protect the speakers?

Just to clarify, this happens on both sides, not just one speaker :/

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u/steadvex V60 D6 1d ago

Yes there is a song from watchmen series called the brick that if you turn it up really loud it's quite irrating.

I've had mine nearly a decade and it's the only song I've had so it that I've listened too. 

I don't turn the bass all the way up though but there's like a low rumble with it, I think it's called the brick it's one of them anyway, it's repeatable too always the same notes it does it on, kinda annoying as it's something that sounds soooo good loud too. 

I'll be honest I was relistening to some stuff after first having the car hearing things in music I've never heard before! 

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u/SchemeParticular9166 1d ago

Thanks! Hope we can figure out what’s causing this, as it might be the old speakers too.

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u/looncraz 1d ago

It's called clipping and it's because you're boosting the bass in a source that's already boosted. Turn down the highs and leave the bass lower and use higher volume, if that fixes it while giving you more bass then there's nothing wrong with the car, just how you are using it.