[MrTuh]

Great work! I have been recently researching upgrades as well and having read some other Volvo forums (this is my first Volvo product ever). It seems that the common upgrade path for the newer Volvo cars is to replace the HK components with the premium Bowers and Wilkins components. It looks like many of the B&W components are plug and play with the Polestar 2. The ones that have identical wiring plugs and mounting holes are the front mid-ranges, rear mid-ranges, rear tweeters, and hatch-area full-ranges.

Regarding the B&W amp, I haven't been able to look into if any would match up with our speaker configurations, especially the front air woofer. But I did find using OrBit that there is a configuration setting (028 - RADIO, AMP AND SPEAKER SYSTEM) for a Premium Audio amp profile and it is different than the HK amp profile (performance audio plus). I tested both profiles with the same song, volume and EQ settings and found that the Premium profile was notably louder (20-30%) between 200 and 1500 Hz. Since B&W option was never offered, I am not sure what this profile is intended for, but I am going to start playing with the EQ a bit while I can source some B&W speakers. A piggy-back DSP amp is still a possibility depending on how these other pieces work out.

This is probably also of interest to XC40 owners as well.

If anyone is interested, these are the Volvo P/Ns for the B&W speakers:
31456249 - front mid-range
31350430 - rear tweeter
32246255 - rear mid-range (scratch that, we didn't even get the 170mm HK speakers, 150mm instead)

So how did this turn out? Do we have members who went the B&W route?

 

[amirfakhri129]

In all of my cars I have upgraded the audio system and the Polestar 2 is no exception.
I will say that Polestar 2 has been one of the harder cars to upgrade, mainly because of the optical MOST bus.

I would like to share the detailed info of the Harman Kardon system that comes with the Plus Pack. This includes details on how the amplifier works and upgrade options.
I'm not a professional audio guy, just a geek engineer who likes to share his findings and give back to the community. Details include adding an amplifier / DSP, adding a larger subwoofer and upgrading the factory speakers.

I have written it all up here:-
www.loopybunny.co.uk/polestar

You can go to a Harman certificate car seller they know how to fix as you tell from Harman Pro, just be honest with them ,they know what to do .

 

[Aidan Bell]

I was delighted to discover this thread because not having either balance or fader controls is an enormous disappointment to me, that I'm desperate to rectify. I'm happy enough with the sound quality of the P2, but I would be very keen to do whatever is necessary to gain balance and fader control. Can that be done as a software-only hack, TrevorC or is it only possible via the physical replacement process you've described? Many thanks.

 

[stevelup]

As was already answered on your other thread. There is no software hack for adding a fader.

 

[Ovation]

In all of my cars I have upgraded the audio system and the Polestar 2 is no exception.
I will say that Polestar 2 has been one of the harder cars to upgrade, mainly because of the optical MOST bus.

I would like to share the detailed info of the Harman Kardon system that comes with the Plus Pack. This includes details on how the amplifier works and upgrade options.
I'm not a professional audio guy, just a geek engineer who likes to share his findings and give back to the community. Details include adding an amplifier / DSP, adding a larger subwoofer and upgrading the factory speakers.

I have written it all up here:-
www.loopybunny.co.uk/polestar

Very impressive. And well beyond the Neolithic period when I used to swap out a head unit and two to four easily accessible speakers back in the 80s for myself and many friends. I think I’ll stay with the OE version, warts and all. But again, impressive.