Bolt stereo

Why, you lose so much of the functionality of the car. Like control of the charging and display ing the power usage.

I would imagine the speakers can be upgraded with aftermarket product. (I am assuming you are wanting to improve the sound, and not the infotainment system itself.) It’s the amplifier and speakers that really make the difference in auto sound. We’ve only had our Bolt since September, and so far I haven’t felt the need to investigate this. The sound is not great, but it’s not that bad. Winter tires were a more pressing concern. Having sorted out tires and wheels, I might investigate an upgrade in sound. I’m interested to see what others contribute to this thread.

That's what I figured. I'm going to upgrade speakers and add an amp.

gwhite95961 said:

That's what I figured. I'm going to upgrade speakers and add an amp.

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Let us know what you get and how it goes.

gwhite95961 said:

That's what I figured. I'm going to upgrade speakers and add an amp.

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If you have the non-Bose model, upgrading the door speakers alone will make a world of difference. Several forum members have done this and have posted various threads. Definitely a weekend job. Do you have an EV or EUV?

Am I the only one that wants fm HD instead of XM?

priortobeck said:

Am I the only one that wants fm HD instead of XM?

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Yeah, I love HD radio. Classical music KING-FM in Seattle is presently running 3 channels on one frequency on HD. Many other radio stations that are only 1 channel on analogue, are multiple, clear-as-a-bell channels on HD. AM stations are also in HD, but in beautiful HIgh Definition clarity.
You say, “What does it cost?”
The cost is nothin’……once you have an HD radio, which come in Hyundai & Nissan Leaf EVs……other vehicles. No sign up, no subscription, no continuing monthly payments. All you do is…….listen.

Upgrading the speakers is what I would do to improve the sound. I would not even consider pulling out the infotainment system as it has so much functionality beyond being the sound system.

I love HD radio and wish our Bolts had that feature. My wife’s Subaru has it and I enjoy the sound and variety it provides.

To directly answer the OP, no, I don’t believe you can swap the head unit, it has way to much integration on the CAN bus.

Jim99 said:

Upgrading the speakers is what I would do to improve the sound.…..

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We put HD radio in our 2008 Hyundai Accent a decade & a half ago. Previously, the speakers were a bit high pitched & the HD radio cured that problem. If you don’t need a 1000Watt amplifier, I bet all you need is a good 12 band equalizer…….for those who need BOOM, a bass boost ought to work. Just keep the volume down somewhat. Go for quality, not quantity.

liresong said:

We put HD radio in our 2008 Hyundai Accent a decade & a half ago. Previously, the speakers were a bit high pitched & the HD radio cured that problem. If you don’t need a 1000Watt amplifier, I bet all you need is a good 12 band equalizer…….for those who need BOOM, a bass boost ought to work. Just keep the volume down somewhat. Go for quality, not quantity.

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I doubt a plain mobile equalizer even exists, regardless, it would have to have an amp behind it. Bass boost = subwoofer and amp.

priortobeck said:

Am I the only one that wants fm HD instead of XM?

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Good lord, no.

I refuse to pay for XM because their music is so compressed, that even my ancient ears can hear the extreme audio artifacts at the high end. It sounds like an MP3 that was ripped from a CD at 128kHz. Godawful.

You will most likely need to add an amp to make use of the upgraded speakers. The built in amp is not very strong

You could get a Carlinkit 4.0, and bluetooth it to a hi-def soundbar that rns on 12v power. Then get an equalizer app for the Carlinkit, and an fm app, and whatever streaming apps you prefer.