soundmike

iTrader: (24)

Hopefully this post will help others who've looked at this as an alternative for filling in the lower range of the soundwaves

I got the Basslink as a used unit for $160 shipped. The guy who sold it to me had two in his Civic (one of each side of the trunk) and was finally upgrading to a more serious system for the competition-level circuit.

The unit, inspite of 1 year of use still looks flawless and works like a charm. It's roughly 18lbs. heavy with the brackets and has quite a lot of features for such a light and compact amp-radiator-sub-case package. For a full set of feature list kindly consult Crutchfield. I don't see the sense in bringing that up again.

Installation was fairly easy, a PAC SWI adapter was used to convert the line level signals to RCA however but you can easily just go straight RCA or speaker level. A 10awg amp kit was used for the installation. Infinity recommends an 8, a lot of Basslink owners uses 12 so i took the midline.

The basslink is screwed on to a piece of MDF which in turn is screwed in place to the left wall of the trunk (the area behind the gas cap). Inspite of its size that's the only worthwhile place to put it as i still wanted to have a fully-functional trunk.

Once turned on you definitely notice the added whoomp. From classical to pop, alternative to rap the added low-end is a definite plus. I currently have mine set at 1/3 gain, +1db boost with a 70hz (if i remember correctly) crossover cut-off.

I currently have this connected to my OEM (non-bose) HU. The Basslink also employs an auto-turn on feature that doesn't lag. The HU is set at +5 for treble and +3 for Bass, the reason for the +3 is to give my midrange a bit more kick (A set of Infinity components and coaxials on all 4's). Take note that this was technically a speaker-line splice so i don't have a lot of control over anything except at the sub-level.

Granted it's not an SPL sub (though i've read several posts in the newsgroups that this has been tested and monitored to go up to 120db i can't vouch for that) it definitely has the kick you want and need. Not the type that gives you a headache (unless you mess with the crossover, boost and volumes) but one that feels punchy. It's also not too punchy that you can feel your heartbeat skip (then again i haven't really took it to that level, remember i'm only at 1/3 gain on the volume).

Mirrors rattle for sure and at the levels i've tweaked it to i'm able to get the same sound definition at a lower volume level from the headunit - without annoying other drivers or bystanders. It also shows that this unit was designed with the car acoustics in mind given how much better it makes it *inside* the car than *on the shelf* as when i initially tested it at a local shop.

Overall, i definitely give this unit a 10 out of 10 star rating for what it's designed for. Affordable (ebay), Spacesaver, Lightweight (by comparison) Efficiency, Useability and over-all effectiveness.

Sorry for the long post