Has anyone had experience with either the Infinity Baselink or the Kenwood wOOx in the back of an extended cab? I have an 04' FX4/II and want more bass (not excessive) without taking up too much interior space. Ideally it would fit under a rear jumpseat when folded down for concealment/protection and sound good listening to mostly rock, metal, and some rap. I will also be putting in an Alpine 9827 CD/satellite, Infinity Reference 5x7 component speakers in front and rear doors with no amp unless I'm not satisfied with the sound.

I'm concerned the Basslink won't fit under the seat (could maybe raise seat with spacers) and the wOOx won't quite have enough bass. I guess I could build a box with an amp under the seat for an 8" or 10", but would prefer not to for the simplicity of these two other units.

Any advice would be appreciated. It has been about 12 years since I messed with a system and much of this experience has faded.

 

I'm using an EL8A-HP Bazooka tube. However, you have to mount it corner firing and it does keep my drivers side jump seat from folding down all the way. It's put in with straps though, so I can remove it quickly when I need to carry an extra passenger.

They are not the best sub in the world, but cheap, available used for a low price, and pretty durable. I like it a lot. I put a remote bass control in where my cigarette lighter used to be like so:



Here's the sub as mounted:



So that's just one more possibility for you then.

I haven't heard the WooX, but I have heard the BassLink and it is EXCELLENT, though somewhat pricey for my budget.

 

Don't buy the kenwood woox, you'll be dissapointed if you do. I have a basslink in the back of my extended cab, mounted in the middle on a small platform I made out of fiberglass. Both of the jump seats still fold down, and there is enough room to fit 2 people back there still, but barely. It will not fit under one of the jump seats. I had a 6.5" RS bazooka tube before I got my Basslink, and the Basslink is a LOT louder, deeper, and cleaner sounding. If you search around on the internet you can find them for good prices. I got mine for around $210.

heres some pics of it mounted:

 

I'm a RF man so here is a plug for them. RF makes their own version of bass tubes like Bazooka, and they come in sizes from 6.5" all the way up to a mighty 10".

 

I agree, the Basslink is MUCH better if you can afford it. Are the RF tubes powered as well, or do you need an external amp?

 

Thanks for all the quick responses! I've decided to go with the Infinity Basslink. I found it really, really, really cheap (new, "buy now" store) on eBay along with my HU and speakers, which have all been upgraded to the next level due to price. What I plan on doing now is removing the driver side jumpseat (will never use it anyway), build a mounting box similar to Glowin3232's, and mount it vertically facing the driver's seat. This should only stick out about 3 inches more than the folded seat and be out of the way for storage.

Next question: Will 18 watts RMS be enough to push Infinity Kappa 6.5 components or should I get an amp? If so then how much wattage per channel? I'm not looking to make my head explode, but I would like distortion-free sound that is clear and reasonably loud.

 

i've got the bazooka too and am happy with it but i saw one of these installed in a ranger and was really intriged. haven't heard one but it's an upgrade from the regular basslink and looks really nice in our trucks. the whole thing mounts flush on the back wall of the cab and sits on that ledge.

http://www.discountcarstereo.com/detail.aspx?ID=551

 

You need more to make those really shine. However I think just the head unit will make them match up good with the basslink.

I have the stock mach mp3 and its loud enough that the bass doesnt overpower it.

 

Every size they make comes in a powered and unpowered model. Which is nice I think.

 

18 watts rms will not truely unlock your speakers sound, if you got a facotry head unit, but an aftermarket, more **** to buy I know but they are a whole lot better and come with better features, like XM or Sirus radio, better bass engines, better over user friendly options.

An with an aftermarket head/source unit you can have up to 6 amps off one head/source unit. So burning up a head unit isn't a problem. And some head/source units let you turn off the internal amp (if they got one) so there is even a better cleaner signal, with less internal noise. I hope this helps if you need anymore help with anything Audio, as we say in the Northside, "Shout Me A Holler!"

 

For an electronics Tech I really should know more about this kind of thing then I do(which is nothing). What is meant by powered and unpowered ? So what exactly needs to be done to hook up a Basslink ?

Note: this would make a great "How to:" somebody

 

Ben, they don't teach this in school!

A powered sub has an integrated amplifier and crossover which is (hopefully) well matched to the speaker design. An unpowered unit requires external amplification.

There are so many possible configurations, a how-to would be problematical.

 

ok so if I just want a little thump but not shake the windows sound is a basslink for me ? What is an easy possible configurations ? I mean is it more or less get 12 volts to everything and then send the audio to the amp ? What is a crossover ?

 

A crossover separates frequency bands. It is basically a filter. They are built into 2 way, 3 way etc. speakers to keep bass out of the tweeters and midranges (which can blow them and distort if nothing else) and in better crossovers the mid's and treble are kept out of the woofer as well.

Most subs are set up with some kind of electronic crossover before the amp (or integrated into it) to ensure that the sub ONLY produces the necessary frequencies. This has two beneficial effects: it doesn't waste power reproducing unnecessary frequencies, and it smooths the transition between the main and sub speakers.

A Basslink is an excellent choice. An adequate one, which I have, is a 100 watt Bazooka tube. Not super low thumping bass, but TREMENDOUS compared to using just the trucks speakers, even if you replace them with aftermarket ones.

 

Ben, if your needs aren't that extreme, you might want to look into just replacing the factory speakers and/or head unit in the cab first. I've converted just one set (the fronts) over to a set of nice aftermarket Boston 5x7's (direct fit) and installed an aftermarket head unit. I am more than satisfied w/ the sound quality. My only problem now is some occasional vibes created from the passenger side rear door and/or misc crap I have floating around the cab.. I looked into a Basslink setup after seeing one in Cathy's truck at a meet, but finally decided I had better things to do w/ the money and the space in the cab..

 

You just need a bigger bag of free money, Colin...

 

Cool thanks John. So as far as the hooking up part is it pretty much like I said audio to the amp and 12 volts to the amp ? and how exactly do you get power and audio to the amp ?

 

I run an 8 ga pair of wires -- power and ground -- back from the battery, with a large fuse at the battery. Some use the body as ground, but that can create ground loops, despite claims to the contrary. Such ground loops affect the fidelity.

Usually, if you us a factory head unit, you can just tap the rear speakers for the signals you need. If your setup uses RCA inputs, there are converters you can buy to convert the balanced speaker output (balanced in this case meaning 2 wires per channel with neither of them ground) to an unbalanced RCA input.

I'm not sure about the Basslink, but the Bazooka stuff has direct inputs from the speakers.

Aftermarket head units usually have RCA outputs already on them.

 

No arguments here! You donatin'?

 

Sorry, that's not my bag... (old '60's lingo joke, you may not get it, lol)

 

How did you get 2 8 ga wires from the back of your truck to the battery ?

 

From the battery, down the side of the engine compartment, through a gasket in the firewall (actually, I fed them from the INSIDE and pulled them down towards the battery. Then across the back of the dash, and under the floor covering and back under the passenger seat where I placed a junction. They it Y's out to the high power radio at the center hump, and another branch back along the edge of the cab and around the back to the Bazooka tube.

 

Sure I do. I may not have been around in the 60's, but I have seen 'Austin Powers'!!!

 

You can set the volume on the Basslink with the remote volume **** it comes with. Also, the main volume, the db gain, and the crossover ***** on the enclosure itself control how much it thumps. With the right settings on the basslink, and the right song, it rattle the spare change I keep in my cupholders...

 

Yeah thats is kind of what I am looking for. I like the stock sound I just want a little thump during the right song.