I currently have a Bazooka tube in the trunk of my 8, but it is one that I have had for about 8 years and it is only a 6". I had it in my previous car (which had a huge trunk) and it augmented the bass enough to make the system sound really good even though it was a tiny sub. This tube in the 8 just isn't cutting it. It helped a little, but not enough. Sounds a little "muddy" in the 8, which might just be because of the smaller dimensions of the trunk.

I am not somebody who wants their bass thumping so hard that you can feel the car coming from a mile away. I just want some good quality lows that make you "feel" the music better than the crappy stock subs.

I have done some reading of reviews on powered sub units, and it looks like this Infinity BassLink got some good reviews. I wanted something as compact as possible so it didn't hog up all of my trunk space, but had somewhat of a better output than that old tube I have in there now.

Have any of you guys installed one of these in your 8? If so, how does it sound? How did you wire it in? Any pics?

I just bought an Infinity BassLink and was planning on installing it this afternoon. According to the manual, you need to tap into all four speaker level outputs (front/rear/left/right). That's a little more of a pain than I thought it was going to be. I was just planning on tapping into the rear speakers but we will see how it goes.

The sub fits nicely in the rear of the trunk. At this point I'm not sure which way I'm going to mount it (vertically or horizontally). I'll get it hooked up first and then play around with placement later. Once I'm happy with it I'll post pics, directions, and overall opinion on sound quality.

Are you going to tap into the front subs in the door?

Do you know how to get the door panels off?

I got a little side tracked yesterday and didn't get a chance to do the install.

I think it will be easier to tap into the front speaker outputs right at the head unit because it is fairly easy to disassemble the center console. At the same time you can run the wires down the center tunnel and into the trunk.

OK.....so how do you get the center console apart to get to the leads coming out of the back of the head unit? I can see them from the back (up from the passenger floor), but there does not seem to be enough room to weasel my hand up in there to get them unplugged/plugged back in.

I have looked all over and the only thing that I can see that is holding the shiny black plastic cover over everything are 2 screws behind the ashtry lid. How do you get to them (not accessible unless the astray lid is off), and how is the top of that cover fastened in?

Then.......once I get to the wiring, how do I know which wires are what? Has anybody posted a wiring diagram from the head unit?

I saw one for the rear amp, but I don't remember seeing anything for the head unit. The subs in the doors have the little mini-amp behind the door panel from what I remember.

You can find directions to remove the head unit here (http://www.rx8forum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7644&perpage=15&pagenumber=2). The hardest part is just finding the bolt that holds the head unit in because it is in a place where you can not see it (driver's side near the end of the plastic bin for the radio).

Yuhki posted some pics of the head unit and the electrical schematic on this thread (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8483&perpage=15&pagenumber=3).

Well I finally got around to installing my BassLink. It fits nicely in the rear corner of the trunk and hardly takes up any room.

As for the sound, the bass is tight & clean but the amount of bass is a little disappointing. I was expecting it to easily over power the stock setup but it just seems to have enough power to compliment the Bose setup. I'll have to play with the settings a little more just to make sure that I'm getting the most out of it.

I did take pictures of the install and will post them tonight.

Wiring up the BassLink

Connecting the power lead

Close up of BassLink

Plenty of trunk space remains

Originally posted by Speed Racer
As for the sound, the bass is tight & clean but the amount of bass is a little disappointing. I was expecting it to easily over power the stock setup but it just seems to have enough power to compliment the Bose setup. I'll have to play with the settings a little more just to make sure that I'm getting the most out of it.
Would the result not be better if the BassLink would fire backwards instead of sideways?

Originally posted by Tamas
Would the result not be better if the BassLink would fire backwards instead of sideways?

Tamas,
After playing with it some more I think that the problem is with the line level signals. When I turn the volume up (18+) on the head unit the bass will kick in. Anything below that and the sub is moving but it is hardly making any noise. That maybe due to the quick connects that I used (poor connection). I'll swap them out for proper butt-splices and see if that fixes the problem.

Another odd thing, when I turn the car off or close the trunk I get a very loud hum out of the sub. At least I know that the sub is capable of putting out some bass. Maybe I should choose a different grounding point. :confused:

I installed a Sony sub and amp, and had the same hum, turns out, the amp needs remote turn on signal, and usually gets it from speaker voltage. On Bose systems the speakers have 4-7volts whenever the audio is on so the sub is on too. So, when you turn off the car, the sub and amp stay on while the signal and voltage in the bose speakers is dying out, and the sub amplifies this fading signal as a loud HUMMMMMM.

I solved the problem by connecting a remote turn on wire from IGNITION at the fusebox, via a 3amp fuse to the remote turn on terminal on the sub amp. Now power to the sub is cut before the Bose radio turns off and, viola, no hum.

Hope it works for you too.

Unser,
Thanks for the suggestion. That sounds like it should work so I'll give it a try this weekend. :)

speedracer,does this setup you used have its own built in amp and X-over?does it just tap in to rear speak wires and power and ground.i would love to have some base but didnt know if you could tap in to the bose.

akrx8,
For a self-powered sub the Infinity BassLink has a reputation of having cleaner and tighter bass than say a Bazooka bass tube. There is a good description of the sub over at Crutchfield (http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S-HhT5RqpUbC7/ProdView.asp?s=0&c=10&g=51000&I=108BASSLIN&o=m&a=1&cc=01&avf=Y) but I can quickly answer your questions.

[list=1]
10" subwoofer with 10" passive radiator
200-watt built-in amp
Built-in 50-120 Hz crossover
Includes inputs for RCA jacks and speaker level
Other connections include power, ground, and remote turn-on
[/list=1]

Right now I have it hooked up to power, ground, and the rear speakers and I'll add a remote turn-on lead as Unser suggested.

I am working on the molds right now for a single 8" that will fit between the rear seats and take up almost zero trunk space. This is what I am doing for Mr. Wigggles car. His takes the longest due to the mold making process but it should be easily duplicated later. It will all be finished off to like like it came with the car. The port for the box is even firing through a rotary accent piece taken from a headrest (bought new from Mazda) to help it blend in. The box will be basic black with the trim ring around the speaker grill and the rotary accent piece in silver. The whole assembly bolts in place using some stock screw holes. The only thing in the trunk will be the amp. You'll swear that Mazda included it with the car. It isn't the best thing for all the bass heavy people out there but if you want some nice added low end extension and all your trunk space, this is the way to go.

Rotary God,
I can't wait to see how your project turns out. If it is as cool as it sounds I'll ditch the BassLink and go for your setup.

Yeah, I'll worship the plans for building it as I put one in :D

Anybody else in SoFla wanna build some of these when it's ready? :D

yo i had a basslink in my bmw, and ts still there.

got it brand new off ebay for 200.

its pretty nice for something so simple and inexpensive. i had to hire someone to install it tho, didnt want to deal with that.

Speed Racer......I got mine installed as well, and you may be getting poor performance out of it if you only tapped into the rear speakers. I started out only hooking it up to the rear speakers as well thinking I could get away with the half-assed installation, and it sounded worse than the old 6" Bazooka tube I had in their previously (which was also only hooked into the rear speaker leads). I could not get any significant thump out of it at all.

I ended up tapping into the speaker wiring right at the connector to the amp, and got the front and the rear wires connected now like it should have. It made a huge difference in the sound. It sounds great now, and at times I have to turn the sub down a little with the remote. I mounted the remote on the front of my driver's seat. I screwed it into that plastic trim piece right below the underside of where your knees would be....on the side towards the center console. It is easily reachable, and totally out of site.

I messed around with the positioning in the trunk for about 2 hours trying to find the best location for it based on how it sounded. It was surprising how moving it to different locations in the trunk made the bass "punch" a little harder. I ended up mounting it in the rear driver's side corner of the trunk. That is where it produced the best sound. I could only attach 3 out of the 4 "legs" to the floor when I mounted it, but it is still really secure. It is also in a spot that makes it take even less usable trunk space than where you mounted yours.

Anyway....I just thought I would mention about the wiring. I would re-work it if I were you. You will be much happier with the sound if you have the fronts wired in.

I may get off my ass and go take some pics of where I put it and post them.

Oh yeah......I also discovered today that it sounds much better with that stupid audiopilot turned off. I had mine off originally, and always have, but today I turned it on just to see how it sounded with the BassLink installed. It was very "muddy" sounding with it on.

91vert,
Thanks for sharing your observations. I'll try tapping into the front speakers and move the box to the corner. Hopefully that will make things a little more dynamic.

Originally posted by rotarygod
I am working on the molds right now for a single 8" that will fit between the rear seats and take up almost zero trunk space....
Rotarygod, in case you are considering offering such a box to purchase, you've got a customer right here :D
When do you think you'd be able to have these things for others to buy?

I'm not sure how long it is going to take. The molds take a while to do and I am not an audio installer (as a job) anymore. I am a Real Estate agent so when I do get free time and I'm not doing anything else, I work on it. Needless to say they will be pretty easily copied when I do get the molds done.

I'm not sure how long it is going to take. The molds take a while to do and I am not an audio installer (as a job) anymore. I am a Real Estate agent so when I do get free time and I'm not doing anything else, I work on it. Needless to say they will be pretty easily copied when I do get the molds done.


updates? :D

The project appears to be dead...

I have a basslink in my 8, and after reading lots of posts on this forum I added two 4 Ohm 100 watt tweeters with voice coil. I piggied them to the door/window midrange speakers. The sound is amazing now. I recomend this mod to any with the bose system. Only $20.00 at Walmart for the pair. Read some posts from others who have done the same. "No highs no lows, must be Bose," but you can fix it and make it GREAT. The lows sound lower and the highs higher, it's hard to explain but all the sounds are crisper. More symbols, drums and bass you can feel at half volume. At half volume the bass vibrates my pants legs. It didn't do that before the tweeters.

At half volume the bass vibrates my pants legs. It didn't do that before the tweeters.
I'm glad you could improve the sound in your car - but this statement doesn't make sense.
Tweeters have nothing to do with the bass that "vibrates your pant legs".

post to make old threads show pictures again...