Bass Link in a 123

[JPL]

Hello All;

Thanks for the many tips on this forum. I am planning on installing an Infinity BassLink in my '79 123. I want to use the hole where the first aid kit is located as the port and mount it horizontally in my trunk.

I have read here about the flakiness of the in-line speaker connection ‘auto-on-off’ functionality. So, if I am wiring it directly to the battery, will I have to switch it on manually? Can I somehow rig it to the antenna motor power cable (and antenna switch in the cabin) to turn it on or off? I have done a search but cannot locate any suggestions about wiring this device in a 123. Any suggestions/experience would be helpful.

Also, does anyone use those Bass Blockers (I’ve seen them at crutchfield) on their smaller speakers (I have 3.5” in front and 4” in rear) in combination with a subwoofer? How about sound dampers like Dynamat in the trunk?

Thanks

[adiaw83]

What kind of Head unit do you have on your car?

[JPL]

Hello;

I have a Blaupunkt Alaska head unit. No amps or crossovers. I have it hooked up in the standard manner, with the Console Fader control still active.

Thanks,

[adiaw83]

I don't really know that much about blaupunkt units but check it out to see if it has an indepentdent control for the subwoofer level. As far as porting it how you described that should work fine. You might not need to sound deaden you should hook everything up first and see how it sounds before you do that. do you have one of the self amplified basslinks?

[DieselHead]

What exactly does it mean to "port" something? Please excuse the ignorance (I'm new to car audio stuff).

Alex

[JPL]

Adiaw83:

Yep, I have the 200w-powered sub from Infinity. You read my mind about the deadening. I was going to see how it sounded without the dynamat or the bass blockers first. I am looking around for a pic of the back of my head unit, because I forget if it has a sub-Preout (?? is this the right term) or not. I hope so, that would make things easy. If I don’t have a sub out, should I conceder an outboard crossover? Or will the 'splice' of the rear speaker wires to the sub be fine? I am trying to keep this whole gig under $850. Your advice is appreciated.

DieselHead:

Port simply means a hole for the sound to come into the cabin. For an analogy, take a look at your home speakers, while you are listening to music. If you can remove the grills, or look on the back, there may be a hole in the speaker (if the speaker is Bass reflex and not Acoustic Suspension, or ribbon). While music is playing (with bass) there is air/sound coming from the hole. This hole is a port and is required to produce bass. If you put a sub in the trunk of your car, you need a hole that comes into the cabin so the bass sound/air can come into the cabin unmuffled. In the older Benzes the first aid kit makes an excellent port, so I've read. I plan to remove the FA kit, mount the sub under the hole used to hold the kit, and put some kind of speaker grill material on the rear deck where the kit used to be. The sub I am getting has an amp with it, so its a self contained "powered sub", the easiest solution to the lack of bass issue in older Benzes (the rear deck speaker holes only hold 4" drivers) I think the newer models make accommodations for subwoofers in the doors and such.

It gets more sophisticated than that, because the trunk begins to act as a vehicle for bass reflex, but I'll leave that discussion to the sound engineers in the group ! I hope some of them comment. I am very interested in the 'science' of sound reproduction. Have fun dazzling us guys!

Thanks,

[adiaw83]

If you're unit doesn't have a sub preout, then it should have standard preouts. You could either hook a standard preout up to a crossover then to the sub or if the sub has it's own crossover you could hook that directly up to the head unit. I don't really have any experience with splicing together rear speaker wires though so I can't really say anything about that

[JPL]

adiaw83;

I'll have to take a look at the head unit and the sub woofer specs to see if there is a crossover/sub out. I'll keep you posted.

thanks for the continued help,

[JPL]

adiaw83:

I was poking around on the Blaupunkt site: I have 2 sets of standard pre-outs on the back of my head unit. I think I want to run both sets of pre-outs to the BassLink (per Infinity's recommendation. They have about 6 different configuration options in the instruction manual). The sub has a crossover potentiometer (dial) the allows you to to adjust from 50Hz to 120Hz the amount of high frequency information present in the output.

I'll try this configuration first, then if needed I can stick a crossover in the mix later.

Hey, did ever get the okay to go to the Concours (sp) this weekend?

[JPL]

They say I only need 1 set of RCA pre-amp out cables to go to the sub. Not the two sets as I was planning.

There is a 'remote on' wire on the head unit, so I dont have to use that flakey Auto-Off feature on the sub. And the best part - NO SPLICING of speaker wires.

Its all coming together. Thanks for your help. It will be fun hooking this up. Maybe Saturday !

James

[adiaw83]

cool try and post some pics when you're done.