biscuitfarmer's Full Review: Infinity BassLink Car Subwoofer
I am a huge car audio enthusiast. Ever since my first car back in 1997, I have been trying to push the envelope on what my vehicles can do. My very first car, a 1995 Mustang started out with the most simplistic of sound systems, featuring a floating box for ease of removal, with a couple of 12" subwoofers and just a basic amp. I upgraded the deck, the wires, and all of that, but at the end of the day, it was still your basic sound system.
Since then I have done much more work, including a full car audio system on my competition 2003 Toyota Celica GT-S. I went all out on that car, with custom fiberglass enclosures, custom highlights, and lots of performance to go along with it, including nine 10" subwoofers, and more door speakers than anyone could ever imagine. There were amps all over the place, extra batteries, capacitors, everything. It was definitely the sport compact car audio enthusiast's dream setup.
Ever since then I have been involved in the industry, attending shows, working on comptetition cars, while trying to avoid sinking too much money into my own vehicles, as I have a son to feed now. Regardless, I have managed to create quite the impressive sound system in all three of my vehicles, and plan on doing substantially more into the future.
But the one that comes from all of this, is that I truly do know my car audio. I have tried so many different subwoofers, played around with numerous decks, and seen a large variety of application combinations that have worked and haven't worked. I have touched hundreds of systems in my years, and with that experience, I know what will work and what won't work.
Infinity BASSLINK Subwoofer
Infinity took an incredible concept and threw it all together with their BASSLINK Subwoofer. Rather than mixing and matching speakers, amplifiers, boxes, etc, INFINITY took the guessing out of the car audio world. They took a subwoofer, combined it with a perfectly tuned amplifier, thrrew it into a box that was perfectly fitted for that particular setup, and created the BASSLINK, an all in one subwoofer setup.
The idea of throwing everything together in one package is a great one. Too often do newcomers to the car audio world get thrown back by the complexity of putting together all of the different aspects of a car audio system. First you have to pick the subwoofer, find a size that works for the application that you have, then you have to find the right size box to put that subwoofer(s) in. Then if you are lucky you'll find a perfect amplifier to hook up to them, without any waste, yet one that is strong enough that it can handle your subwoofer(s). Regardless, it can be quite the challenging task unless you already have a fair amount of background knowledge. The Basslink sort of takes the guess work out of the car audio process.
This system is essentially an all in one package, you just have to link it into your deck. This part of course can be quite the difficult process by itself, with all of the different wiring harnesses that you have to choose between. But any licensed shop should be able to easily help you choose what harness is going to work best for your particular application, plus give you tips on how to install your BASSLINK, if not just do it for you. This subwoofer is so easy to install that they may just install it for you at no cost, if you purchased it from them.
Sound Quality
This speaker setup because it's so perfectly tuned actually has a pretty impressive sound quality. In fact, I would have to say that there are few speaker setups on the market that rival it in clarity, without purchasing other speakers to go along with it. The problem is that the longer you have the product, the more the distortion increases. The speakers wear down rather quickly, especially under higher loads. I have seen in the years that I have worked with car audio more of these speakers blow than any other type of speaker. They are just too low grade of a speaker to handle what most consumers assume they are capable of. If you try to max these speakers out too often for too long, they are just going to give up and blow out, it's as simple as that. 200 watts isn't a whole lot of power, so be careful how you use it.
Durability
You are paying $300 for a speaker, enclosure, and an amplifier, lets not talk about durability, lets talk about how long it will be before you have to spend another $300... and the answer to that can be as simple as how often you drive your car and how loud you music is when you do drive around. My suggestion is to purchase all of the products individually. The reason why there aren't more packaged products isn't because they are trying to make it more difficult for consumers, it's because each product has varying levels of performance, and it gives the consumer more options on how big they want to go. This unit automatically says that you are too cheap to pump it up a bit and put the money that a real car audio system requires.
Looking for durability in this poverty class setup is like expecting your Dodge Neon to come with heated Italian leather seats. It's just not going to happen.
Product Details
Enclosure Type Passive Radiator
Finish Material Polymer
Grille Metal x 2
Connector Type RCA/Speaker LVL
Bi-amp Inputs No
Woofer Size (inches) 10
Woofer Material Treated paper
Passive Radiator 10
Width 14-1/2"
Height 13-3/8"
Depth 9-7/8"
Second Depth N/A
Parts Warranty 1 year
Labor Warranty 1 year
Specifications
Frequency Response 20-120 Hz
Amplifier Power (RMS) 200 watts
Maximum Wattage N/A
Sensitivity N/A
Impedance N/A
Second Voice Coil Impedance N/A
Crossover Point 50-120 Hz
Final Thoughts
It doesn't take a math degree to crunch the numbers on this product. You throw together a Class D amplifier along with a subwoofer that is fully enclosed, and it all costs you just $300. Just think about what you are getting for that price. Sure you are getting pretty good sound for a low price that is going to be much upgraded from your standard system, but the durability just isn't there. This enclosed system just isn't going to be able to make it for the long haul. For a product that is as all encompassing as this product, they could easily charge more, if it was a product worth charging more for... in the end, you get what you pay for. The product will sound good for about $300 worth of time and then it's time to spend another $300.
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