Well, I got a Pioneer Premier deck, MB Quart doors, Diamond Audio Rears, and an Infinity amp to push the stuff.

For the sub, I went with a Basslink.

Now, the thing sounds great at low volumes, but pump up the volume at all, and it makes the sub just crap out. I am unhappy, but I blew $300 on this thing. I guess I'm just going to stick with it for a while, grin, and bear...

Future plans are probably going to include two JL Audio 10's and another Infinity amp. Just wish I could justify blowing the money now...

So, to those thinking about a Basslink -- pass on it. Honestly, it doesn't conserve as much trunk space as one may believe. However, if you just want to add a little bass, then it isn't a bad buy...

 

i never heard of Basslink

but $300 for a sub ? you can buy a really nice sub for $300

 

basslink is a active subwoofer module built by infinity.

i have said it a long long time ago...those seeking real bass performance should look past the basslink...i will say it again, i can probably build a sub system with the 300 bucks price range, say a 200 dollar 2 channel amp, 1x400ish, a 100 dollar 10" sub, like an elemental designs 10, build a simple box...this combo will outperform the basslink by a WIDE margin...

but for the most part, no one seems to listen hehe...but its okay, i have had fun swapping out basslinks for a few years now for people after they realized its not all that great for bass performance...

i think if you are looking to add just a little bit of ompf to say your stock system, its not a bad bet...but if you ahve an aftermarket amped front stage...then the basslink will reallly start to show its weakness...

b

 

you got missmatched front / rears why?

 

It's true that there are better options than basslink, but it's not awful. What you're reporting sounds like below average performance for the basslink... have you confirmed that your speakers are wired correctly in phase? Out of phase will absolutely kill bass response, especially at higher levels. It will also destroy and twist the stereo imaging.

 

why not?

 

shouldn't you just use the better speaker....with mixed pairs it would be easy to overlap tones and end up with too much of a particular range.

High end home speakers are matched pairs of 2 ,let alone 2 pairs.

 

acutally, iMO in the Z you should nt have rears at all...


but there is no evidence to suggest that different brand of speakres for some reason will cuase more cancellation than if you went with the same brand front and rear.

not causing cancellation has to do with tuning, polarity, placement, etc...its not like the sound waves come to each other in midair and say "hey, are you JL? oh nice! lets mingle harmonically!" or "oh you ar MBquart? screw you! i am going to cancel you out "

hehe...there honestly is no sonic reason yo use the same brand of speaker front and rear, infact, there isnt even really a sonic reason to use the brand with in a front component set...plenty of people say run seas lotus midbass, with DLS iridium midrange coupled wtih a scanspeak tweeter

 

If I am listening too a CD of a flute lets say, and speaker A translates that as a 1000hz note, but speaker B puts that out as 1200hz I end up with a muddier sound.

 

how can this happen? Maybe i am mistaken something...but I didnt think that was possible.

A signal starts at the HU, and within that signal where each signal is along hte spectrum is already pre determined. with valleys and hills so to speak, on the signal spectrum from 0 to 20khz lets say All the difference a speaker and amplifier can do is, prsent different presentations of this line, i didnt htin kit was capalbe of moving it. putting it in a very simple example:

say you play a singular 500hz tone from the headunit, if you were able to look at the sound, say from an rta, you would see a bump at 500hz, tahts it. now you play it through different speakeres, what you would see, is the shape of the bump be somewhat different, some higher, some lower. but I did not think its possible that with different sepakers, this bump would move to 800hz, and then 300hz, and then 1000hz... I just didnt think an amp and speaker can do that.


Also, a car's interior, unlike a house, is one of hte big reaons for difference in response, and cancelation. There is simply no way of saying that if you pair up say JL vr component, with a JL VR coaxial in the back, that it somehow has more of a chance of cancellation with each other.

again, thast my undertanding, if you have specific proof that its not hte case, i am happy to learn (honesly not being sarcastic at all)

cheers,

b

 

What you've described is technically not possible unless you're processing the signal with frequency transposition. What you're describing as muddy sound or signal degradation is likely due to other factors. For example, harmonic distortion of a 1 kHz tone will generate harmonics based on the fundamental frequency. There are other types of distortion, such as IM-InterModulation distortion, but the most common sources of coloration are the components themselves, and what they "add" to the signal.

Although distortion can be measured, many sound changes tend to be more perceptive, which is why some people like certain components and others like different ones. Ultimately, the best components are those which introduce no sound change, and are true to the original sound source.

 

Do you have this set up ready yet? And does it include the box and install?

 

I don't mind my basslink. Like you guys said it does add a little bit of omph but nothing too crazy so that everyone outside can hear it. Also I got mine for $200 several months ago so it wasn't a bad deal for me.

 

Take one single speaker, play a song. Disconnect it and put another brand or model speaker on line, you will hear they play differently. The same music is going in the speaker, but one will output a higher or lower tone regardless of the amplifier signal.
You may say it's not the same as changing the frequency, but if your ears hear the same song differently through two different speakers you achive the same effect. Instead of A sharp in 4 speakers you have A sharp in 2 and A flat in 2, leading to a less pure sound and too much A that may effect a suttle note close to it.

I will see if someone is around to put everything in technical terms, BBL.

 

I can easily piece it together. does not include install...but includes the box. but keep in mind the the 300 dollar price tag for a basslink doenst include install either

if you want one, just let me know, i can build it in a day hehe

 

I like what bing did to my car although sometimes i wish i went with a different setup. such as upgrade my woofer, and reangle my speakers which bing did tell me to do but i didn't want to compromise my dead pedal.

Bing, i know i should PM you but im too lazy to do a PM but is there anyway to upgrade my woofer without raising my floor anymore than it is?

 

hey eric,

that is a tough one, basically you need to have a sub less than 5.75" deep that is significantly better than the one you have now...

there are ones that perhaps sound a little better, but not have the same output, I am a bit stumped as to what can sound better AND get you more output with in the depths requirements...hmmm...

 

I respectfully disagree with part of your statement -- that some speakers impart a higher or lower tone than others. You will definitely hear distinct differences in sound quality between different speakers, and these are the components that tend to have the most influence on the sound quality. Consider how a speaker works: it is a diaphragm whose attached voicecoil windings are driven within a magnetic gap based on alternating signals delivered to the voicecoil. A 1 kHz puretone delivered to the voicecoil will move the diaphragm at 1000 times per second. It will not move at any other frequency unless the source signal changes, but it can color or change the characteristic of that puretone sound. Elements which affect the sound quality include the diaphragm material, surround stiffness, voicecoil density, strength of magnet, spider stiffness, the loading effect which is a function of the enclosure volume and sound absorption materials, and porting, if any.

Your ears do hear the same song differently through different speakers, but it is not frequency shifts that are responsible for this, it is coloration due to some or all of the factors above, and/or differences in perceived output, based on efficiency of the speaker, and on/off axis orientation to the listener.

Sorry for the lengthy post. My background is in audio electronics, and I have quite a bit of experience working with loudspeaker design back in the 80s. Countless hours spent performing A/B speaker comparisons in sound rooms to determine which was better and why. I don't think the fundamentals have changed much since then, but I'm never too old to learn something new.

 

That all sounds right, coloration, that may be the right word. I still think a speakers sensitivity will change the way you hear something, to the point it will sound like another frequency. The whole A sharp/A flat thing. And as far as a driver moving at 1000 times a second, I don't think that all speakers will have the same response time, the crossovers they use, the magnet strength, the foam and paper. Won't these all throw off the timing between 2 different speaker brands.

 

to a certain minute extent, it can throw off the "timing" as you speak...but three things:

1. these difference are NOT whats causing cancelation in the car, the PLACEMENT, direction of pointing, and the vehicle's interior is whats causing them.

2. unless you use the same exact speaker set front and rear, they will still have different ouput chacrteristcs. most people put cheaper coaxials in the rear, so what i am saying is, take a JL, AN XR component upfront, is going to have a different output characteritic than a VR or TR coaxial in the back. And even if you do two of hte exact same speaker, say XR components, you have to mount them identically in terms of arrangement with each other, pointing direction down to the tiniest detail to get the same exact characteristc from them...and EVEN if you some how manage to do that, you still need to be positioned EXACTLY the same in respect to each speaker, whcih is impossible obviously, you cannot simultanously be equidistant, facing the same degree on axis, and at the exact same angle to both front and rear speakres at the same time...
3. there is absoltuely no difference in terms of speakres from the same brand or different brand more or less likely to cause itnerference, there are simply way too many factores listed above in play.

infact, you can easily say that within certain car's interiors and speakres, the same brand may likely to cuase more cancellation than different brands.

but i emphasize, the difference are so minute that it doesnt mkae any audible differnece, so for all intense purposes, its doesnt matter.