Infinity BassLink 10" Car Subwoofer

Ok, my review should weigh pretty heavily considering what this subwoofer has to overcome to be heard. I had it installed at Circuit City after hearing it in comparison to three models of Bazooka powered subwoofers in the store and in two installations. The Bazooka models clipped early, which led me to believe the amplifier powering them was not of high quality, and they sounded very boomy. The Infinity, by comparison, played tight and deep.

It was being installed in my 2000 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Edition ... hard top, 30" wheel package,inline 6-cylinder engine, and about as aerodynamic as a brick. There's a lot of wind noise and tire hum to overcome at 70 MPH, and the first sonic element that gets lost is the bass. The factory speakers (4x6 and 5.25 in the rear) have almost no bass response to begin with. So I wanted to fill out the low end.

I had the installation done for me, because you really need to have 8-gauge wire run to the battery to properly power this amplifier (a Class D 200 watt RMS ... efficient and powerful) and I didn't feel up to doing that. The design of the Basslink is a 10 inch woofer coupled to a 10 inch passive radiator, which allows it to play deeper than it otherwise could. There is also circuitry built in to protect the subwoofer from overexcursion (servo controlled) and a replaceable fuse.

The controls are quite simple. There's a gain control, a phase adjustment (to adjust the timing based on your installation), a variable bass boost, and a variable cross-over to allow you to decide what frequencies you want the subwoofer to take over. All of these are set to "noon" when the sub comes out of the box. DO NOT set them all the way to maximum ... the tech installing mine blew the first one into oblivion by doing just that.

My taste is having the Bass boost set to noon, the crossover to about 90Hz, and the gain to about 10 o'clock. The head unit of my Jeep (Pioneer DEH-4400) is set to a Rock equalization curve (boosted highs and lows). The Infinity manual suggests tuning the subwoofer so that the Servo LED lights up momentarily on deep bass notes and then goes out. I would say that that is good advice for setting the subwoofer to a realistic maximum, as that means that the Protection circuitry is coming on a lot. I want my sub to sound as good as possible, for a long time, so I'm not going to chance over-driving it, especially since it sounds perfect to me right where it is.

With my personal tuning, the Servo LED does not come on, ever, but the subwoofer still plays VERY deep and quite clearly. That's the thing about this amp. It takes up minimal room (about a square foot if mounted vertically, like mine), but plays MUSICAL bass very well, without being thumpy or boomy. I listen primarily to rock, techno, metal, and some hip-hop, and it provides a perfect output for me everytime. I couldn't ask for it to sound better to me. Best yet, after 3 weeks, the woofer is starting to "break in" more and more, and plays deeper and louder without any distortion that I can hear.

If you're looking for something to p*ss off your neighborhood or help you win a competition audio (read: super-loud to 100 feet from the vehicle), pass this sub up. It won't do that kind of thing. Get yourself a 1000 watt amp and two 15" Kickers in a bandpass box and go on your way, if that's your thing.

However, if you're looking for a subwoofer that has a high quality build, a great internal amplifier, and tremendously tight and deep output for its size, pick the Infinity Basslink. Remember, I'm delighted with this subwoofer, and I'm driving a VERY noisy vehicle. I can't imagine how much better it would be in an average sedan.

Infinity has done right by me in the past, and they're still doing an outstanding job in my eyes.