Infinity Basslink Installation Steps

[Breadfan]

Since I finished my Basslink install this weekend, I had some pictures I and tips I thought I would share. Since some have asked for a "how-to" I thought I would be able to toss one together based on my installation.

** THE PICTURES ARE THUMBNAILS - CLICK TO SEE THE LARGER VERSIONS! **


2003 Mercury Marauder - Infinity Basslink Installation

Many folk believe that one of the areas the Marauder might be lacking is in it's factory stereo. While a nice sounding unit, it does not have the "oompf" that many people are looking for. This is not a bad thing, most factory stereos that have more power are generally using cheap speakers, or poor factory wiring.

The Marauder takes care of bass via a tuned 6.5" subwoofer with attached amplifier. This unit is an entire assembly that is easily removed by disconnecting the wiring harness and removing the four bolts holding it in.

To handle bass duties I decided to install an Infinity Basslink. I bought this used from a friend, and had it in my Grand Am. While not able to shake your eyes out as dual 12" subs in a ported box, (or sloppily make you ill like a big bandpass box), the Basslink gives out some really good thump, tight bass, and a small footprint.

In it's small size you get 2 10" subs and a 300w amplifier. In both cases I've hooked it up I have had good sound from both high and low level inputs.

Anyway, here's the way the install went on the Marauder...

1.) Plan - you must plan your install. You need to run a large power wire directly off the battery, with an inline fuse, run it through the car to the trunk. You also need a comparably sized power cord for the ground cable. Also, don't forget your remote line (to remotely turn the amp on/off automatically) and speaker wire to tap into your existing sound system.

I highly recommend hitting your local Wal-Mart for a Schosche amp wiring kit. The $25 version comes with everything you will need. It has a big power cable with terminal, inline fuse block and 100amp fuse, distribution block, power/ground cables, remote cable, and two long but cheap RCA cables (if you choose to run low level inputs.)

You will use just about everything from this kit, but I don't recommend using the RCA cables...they are thin, and way too long for what you will need.

If you'd like to use a low-level input an optional component would be the Schosche low level line converter. It will accept high level speaker inputs and convert them to pre-amp signal. I'm using it, as I lost the proprietary connectors for the Basslink's high input. This is about a $10 item. Good news is, it does not require an power lines to it.

2.) Remove Components - to do this job you will need to remove components from your Marauder. I had planned to install a pair of nice 6x9's I had to replace the factory rear deck speakers, so I removed the rear seat and parcel shelf. While the parcel shelf (and third brake light) do not need to come out just to install the Basslink, it may be helpful to get more visibility, and the rear seat should still come out. (Easy!)

(I actually found out the previous owner of my car installed a nice set of factory sized 6x8's that are actually better quality (sound-wise) than my 6x9's. My 6x9's (Pioneer 4-way 350w) look more impressive and have a higher power rating, but these are actually higher quality (Pioneer kevlar TS series 2-way 250w).)

The rear seat is easy to remove. The bottom of the seat pulls up/forward to come out. The seat back is removed by taking off the two outer seat belt bottom anchors. Just a simple nut on each side. Pull up the seat belts, and the seat back will come out and push it up (it has slide in clips that hold it in on the top) to remove.

The rear deck comes out by popping off the side panels. Then unscrew the third brake light and disconnect it. Finally pop the deck piece up and out.

In the trunk, clean it out. Remove the spare tire assembly. Then remove the trunk lining...all of it.





When you are done, you will have the following:

[Breadfan]

3.) Run the power line - Run the power line from the battery all the way to the trunk.

**NOTE** In the Schosche kit, the power line is NOT long enough! (This is a Marauder, NOT a Civic!) To compensate you must use the distribution block and run the rest of the power through the smaller power lines. This will not be a problem as this is only a 300w amp, and only a few extra feet go through these smaller cables.

The hard part? Getting the power line through the firewall. Well, on all cars there are usually big grommets where harnesses pass through. I like to use them...poke a hole in the rubber grommet and feed the wire through.

Usually I like to cut a wire hanger, tape the power wire to it, and poke it through the grommet from the interior of the car. Then go to the engine compartment, grab the hanger and pull the wire through.

However, with the large wire in the kit I ended up actually pulling the grommet OFF. So I had to take the time and effort to put it back. (Actually, had some friends come over so they got to do it! WOHOOO!) To fix it, we cut a larger hole in the grommet before feeding the wire.

Use the provided inline fuse, and go ahead and attach to the battery's positive terminal. Disconnect the negative lead first! Also, once installed, REMOVE the fuse! You will keep the fuse out until you are ready to test the Basslink.

Pictures:

4.) Run line to trunk - run the power line to the trunk, and hook up the distribution block. Here is where the Marauder makes things EASY!

Usually you must pull up the carpet all along the side to hide the power cable. Many times there isn't much room, and this causes a bulge in the carpet if you aren't careful. No care needed here! The Marauder has a "wire tunnel" that runs from the front of the passenger compartment to the back. I used the passenger side one, so all I had to do was pull off the front kick panel, pull the carpet back there, and feed the wire in.

Go to the back of the car, pull of the rear kick panel, pull the carpet up (you may have to pull up the thresholds, they just clip in and out though) and you will see the wire fed through. Picture:

Pull the wire all the way through and route it through one of the holes in the rear firewall (behind the rear seat.) Since Panther-chassis cars do not feature fold down rear seats there is a nice metal wall, but has holes to route the cable.

Once in the back, put the wire into the correct end of the distribution block. Then put one of the small wires in the other end.

I used a drill to drill holes in the trunk lid support and screw the block onto the car there. If you do this, make sure you are not blocking the trunk lid arm! Picture:

[Breadfan]

5.) Run remote line - the remote line (small blue wire) is used to signal the Basslink that the head unit has turned on. This will have the Basslink turn on automatically, and turn off automatically when the car is shut off. This prevents a dead battery. Luckily a remote line has already been partially run for us.

The old amp the Marauder used had a remote line in the harness. So just splice into the Violet/Green wire and run it to where your Basslink will go. (More on that later...)

6.) Tap into rear speakers - we will be using a line converter, but even if you use high inputs this applies. We will tap into the rear speakers for the audio input for the Basslink. It can take four inputs, but we will just use the rear. Use both speakers, that way if you have a song with a bassline that moves from channel to channel (left/right) you will hear it. Otherwise you may miss some of your song!

Simply splice into the speaker cables. I cut the old ones, and soldered new wires in a "Y" configuration, then re-attached the new speakers and ran the lines to where my Basslink was going to go.

REMEMBER - on these, SOLDER them, do not just twist them! Do not cut corners, you're working too hard to have to start over!

Pictures:

7.) Prelim Mount your Basslink - there are many options but you must consider -

- Sound quality of position

- Room

- Ability to mount where you want

I chose to mount in the passenger side of the trunk in the trunk well. The good news is, (and DO CHECK THIS BEFORE YOU DO IT) there is a clean shot to drill holes for mounting it.

Remember, the gas tank is behind the lower trunk area and below the "shelf" the spare tire sits on. So keep that in mind and do not drill there.

To mount it, I simply drilled holes in the floor and used machine screws and nuts to attach the Basslink. Before hooking everything up just drill the holes. Install the screws so the long part sticks up. Reinstall the trunk liner/carpet, and push down where the screws are. You will feel them through the liner. Use a utility knife to cut a small "X" above the screws and they will pop right through. This takes away and guesswork to finding your mounting holes later on, and keeps your carpet from being messed up by cutting holes haphazardly.

Pictures (and preview pic!)

8.) Run Ground, clean up wires. - Run you ground cable to a known good ground. Use the other large wire included in the Schosche kit. I used the existing ground point in the back of the trunk.

8a.) TEST - test that the Basslink is working! Reconnect the battery and fuse, and test the Basslink. If it works, you can clean up and move on, if not, troubleshoot your installation.

Take time to clean up the wires, pull them tight, and and use cable ties to secure them.

If installing the remote gain knob (if equipped) do so now. I just ran mine to the drivers seat/console area.

Pictures:

[Breadfan]

9.) Reinstall everything - Reinstall the seat, parcel shelf, and trunk liner. Pull the wires through, and using the holes cut in the liner, permanently mount your basslink.

Once it's in, tune it. Use the headunit to adjust bass, use the knobs on the Basslink to control gain, crossover, phase, etc. If you installed the line converter use the in/out gain controls to control the input level there too.

Once you get it just right, you are done! Clean up and enjoy!

10.) EXTRA: Line Converter - if installing the line converter, run the speaker wire to the line converter. Strip the ends, and push them into the converters input bank. Use A5 through A8 to enable the rear RCA outputs. (As opposed to the front outputs.)

Set the switch on the side to "Line out". I did not need to connect the black ground wire that comes out of the box. If you experience noise, attaching the ground may help. I did not need it.

I mounted mine on the side of the trunk using cable ties. It is very secure and accessible for adjustment simply by pulling the liner down in that area.

** THE END **

[MM03MOK]

Wow! Very detailed. Can you please put this in the Reviews section so it doesn't get lost and will be easy to reference?!

[Breadfan]

Oooh I was just going to ask where the Reviews section was until I looked at the links way at the top!

[torinodan]

Looks great, but why didn't you mount the new amp/sub where...or about where the stock amp/sub was?

[Breadfan]

Looks great, but why didn't you mount the new amp/sub where...or about where the stock amp/sub was?

First, its a bit harder as you have to be careful drilling there.

Second, I have read that the sound is better when it is mounted in the trunk rather than on that shelf. (It is better, mainly due to more air space for resonance.)

So mainly due to sound quality.

[ckadiddle]

Nice job on the install ! Nicely detailed install instructions.

[Breadfan]

I actually have a question about my install...

...been reading another audio thread that talks about whether or not low end signal is cut going to the rear speakers. It has been indicated that low freq. is choked somewhat to the rear speakers, and maybe passed on to the factory sub amp.

I tapped into the rear speakers, not the sub amp line. Does this mean I'm not getting the full low freq. range?? It seems to sound OK but you know, the more I think about it it does seem a bit quieter and less low-thump than I recall. I just figured it had to do with the Marauder being much bigger than my Grand Am.

For those who have installed Basslinks, how did you wire in the audio input? Did you try it both ways and notice a difference?

I may either add the sub input as an audio input, or replace my other two inputs with this. Even if just to see if there is a difference in audio quality or "thump." If the rear speaker lines do not contain the full low freq. range or it's cut in anyway that could limit the basslink's performance.

[Breadfan]

I thought I already edited this post..anyway, YES, the rear speaker lines do have their bass cut. As a result I need to change the the install process a bit.

Go purchase a nice thick RCA cable...I got one from an electronics store, designed for subwoofers. I got a 10 foot cable. Cut off one end, and expose the cables. Then splice into the harness for the factory sub. (I will have to get the correct wire colors later.)

Go directly from there to a low-level input on the Basslink. I used a Rockford Fosgate RCA Y-splitter to go into both L and R on the rear channel.

The difference is huge!

I will get some pics of the final install and put the right wire combo's up.

I made this a review before, can I edit my review to add this new info?

[martyo]

Mr. Fan: Would you be able to comment on how the Basslink compares to a Bazooka powered sub?

[fastmerc03]

j/w where exactly did go through the firewall

[ChiTownMaraud3r]

You could also run the power wire behind the fender, and through the pass side of the car, inside the bottom black plastic piece (under the pass doors) and just run the cable through to the inside from the b-pillar, where there is a small rubber insulator.

I can get pics of needed, the only downside is you will see the part of the cable coming up from the bottom piece to the b-pillar when the pass front door is open. Not a big deal for me, and I didnt have to make any holes anywhere, and can easily be removed without ruining anything with holes.

[duhtroll]

Old thread alert, but related question.

I am doing my install between now and sunday. Will the basslink fit on the shelf standing on end or angled toward the passenger compartment? I don't have it with me and am curious if I can save space that way.