Basslink wiring question
 

So I've been throwing around the idea of buying a Basslink or Basslink II to add a little low end to my non-Infinity 11' JKU.

I'm real hesitant about cutting in to the factory harness, for obvious reasons since the vehicle is so new, so I'm trying to avoid making permanent changes to the vehicle.

I know that Crutchfield sells wiring pigtails that plug in to the factory harness and allows for installation of aftermarket speakers. These are what I found, but I"m not totally sure they'll fit my JK.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1207105...s.html?tp=1025

Now, I'm thinking that I could buy a pair of those and do my splicing for the sub into them. That way I could leave my harness in tact. Only problem I'm seeing is that I almost have to upgrade the front speakers too then and I really don't feel the need to do this. I think the overall sound is fine, it just gets funky when I try to get any bass in to it.

I've read here and other places that people have been hooking these basslinks up to the line level stereo output to the front speakers only, to circumvent the "tamed" signal being sent to the roll bar speakers. This is what I"m planning as well.

I guess it comes down to a few questions:

Will those pigtails work on my 11' (specifically for the front speakers)?

Does anyone know of something similar but that would still plug in to the factory speakers, so I didn't need to replace them?

Does anyone have any tips or suggestions regarding the Basslink install?

Thanks all in advance for your help.

hotrod

EDIT:

Also, if replacing the factory front speakers seems like my best route to avoid cutting anything up does anyone have recommendations of cheap speakers that will perform at least as well as my factory fronts?

So I've been continuing my research and I think I have a plan.

Can anyone who has bought from Crutchfield before tell me if these speakers:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_777P65/...ab=other_items

Actually come with the proper wiring adapters? It says that they come with an install kit and the link for the kit shows the same adapters I linked to earlier, but they're just listed as "for select 1999-up Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Mitsubishi models..." That doesn't give me much confidence that they are going to fit a jeep that's 12 years newer...

I know these probably aren't the best speakers (obviously) but if they aren't worse than stock then I'm set. If these wires are right and the brackets it comes with will make the install simple then I think I'm going to do it and just splice my Basslink in to the pigtails.

What does everyone think, opinions, advice?

Does the Basslink really not come with any wiring? Crutchfield wants me to add a wiring kit but I would rather not. Does the sub come with anything or am I going to get to get all of it (inline fuse included)?

Sorry for all the amateur questions, audio work is not my forte and I'm just trying to cover all my bases.

EDIT:

Seems I can get free shipping from Crutchfield for orders over $49.00. I'm now leaning towards these:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113KFC1...2S.html?tp=105

I just ordered the basslink from Amazon, it was / still is on sale, $173 so I jumped. Everywhere else has it for more than $200.

If someone can answer my question about the wiring adapters that would come with the Crutchfield speakers I should be all set. Once I get rolling I'll try to post pics of the process.

Okay so, not much of an overwhelming response to this.

One last try. The basslink is on order and should get here sometime next week since i'm too cheap to pay for shipping when there's a free deal available.

Still trying to decide on the speakers. I'm between 3 different ones and am basically assuming that the install kit that comes with crutchfield orders will work...

Here are the 3 I"m between:

Kenwood KFC-1662S

Pioneer-TS-G1643R

or

Sony Xplōd™ XS-GT1627A

Can anyone who has had experience with any of these comment on them?

I'm leaning towards the Kenwoods because they have the highest sensitivity and fairly low RMS which, since I"m keeping the stock head unit should help keep the sound levels up. (I think...)

So there goes, Crutchfield shows pretty quick shipping so I think if I order in the next day or so the speakers will actually beat my sub here.

I've had a great experience with crutchfield every time I use them. Great help with installation too! Just bought a new mic for my blue tooth phone so I can hands free talk...

I added 2 10 inch subs and 4 new 6.5 speakers in the jk. I have the base system non infinty no factory sub.

Do you have a stock head unit still? If so Are you keeping the HU stock for good?

If you keep the stock HU get a line out converter (LOC) run you amp/ RCAs off that so you don't have to cut into your factory wire harness...

Or upgrade your head unit, then run your RCAs out the back to your amp... It's actually very easy after you do it a few times...

In reference to your speaker search... Spend $ 60.00 bucks on a set of mopar kicker upgrade speakers... They are called the 77kick10 I bought two sets. One set for the fronts, one set for the sound bar.... All plug and play..... No cutting or splicing. Sounds 10 times better than stock. A ton of people are running them on here, there is a thread here with about 1000 reviews on them. They are 6.5 front and rear and fit great. Crutch field no longer had them when I bought mine. I think i got mine at "just for jeeps.com" with free shipping.

Thanks for the response NH-JK

I've never dealt with crutchfield before so I'm glad they're easy to deal with.

I am keeping the stock HU for the foreseeable future. The only reason I'm even looking at new speakers for the front is so that I can avoid splicing anything in to my factory harness for the Basslink. I'm wanting to use the pigtail adapters that should be coming with my speakers as my splice point for the sub.

I will look into LOC's but I had read a handful of threads about folks who didn't bother with the RCA inputs and just used the speaker level inputs instead with the basslinks. I'm assuming you have a LOC on your system? Any chance you remember the model or did you upgrade your head unit?

If I can get away with using the speaker level inputs I would much rather do that and keep everything simple. The pigtails should let me keep everything factory and gives me the option to move to something else later.

you remind me a little of what I went thru years ago.

I had a Liberty, one of the speakers was blown, so I got new speakers (Inf Kappa)....
The new speakers sounded weak with the stock head unit, so i got a new HU...they sounded OK, but now it was lacking Bass, so I got a 200w Basslink. I still wanted better sound, so I got an amp for the speakers, it was awesome.
Now the basslink was too weak.. so i got a 15in Sub/amp, and now I was finally Satisfied... I had a simple but great sounding system.

I always think that if you really are into sound, you need to change everything. In the JK I'm ok with the stock infinity system, because the JK is defintly not the best vehicle for a sound system, especially with a softtop...

Well the best Infinity basslink you can buy is the basslink t, which is discontinued but can still be found new online. I would purchase a line out converter & buy the kicker upgrade speakers.

Yeah, that's usually the way it goes with vehicle mods. Lift kits, performance modifications, stereo, etc.

After living with something for a while you start wanting more...

I've never really been one to throw too much money at my stereo and I think that I'll be happy enough with the system as soon as I get a little better thump, simply because I can let the rest of the speakers play mids and highs, which they are much better at, than lows.

Despite ultimately feeling too weak how did you like the basslink? I've never had a vehicle with subs. Everything I've owned had either stock speakers, or walmart special replacements.

I've got the hardtop (3 piece freedom top) so I should be a little better off than a soft top but when I finally get around to taking the whole thing off I'm sure I'll loose most of the sound...

I figure with the basslink I can always pop it out if I feel like it's not enough. There certainly seems to be enough demand for them.

Wouldn't I still need to cut into my stock wiring harness if I bought a line out converter? All the ones I'm finding online would require me to splice it in to the factory harness, which I'm determined to avoid at all costs lol.

So I did a little research on line out converters and it seems like a bit more hassle than it's worth. Since the basslink already has provisions for speaker line level input why not use that?

Anyone with that setup able to comment on the sound? Unless I'm doing myself a real injustice by going this route I think that's how I will proceed.

Really just have to order the speakers. I'd like to place my order by the end of the day so that they'll hopefully get here a few days before my sub. That way I can throw them in, check it out without the sub, and get my wire ran from the speakers ahead of time. Then when the sub comes in all I would have to do is connect the wires, add wires to power and ground and start tuning it :yup:

My only other option would be if anyone knows of a pigtail that has both the stock male and female connectors for the speakers, separated by a few inches of wire. Or if anyone knows of individual pigtails, just male and just female, that end in connector-less wire... Anyone know where you could get just the connectors? I'm sure this is just wishful thinking but then I'd just leave the speakers alone, throw in my pigtail and be off to the races. if only lol


EDIT: Also, where is the 3rd bolt holding the speaker box in? I pulled off the side panels last night to explore but I could only find the 2 gold colored bolts and all the write-ups i read say there's a 3rd silver one... is this something that will become more clear when I pull the trim under the steering wheel back? Same question for the pass side too.