The booming isn’t over
While I would prefer to not write anything contradictory to articles written by other members of groups I participate in, the proposed aftermarket stereo installation legislation is still assaulting my eardrums.
Here’s a prime example of why Franczyk doesn’t have a clue as to what he’s talking about – in his interviews he has repeatedly said that there can be no possible lawful use for installations of stereos of these types.
Exhibit A
This is the Infinity Basslink, 200 watt powered subwoofer that is installed in both my Eclipse and Amanda’s Jetta. It’s a simple, compact, and easily installed aftermarket component designed to fill out the low end range typically missing from most factory stereos. It mates perfectly with my factory installed Infinity stereo system, although was not provided as a dealer option when I purchased my car. Fast forward to today, when many manufacturers install 650 watt stereos with factory installed subwoofers with more combined power than my entire stereo system.
Exhibit B
Hark, what could be this little object in the bottom right corner of the center council? Why, it’s a VOLUME CONTROL! Holy crap! What possible use would the “selfish, obnoxious individuals” and the alleged drug dealers that Dave purports are the only people that use these systems have for such a device? I can’t speak for them, but for myself I don’t always want any extra bass when listening to, say, AM radio. Populated areas are usually one place I turn my stereo down on the off chance that someone more than one vehicle away might be able to hear it and it draws unwanted attention. But get on the highway with the windows down and a lot of extra road noise, and that little extra boost makes the stereo worth listening to.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. There are real issues that affect the East Side, as well as the whole city. Distracting people by pushing ill-conceived legislation like this shows that you’ve either given up fighting the tough problems, or never had the abilities to fight them in the first place. Keep ignoring them and maybe after the next census a few more common council seats will disappear.
Keep up the good fight and rock on. I’ve thought about getting something like you have or a bazooka to give me some more low end. I used to make my own boxes. I had a cool custom setup I made myself for the back of an extended cab Ford Ranger I had in college. It had two RF Punch 10″ subs with a RF Punch 40 amp. It kicked pretty hard for a set of 10s and it still allowed the rear seats to be set down and used.
I went to high school with a guy who had a Ranger in which he fabricated a box in the bed and cut out the back of the cab and front of the bed to make an enclosed path between the cab and bed. He had 2 or 4 15s in the bed and actually cracked his windshield! He worked for a car stereo shop too.
But the “noise” laws are ridiculous. A guy on a motorcycle with his aftermarket exhaust is WAY louder than any car stereo. Local governments have much more important things to address than how loud someone’s stereo is.
Interesting that you say that. Shortly after posting this and heading off to bed (it was past midnight) a group of bikers took off full throttle from the nearby biker bar. They were loud enough to rattle my windows – a half mile away. Something tells me they weren’t just doing for safety’s sake so other drivers knew they were there. I’ve heard comments from people that live closer by that the bikers are a huge nuisance to them, so why focus on something so narrow when the existing laws are more than capable of covering all such “quality of life” issues?
Also interesting – while travelling last week, I noticed several highway signs near Ithaca that indicated that it’s a NY State law for a vehicle to exceed 90 decibels.
hey man need help, need to install this exact basslink to my jetta, i have a VR6 2000 , and i want to know if i can installed to the fabric oem radio and if so how do i do that, thanks. email me please
alrpcool@yahoo.com
The Basslink can be installed pretty much with any car’s factory stereo. It uses speaker-level inputs, doesn’t require a direct line from the head unit. If your Jetta has the amp in the trunk, you’re golden because all the speaker leads are in one place. If not, you only need to tap into either the front or rear lines, you don’t need to hit both, even though the Basslink allows you to.