My friend Stephen picked up an empeg Mk1 cheap off ebay last year. Now that he has an old school ride, the two seemed like a natural fit. Below are a couple of the photos taken during the installation of empeg Mk1 #207 being installed into a 1986 VW GTI.

Similar to a recent install my friend Ian and I did in a BMW, the Infinity Basslink II with optional 4-channel amp installed is used. Again, it proves to be a compact and competent solution for clean, full-range audio. The front speakers were also replaced with Infinity Kappa 32.5cf speakers. The back speakers are some aftermarket JVCs that came with the car. This will be changed at some point, but they sound quite good for now.

More photos available here. Some highlights are below.


The GTI


Dash is torn apart in an attempt to find ignition-switched power. It turns out this car does not provide a switched power source for the stock stereo. The stereo stays on when the ignition is switched off (by VW's design). Of course, this car had a poorly-done (hack job) aftermarket stereo installation which had to be cleaned up as well. We eventually got a switched power circuit in the fuse box. We used it to trigger a relay that would power the empeg.


The thing with the "S" on it is the relay used to provide ignition-switched power to the empeg.


It works.


The interior is put back together.


Basslink II is installed and secured.

Don't forget to check out the additional photos here.

Nice shifter knob. I have the same one.

Rob, you seem to be a fan of the Basslinks, would you go so far as to reccomend them?

Matthew

I used to have a first-gen Basslink and liked it a lot. These new Basslink II units with the optional 4 channel amp installed seem perfect for empeg installs. You need an external amp anyway, so you might as well get this package for about $400 and get a compact sub solution as well.

Crutchfield have been selling the Basslink II and amp module as a package deal for the past couple months for $400. It's a pretty compelling deal in my opinion.