Sorry for the rant, but I'm so surprised car stereo places are even in business anymore.
I went to 5 different stores today with the hopes of listening to speakers for comparison.

I found NONE of them helpful at all.

I found a list of the 'best car audio' places in LA as rated by some magazine and went to the top 3. Two of them had me listen staticy radio through their speakers, or (even better) pointed to a box in a pile and said, "those are the speakers. You want them?"

I also went to an Ed + Al's in Burbank (for comparison) but left after 10 minutes of standing by myself in the showroom. I have no idea what kind of business model has zero sales people on duty in your store.

The 5th place also ignored me until I left the store.


I mean it's no wonder why Best Buy is taking all their business.

 

most of those mom and pap shops are independent so if their not on the floor, most of them are installing. i know what your talking about because i work at best buy and it seems to be the samae way. try going to a best buy and walking over to the install place instead of the showroom. we know more then the sales floor and will give you the information you are looking for!

 

I agree, finding a quality shop that actually knows what they're talking about (not just what the manufacturer's print as marketing points) is nearly impossible anymore.

Sadly, I know more about car audio than most of the "qualified" installers/sellers out there and it irks me greatly when I hear them trying to buffalo me into buying a piece of crap (let's face it, nothing that Best Buy sells is really all that great in quality).

Best I ever heard was in reference to an Alpine Type-R sub:
"These are the best subs on the market. Their surround is specifically designed to reduce distortion." Which was great info, because until then I'd just thought the surround was for looks :eyeroll:. Same guy also told me that an amplifier always puts out it's max rated power, regardless of the gain setting... Needless to say, I didn't give them any business.

 

as far as speakers, no go, amps are decent, head units are the only thing that we carry i would buy

 

I work for a car audio shop so I know what you mean. From the shops standpoint, its hard to filter out the serious buyers compared to the kids who come in who want to listen to every speaker ask a billion questions and waste 3 hours. Than 2 weeks later they come back with all the equipment they bought online and want it installed for next to nothing.

We try to still help and be nice to everyone, but its tough.

 

ur piece of crap is another mans gold... just cause someone cant spend 600 on a pair of speakers doesn't make there 100 pair crap.. in there eyes its better and most likely it was way better then what they got.. I agree best buy doens't carry high end, but why should they; 90% of the customers dont want that, they dont care. They just want something better then stock.

 

We're not talking about spending big bucks elsewhere. In fact, I've found that Best Buy is more expensive than many other places to purchase speakers. But, hey, Best Buy workers/shoppers of the world unite

 

actually i have nvr found cheaper prices in retail stores then best buy.. only thing that always is cheaper is any online place.. but of course thats a given, since online has no overhead.

 

The other thing that makes Best Buy reasonable is their 18 month, no interest payment plans.

Figure a $1700 purchase is a lot easier to swallow when it's $100/month.

 

as long as u pay it off before 18 months are up.. otherwise u will be pissssedd