System on a Tight Budget

by the way, i am head installer at a shop that is a factory direct kicker dealer...also audiobahn.  i have at least a year of experience working with other products such as rockford fosgate, jbl, polk audio, jl audio, lanzar, jvc, kenwood, sony, pioneer, pioneer premier, blaupunkt, panasonic, dei, viper car audio, eclipse, among others, so im not just biased for ther reason of working at a kicker dealer, i just have better luck with their product and customer service.

Congrats soundmasta for being a dealer!!! If you'll read the post these guys say they recomend getting the amp off ebay and if I was meef I would turn around and sell the amp he currently has right now and use that money to put toward that new amp.  That's just the idea I was getting.

Sorry I didnt mean it like that. If he turns the gain up much more than it is the subs start to distort.

That was a reply to kfr01's post, for some reason it didnt quote it.

look boxmaker85...my point is if he follows the advice of some web surfing, i read a book and noow i know it all wanna be he will effectivily take the long way around to spend more money, aquire sub-par equipment with little or no working warrenty and zero customer service. my way is cheaper, and if he goes to an authorized dealer for what ever product he decides to buy he will end up with an actual car audio system, not just two subs in the trunk. it will sound like music, not speakers playing music, because thats what professional know how gets you, for the same or less money. ebay doesn't guarantee product. a dealer does. that is fact.

soundmasta wrote: look boxmaker85...my point is if he follows the advice of some web surfing, i read a book and noow i know it all wanna be he will effectivily take the long way around to spend more money, aquire sub-par equipment with little or no working warrenty and zero customer service. my way is cheaper, and if he goes to an authorized dealer for what ever product he decides to buy he will end up with an actual car audio system, not just two subs in the trunk. it will sound like music, not speakers playing music, because thats what professional know how gets you, for the same or less money. ebay doesn't guarantee product. a dealer does. that is fact.

soundmasta:  Don't you think your side is SLIGHTLY biased?  You must acknowledge that there ARE arguments, value being one of them, for buying online.  Just about everything you said was either a gross overstatement, biased, or simply arrogant.

soundmasta wrote: look boxmaker85...my point is if he follows the advice of some web surfing, i read a book and noow i know it all wanna be

First, this put down is flatly uncalled for.  Why do you feel the need to do this?  If you want to start this game, some of the web surfing, book reading people that post on forums like these are smarter than many, "authorized dealers."  Anyway, I don't want to get into a fight about this.  But simply because someone doesn't work in the industry does NOT mean that they're dumb.

soundmasta wrote: he will effectivily take the long way around to spend more money, aquire sub-par equipment

This is also biased, and in many cases flatly and very wrong if the buyer does his homework.  I've spent plenty of money in my day at authorized retailers.  You know what, my best system is the one I have right now, which was bought almost primarily though online retailers and ebay.  I saved over $1000. 

soundmasta wrote: little or no working warrenty and zero customer service

True, unauthorized retailers don't offer a manufacturer warranty or customer service.  First, I've never had an item bought through an unauthorized retailer fail.  For all the horror stories out there, the vast majority of online transactions still must be successful - or people would stop ebaying!  People know about the risk associated with buying from unauthorized dealers.  This information is factored into the price.  Some folks are more risk averse than others, who are you to criticize the more risk averse buyers of the world?

soundmasta wrote: if he goes to an authorized dealer for what ever product he decides to buy he will end up with an actual car audio system, not just two subs in the trunk. it will sound like music, not speakers playing music

This is just laughable.  How arrogant are you that you think every consumer that makes their own buying decisions ends up with a crappy system?  Shoot, I've heard some downright awful sounding systems from authorized dealers.  Compare these folks to the ones that bought online.  I might argue that these people BOTH wasted a lot of money by buying "authorized" AND have a terrible sounding system.  Aren't these people worse off than the ebayer that learned a valuable lesson, but saved himself some money?  Think about it.  Anyway, I really don't want to argue that, many times a dealer CAN help.  All I hope to make you see is that these sort of generalizations cut both ways. 

soundmasta wrote: ebay doesn't guarantee product. a dealer does. that is fact.

Well, that is partially correct.  Depending on the buyer and what representations they make, and whether you buy with a credit card, there is a very good chance you'll be totally protected from a DOA product.  Contacts made online are just as good as contracts made with a brick and mortar retailer.  The content of the contract is another story.  Authorized dealers will generally have better terms, but that is missing the point.  Who are you to tell someone else how much premium value to assign to the "authorized warranty?"  Should I pay 10% premium for the warranty?  20% 50% 70%?  SURELY you see that the amount different people are willing to pay will vary.  Shouldn't part of this equation match the premium with the risk?  What's my max risk if I buy a $200 shipped amplifier from ebay?  $200.  There's what, a 10% chance something will go wrong?  More than likely if something is to go wrong it will happen at the beginning of the ownership period.  Unless they sold me the product "as is" there's a chance I'll get some money back.  To me this is an acceptable risk.  So, I have $200 sunk, 10% failure risk minus some x% chance that I'll be able to recover.  Who are you to tell me that this is too great of a risk? 

I'm not trying to start a fight, I just want to make you realize that there's another side to the proverbial coin to just about every issue, and this is no exception.  Make your recommendations and gently remind us about online risks and the benefits of going authorized, but don't put people down for trying to help others meet their budget or buying online.

New Project: 2003 Pathfinder

Great post by krf01..I was going to comment, but you pretty much covered everything.Dave

Pioneer Premier DEH-P660

15" Kicker CVR

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no beef soundmasta but I was just trying to say what kfr01 said.  Just b/c you're an authorized dealer doesn't mean crap.  I know some installers that would recomend getting the best of the best for your car and some that say some punch z's are some of the best subs to use.  And just b/c you carry all that stuff doesn't mean crap either.  I was at sound advice the other day and this guy said the two 12w3v2 would kill the one 13w7 he had hooked up.  I couldn't believe what he just said.  Comparing a budget sub to a $1000ish sub is crazy.  Anyways.  Not being a pissant or anything but yeah you can easily get a better deal online.  And no given this guy can't go to a dealer and be like "my system sounds wierd can you tell me what's wrong?" but once again some research and talking to people to expand your knowledge of car audio will (IMO) make your experience better b/c you know what's wrong and can fix it yourself.  I myself learned so much off this site and talking to peple and looking at other systems that when I built my first fg box and installed my stereo so many people are asking me if I'm going to competitions w/ it.  And from the sound of it this guy's already made his decision so there's nothing left to debate or talk about!

talk about the box i need. lol.

O.k...meef is probobly educated on online buying now, but what happended to the topic "system on a tight budget"?