So HOW do you shop for an amp?

[Circuit]

People at places like Best Buy and Circuit City don't know s*** and are there just to sell you whatever they think you will buy.

(protest) Definitely not true. It depends on the people working there. I always try to suggest the right amp (out of what we carry) for the customer's needs. Independent/Custom shops can have the same bad/good people. The name and size of the store means nothing, it's the people inside.

 

[chuyler1]

The name and the size of the store dictates how much its employees get paid. The guy at the front check-out register gets paid about the same as the guy in the stereo department. These people are not experts, they have no degrees or certifications, and they certainly don't care about you as a customer. Occasionally you might find someone who actually likes their job, but a person like that doesn't last very long at a big box store, they usually are only working there until they can get a job that pays them what they actually deserve to be paid.

At a small shop, they get business through repeat customers and word of mouth. They are much more inclined to treat you right and sell you what you need (not what they think you need or they think they can get you to buy in 15 minutes or less). Sure there are employees at small shops that only work there so they can hang with their friends...but you can skip around all that B.S. by asking to speak to the owner, manager, or head installer. One of the three will be there and can offer you expert advice on your installation.

 

[starlightmica]

As I was reading your post that amp came to mind. You have 2ohm speakers so they will double the power from each channel (vs standard 4ohm speakers). The amp is small but Alpine makes great products. Its a great amp to stick under your front seat and forget about.

Thanks for the reply - funny, I was looking at the Profile (AP740) and Sony (XM-4S) amps until I saw your post. The Profile's specs looked too good to be true compared to the competition.

 

[chuyler1]

They are. As far as amps go, Profile and Sony are inferior to Alpine. In fact, I would never recommend either brand unless they were severely discounted in price.

 

[Circuit]

The name and the size of the store dictates how much its employees get paid. The guy at the front check-out register gets paid about the same as the guy in the stereo department. These people are not experts, they have no degrees or certifications, and they certainly don't care about you as a customer. Occasionally you might find someone who actually likes their job, but a person like that doesn't last very long at a big box store, they usually are only working there until they can get a job that pays them what they actually deserve to be paid.

At a small shop, they get business through repeat customers and word of mouth. They are much more inclined to treat you right and sell you what you need (not what they think you need or they think they can get you to buy in 15 minutes or less). Sure there are employees at small shops that only work there so they can hang with their friends...but you can skip around all that B.S. by asking to speak to the owner, manager, or head installer. One of the three will be there and can offer you expert advice on your installation.

Again not true. Sales floor guys usually start 1 - 2 dollars more per hour than just cashiers. What degree do you expect us to have? I am currently working on my BA in Mechanical Engineering and can answer any question the customers that come in here (Circuit City) have. I would get MECP certified if I had the time and if we were given any compensation for it, and even then MECP doesn't mean anything unless you get the upper levels. There are a ton of knowledgeable and passionate car stereo guys here at CCity. Of course there are also a lot of noob idiots, but the same can be said for custom shops. I get tons of repeat customers that, regardless of what they are buying in the store that day, come to me for advice.

This isn't going to get us anywhere. You can find crappy installers/salesman anywhere, just like you can find awesome ones anywhere. I am just going to leave it at that.

Don't get me wrong, if there were a custom shop around here that actually knew what it was doing and knew how to run a business, I would be working there. In my area though, there are no competent shops and we are constantly fixing their mistakes.

 

[chuyler1]

$2? That's what, an extra $80/week before taxes? I'm sure you are a great employee but I have seen first hand the hack jobs that come out of big box stores. Sales guys don't know how to match impedance, they don't ask what type of car you drive before helping you pick speakers, and installers damage dashes and door panels when they come across an unfamiliar car rather than research the proper method.

I agree, you can get such sales and installation staff at any store...but most local stores have at least one pro installer who can guide and train the rest of the staff and answer questions while big box stores promotes people from the register to installation without much training and rarely will have someone making decent money and experience training the newbs.

So you work at Circuit City. Would you let your wife/gf/friend take your car down the street to Best Buy with a $1000 budget and have the staff pick the gear, install it, and hand you back your car? I certainly wouldn't.

 

[starlightmica]

They are. As far as amps go, Profile and Sony are inferior to Alpine. In fact, I would never recommend either brand unless they were severely discounted in price.

Actually, I have enough Sony Card points to get the XM-4S for free, but I'd rather save up for a flat screen TV...

 

[Circuit]

$2? That's what, an extra $80/week before taxes? I'm sure you are a great employee but I have seen first hand the hack jobs that come out of big box stores. Sales guys don't know how to match impedance, they don't ask what type of car you drive before helping you pick speakers, and installers damage dashes and door panels when they come across an unfamiliar car rather than research the proper method.

I agree, you can get such sales and installation staff at any store...but most local stores have at least one pro installer who can guide and train the rest of the staff and answer questions while big box stores promotes people from the register to installation without much training and rarely will have someone making decent money and experience training the newbs.

So you work at Circuit City. Would you let your wife/gf/friend take your car down the street to Best Buy with a $1000 budget and have the staff pick the gear, install it, and hand you back your car? I certainly wouldn't.

And I have seen the same hack jobs come out of the small shops in my area. Like I said, it really depends on your area and the people. I guess we can just agree to disagree on some points.

Hell no I would not let them go to the BB near here, since I can get them a better deal with my discount/accomodation, and better service. I do all the work on my own car, and will learn how to do something if I don't. I also would not them go to any of the small shops around here, since they are actually worse than the local BB.

 

[1sty]

Regardless of the store, at this point 90% of the industry is hacks as no one is making any money. There is little to no mark ups now. People more and more just want you to give away install for free or they want you to install something they bought online.

The customer is more and more a hack as well so maybe its ok.
MANY custom shop guys gave up on it since it is getting so bad and they go to bestbuy or circuit. The reason being that they dont have to really get to messy in a given day or do anything too tough. Not to mention, BB and CC have one thing most small shops dont....benefits. Why make $10/hour or only $5/hour + some commision BS when you can get over $16/hour and have some really solid benefits, vs just crappy healthcare and nothing else?

 

[chuyler1]

I saw my local shop go from "audio" to "tuner" over the course of about 5 years. Last time I went in there the audio section had been moved to a single tiny sound room. They used to have two rooms and audio gear and accessories lining the walls of the main show room. That space is now used to display 20+" wheels, mufflers, wings, and other junk. Their installers still do audio installations but more often than not they are installing aftermarket parts, alarms, and remote starters.

That's the way of the business I guess. It peaked in the early nineties with the introduction of the CD player. Manufacturers were slow to offer them as standard equipment and the aftermarket business boomed with people looking for not just CD players, but also quality audio components to get the most out of their new CDs. There was another surge when MP3 became popular but manufacturers were very quick to offer iPod integration or auxiliary input devices. They even provide mobile video systems that are just as good as aftermarket ones, navigation, and bluetooth. I can't think of an option the aftermarket offers that isn't already offered on a handful of cars...and on top of all that, auto manufacturers make it increasingly more difficult to integrate aftermarket audio into their cars using integrated electrical systems, custom dash panels, steering wheel controls, etc.

 

[starlightmica]

chuyler1 -

I remember when the 1996 Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable came out with its oval combo radio/HVAC unit, wondering how the heck you were supposed to upgrade that. Things have only gotten worse, I see.