I've been hitting up tons of audio shops around Los Angeles and I've gotten many different impressions. Some shops tell me the install will take about 3-4 hours for an amp, and 4 speakers. Most of the "shaddier" shops seem to have really short installation times. By shady I mean they seem to trick you if they catch you not knowing something. Like I tried to play dumb and not know what I was talking about and they'll try to push the shittiest crap on me and say "this retails at $400 but i'll give it to you for $200" but in reality, other places start the bargaining at $200!

I went to a place called Audio Advice on foothill in La Canada/la cresenta area and they told me that the install will take a good 2 full days and maybe even three! They told me they needed to tweak everything and lay out the wires perfectly as well as dynamat the trouble spots.

This confused the heck out of me. Is the 2-4 hour install that shitty? What could be the difference between a shitty install and a quality one? the wires? I mean if it sounds right then its good right??? and of course the three day install will cost alot too. It'll be for 2 amps 2 front speakers and a sub in the back. Sounds like it could be done in one day, I mean if I really got down and dirty and did it myself I think it would take about a whole day or mayyybe two since I've never done it before. Can anyone enlighten me?

 

Go to a reputable shop. Stay away from these eBay supplied discount shops unless the one in your area is extra good.

A good install takes time. Give them the time they need. For multi-amp setups and speakers, plan at least a day if they are lucky. Count on two days.

Never rush this stuff, it leads to wires getting cutt when you move your seat up and just poor overall quality.

Car stereo installs are ALWAYS custom in these cars. Speakers need to be mounted panels need to be removed.

And remember, you are not their only customer so you are likely to have to share install time with other customers, especially the people who have things installed that day to complete a sale. This is a good thing. You want a shop that is somewhat busy but willing to take the time.


2004 G35 Coupe 6MT
Volk GT-7's/ TEIN Basics
Falken 245/35/ZR19 & 285/35ZR19
Kinetix Racing Camber Rods/ K&N Typhoon CAI

 

it totally depends on the shop, I know that Devon at audio advice takes time to install and tune your car (check out g35audioman's car).

2003 G35 Coupe 6mt Diamond Graphite
AIM= bkchang79
http://www.sounddomain.com/id/bkchang79

 

Audio Advice is where my install was done at. Devin is an incredible installer. No matter how "simple" the job may be, he always takes the time to do it absolutely perfect the first time.

To be honest, i recently did an install in my girlfriends car and an amp plus 4 speakers could take a day or two if you take the time to tune the car, run the wires neatly, etc.

Plus, you have to factor in the fact that Devin is the only installer at the shop. He will have other customers come in for things as well, which might add to the amount of time it takes for him to complete the job.

2-4 hours for everything may be possible if 2 or 3 people are working on the car at one time. Otherwise, a day or 2 is reasonable.

Go to Devin. He is, imo, one of the best installers in California, possibly even the west coast.

Here is my install. Took 2 weeks. Gives you an idea of the type of work he does:

http://www.sounddomain.com/id/g35audioman

 

I should also add that i have gotten installs done in the past at places like circuit city and best buy. When they did the install at circuit city, they used a "gunk" to hold down the wires. The gunk i am referring to is that black rubbery feeling stuff that sticks to your hands and everything else. It is almost impossible to get off.

What really pissed me off was they used it to mount my crossovers in my doors. What a mess that was.

As far as wires go, you don't want loose wires in your car. It is a hazard. My eclipse install appearently had a wire that was a "fire hazard" according to my dealer. The idiots didn't ground it properly and it seems it was creating small sparks.

I'm not saying that you will encounter these problems at any of the shops you looked at, but simply clarifying what a bad install may result in. It is important to get a quality job done. Especially in a car like ours.

You should take into consideration Devin worked on my car for 2 weeks straight. He knows our cars VERY well now because of mine. That familiarity imo would be worth the extra $. Some of those other shops may have never worked on a G, and could mess something up if they aren't very good. Just a thought.

Hope this helps you out.

 

wow ok clears things up a bit but the thought of not having the car for 2-3 days is really painful. I'm even thinking about asking him if I could sleep next to my car and watch the install. g35audioman, so you couldn't drive your car for the entire 2 weeks!!?? or could you take it home during the night .

And wow, possibly the best installer in the west coast!! that's a major compliment and what I was looking for. I think I found another guy who also sells CDT audio which Devin really likes and what i'm interested in.. www.outerlimitsaudio.com. His explanation of the audio products was very similar and also a true nut about car audio. He was on the phone with me for 2 hours talking about everything i wanted and didn't want to know and also said a quality basic install will take around 3 days since they actually tweek the sound to the interior materials of the car and set up the sound stage so its beautiful, he told me " come sit in my car and you wouldn't need viagra" hehe
I guess the other chop shops do and ok job but they dont really address how the equipment should sound...they just want to get it working and get u out the door.

Thanks for the input.

 

Ok your system is an awesome one. I take it that you brought all your own parts? I think Devin was showing me some pics of your car. He tells me to go with the tru amps but i think that will really hurt my wallet. I'm going with mid-high end setup with All CDT audio products, hd-62 front/rear and a 10" cdt sub. I'm thinking of powering the speakers with a PPI PCX 4125 or Soundstream Vangoh vga 500.4. I know tru is probably better but is it necessary?

Also why did you choose accumat? I'm just about to make the leap with secondskin.

I think Devin told me you bought the amps from him?? did you bargain or are his prices pretty low?

 

I bought the amps directly from John Yi, the owner of TRU technology. Their shop is located directly below Devin's.

TRU amps are not necessary by any means. They are some of the best amps available today, but that does not make them necessary. It's up to you on how much you are willing to spend on the parts/install. If they fit into your budget, then go for it. They are excellent.

In regards to not having my car for two weeks, i had to rent a car during that time. My car was completely torn apart for the duration of the install, so i could not take it from the shop. Don't worry though, Devin will not ness anything up. He's very careful and when he is done, you will not be able to tell that your car was taken apart for the install. He pays attention to detail all the time.

I choose accumat per Devin's reccomendation. I have used dynamat and other products in the past. They all work the same. Accumat was probably the best priceerformance ratio i have seen in terms of retail cost. Plus, it isn't a bright, shiny silver looking mat that looks tacky. It is a nice, charcol color that looks good if you ever take the car apart. It works just as well as any other product i have used, including the more expensive dynamat.

As far as bargaining goes, you can try it. My relationship with TRU technology and Devin is such that they know i'm coming back often. [img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img] Therefore, they have been very helpful with me in regards to pricing on equipment and install work. Being that i do compete now, i do need to make adjustments and changes to my system frequently, so Devin is the only installer i trust.

Keep in mind that during the 2 weeks that my car was at the shop, i only got a chance to check on its progress once. The shop is about 2 hours from me, so i could not go there often. I trusted him to not dissapoint, and he did not.

Hopefully this helps you further. If you ever need help tuning, i would be more than happy to help you out. Let me know if you ever want that help. [img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img]

 

Cool! thanks for clearing things up for me. I will definitely go with devin but I need to plan things out. WOW I didn't know that Devin was the operations/tech installer of Tru technology.

Thanks for all the advice you've given me, i'll have to ask Devin some more questions.