flava

Has anybody in Austin upgraded their stereo? I'm wanting to replace the s2k stock stuff with some good equipment. planning on replacing the fronts with Focal 165K2 and adding a Focal 27K sub in the wheel well and two Lunar L60x2 amps to drive it all. gonna keep the head unit for now since i don't want to mess with the dash controls...

I ordered all the stuff, but the problem is nobody will install it!? I checked out Custom sounds on Burnet and they won't install stuff unless you buy it from them. Audio Dimensions says they'll do it but they want $1200 bucks!!! TWELVEL HUNDRED?!?!?! for just install??? they must be smoking the crack pipe

There's gotta be a decent shop in Austin that can install all this stuff for me....

The Captain

I am wondering the same thing because I am buying some components that I will need to get installed. I am going to check Dyer Electronics, Extreme Sounds, and a place out East of IH35 that I can't remember the name of. I'll post here if I find anything out.

Kirk

Pueo

I've had luck with Tweeters in the past (when it was Home entertainment). Might check and see if there's one in Austin.

Scuba Driver

$1200 buck is a major rip off! That was just their way of saying "we don't do outside installs" without actually saying it.

I don't know how this idea would work, but maybe someone on this board knows a good installer (from a shop or whatever) that you could call for a "side job". Pay him/her well, (but no where near $1200 ). If I knew someone personally I'd recommend them to you, but I'm pretty new in Austin and don't have a name for ya. Can somebody else think of anyone?

Only downside is, you have to trust this person to do a good job the first time, since the work will not be backed by a shop or anything.

Just my $.02

The Captain

I'm doing some more checking into this right now. I'll let you know what I come up with.

Kirk

flava

I ended up going with Texas Radio & Wireless. Their shop looked kinda shoddy in appearance, but the guys there seemed more receptive and willing to listen to custom stuff. We'll see how it goes....

Scuba Driver

Best of luck. I look forward to your review of the shop and their work. Please let us all know how it goes

flava

Well, I just got the car back. Here's my report on my experience.

Whatever you do, DO NOT go there. They will screw you. Here's what went wrong:

Pricing: ALWAYS get them to give you a written quote to walk out with. The salesman quoted me several different prices through out and his prices were inconsistent. He'll try things like: if you wanted flush mounted, that'll cost such and such. They'll try to jack up the price by nit-picking on little details about saying those things cost more. One day he'll say something, and the next day it will change.

Service: Absolutely despicable. I'm paying them one freaking THOUSAND dollars to do an install, and the guy didn't have the courtesy to show patience to listen to all the little details I wanted. As a customer, you bet I have every right to be picky in what I want. Every encounter, you could tell he's just trying to get you out the door.

Quality: Average. When I first got the car, the CD player didn't even work. Any decent installer will TEST everything before giving it to the customer. Turned out they had to enter the security code. Another problem I have is what I think is loose wiring. Sometimes when the car goes over rough roads I hear some noise/static coming from the speakers. Finally, they also misbuilt my sub enclosure. I specifically mentioned that the enclosure needed to be PORTED, and they built me a sealed one. To be fair, the box is pretty good quality and looked good. The also did a good job mounting the amps.

I'm going back to get the line noise and enclosure fixed, but not because I have a choice. If I had to do it all over again, I would definitely NOT go to Texas Radio again. The main reason is the salesman only cares about getting your dollar and makes ZERO attempt at customer service.

In general, here are my observations from going through this ordeal:

1) Do not buy your own stuff. Most installation shops will screw you. They really don't like to install stuff you didn't buy from them. The money I saved from buying my own stuff was WAY offset by how much the installers screw you for installing stuff not bought from them.
2) Always get a written quote when you walk out the door. I've heard that Extreme Sounds is very good about this. They're the only one that I know of that will print you up a hardcopy quote.
3) Know EXACTLY how you want it done, or else them will skimp on you.


I hope this helps some other folks in Austin looking for a quality install.