Hi,

I just got a 20gb player from the fire sale, and well once fedex brings it to me I'd like to get it put in my car at some point. I have a co-worker who used to be an installer, so I might be able to ply him with some beer or something to help me out, but if not I would need professional help as I would probably hurt myself trying to do the install.

It's not quite a standard install, it will be a second HU hooked up to the RCA ins on my existing unit (which has 2 a/v aux ins and 1 out.)

Anyway I asked the shop I got my original system about doing it back when I was going to buy a Neo (ewww) and they weren't too receptive to it, nor I to them really anyway.

So the point of this, does anyone know a shop in the Phoenix area that is capabable of and willing to do an install that involves more than slapping in a wiring harness?

Steve

Yes I am posting to my own thread Anyway I went to the crappy shop I got my original stereo at, after much convincing, they finall agreed to do it for 120 bucks... HA! So on a whim I visited Soundwerks in Scottsdale, they didn't even blink, quoted me 40 bucks and got it in, in about an hour. They also do a lot of custom work, so I am going to have them re-build my system

Just thought I'd post this in case there were any lurkers in the Phoenix area.

Steve

40 bucks is what I paid for a very well done installation in my 1999 Mustang. Philadelphia area. If someone wants anything more than that, they better be doing something seriously custom.

Steve, what did that include? Did you need a faceplate adapter kit, wiring harness, etc or did you have all that already. I was going to do it myself but I'm in PHX and $40 bux is smokin!

This went in as a 2nd head unit, so I didn't need/couldn't use a wiring harness and the way it went in, I didn't use a faceplate kit either, but I'm going to have them do some custom work on my center dash to clean it up some. I'm thinking 40 is pretty much labor, you'll have to go visit them and see what it would be for your specific car. I was quite pleased with the service. That have a store in Scottsdale and one somewhere up north. www.soundwerks.com for the address.

Steve

Quote:
40 bucks is what I paid for a very well done installation in my 1999 Mustang. Philadelphia area. If someone wants anything more than that, they better be doing something seriously custom.

Yeah no kiddin 120 bucks! Turns out the the guy at the good shop used to work at the other shop so we had a jolly ol time talking smack about the old place

Steve

Yeah but a lot of places work that way. The first shop only has to do 1/3 the business of the 2nd shop to make the same amount of money. Chances are every day a few suckers walk into the first shop and get the $120 quote and figure it's going to be like that everywhere, so they just pay it. Those are the same people who pay the sticker price for a new car.

Man I'm still kicking myself in the ass for even letting the first shop do the install of the original stereo. Penny wise pound foolish and all that I suppose :-/

Steve

So, did any of these installs involve the addition of an amp? My car (92 Mustang 5.0 Conv.) doesn't have one. What should I expect to pay to install the empeg and an amp?

oh yeah...I'm in Phoenix as well.

What should I expect to pay to install the empeg and an amp?

Anywhere from $50 to $50,000. (And yes, I have seen a $50k install!)

To paraphrase the mechanic in the original Mad Max movie -- "Sound quality is simply a matter of money. How good can you afford to hear?"

tanstaafl.

OK, so is there a mean price? what should I expect to pay to get decent sound?...keep in mind it is a convertible with the low end factory speakers.

OK, so is there a mean price? what should I expect to pay to get decent sound?

Oh, boy... that's sort of like asking "How high is up?"

So much depends on what level of (or rather, lack of) audio quality you will be comfortable with.

My recommendation for someone who wanted his car to sound really good, but not go totally nuts and build a competition quality system, would be:

1) Replace the factory speakers with some good quality speakers -- figure about $150 per pair.

2) Add a subwoofer to the system. This is absolutely critical. If you don't do this, then don't bother doing any of the other things on this list either! Figure about $200 for a decent quality single 10" subwoofer and sealed box.

3) Add a good quality four or five channel amplifier to the mix. I won't go into brand names, we try to avoid discussing religion on the bbs. But you're going to have to spend about $250 for a good amp -- somewhere around 250 watts is plenty. You don't need to have kilowatts of power in your car.

4) Be suspicious of any stereo shop that offers to install all this equipment for less than about $100 -- unless you bought the equipment from them in the first place, then they may give you a price break on the installation.

So, we're looking at about $850 in addition to the cost of the player. This will give you very good sound. Lesser expenditure will give you lesser sound. It just depends on what you can live with.

That said... you can cut that price about in half (or better) if you know what you are looking for and are comfortable shopping on ebay. But if you lack experience in the car stereo arena and/or with ebay, don't do this without help.

tanstaafl.