best shops for ICE..

[MitonCT26]

i do not think that alpine users are rich or it's bloody expensive...gee i hope you did not confuse people with alpine's price list.

basically alpine's range is quite extensive...from low end to the ultra high end models that cover everything from speakers to head unit.

there are less than 1K HUs available. there;s also less than RM600 component speakers.

the alpine has it's functions and features to backup the price they offer. even an old model 9833 or 9835 have functions that even the 8 series pioneer dont have. and i am comparing it with a mid range alpine and almost high end pioneers.

it's the same as comparing a toyota with a bmw. diffrent built, diffrent brand, diffrent taste.

i earn peanuts monthly, but i also own alpine stuffs...because it's actually affordable in a sense that you know what you get for the price they offer.

the type-S and type-R series which is their mid range speakers also not bad wat. price range also very competitive. not an alpine seller or fanboyism, but just want to clarify to the other members as not to be mislead that alpine is for the big boys only....

 

[oldskolboyz]

Alpine actually not for rich ppl laa... as I said ealier Alpine, Eclipse like Merc, BMW & etc due to outsider item... Pioneer, Kenwood, Sony, Clarion like Proton, Produa & modenas got Goverment backing... that why price tag for some model can sale as low as RM300... Did you cross this model Pioneer P9/P90 & Clarion HX-D2, how much in our market.. If I not mistaken above RM5K... so this brand (Pioneer & Clarion) also for rich ppl laaa.....

Reputated Shop like KF Audio, KK Lau, Loh Tong Ming (LTM), JS Audio, ACP, SoundQuest, QQ Autosound, Knapps Audio & etc.. They are pro ppl either in design or tuning... No doubt about it... Some maybe charge slightly higher than others... If you think they charge to high.. Why don't you lock a report at KPDN... When someone design something & the result above our expectation.. We can not value it with money or else... If you can... You are better as GOD...

 

[MitonCT26]

i would like to add about the comments and general perception of those so-called pro shops or professional installer...

every installer is a businessman. why? they want to make a living by selling and installing ICE wat. even tough if you drive a chokia datsun 120Y and wants a 1K ICE setup, i strongly believe they will serve you too. i dont believe they will chase you out like a beggar because they also making a living out of the business wat.

every installer got cheap and got expensive items to sell. all cater to your budget. if you not ngam with the items they intro you within the budget, simply top up or just walk away lor...go other shops and survey. as i stressed out earlier, dun get into their sales pitch. research on the net, compare prices and always DO NOT HAGGLE ABOUT WORKMANSHIP. And most important, always make sure your purchased items especially amp and hu have LOCAL warranty by local authorised distributor...

some give you cap ayam RCA and cable, some give you mediocre ones, and some give decent, okay and boleh tahan ones depending on your total money spent...common sense mar...you pasang chokia brothers cd player with alFine amp need to use audison interconnects meh?

what's the point of giving some ppl cheap installation fees but give you AC Cord wires and some RM9.90 rcas for you to use and just cincai black tape here and there dangling all over the place? pay abit more, and then you get a very neat installation and it's safe as those dangling wires some apek down the tree tarik may touch ground or interfere with the electrical system in your car.

it's all personal preference...but hope this will clear all negative perception about all these guys...it's the same when you go buy an electrical item and then you want to buy samsung they give you china brand... hehehehehhee...

Regards.

 

[kyheng]

Actually the word 'government backing' is wrong and very misleading, oldskolboyz, not to find fight again, as most of the Pioneer HU is made in Malaysia and Thailand(ASEAN country), Kenwood is made in Malaysia, Clarion and Sony also made in Malaysia? This I not that sure.
Customs will impose sales tax only for the brand that made in malaysia and ASEAN countries. (sales tax 10%)Other than that, all need to pay import tax which is 30-40%. That's why this few japanese brand is always cheaper. Talk about the high end Pioneer(P9/P90) and Clarion HX-D2, they are 100% import and not made in Malaysia or Thailand, that's why is expensive. If Alpine does have a factory in ASEAN country, sure the price will be cheaper, but this is not the case.
1 thing that I don't like on reputated shop is everything they buy cheap but sell expensive. Put aside the amps, HU and speakers. Even low grade speaker wires also they sell expensive. As I survey Infinity speakers once in 1 of the above mentioned shop. They recommend me Reference series 6.5" 2 way set for rm650, then we start to talk, and I futher know that it only sound great when put beside door panel. Just a simple drill hole and install, no fiber work or sound dampering, cost rm90, then show me some so-called high end speaker wire, 1 feet rm3, as my amp installed at back, so the total lenght used is 40feet which I later found out in an eletronic shop that only cost rm1 per meter. So to get the speakers install total cost is rm860. At the same time they see my setup and starts to condamn on it. This is bloody expensive for an entry level speakers and I just say have think about it first. Then go to another shop, same speaker but they offer me rm450 + same workmanship for rm40 + wire rm2 per feet. So end up I buy myself the wire 20meters from eletronic shop and ask them to install for me. Total cost is rm510. Save rm350 at the end of day.
Yes is true that some brands only can be found on reputated shops. But most of it they sell overpriced and we pay extra for nothing, if want to spend, spend it on a wise way.

 

[calvinhpk]

Alpine, Rockfor Fosgate, Lightning Audio, Helix, Brax, MTX, Soundstream and other brands from Europe that cost rm1k and above. If more than rm1k is expensive and this is called subjective, I can only say either Malaysian currency drop already or Malaysians are very rich. As rm1k is a bank clerk's basic salary per month.

so...u mean those brands that cost rm1k and above is consider expensive??

so.... all shops that sell those stuffs rm1k and above are expensive shops??

can I conclude that most of the car audio shops are "expensive shops" or "high-end shops" that you mentioned, since most of them do carries product that cost rm1k and above??

 

[calvinhpk]

kyheng, i understand on your bad experience..... but I think not all shops are like that........ sometimes depends also

 

[devil]

I totally disagree on the cabling price.
As far as my personal experience, the price quoted are inclusive of installation..

Try to take out all the chair, nuts and pull the cable yourself .... then the price = what u bought rm1/f..
No no .. their tuning cost is excluding the cabling installation.
If you talk nicely with them, usually, they will give u discount at the end of total cabling length ..

 

[kyheng]

The mouth is yours, as long as you are happy, I got no say. Yeah, I agree to you, not all shops is like this, but most of them is.
Does drill hole + install not clear to you? They said the cable is come from US, OFC wire, that's why cannot get discount anymore. Tuning cost not include yet, as I don't to want it to tuned by them, that cost me another rm50. By adjusting the amps and HU's gain, treble and bass only cost that amount, ver value for money work. The price of wire I got is rm1 per m, not f. So the diff is very big when buy more.
Anyway that was my first time when step in to high end shop and get the best throat cutting offer I ever have. I was lucky at that time I only have budget of rm500, if not I'm the another lucky guy that get throat cut.

 

[tkkhoo]

all businessman is the same.... depend on how deep they want to cut your throat only

 

[energie]

It's not cut throat, it's profit-making. Of course we would all want everything being sold to us according to what we can afford, but we know that won't work now would it. You whine, you cuss, you grumble about it what difference will it make? You want cheap, open your own shop they'll tell you. Could you do that? They cut door they ask for 50 bucks you grumble, since it's so simple, why don't you get your butt to the hardware shop & get a jigsaw & cut it yourself? Coz it ain't your job, you wouldn't like it if we were to tell you whatever you're doing is wrong & we could do it better when that's not the case now would it. You buy stuff over the net, how would you know the stuff is guaranteed? How would you know it wouldn't break in a week or two? Buy from US, sure why not, add the shipping cost, the tax & the warranty .. the WARRANTY. They'll give you 30 days period & by the time it gets to your hand it could probably be 2-3 weeks after the date they shipped it out. What if it breaks when you get it? That 30 days warranty period's not gonna stand anymore. This is completely silly, giving all these installers the stick. Think your's truly Sony Mini Hifi system can pump out awesome bass like JL Audio's Fathom system? No bloody way. There ain't such a thing as cheap + good things, no bloody way. People still go to clubs & pay 50 bucks for diluted beer, if that's cut throat then one should probably just get to the closest 7- Eleven and get a big bottle of Heini. It ain't the same now is it? So stop whining. I said this before, ICE is a hobby, a very expensive hobby if you want to get it right. THE GUY ASKED FOR THE BEST INSTALLER, so I suggest you tell the guy if you know & shut it if you don't.

 

[kyheng]

I'm not whinning or grumbling, what I want to stress here is to have more awareness on spending money on ICE and to survey more, nothing more and nothing less, reputated shop does not always will do the best job even we pay more. And another thing is you don't simply talk if you don't know, as drill hole and cut door is 2 different thing. If cut door panel if don't have any hole they charge rm50 is ok for me. The problem is now the hole is already there, they only need to drill hole for screw. Does rm50 to drill 4 holes for screws make sense? ICE is an expensive hooby, and this is the fact that nobody can deny. So by doing more survey and spend it wisely depend on our taste, it might be fun also. Another thing is the amp that I bought carries 1 year warranty with shipping not included. And the parcel now can be insured. The amp I already use for 7months and still no problem. You don't know anything about it and simply make assumptions. This statemnet is more suite you : Empty tins still makes the most noise. I don't know why you use the word vessel, as it is big and the sound won't be loud

 

[tkkhoo]

It's not cut throat, it's profit-making

then i should rephase my sentence

There ain't such a thing as cheap + good things, no bloody way. People still go to clubs & pay 50 bucks for diluted beer, if that's cut throat then one should probably just get to the closest 7- Eleven and get a big bottle of Heini.

:embaressed_smile: this is what i do when on tight budget

 

[ahboy]

Hahaha why wanna argue bros, come on, we r all here as a ice enthusiast mah.

hmmmm, bro kyheng, me not trying to flame anyone here but wanna give my point of view nia, those amp selling like more than 7k do u consider them expensive?? IF the amp is something that u can get less than 5k then it is consider very expensive BUT if market is selling the amp more than 10k than the amp is consider cheap, do u understand the terms cheap n expensive?? I hope u understand, u pay what u get.

I also agree that ALL of the installer will cut ur throat IF u r not familiar with ice or those no nothing fella, BUT once they know that u hav done ur home work, they will use different approach liao. I dunno whether anyone here agreed or not but i face the similar fate.

When i'm new they sure will sotong u (they r businessman mah) once they know u hav done ur homework (for eg - getting more knowledge from forums n other's sources) they will give u a very hard to resist bargain prices.

So there is no right or wrong in any one of u guys here, it is just that which type of installer nia.

Every installer hav their loyal customer n also ppl that r not too happy with them due to some reason or what.

like what nicholas said, learn how to tune urself n u dun hav to rely on installer to tune for u for a fees. U hav to tune to what u like n not installer tune n u follow what they like.

Enjoy ya, cool down bros.

 

[kyheng]

Anyway for me if a thing is more than rm1k, is consider expensive already. Maybe your are right on certain point, but expensive things is still expensive, this is something that cannot be change. Just think, how much is a general clerk salary per month? The terms cheap and expensive is too subjective, like you will say an amp cost rm5k is cheap and another place selling for rm7k is expensive. But if you put this questions to our old ones, what will they say? Dosen't matter rm5k or rm7k, still 1 thing they will say, expensive.

 

[munwai]

i think the words "expensive" and "cost alot of money" is slightly different, but this is we wanna really compare on words.

i think it depends on ppl's expectations. some ppl, they dun earn alot, maybe, average 2k a month. if they not really into ICE, then maybe an amp which cost about 1.5k then they consider it to be expensive. but if he really like ICE, and really want really good sound, even if the amp is lets say 5k, he will really save for it, or use easy-payment scheme, or wat not. that time, even if the amp is selling 7k, but he got a good offer is 5k, then he will say "its cheap!!" :)

myself, i am a newbie, and not at the level to buy 5k amp, recently i oso survey a few installers to get quote for installing some of my old equipment into my car. then there is one piece of "thing", which i need, and i find that different installer quote different price for it. one installer even dare to quote nearly double the price compared to another installer.

to me, i just smile and keep quiet, and go somewhere else. Maybe the installer wanna sotong me, but as a customer, if i feel that its not reasonable, then i can just go somewhere else, no one force me to buy from that installer. So, it is also up to the customer to do his homework and research, survey around first, and get the best value for ur money.

best value is not necessarily the cheapest price. it is about getting the most value out of ur money..it also is the quality of the workmanship, the time they take to do things, their experience, and teh stuff they use. some workmanship, is what ppl call as "professional fees", since this is a human service. you are paying for the person's time, overhead cost etc.

in those hair salon, they have different price for "junior cut", "senior cut", "vip cut" etc etc, some ppl cut hair few thousand oso got...hehe... oso is cut hair ma....siao hor?