Good Day
Can't help only rading it maa
Here is what I do when I'll do the purchase activity. I'll do this not for ICE only but for most of the Item (Assets) I purchased (Car, House, Car Accessories, Home Theater, Home audio, Home Appliance & Furniture, Properties, Investment Opportunities, etc. etc..). I guess this is influenced by my day job as an Supply Chain Management for the company I work with & my part time businesses which I've been doing.
My day job involved managing, purchasing, selecting Aerospace Parts from the suppliers around the world in term of Quality & Technical aspects, where as my Part time business as a Business Owner of a Networking Business System and as an Active Assets Investor (paper & portfolio)
Here is a trail example of hop I did purchase on my amplifier (nothing fancy just a Xetec Gravity 4G-600)
I determine what I want - an amplifier to boost SQ for front component Focal 136 KX
I did survey what amp suitable for my Focal - I asked around in the ZTH forum - get the answer Audison Vrx, Steg Q-Mos, Audio System Twister.
I do Market survey on these amps - performance & price - i am staying in Malacca, and I survey from KL to S'pore (it's fun as I like travelling too).
Get back to dwg. board - with all the notes which I gathered during my survey - Found out it is not worth it commercially (means it's not worth my money for these amps Richer People with higher end components okey la - not meaning these 3 amps is cap ayam still wonderful amp, is not that I cannot afford it but not worth for me to spend that much)
Get back again to my speaker spec. find Focal demand a lot of power to make it sing nicely - use that characteristics to find other suitable amp - found one Xetec Gravity - it has high RMS due to it's Linear Drive Circuit and have an extensive equalizer to tweak on, furthermore I read in car magazine that one of a reputable car audio shop in KL has installed with Focal Component one time before ..... (You guys can guess who)
Go and audit the amp (the sound) some more (Go to three Shop, 2 in KL, 1 in malacca)
Ask for Retail Price Around RM 1800 tops - then get funding on the retail Price (take out money from one of my assets income)
Check it out around, ebay, Zth, GR8tunes, Used, promo or negotiation from audio shop - looking for deals off retail price
Lucky break - one also a reputable car audio shop have one used (for about 2 months old) have that amp for RM1100, go and audit did purchased with RM1100.00 with installation.
LIVE HAPPILY WITH THAT AMP EVER AFTER.
Well, people when looking for something they like, they always thinking about how much money they got to spend. They forgot it's another thing is more important which is YOUR TIME. All I take is about one and a half month to do this purchased. I invest in time looking for the amp, because I have passion in ICE. I do the survey, the analysis, the comparison, the waits for deal to be good. Some goes to other stuff which I passionate about; House, properties, investmentS, car, furniture, High end Home Theater and Home audio and others). I guess you might not believe that now I am staying in a 4 Bedrooms single storey Bungalow in Malacca which I just paid RM 50 000 only, and this house stand a safety factor Nf more than 2.1 in next 99 years to come. This deal come due to my passion & time I invest in it. But detail on how I get might be another story.
So to all, KY Heng, Iszo and others have the passion in doing this ICE (if you are really passionate about it), Business is business, they get our money anyway, it's just how much you willing to pay and how hard your money work for you. That is all. All these ICE stuff you buy doing you nothing more than making you happier the second after you have, if you feel sad why bother then.
That's My RM 10 and 2 cent opinion
Fathi