Newbie wondering where to buy that’s legit...

[Cwv1980 ky]

Hey everyone Name is Chris I have not bought any car audio in over 5 yrs was wondering where are the best websites to order from w/ no hassles.. Thanks everyone!!

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[Lasherž]

Crutchfield.com is pretty expensive, but they're a decent website, very clean and easy to navigate plus they've got better customer service than basically everyone in car audio. I order most of my stuff off of Ebay though, you just have to be careful or order brand new stuff rather than refurbished... On Ebay "refurbished" and "used" mean that they opened up the amplifier and went to town with a Walmart soldering iron with a wood bit in it.

 

[2RZ-FE 10+ year member]

Crutchfield, Sonic electronix, Amazon, Knuconceptz depending on what I need

Crutchfield throws in wiring harness, mounting kits, speaker adapters, antenna adapters for your vehicle.

Amazon for ferrules, ring terminals, copper lugs, etc.

Knuconceptz for power/ground wire, speaker wire, rca's, fuse holders, fuses

Sonic electronix for stuff I wanted from Amazon/Crutchfield but were not in stock.

 

[stephgirl]

Crutchfield.com is pretty expensive, but they're a decent website, very clean and easy to navigate plus they've got better customer service than basically everyone in car audio. I order most of my stuff off of Ebay though, you just have to be careful or order brand new stuff rather than refurbished... On Ebay "refurbished" and "used" mean that they opened up the amplifier and went to town with a Walmart soldering iron with a wood bit in it.

Out of respect though, i have to say that your comment about refurbished was kind of not quit correct. just so no one gets the wrong inpresion. I understand the wood bit pun but, have to clarify. I have purchased refurbished or remanufactured of many items over the years and had little to no problems. The key to look for is the FACTORY or MANUFACTURER refurbished or remanufactured items. DON"T buy the 3rd party ones. I have purchased the 3rd party ones a few times over the years and had issues. I'm not talking about the ones someone sends there classic amp in to a legit repair shop type. The 3rd party so called that work for the manufacture type. But the real factory refurbished type. Many of the manufactures have employee repair techs that work for company at the warehouse or offices that know what there doing and have access to the new parts or schematics or so on. I remember many years ago when Kenwood had home receivers surround sound and i had an issue and went down to the corp offices and warehouse in Long Beach CA to have it repaired by there own techs. That is were i learned that there techs fixed the home and car audio there and they new what hey were doing. That is were i learned a lot about the factory refurbished items and that they repair to factory standard when i talked to them. And i still have that same Kenwood home 5.1 surround receiver that was repaired there. It kicks ass. Japan made one just before they switched to China made in late 90's. From my experiences i have had good items. Right now i see some Kenwood and Pioneer items on internet that have been fixed or repaired by there own factory techs then sold at a discount. You can even find them on Chrutchfield for sale. Over the years i have purchased a few and had great units. Pioneer and Kenwood also offer a warranty. I even purchased a Hoover Vac number of years ago that worked great till i got my new Shark Vac. Shark Vac is the BOOM. But you get my point. So that is just my experiance that i have had good stuff. Some have had different experiences but this was mine.

 

[Lasherž]

Out of respect though, i have to say that your comment about refurbished was kind of not quit correct. just so no one gets the wrong inpresion. I understand the wood bit pun but, have to clarify. I have purchased refurbished or remanufactured of many items over the years and had little to no problems. The key to look for is the FACTORY or MANUFACTURER refurbished or remanufactured items. DON"T buy the 3rd party ones. I have purchased the 3rd party ones a few times over the years and had issues. I'm not talking about the ones someone sends there classic amp in to a legit repair shop type. The 3rd party so called that work for the manufacture type. But the real factory refurbished type. Many of the manufactures have employee repair techs that work for company at the warehouse or offices that know what there doing and have access to the new parts or schematics or so on. I remember many years ago when Kenwood had home receivers surround sound and i had an issue and went down to the corp offices and warehouse in Long Beach CA to have it repaired by there own techs. That is were i learned that there techs fixed the home and car audio there and they new what hey were doing. That is were i learned a lot about the factory refurbished items and that they repair to factory standard when i talked to them. And i still have that same Kenwood home 5.1 surround receiver that was repaired there. It kicks ass. Japan made one just before they switched to China made in late 90's. From my experiences i have had good items. Right now i see some Kenwood and Pioneer items on internet that have been fixed or repaired by there own factory techs then sold at a discount. You can even find them on Chrutchfield for sale. Over the years i have purchased a few and had great units. Pioneer and Kenwood also offer a warranty. I even purchased a Hoover Vac number of years ago that worked great till i got my new Shark Vac. Shark Vac is the BOOM. But you get my point. So that is just my experiance that i have had good stuff. Some have had different experiences but this was mine.

Yeah, I understand that Ebay does have key words that if they weren't misused would yield reliably good products it just hasn't been the case for me so far that people are capable of labeling their products as the correct one and in some cases it's not even possible to label them correctly. Like for example, if I order a product that's factory refurbished and it worked great for a year, but now I want to upgrade. Should I use the used label or the factory refurbished label on that product? Used means it could have wear and tear, but factory refurbished means that it has been opened and potentially soldered on the inside. Which is more important to understanding the condition of it? Both in my opinion.

My original comment should have prefaced it saying that it should be from the manufacturer's pages to mean it's safe, I also could have added reputable authorized retailers. Unauthorized and "factory refurbished" is a red flag and I wish that it wasn't but I've been burned many times. It doesn't help that manufacturers often don't allow schematics to unauthorized repair, but it is what it is. What I saw in my ebay experiences was people modifying traces to get less resistance, swapping 30a fuses for 40a fuses in a melted fuse holder slot, giant regulators put in place where small ones used to go so their leads are squeezed together, unshrunk heatshrink sliding up and down a bare bodge wire as the product moves around, and precision measuring equipment which had its potentiometers rotated. All of these products were sold under the label, "manufacturer refurbished" or "used". There are ways to buy manufacturer refurbished without getting shanked, but it's from brands who have a reputation to uphold.

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

Not saying you shouldn't, but I've never bought from Crutchfield.

 

[stephgirl]

Yeah, I understand that Ebay does have key words that if they weren't misused would yield reliably good products it just hasn't been the case for me so far that people are capable of labeling their products as the correct one and in some cases it's not even possible to label them correctly. Like for example, if I order a product that's factory refurbished and it worked great for a year, but now I want to upgrade. Should I use the used label or the factory refurbished label on that product? Used means it could have wear and tear, but factory refurbished means that it has been opened and potentially soldered on the inside. Which is more important to understanding the condition of it? Both in my opinion.

My original comment should have prefaced it saying that it should be from the manufacturer's pages to mean it's safe, I also could have added reputable authorized retailers. Unauthorized and "factory refurbished" is a red flag and I wish that it wasn't but I've been burned many times. It doesn't help that manufacturers often don't allow schematics to unauthorized repair, but it is what it is. What I saw in my ebay experiences was people modifying traces to get less resistance, swapping 30a fuses for 40a fuses in a melted fuse holder slot, giant regulators put in place where small ones used to go so their leads are squeezed together, unshrunk heatshrink sliding up and down a bare bodge wire as the product moves around, and precision measuring equipment which had its potentiometers rotated. All of these products were sold under the label, "manufacturer refurbished" or "used". There are ways to buy manufacturer refurbished without getting shanked, but it's from brands who have a reputation to uphold.

Lasherž
That was a good comment. You are correct that many try to do self repair or other unauthorized shops and many just miss use the word factory refurbished or re-manufactured. Also what i found out long time ago is that, there are many times i think the law states that if a item was opened or purchased and then returned it can't be resold as new so many time they use the word refurbished. I have purchase a few stuff from stores that have resold items that are still new that a customer purchased and returned for different reasons, but the item was newer used. Like i said that most of the time brand names that have reputations as you said are good. So i guess the point is that you just have to look and be smart and see what your buying. A reputable brand name being sold from a reputable store makes sense. But to purchase from a no body on Ebay that says refurb but you have no idea. I have seen Ebay sellers Tri State car audio and online car audio and Crutchfield do sell repurb Pioneer and Kenwood items with warranty. So just make sure it is a reputable store or seller and bee smart about it. Wile back i saw both Online and Tri state selling a Factory refub Pioneer GM-DX874 for like $150. Should of got 2 of them amps. I know Pioneer and Kenwood do sell refurb item but only to there reputable dealers and with warranty.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Not saying you shouldn't, but I've never bought from Crutchfield.

probably the best customer service and reputation out of everything, even more than amazon as long as you dont get marked up out the ass with the items. I dont always buy from crutchfield, but when I do... its amazon prices.