I have been working with chronic car audio for about four years. I have only ever gone to the location on university and power. Primarily I have worked with the manager Chris, but also with the other manager Mel and the owner Bren(it is your lucky day if you talk to Bren, he will give you the most kickass deals). The first thing I ever bought was a set of Soundstream component speakers, and I think that it cost me about $150 otd. They were out of that model, so they called me up and asked if it was ok to upgrade me (at no charge) to memphis car audio's m-class speakers (their highest end speakers.) This has continued across the board. I have absolutely no qualms referring my friends and family to chronic for a good install. I have had simple problems before (the cd player ground was not sanded down sufficiently) and I took my car in and it was taken care of as I waited. This week I am going to take my friends and my dads car down to chronic, and put in new powerbass speakers (my favorite cheap brand), and I promise you that I will get a better deal installed then it would cost me to get on
ebay or another site. In a month or so, I am putting a full JL system in my Grand Cherokee, and I would absolutely be able to find a better deal on
ebay. To me it is worth the (small) premium to me to have chronic do the work, and have the products waranteed. I mean, where else can you get a cd player installed (wiring harness, trim kit, everything) for fifty dollars(A profile low end cd player, but still has an aux in, was great for an old bronco I sold)
Now, the problems of chronic are as such (if you haven't purchased in such a shop before) The prices that are listed on the wall are hugely marked up. An amp will have a tag for 699.99, and when the salesmen tells you that he can give it to you for 399.99 you feel like you are getting a steal. This is a sales technique, if you want a deal, haggle, if you don't want to haggle, go to best buy. If you ever drive past the university and power location, there is usually a packed parking lot, so they hire quite a few salesmen and installers. I have had good luck for the most part, i did put two tens into my chevy 1500 a few years back, and the installer put the box in backwards, so the subs were pressing on the seat bottom, but when I took it back to trade the subs for memphis m-class, I got this kickass installer who put the box in right, and took the time to sit in my car, and tune the system while I put the music on that I listened to most.
I personally recommend going in and talking to Chris, Bren, or Mel at the university and power location, I have had great experiences with them. If you go back six years, when the only big dog was Audio Express, who literally lied to me two or three times in the row (I called in, asked if a certain cd player was available, they quoted me a price, then when I showed up they told me it was a different model. Then When they installed the cd player, when I came to pick it up they gave me a bill for 95 bucks, all of which was for the mounting harness and wiring harness).
Big fan of Chronic.