Method Sound in Costa Mesa, Ca. Had to review this place.

[fly_marlin]

Before I start my rant, note this is not a review of any kind of work that was done for me or anyone I know. The reason I called was to get another opinion on installation options for my buddy's car. I got speakers that were very hard to fit in his Mustang and I was trying to save him some money by getting different quotes. The installation also would include 2 amps, double din DVD player, and a sub.

The guy was very polite, forget his name. As soon as he started to answer my question about the speakers, he began comparing his labor to other shops and how incompetent another shop would be if they had a hard time installing these speakers. I have not for a second mentioned any other shops. These were just 6.75" comps with 1.1" tweeter. He went on and on and on about how every little thing he does improves the sound of the system and he would NEVER install a system if it wasn't the BEST possible setup ever. I know my basics and he was just trying overwhelm me with with WOW words - he uses OFC copper wire only, the best this, the best that. He then started saying how there is an 8" woofer in the door, which there was not and I know there was not one...I looked at the door. He wasn't having any of it, he insisted it was there. He said he has pictures on his iPad, but couldn't possibly email them to me so I can see. Then came the punch line, "you're not thinking of getting all this installed for like $400 or anything, are you?" Well, yes, you idiot, I am. All I need is a 4awg run, dist block, 8awg from there, some speaker wire, a fuse holder, and a few hours of labor. Seems like a standard installation that my other friends and I have gotten installed for $200 and under each time. This guy was so "nice," it was in his big heart to STILL allow me to visit his shop to witness the godly creations from his past.

Yelp reviews rave about this place and I am sure he does great work if you shell out $1000+ to install your amps and comps, but I will never go here just on this conversation.

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[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Dude, go to beach autosound on beach and warner in huntington beach. labor is like 80 dollars and hour no nickel and dime crap going on. Plus, you can watch them do the work too and make any changes you want on the way. They dont charge you extra for making mdf baffles to fit your speakers. Any little knick knack installation pieces, is extra cost but, 4 gauge ring terminals and stuff are only 80 cents a piece there so its not really a killer, bring your own power wire though their ofc wire is expensive. I normally grab install accessories from them if i dont wanna wait for shipping on amazon. Just tell them what you want done and they'll do it right. If I dont do it myself, this is probably the only place i'll ever let touch my car in the OC area.

only bad thing about it is the owner is condescending if you bring in garbage products. I've seen them turn away customers bringing in flea market amp kits with boss and power acoustik gear because he doesn't want to deal with product failure. Their wait time is horrible too, first come first serve. If you need to get work done, i'd suggest you go early in the morning 15 minutes right before they open because after 11:00 am they are pretty much booked for the whole day.

 

[fly_marlin]

Yea, I actually called them, too. Night and day talking to them. The guy knew exactly what needed to be done, quoted me a price, though it was a bit more than my shop quoted him. He just wanted to save some money and not have to drive to Ontario. My other friend lives right by that place lol Right off Talbert. Good to know Beach Sound is a good option though. I haven't seen anyone local on the forum here. Btw I'm looking for someone local to sell my stuff to! I want to avoid shipping charges and since I've never sold on here, seems like it's a hassle. I have 2 TC-1000s in 3.5 cu ft box at 34Hz, soundqubed q1-1200D, pro box superbass box dual 10, and 2 audiobahn flame Q 10" woofers. This isn't an official for sale thread, but just spreading the word since you're local and I don't know anyone.

Do you do all your installs yourself now?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Sure thing i'll let anyone that needs that equipment know.

Yeah I do my own installs except for some aspects of building sub boxes or speaker baffles, I need to go to beach auto sound and have them cut the subwoofer holes and make the 6.5/6x9/ baffles for me since dont have a circle jigsaw yet. I also need their help with crimping 1/0 or 4 gauge terminals lol! too cheap to buy hydraulic crimpers.

Atm, I'm waiting on some equipment, bought a pair of 15s lately, one needed a recone so i'm waiting on soundqubed to send a recone and also waiting for my high output alt from singer.

I got a dual 8 inch enclosure 2.2 cubic feet, side slot ported tuned to 32 hertz for sale and a 4th order box for a single 12 that needs to go too along with a pretty beat up hifonics bxi 1610d.

as for the beach auto sound place, you can help with the install to finish faster and save more money. I did that when I first got into car audio a long time ago and Eddie(installer) showed me the ropes and we got stuff done a lot faster then they expected. I remembered Tom, the owner quoted me 240 for 3 hours of work but we finished in an hour and a half so it was only half the price

 

[audiojoe]

I have had multiple different sound systems installed in a quite a few different vehicles over the years by many shops, including Method Sound. Its extremely ignorant of you to start a rant about a place you have never even visited.

Method sound is a one man shop that only does high end work on one car at a time. You cant expect that kind of shop to be able to compete with a place like Beach auto sound that has 10+ guys working there to get your car in and out in the same day. That's like calling the Ferrari dealership and bitching that their cars are too overpriced in comparison to your ford, which also has 4 wheels and a steering wheel.

I had some work done by beach auto sound back in the day. They performed a clean, reliable, average installation for a fair price. If you are interested in the best work money can buy, you go to Method Sound. If price is all you care about, ask the internet how to install your own equipment.

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[fly_marlin]

I have had multiple different sound systems installed in a quite a few different vehicles over the years by many shops, including Method Sound. Its extremely ignorant of you to start a rant about a place you have never even visited.
Method sound is a one man shop that only does high end work on one car at a time. You cant expect that kind of shop to be able to compete with a place like Beach auto sound that has 10+ guys working there to get your car in and out in the same day. That's like calling the Ferrari dealership and bitching that their cars are too overpriced in comparison to your ford, which also has 4 wheels and a steering wheel.

I had some work done by beach auto sound back in the day. They performed a clean, reliable, average installation for a fair price. If you are interested in the best work money can buy, you go to Method Sound. If price is all you care about, ask the internet how to install your own equipment.

View attachment 26549400

I think it's ignorant to ignore the full text of what I wrote. I stated initially, to make no mistake, that the review is not about the work. You must be under some sort of impression that only Ferraris can get top of the line work done on them at costs that break the bank. I expressed that I hated dealing with the guy and wouldn't recommend going there. I've had good work done before the way I want it, not the way some pushy installer dictates. Also, majority of the people on this forum wouldn't pay this kind of a price for "top notch" work because they've had it installed before at a much better price. There is also a difference between people talking at you and people talking to you. I like being talked to, not at. If you like it there, please recommend it and start a separate thread in this section. If you think you can put together a few sentences that hardly relate to my review and change my opinion, you're deeply mistaken. Also, if you think that having read your post people will run there...think again. I'll be getting a new car soon and will get the "best work money can buy" where the guy will charge me for actual labor, not the hype he created with a 20 minute conversation. When that happens, I'll invite you to see for yourself.

Not interested in discussing this any further.

 

[audiojoe]

all im saying is that you called a different kind of stereo shop then what you are used to. It was obviously not what you are looking for. You want the cheapest possible install, not everyone here is as concerned with that as you. You probably didn't get cool custom bent fuse holder brackets, or a bad *** welded amp rack included in your $200 install. Could you do it without all that stuff? Sure. Is it better with it? absolutely.

When you eat at world famous chefs restaurant, you ask them what they recommend, you don't bring in your own ingredients and tell them how you want it cooked. When you go to the best sushi spot in town you order Omakase, not California rolls.

 

[CSCStang]

Before I start my rant, note this is not a review of any kind of work that was done for me or anyone I know. The reason I called was to get another opinion on installation options for my buddy's car. I got speakers that were very hard to fit in his Mustang and I was trying to save him some money by getting different quotes. The installation also would include 2 amps, double din DVD player, and a sub.
The guy was very polite, forget his name. As soon as he started to answer my question about the speakers, he began comparing his labor to other shops and how incompetent another shop would be if they had a hard time installing these speakers. I have not for a second mentioned any other shops. These were just 6.75" comps with 1.1" tweeter. He went on and on and on about how every little thing he does improves the sound of the system and he would NEVER install a system if it wasn't the BEST possible setup ever. I know my basics and he was just trying overwhelm me with with WOW words - he uses OFC copper wire only, the best this, the best that. He then started saying how there is an 8" woofer in the door, which there was not and I know there was not one...I looked at the door. He wasn't having any of it, he insisted it was there. He said he has pictures on his iPad, but couldn't possibly email them to me so I can see. Then came the punch line, "you're not thinking of getting all this installed for like $400 or anything, are you?" Well, yes, you idiot, I am. All I need is a 4awg run, dist block, 8awg from there, some speaker wire, a fuse holder, and a few hours of labor. Seems like a standard installation that my other friends and I have gotten installed for $200 and under each time. This guy was so "nice," it was in his big heart to STILL allow me to visit his shop to witness the godly creations from his past.

Yelp reviews rave about this place and I am sure he does great work if you shell out $1000+ to install your amps and comps, but I will never go here just on this conversation.

The guy was half right in his statement about the Mustang. If you have one with the Shaker system, they do have 8" woofers in the doors. I got my 2012 with the very basic 4 speaker system for the sole purpose of putting my own system in. I currently have Alpine comps in the door (I customized the stock opening, which is for 5X7's) 6 1/2 with the tweets in the "wing window" spot (had to remove the mirror adjust switch on the driver side haha). I also have pps 4-6's where the woofer would go. Pretty solid front stage now but, of course, always looking to improve!!!!! If he has the same stock set up, the faceplate alone is big dollars (got mine through Sonic for 225.00) to add the double din.

 

[MethodSound]

Dear fly-marlin,

My apologies for taking so long to write a reply to your observations about my company Method Sound. I note that you have indicated you’d rather not discuss this anymore so it is OK not to respond.

Thank you for taking time to write a review on Method Sound. To us this time and effort indicates you are a passionate car audio enthusiast. We are too.

It seems to me you are fairly well informed too. We always like talking to guys who are engaged, have done their homework and speak from experience. That is our strongest base of consumers.

That said I made a big mistake in our discussion by not qualifying hard enough to learn the factory trim level in the car at issue. I note that some other commenters have pointed this out as well.

That said, you were also correct when you suggested we probably do a pretty good installation. We usually receive reviews from very well satisfied customers. That’s because we conduct an installation as it would be if it were done on the assembly line where the car was originally built. We call it our OE (Original Equipment) standards culture. BUT we really do know sound, aftermarket equipment and cars. Combining these three points of business usually requires compromise and often presents a daunting challenge to an installer trying to satisfy a demanding listener. We surmount such challenge by talking about treating the sound field before talking about speakers, amplifiers and head units. My customers who do a good deal of shopping tell me that they usually hear the exact opposite from other places they shop, ie the head, speakers, amplifiers and almost never get down to discussing the sound field where all of this equipment is to be installed and listened to.

Perhaps I sometimes get a little passionate about it. That is a fault. I am working on it.

I would love the opportunity to visit with you in my shop, if you could find your way to change your mind about visiting us. I think I will be able to put our telephone discussion in much better context and apologize for my failure to properly understand the car you were talking about. When we can lay eyeballs on a car we usually don’t make that mistake. I should also say that your review has helped us understand how to do a better job of understanding the car and its circumstances before engaging in too detailed a discussion about, equipment, price labor, etc…

We do hope you pay us a visit.

Michael Thompson

Proprietor