Good installer in the Phoenix / Mesa / Gilbert AZ Area?
 

Looking to add a HU, backup camera, steering wheel controls and upgraded speakers to my Base/Sport pkg coupe. Any recommendations on a good installer in the Phoenix (East Valley preferably) area?

I'd want all wires soldered and heatshrinked (I'm pretty anal about wiring, having rewired several 60's musclecars after butchered stereo installs).

Will probably go with Alpine W910 and some Polk Audio Coaxials (I'm not an audiophile...so no amps or subs required). Just want Nav, Bluetooth calling, ipod integration and video capability.

Thanks!!

I am right here!!!!!!!! I do all of that to!!!

http://www.the370z.com/north-east-re...t-me-know.html

http://www.the370z.com/audio-video/4...ld-thread.html

Aren't you on the East Coast? I don't think a small install like this would be cost effective to have you come all the way out here...

Just gather up a group of people like the California install did and I could do it!

Jon Kowanetz at Handcrafted Car Audio is in Mesa, Az. Installer of the year 2010

Vivid Racing is a sponsor here on the forum and located in Gilbert. I don't believe they do A/V stuff in house, but I know they know people in the local area that do and could recommend someone to you. :tiphat:

Big Nate, thanks for the recommendation! Jon is setting me up with an Alpine W910, Hertz Hi Energy 6.5" component set, backup camera, etc. VERY impressed with his professional attitude, neat and clean shop, etc.

Obviously I'll pay a bit more buying from him than ordering off the internet (although he did beat Crutchfield's price), but I liked how he took the time to explain everything so a noob like me could understand it, demo'd various components, presented different options, etc.

Nice not to deal with a shady audio installer staffed by a bunch of high school kids...

Glad to hear it

A place I go to that consistently beats Crutchfields prices, and offers free shipping on almost everything is Sonicelectronix.com. Good prices, and good variety. I've used them several times and recommend it.

Sonic is not an authorized retailer for the products he intends to purchase therefore he would receive zero manufacturer warranty and when dealing with Hertz product if you find them online you are likely to end up with a fake or damaged set.

Had a customer bring me a set of Mille components he purchased online and fresh out of the box the crossovers were falling apart. I opened one crossover and next thing i knew there was a coil in my hand completely detached from the board.

Had another customer purchase a set of brand new Hi-Energies and bring them to me and after some inspection I noticed first that they were not Hertz speakers at all. The crossovers said "Nertz" on them.

Actually this past week had a customer that had purchased a Kenwood Navigation online dont remember from which site. We installed the radio and his navigation would not hold any memory. The radio and ipod and sirius function held memory fine but the navigation itself would not. We are a Kenwood dealer but there was nothing we could do for him short of selling him a replacement as he had not purchased his product from an authorized dealer. To make matters worse for him his car was an older honda for which he did not have the radio code and our local honda dealership does not like giving them to us over the phone. So now he had to ride around with no radio while he sent his radio back to wherever he purchased it and found time to go over to honda to have them get his radio code. Had he purchased authorized, yes he would have paid more but he would have left that same day with a working navigation no matter what. So paying more for authorized purchased is not without reason or benefit.

Sonic is bad for that type of stuff, they advertize a lot of brands, but don't have most of them, lots of bait and switch.

I have had 0 problems with sonic and or woofersetc, I have talked to sonic and you might want to talk to them if you are worried about the factory warranty some of the brands they carry ARE warranted.

Currently sent over 90% of my customers to one or the other "or amazon" and not had a single problem.

"Sonic Electronix is not an Authorized Alpine Dealer and Alpine requires all merchandise purchased by Sonic Electronix customers to be returned solely to Sonic Electronix."

taken from their site and there is no such thing as an authorized online hertz dealer.

Exactly. I am getting a Alpine W910 "expeditor version" for less than I would pay from Crutchfield (an authorized Alpine retailer). With the expeditor version...the warranty is extended to 3 years. That peace of mind worth paying a little more for than buying from a non-authorized retailer.

If you buy something (anything online, especially electronics) and don't READ the entire article about it. 10 times out of 11 it's going to say whether or not the seller is/is not an Authorized Dealer. So to me, when someone orders a product that isn't an Authorized product. They either failed to pay attention to every detail, or they didn't care. To me, that's not the fault of the seller.

Every product I've purchased from Sonicelectronix, Crutchfield, Amazon, and even eBay has been from Authorized retailers for THAT brand/item. I make sure of this before I order, if I bought something that wasn't Authorized, I wouldn't blame the company. It would be due to my own lack of attention to detail. :ugh2:

:twocents:

doesnt matter who is at fault for what the customer goes through what matters is that there is a reason to support local small business

X2!

Thanks! If I still did audio work, I'd totally help you out OP. My schedule is pretty hectic right now though.

Unique Car Audio is right down the street from us, and I've seen their work 1st hand. Definitely worth checking out. We also work with Sound Xpression. I've also seen their work, and it's great. They're on Mesa Dr and the 60. Either shop would be a good place for your Z :)

Scott...I will be contacting you for my next set of mods a little down the road. Will start with FI CBE...

:facepalm: Ok, so nothing got through. gotcha. :ugh2:

to you apprarently...none of the products the op wishes to purchase have authorized online retailers aside from crutchfield hence the quote i posted. Noone here is discussing who is at fault for the purchase of a product from a non-authorized retailer and having to jump through hoops to get it warrantied my only point was yes he will pay a little more buying from Jon but for that price he will be dealing with a professional with a passion for his job that will go out of his way help him under any circumstance which to me and others is worth more than the money saved by purchasing products for ebay sellers, sonic and amazon. All im saying is support small business

Sounds more like people whining they didn't order from an authorized retailer than 'support your local small business'. Hence why I said read the fine print before you hit Order.

Then why bring up so many 'examples' of people who've bought stuff and complained when they got something crappy? :ugh2:

There's nothing wrong with buying from Jon or Dave or Bob or Billy who all could have passions for what they do and go out of their way to help. Crutchfield has hundreds of detailed articles printed on all sorts of electronic bits. Sonicelectronix has their contact info to speak to experts. Amazon doesn't really do much for support, but they are Authorized vendors for several products.

All I was trying to say was that IF the product was available online at some retailer no matter who it is, if they aren't Authorized and someone buys from them, then it's on that person if it's not what they wanted. But if that vendor doesn't SELL that brand at all, then don't buy from them. But there's no reason to say a company has a problem being an authorized vendor when it's only because they're not a vendor or Your particular interest. They are still authorized for several other brands.

Sounds good. Let us know what you need!

I never said they had a problem being an authorized dealer just that they were not an authorized dealer of the products the op was looking for. I recognize that Sonic is an authorized dealer for many brands and had he been shopping for one of those I would have said go for it.