Should I go to Best Buy, Circuit City or a local car audio shop to upgrade my sound system?

Answer 1

Well,it really depends,if you want a "better" warranty line,then I would say Best Buy or Circuit City ,however they don't always sell the best ,but if you want a better sound system (usually spending more money,depending on where you go) , then go to a local car audio shop, but me,personally just get what the local shop has from online for a cheaper price,which usually out beats even the mainstream places,but with whatever choice you make,and you decide to purchase it online,I still recommend you going to any of the places to listen to the music,so you know what you want,and then find the stuff online somewhere,and make sure where you order from online has a warranty .... hopefully I was helpful!

Answer 2

I started my Car Audio installation career at Circuit City and worked there for 2 years. It was in a nice area of Orange County, CA so most of the vehicles were upscale. I learned a lot and enjoyed my time there but realized a few things. It is the typical big company. They do have insurance and money for repairs but their service has limits. Quantity is more important than quality. That's business and I understand it. If you're in the market for a head unit a pair of speakers, Best Buy or CC is a fair choice.

After CC, I worked for a small custom shop in a better area of Orange County, CA. As a small custom shop, they catered to top clientele (MB, Porche, Ferrari) and accordingly provided excellent service. We were quite busy. It was somewhat rare to have a customer only install a head unit and pair of speakers. Call it salesmanship but after getting the basic package installed many, many returned for the amp, speaker, subwoofer upgrade. If you plan to upgrade in the future, I'd typically recommend a small custom shop.

Here is the bottom line. No matter what the job, it comes down to the shop's reputation and experience. All shops should have pictures of their work and maybe even a reference list. We had both at the custom shop. You can also check the BBB for complaints. Talk to both shops and you will know what to do.

Answer 3

I would go to a specialty shop. They typically have more experience and have been trained better. from a stand point to where I have worked in both big box electronic stores and smaller specialty shops, I can say without a doubt the manufactures spend more time in training with the smaller stores, the warranty from the smaller stores is the same at the big box stores from a manufacture standpoint, if its one year at the local guys shop its one year at best buy and circuit city too, don't get scammed into the extended warranty crap they feed you. it is an "extended service warranty" which means they have a local or in house technician that will repair it for you, but not at a designated manufacture facility. If you buy a radio today and the extended service warranty and it goes bad tomorrow, the manufacture warranty would swap it out for you where as the extended warranty would have to have it removed and sent in for repair.... bogus deal if you ask me!!!!
and remember most reputable car audio manufactures FORBID selling their gear online, so if you buy it somewhere online YOU ARE BUYING WITHOUT A MANUFACTURE WARRANTY, with a few exceptions like crutchfield best buy and circuit city's website, but those are still sold at retail pricing for the most part

Answer 4

Depends on the area you live in and the reputations of audio shops in your area.

I work at Circuit City and in my town all the audio shops are garbage and they destroy cars. They dont carry name brand and quality product and they overcharge a lot. And if you dont know what youre looking for and the price they go for, you'll end up getting screwed.

First off, Best Buy and Circuit City are insured. So if something happens during the installation they will cover their faults. Ask youre local audio shop if they are insured.

Look at the cabling used or take your own in. A lot of small shops like to barrel connect cheap RCAs to make them longer. First they are cheap to begin with and then to use barrel connects justs makes them cheaper.

I once was in my local shop getting a dash kit I didnt carry and a guy came in, his remote start wasnt working. Ok, granted everyone has problems now and then, sometimes they are quick fixes so no big deal, but the fact they charged him 1,200 for a remote start alarm was ridiculous. It was some off brand alarm company too.

One the fact that at Circuit City/Best Buy, you can get one of the best DEI Viper/Python 2-way remote start alarm installed for 600-700 depending on the car. Thats for say the python 990 with an advertised mile range.

Another thing you want to ask the shop is if they have a warranty on parts and labor. Can you buy an extended warranty from the shop if your amp goes out or if you blow your subs? Or if something begins to mess up are they going to look at it for you, find the problem and fix it?

In my area there are nothing but bad shops, so forgive me if I scare you. There are good shops, only you'll want to find out a history and find out other customers experiences.

Most local shops here have people protesting outside they were ripped off, their car was destroyed etc., but they still seem to get a bunch of business.

Good luck.

Answer 5

I purchased my sirius satellite radio from Circuit City and they dont have very good customer service. They also advertise "same day installation" which is a lie. The guy in the shop assured me after I purchased it I could have it installed in an hour. I went to the actual shop with it and they said they didnt have enough time. He told me to come back the next day at 10:30am, I did. Then he told me to come back at 2:00pm. He finally installed it, but said it would have static because there was an adapter I needed (this is after I waited for 2 hours. He said the guy that sold it to me should have told me that! I was furious, but you are kind of at their mercy. I went BACK to the store and bought the $70.00 adapter he said I needed. It was finally done, but be ready for some rotten customer service. They really dont care and they show it! I am told that Best Buy or anywhere else isnt any better. Good luck!

Answer 6

Install yourself, or get help from a friend who knows somthing about it. The places like best buy and circuit city dont seem to care much about other peoples cars. They specialize in many other things besides car audio and for that reason it limits their talents. I would much rather go to a local car audio shop if they have a decent reputation. but first i would look into doing it myself.

Answer 7

I purchased a very expensive surround sound stereo system for my car from a reputable auto audio shop and have been fortunate; however, every expensive electronic I've bought from these two retail places have not honored the warranties I've purchased' it's very difficult to get through to their customer service departments and I've had to end up returning things because I could not get the service I was promised. Even when I've returned items, I've had to wait for weeks and weeks to get a refund in the mail and have wasted a lot of time tracking refunds down. I would never purchase a big tag item at either of these stores again.
Good luck.

Answer 8

I've had the best luck with Circuit City. Best Buy always seem to have their heads up their butts. & please don't take this as a racist thing but as far as local audio shops go, I've found that the shops owned & operated by Orientals are far & away the best!

Answer 9

If your just buying gear, as in speakers, subs, amps, hu's, and that type of thing i would DEFINATLY stay out of BB and CC. reason being they dont sell god stuff. there not always cheaper as posted before. they sell much much better stuff. i'd recomend looking into these brands

Pioneer Premier
Kenwood Excelon
Boston Acoustics
Diamond Audio
MB Quart

i like those brand cause they have great sound for the price. and just cause you check out the gear in the store you dont have to buy it from them. you can buy it much cheaper online, and i'll give you some links.

also in a private shop most are small buissnesses. which is good fory you, cause in order to open up a speaker shop you have to know your stuff. unlike BB when you get some teenager who has to ask 4 people before you he finally gets you an answer. and weather that answer is right or wrong is a 50/50.

the more you dont buy from BB and CC the better off you are. here are those links, and good luck.

onlinecarsterio.com

woofersect.com

Answer 10

After having years of experience, i would say if u have little know how you should go to www.onlinecarstereo.com and check all the goodies they have i recommend Orion or Audiobahn. If u really have no clue what u are doing then buy the stuff at a store and just have it installed. Could get costly, Alot of brands in bestbuy really are not good, kenwood,alpine- bestbuy stocks the low end of stuff of those brands that's why u should order off line so u can get stuff that will last u and make u bang reel hard.