Im very new to car audio first car with a stereo i have ever owned actually. So i got a deck and some door speakers i wanted to get a good amp sub and box so i went to a local shop and told him i had a budget of about 300 bucks.

he went to the back grabbed a dusty memphis street edge 12" (not even in a box) A memphis street reference 1.250 amp. He then told me a box was 50. He said he would take 325 for all of it. I told him to make it 300 after tax he hardely even hesitated and said okay. I thought i was getting a really good deal thats almost $40 that me "took off"

rung me up and the prices are listed as

Amp 154.99

Sub 72.00

box 50.15

tax (8.25%) 22.86

300 total.

After Googling the amp i cant find anything at all! I googled the sub and found them for 50-60 tops! Enclosures are about 30-40 tops. I could have saved as much as $40 if i bought stuff online. And as far as i know the amp could have been cheaper to.

Should i go back and tell this guy to give me some in store credit or something? I feel ripped off. What do you guys think?

EDIT: also it doest seem like the amp and sub are as good of a match as i thought they where.

Edited June 23, 201114 yr by jerd

Have to understand that the company/store has to make some money as well. If you feel like you got ripped off then see if you can take it back and get something better.

Personally i wouldn't spend much money on anything without learning about it first.

You could probably get better equipment for the same money shopping online. The amp price is horrible. The sub and box price is not that bad considering you were in a car audio shop

I agree, normally i shop around look at reviews and know the price of what im buying. I went out on a limb with this and it bit me on the ass. I dont want to make the assumption that this guy took advantage of my lack of knowledge. I dont want to go back the shop making accusations if he actually gave me a good deal.

EDIT: how much do those amps normally go for? I cant find it anywhere online???

Edited June 23, 201114 yr by jerd

I've seen that amp normally go for 40 to 50 bucks on ebay.

Is the equipment new? The price aint so bad for brand new stuff

not too bad considering you bought it at a car audio shop, what really matters at the end is if your satisfied with the way it sounds.

It sounds alright i guess.

Maybe ill get him to give me a discount on a window tint job or something.

If i could get a link to the price of the amp somewhere please.

bigger amp for 100 less....

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-300W-Memphis-Street-Reference-2-Channel-Amplifier-/220789672459?pt=Car_Amplifiers&hash=item3368170a0b#ht_500wt_1156

same sub 18 less

http://cgi.ebay.com/MEMPHIS-NEW-STREET-EDGE-SE12S4-SUB-12-BASS-SUBWOOFER-/130417009367?pt=Car_Subwoofers_Enclosures&hash=item1e5d75a2d7#ht_5528wt_905

box for 19 less

http://cgi.ebay.com/12-INCH-SUB-BOX-REAR-FIRE-SUBWOOFER-SEALED-ENCLOSURE-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem4cf79b08f1QQitemZ330571647217QQptZLHQ5fDefaultDomainQ5f0#ht_1691wt_1139

so i overpaid by $137.....

Edited June 23, 201114 yr by jerd

bigger amp for 100 less....

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-300W-Memphis-Street-Reference-2-Channel-Amplifier-/220789672459?pt=Car_Amplifiers&hash=item3368170a0b#ht_500wt_1156

same sub 18 less

http://cgi.ebay.com/MEMPHIS-NEW-STREET-EDGE-SE12S4-SUB-12-BASS-SUBWOOFER-/130417009367?pt=Car_Subwoofers_Enclosures&hash=item1e5d75a2d7#ht_5528wt_905

box for 19 less

http://cgi.ebay.com/12-INCH-SUB-BOX-REAR-FIRE-SUBWOOFER-SEALED-ENCLOSURE-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem4cf79b08f1QQitemZ330571647217QQptZLHQ5fDefaultDomainQ5f0#ht_1691wt_1139

so i overpaid by $137.....

That amp isn't bigger. It puts out 75 watts to 2 channels. "300 Watts" is the MAX power it will put out, not RMS.

If your happy fuck it

If your happy fuck it

This

Some shops will beat you over the head if you don't know anything, though

I was in Australia a couple months back, and my mom wanted a better setup since she bought a new car. She was very inpatient about it and went to a shop instead of waiting for me to get back and install something. These guys pulled the wool over her eyes and installed a complete jl system for 4600.

Couple things to note about the setup

They used a pos loc instead of using a processor.

They didn't amp the jl components. They were powered by the pos bose amp.

They installed 2 pairs of components, instead of 1

There was NO sound deadening.

They installed 2 12w6's in the smallest boxes i've ever seen. Those subs were choking to death in there. The trunk was fully custom and looked pretty good, until i ripped the panels off and seen the wiring nightmare.

The wiring was a complete cluster-fuck. There was duct tape everywhere.

They screwed the crossovers in the glovebox, instead of hiding them

It was one of the worst setup's i've seen and heard. It was too late by then and i was stuck with it.

I ended up adding an ms8, changing the components for a pair of hertz hsk's, and putting the subs in much bigger sealed boxes. Sounds pretty good now, but still needs work.

If your happy fuck it

This

Some shops will beat you over the head if you don't know anything, though

I was in Australia a couple months back, and my mom wanted a better setup since she bought a new car. She was very inpatient about it and went to a shop instead of waiting for me to get back and install something. These guys pulled the wool over her eyes and installed a complete jl system for 4600.

Couple things to note about the setup

They used a pos loc instead of using a processor.

They didn't amp the jl components. They were powered by the pos bose amp.

They installed 2 pairs of components, instead of 1

There was NO sound deadening.

They installed 2 12w6's in the smallest boxes i've ever seen. Those subs were choking to death in there. The trunk was fully custom and looked pretty good, until i ripped the panels off and seen the wiring nightmare.

The wiring was a complete cluster-fuck. There was duct tape everywhere.

They screwed the crossovers in the glovebox, instead of hiding them

It was one of the worst setup's i've seen and heard. It was too late by then and i was stuck with it.

I ended up adding an ms8, changing the components for a pair of hertz hsk's, and putting the subs in much bigger sealed boxes. Sounds pretty good now, but still needs work.

DAMN 4600! That is terrible, but you live and you learn. I bet it sounds great after you added the hertz and fixed the box though.

Edited June 23, 201114 yr by ricksi30

lol at this topic

Considering you walked into an audio shop and basically said you'd take whatever for 300 dollars....I'd say you did alright. Lesson learned do a little research next time

lol at this topic

x2, you cant say you got ripped off if you dont know anything about car audio. He could of charged you more for the sub and box if he wanted to, a brick and mortar shop is always more expensive than online. Yeah you got ripped off but not by the owner of the shop, you got ripped off by yourself. Looking online and comparing prices to what you paid is ridiculous and wont get you anywhere.

He's got to pay the bills, online places normally sell items for slightly over cost, you did just fine.

Call it a cheap lesson learned $300 bucks not that bad.Memphis equipment is good stuff.

You guys are right, i feel a bit better this morning.

And i guess they are decent products. Hopefully they last.

Lesson learned.

Thats how buying from a shop goes man. There more expensive then ebay because they have more overhead and expenses then someone on ebay selling things. Thats always how its gonna be when you go to a shop your gonna pay more for the equipment, but youll have someone there to talk to and deal with in person versus just getting some equipment in the mail.

im from portland so i know first hand there is no good dealers there. you didnt do too bad but from here on out i suggest doing some research online and buy online.