the car audio industry
04-25-2004, 04:50 PM
#31
Guest
Posts: n/a
i am an old schoold type of guy that will spend fightening amounts of time with someone, over educating to the point of confusion sometimes, but thats me, even if i feel that it is not going to put $$$ in the till, its really the thrill of the sale for me, i like ti think that the person will remember me as the guy who took the time to diagnose a amp problem,, cd payer etc, and hope that the next time he's thinking about an upgrade or maybe his friend, he will remember me as the guy who went the extra mile, and come see me or refer me. i bet we all wish we could hire a bunch of ourselves. i find alot of peolple i talk to say that they can sell hi end gear because its too expensive and they dont have the market, dont you think the market is what you make of it, i mean there are lots of guys from but f**k nowhere with huge systems, and if you can create a market for hiend gear in an area like that cant you creat a market anywhere, i truly believe that the indusrty is watered down with ineperienced salespeople, i cant belive some of the stuff i hear coming from other stores, not second hand, but in first hand conversations, these are from both big box and smaller independant stores, and i dont mean opinion type stuff but real electrical facts, i had a conversation with a guy who told me that 2 4 ohm woofers in paralell was 8 ohms, and when i asked the same guy what kind of voltage amplifiers put out he said, dc, and when i told him it was ac he laffed at me got his workmate to back him up, and these guys are industry veterans, at least 3 years that i know about, far to many people think they can land a job in a store and 40k in the first year without putting i their time and developing clientel, now thats a word that nobody's said yet, id like to hear what people think about their clientel. there is far too much labour discounting as well, leathal i wouldnt say that you came across like an ***, just bitter, your there to make cash like everyone else, sorry if i sound like and ***, flame away
04-25-2004, 06:57 PM
#32
50 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Dec 2000
Posts: 241
Yes, so I'm not the only one who thinks this. And they blame the internet, not the fact they are morons for their lack of success. The sad thing is, in many cases you have installers that were quite capable at installing, but horrible as managers and businessmen.
Juan
Juan
Originally posted by DWVW:
I think that 10 years ago, a moron who could barely install a deck with a kit and harness, could open a shop and be profitable due to the lack of competition and extremely good margin. The difference today is that one must have as good or better business sense than in other industries in order to survive. The internet and big box stores are a great excuse for those who don't know how to run a business to blame for their inability to stay in business on something other than themselves.
As for equipment I think cheap power is the single biggest advancement, with better materials used in speaker production coming behind.
I think that 10 years ago, a moron who could barely install a deck with a kit and harness, could open a shop and be profitable due to the lack of competition and extremely good margin. The difference today is that one must have as good or better business sense than in other industries in order to survive. The internet and big box stores are a great excuse for those who don't know how to run a business to blame for their inability to stay in business on something other than themselves.
As for equipment I think cheap power is the single biggest advancement, with better materials used in speaker production coming behind.
04-25-2004, 07:06 PM
#33
50 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Dec 2000
Posts: 241
I'll agree with most of what you said, so I snipped it. There has ALWAYS been marginal product. The reason you see such turnover is that people think its a way to make dough. I have heard it from someone pretty high up in the industry that they would be start their own company if they weren't doing what they were doing.
The internet really has nothing to do with it (I mean, the cheaper something is, the less likely it is that they will buy it online because of the transaction costs involved. Nobody wants to pay $10 shipping on a $50 amp. But they will buy it at the swapmeet.
Juan
The internet really has nothing to do with it (I mean, the cheaper something is, the less likely it is that they will buy it online because of the transaction costs involved. Nobody wants to pay $10 shipping on a $50 amp. But they will buy it at the swapmeet.
Juan
Originally posted by Dukk:
My ramblings - some of which have been mentioned.
There is MUCH more "marignal" gear available now. Internet manufacturers and direct sales has spawned this market. Conversely, quality gear is better than ever - you just need to find the right people to tell you which catagory Brand X is..
My ramblings - some of which have been mentioned.
There is MUCH more "marignal" gear available now. Internet manufacturers and direct sales has spawned this market. Conversely, quality gear is better than ever - you just need to find the right people to tell you which catagory Brand X is..
04-25-2004, 07:32 PM
#34
50 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 137
Originally posted by Tinted:
car audio industry is a biitch and a half. i will tell u that from retailer, customer and competitor stand point. in general the more u get into it or the more u know the faster u come to realize how much politics and bull**** are involved in the car audio. I know of many, many car audio competitors who had quit competing or fully participating in car audio industry for reasons other than actual car audio or competition.
I will honestly tell u that as a customer of car audio products, the less u know the better off u are. ofcourse some basic knowledge of the product is required but i would not suggest for anyone who is simply looking for a daily beater system to dig too deep into the 'industry' of car audio b/c they will come to discover some nasty things.
I cant say much with respect to actual product or install quality b/c i belive that physical aspect of car audio obviously gets better with time, just like any other physical product.
The market itself is fine as it is. it just had expanded and developed many different segments (just like virtually any other market for any product) in the last few years at a VERY high rate which many people, especially retailers and manufacturer's were not ready for. I belive it has almost reached a point of becoming a fully developed market with it's own segments, neishes, marketing channels, demographics, environmental conditions, and broad demands. Now we are starting to see many car audio manufacturers and retailers that try to implement a very popular marketing/business technique of specializing in only a few segments of car audio. For example companies like DD, American Bass and Earthquake who mainly focus on SPL. Meanwhile there are some companies who try to satisfy many sectors of the market at onces and are seccessfull are it. For example Rockford Fostage who sells anything from cd players to wires, to power caps, to subs and amps that fall into many price ranges and meet the broad market demands of almost all market segments, wether u want a relativerly cheap daily beater or a 170 db spl monster car.
car audio industry is a biitch and a half. i will tell u that from retailer, customer and competitor stand point. in general the more u get into it or the more u know the faster u come to realize how much politics and bull**** are involved in the car audio. I know of many, many car audio competitors who had quit competing or fully participating in car audio industry for reasons other than actual car audio or competition.
I will honestly tell u that as a customer of car audio products, the less u know the better off u are. ofcourse some basic knowledge of the product is required but i would not suggest for anyone who is simply looking for a daily beater system to dig too deep into the 'industry' of car audio b/c they will come to discover some nasty things.
I cant say much with respect to actual product or install quality b/c i belive that physical aspect of car audio obviously gets better with time, just like any other physical product.
The market itself is fine as it is. it just had expanded and developed many different segments (just like virtually any other market for any product) in the last few years at a VERY high rate which many people, especially retailers and manufacturer's were not ready for. I belive it has almost reached a point of becoming a fully developed market with it's own segments, neishes, marketing channels, demographics, environmental conditions, and broad demands. Now we are starting to see many car audio manufacturers and retailers that try to implement a very popular marketing/business technique of specializing in only a few segments of car audio. For example companies like DD, American Bass and Earthquake who mainly focus on SPL. Meanwhile there are some companies who try to satisfy many sectors of the market at onces and are seccessfull are it. For example Rockford Fostage who sells anything from cd players to wires, to power caps, to subs and amps that fall into many price ranges and meet the broad market demands of almost all market segments, wether u want a relativerly cheap daily beater or a 170 db spl monster car.
04-25-2004, 08:02 PM
#35
Guest
Posts: n/a
Originally posted by Lethal:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />The sale is never over untill the customer is educated on everything he/she is going to need.
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />The sale is never over untill the customer is educated on everything he/she is going to need.
I worked hard and spent hard earned money to get to the level I am at now. I am NOT going to just give that information away free to every customer I meet and not put food on my table or pay the bills by only helping 1-2 clients a day. I do not leave them ignorant but give them the basic gist of what they need to know. If they want details I will most definately tell them where they need to go to attain that knowledge. They can do it themselves, they have the ability. If they don't.....why waste your own personal time.
Sales people have to sell the product that fulfills the wants/needs/desires of the client and move on to the next customer. I agree that a level of understanding is required but if any customer blamed me for their equipment being stolen because I didn't tell them to buy an alarm then I would literally tell them to blow it out their ***. Welcome to the real world. My stuff gets stolen or has the risk to be stolen as much as the next guy. You want to blame anyone, blame the lax laws that "punish" (yeah right) the theives and hamstring the victims.
If the customer requires that much information then maybe they should research that over the internet or take the necessary courses. How do you think people in the industry get started ?
Real world experience has cost (probably) everyone on this forum many paychecks, scraped knuckles, smashed fingers, sleepless nights and long hours. I respect anyone who has put in the time to get to where they are.
BTW Sorry for the long winded, semi-rant. I hope I didn't come off as an ***. I didn't intend it.
Like I said before, This is a great post. I enjoy keeping tabs on it. </font>[/QUOTE]Wow, so why would anyone want to buy from you? If all you are going to say is, go research it on the internet why shouldn't they buy it there? Do you go to do the doctor expecting him to say, "I didn't go through medical school to tell you what's wrong, figure it out yourself."
Now don't get me wrong, I don't tell anyone how to do installs but I will spend all day with a customer explaining why he needs 2 4 ohm drivers with a mono amp that makes max power at 2 ohms. I don't care how long it takes as long as the customer knows that he is getting good solid system design and is happy with the reasons.
04-25-2004, 08:26 PM
#36
50 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 164
Originally posted by DWVW:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Lethal:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />The sale is never over untill the customer is educated on everything he/she is going to need.
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Lethal:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />The sale is never over untill the customer is educated on everything he/she is going to need.
I worked hard and spent hard earned money to get to the level I am at now. I am NOT going to just give that information away free to every customer I meet and not put food on my table or pay the bills by only helping 1-2 clients a day. I do not leave them ignorant but give them the basic gist of what they need to know. If they want details I will most definately tell them where they need to go to attain that knowledge. They can do it themselves, they have the ability. If they don't.....why waste your own personal time.
Sales people have to sell the product that fulfills the wants/needs/desires of the client and move on to the next customer. I agree that a level of understanding is required but if any customer blamed me for their equipment being stolen because I didn't tell them to buy an alarm then I would literally tell them to blow it out their ***. Welcome to the real world. My stuff gets stolen or has the risk to be stolen as much as the next guy. You want to blame anyone, blame the lax laws that "punish" (yeah right) the theives and hamstring the victims.
If the customer requires that much information then maybe they should research that over the internet or take the necessary courses. How do you think people in the industry get started ?
Real world experience has cost (probably) everyone on this forum many paychecks, scraped knuckles, smashed fingers, sleepless nights and long hours. I respect anyone who has put in the time to get to where they are.
BTW Sorry for the long winded, semi-rant. I hope I didn't come off as an ***. I didn't intend it.
Like I said before, This is a great post. I enjoy keeping tabs on it. </font>[/QUOTE]Wow, so why would anyone want to buy from you? If all you are going to say is, go research it on the internet why shouldn't they buy it there? Do you go to do the doctor expecting him to say, "I didn't go through medical school to tell you what's wrong, figure it out yourself."
Now don't get me wrong, I don't tell anyone how to do installs but I will spend all day with a customer explaining why he needs 2 4 ohm drivers with a mono amp that makes max power at 2 ohms. I don't care how long it takes as long as the customer knows that he is getting good solid system design and is happy with the reasons. </font>[/QUOTE]I really like what you said. I prefer dealers that will go the extra mile and will more often than not go back to them for future products and services.
04-25-2004, 09:05 PM
#37
50 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Dec 2000
Posts: 241
I don't know where to begin. I'll start by paragraphs I guess.
1. Why are you selling products at cost? Something is wrong if you are selling products at cost. And yes, the customer wants a $49 CD player I would imagine.
2. Marketshare has something to do with it (when Alpine went into a big box, they went from like 5 - 8 CD players to about twice that because the big boxes wanted more price points). Think about how many woofer lines RF had 10 years ago.
At the same time, they sell stuff cheaper because they can make it cheaper. A DVD player doesn't have to be $500 any more.
3. Products are more reliable now then ever. MTX and Rockford have some pretty high end automated processes for their amplifier assembly. Same goes for some of the other big dogs.
I don't know about you, but I go to work to make money, and the fact I like what I do is a side benefit. Rockford Fosgate is in it to make money (and always has been). It isn't a non-profit organization.
As for Rockford building stuff for Nissan, you don't seem to understand the relationship. Rockford builds amplifiers for them, and that is pretty much it. The head units are made by Panasonic or Clarion, and the rest of the speakers are made by Onkyo. It is really a matter of branding (making Rockford another Bose for example). I have actually seen the Nissan assembly line at RF, and the regular product line is many times bigger.
4. Look at the top dogs in the car audio arena. Mitek (MTX, Xtant, Coustic, Esoteric, Streetwires), Rockford (Rockford Fosgate, MB Quart, Lightning Audio, Q Logic, NHT), Harman (JBL, Infinity, Harman), and DEI (Directed, Viper, Python, PPI, Orion, ADS, Automate) have all discovered that the best way to make more money is to cover the spectrum from top to bottom. If you can sell accesories, amps, speakers, enclosures and head units, why would anyone want to shop anywhere else? Most of the guys above combine freight, so they are making it easier to stick with one main supplier for just about everything.
5. One of the reasons people drop brands the big guys carry is because the playing field is no longer level. Unfortunately, most of the smaller shops aren't very good at selling, so if you can get it from someone at FS who does a better job selling, you are screwed. That is why these smaller shops move to a Crossfire/Memphis/Cadence type of brand since they can't find it anywhere else.
Juan
1. Why are you selling products at cost? Something is wrong if you are selling products at cost. And yes, the customer wants a $49 CD player I would imagine.
2. Marketshare has something to do with it (when Alpine went into a big box, they went from like 5 - 8 CD players to about twice that because the big boxes wanted more price points). Think about how many woofer lines RF had 10 years ago.
At the same time, they sell stuff cheaper because they can make it cheaper. A DVD player doesn't have to be $500 any more.
3. Products are more reliable now then ever. MTX and Rockford have some pretty high end automated processes for their amplifier assembly. Same goes for some of the other big dogs.
I don't know about you, but I go to work to make money, and the fact I like what I do is a side benefit. Rockford Fosgate is in it to make money (and always has been). It isn't a non-profit organization.
As for Rockford building stuff for Nissan, you don't seem to understand the relationship. Rockford builds amplifiers for them, and that is pretty much it. The head units are made by Panasonic or Clarion, and the rest of the speakers are made by Onkyo. It is really a matter of branding (making Rockford another Bose for example). I have actually seen the Nissan assembly line at RF, and the regular product line is many times bigger.
4. Look at the top dogs in the car audio arena. Mitek (MTX, Xtant, Coustic, Esoteric, Streetwires), Rockford (Rockford Fosgate, MB Quart, Lightning Audio, Q Logic, NHT), Harman (JBL, Infinity, Harman), and DEI (Directed, Viper, Python, PPI, Orion, ADS, Automate) have all discovered that the best way to make more money is to cover the spectrum from top to bottom. If you can sell accesories, amps, speakers, enclosures and head units, why would anyone want to shop anywhere else? Most of the guys above combine freight, so they are making it easier to stick with one main supplier for just about everything.
5. One of the reasons people drop brands the big guys carry is because the playing field is no longer level. Unfortunately, most of the smaller shops aren't very good at selling, so if you can get it from someone at FS who does a better job selling, you are screwed. That is why these smaller shops move to a Crossfire/Memphis/Cadence type of brand since they can't find it anywhere else.
Juan
Originally posted by MR2NR:
As a retailer I have noticed many things. The most significant however is the fact that most brands build to hit a price point instead of performance or quality. Not to say that this is bad, but it was market driven by the customer who wants the $129.00 cd player that the dealer has to sell it to him at cost, so in one sense the customer is bending over the retailer to get what he wants.
The manufacturer however is making things cheaper every year in order to maintain marketshare. The industry has grown to probably the biggest it has ever been, for every 10 new companies every year, there are 10 that do not make it. Most manufacturers can no longer hit their quotes for growth through their distribution channels, see the thread about e-tailers and grey marketers.
The manufucturer can no longer grow their business in the traditional fashion, that is building a good reliable product that is distributed to a loyal dealer base, they are now interested in primarily the all mighty $ as they must make their business grow. No doubt about it, they are not in business to make stereo gear, they are in business to make money. They are now doing things a little different, if they cannot sell more product, they buy up companies that sell product and keep the retained profits. Maybe they build to hit the OEM and take business away from aftermarket. A good case in point here is that Rockford Corporation wanted to grow. They had pretty much plateaud with their sales to retailer, so they announce to us that they have signed a deal with Nissan to provide Rockford gear to select Nissan vehicles. Now again no doubt here, if it works, expect to see even more Rockford gear in even more Nissan vehicles - this takes $ away from the retailer and places those $ square in the pockets of the manufacturer. How long will it be before Bose - no highs - no lows - just Bose loses their agreement with GM in favour of Alpine or Pioneer for example?
What else did Rockford Corporation do to grow after they saturated the retail market? They bought up companies to make themselves even more money, in the last five years they have bought Lightning Audio, MB Quart, Q-Logic and others. Not that this was a bad move, but it shows how one company must change their way of doing business in order to grow. In some ways to the retailer it is a good move, in other ways it was bad.
When FS (sorry to you FS guys) took on the Rockford line, most of the indipendents dropped it. It was dropped by some because they did not feel they could compete (those guys were wrong) or it was a slap in the face or something else offered better value. Sure FS could move boxes, no doubt, but I as a retialer of Rockford put way more out my door than the local FS ever will. All Rockford did in Canada by doing this is trade dollars from the indipendant retailer to the big box retialer, maybe it is easier for them to flush away excess product, well sure it is with such a distribution system that FS has. Rockford's #1 retialer in the US is Best Buys, wonder how Best Buys is related to FS, all that Rockford did was place their eggs in one basket and secured for themselves a set sales target, a smart business move any way you look at it.
Business is always changing in Canada, it is up to the retailer to change with it.
As a retailer I have noticed many things. The most significant however is the fact that most brands build to hit a price point instead of performance or quality. Not to say that this is bad, but it was market driven by the customer who wants the $129.00 cd player that the dealer has to sell it to him at cost, so in one sense the customer is bending over the retailer to get what he wants.
The manufacturer however is making things cheaper every year in order to maintain marketshare. The industry has grown to probably the biggest it has ever been, for every 10 new companies every year, there are 10 that do not make it. Most manufacturers can no longer hit their quotes for growth through their distribution channels, see the thread about e-tailers and grey marketers.
The manufucturer can no longer grow their business in the traditional fashion, that is building a good reliable product that is distributed to a loyal dealer base, they are now interested in primarily the all mighty $ as they must make their business grow. No doubt about it, they are not in business to make stereo gear, they are in business to make money. They are now doing things a little different, if they cannot sell more product, they buy up companies that sell product and keep the retained profits. Maybe they build to hit the OEM and take business away from aftermarket. A good case in point here is that Rockford Corporation wanted to grow. They had pretty much plateaud with their sales to retailer, so they announce to us that they have signed a deal with Nissan to provide Rockford gear to select Nissan vehicles. Now again no doubt here, if it works, expect to see even more Rockford gear in even more Nissan vehicles - this takes $ away from the retailer and places those $ square in the pockets of the manufacturer. How long will it be before Bose - no highs - no lows - just Bose loses their agreement with GM in favour of Alpine or Pioneer for example?
What else did Rockford Corporation do to grow after they saturated the retail market? They bought up companies to make themselves even more money, in the last five years they have bought Lightning Audio, MB Quart, Q-Logic and others. Not that this was a bad move, but it shows how one company must change their way of doing business in order to grow. In some ways to the retailer it is a good move, in other ways it was bad.
When FS (sorry to you FS guys) took on the Rockford line, most of the indipendents dropped it. It was dropped by some because they did not feel they could compete (those guys were wrong) or it was a slap in the face or something else offered better value. Sure FS could move boxes, no doubt, but I as a retialer of Rockford put way more out my door than the local FS ever will. All Rockford did in Canada by doing this is trade dollars from the indipendant retailer to the big box retialer, maybe it is easier for them to flush away excess product, well sure it is with such a distribution system that FS has. Rockford's #1 retialer in the US is Best Buys, wonder how Best Buys is related to FS, all that Rockford did was place their eggs in one basket and secured for themselves a set sales target, a smart business move any way you look at it.
Business is always changing in Canada, it is up to the retailer to change with it.
04-25-2004, 11:56 PM
#38
500 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 923
The sale is never over untill the customer is educated on EVERYTHING he/she is going to need.
I routinely get in trouble from management for taking to much time in a sale, explaining systems, differences, going out to their car, checking their existing install, making recommendations, demoing new equipment in their vehicle (if it's equipped to allow it).
I have zero issues in doing whats necessary to ensure my customer is happy with their purchase. I am a sucessful salesman and have dozens of regular customers that deal exclusively with me and routinely send their friends and family members in to talk with me. If the day is quiet I will spend hours with a customer but when it's busy I have to provide for me and mine first.
I love people but it really irks me when I do spend considerable time educating a client only to get the "We'll be back" objection and then they leave to FS with my knowledge/time and buy it from the clerk who is more than happy to beat my price quote by $5.
And yes, that does happen frequently. It's all about the money now.
So I agree, I guess I am a little bitter/jaded. Commisions sales kinda does that to ya I guess. It never really bothered me when I was a salary employee. I look back and am humbled. I wish the world were different and I could have more pride in my chosen profession. I enjoy it but the give/take is sometimes more than you want to take/give to be sucessful.
everyones opinions are great and make sense. I wonder what the opinion of a completely unbiased person would be.
Ie....someone not in the industry, sales or retail for that matter. I wonder what they think of car audio enthusiasts, retaillers, installers and salespeople??
04-26-2004, 12:45 AM
#39
50 Watt CAFz'r
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 143
Well, let me start in again.
No, I am not a salesperson, although I have posted better numbers than some of my top sales people in a month. I am a lead installer. I have been running install bays for 5 years now.
And I am sorry that FS and other Big Box boys have price garantees and yes they will take you on $5. Shop your market and stay under them.
I started in this industry selling. But now as a tech, I now understand how frustrated my techs were when copuld have sold gear that would have better suited what the customer install needed.
No you do not have to spill all your knowledge on the floor for the customer to sift through, thats what makes us specialists in this area, it's called the perfect demo.
"This is how good we can make your system sound" After pile'n on the prodcut in the mix, then CLICK!! you kill the power on the demo board
"And this is how that system will sound WITHOUT and alarm protecting it."
The customer smiles at the sales person in the stunned silince and you barely have to say anything more about the alarm except "would you like keyless entry with that?"
I don't think we need to blast every reason we can think of 'the internet, wal-mart, crappy tire, FS, the cheap consumer' as to why some of you are experiences what you think to be bad times. It started to sound like a bad, whiney country tune up there. This was a good topic. We are all in it to make money we know that.
But what is still GOOD about doing this for a living?? Does anyone have any fun anymore?? Ect, ect thats where this should've went.
I don't know about anyone else, but I am still in it to get paid a decent living for doing what used to be my hobby, and built kick-*** cars!
Now think of it that way, how many people to you know can actually say that. We didn't all go to school to be in the car audio industry, we used to do it for fun, and life led us in this direction.
For the whiners: "Life sucks......get a f**'n helmet"
-Sparkology
Sorry I don't usually rant.........and......I'm done.
PS: No dave I don't need the ring in the lot, hehe!
[ April 26, 2004, 01:49 AM: Message edited by: CLUBCONCEPTS ]
No, I am not a salesperson, although I have posted better numbers than some of my top sales people in a month. I am a lead installer. I have been running install bays for 5 years now.
And I am sorry that FS and other Big Box boys have price garantees and yes they will take you on $5. Shop your market and stay under them.
I started in this industry selling. But now as a tech, I now understand how frustrated my techs were when copuld have sold gear that would have better suited what the customer install needed.
No you do not have to spill all your knowledge on the floor for the customer to sift through, thats what makes us specialists in this area, it's called the perfect demo.
"This is how good we can make your system sound" After pile'n on the prodcut in the mix, then CLICK!! you kill the power on the demo board
"And this is how that system will sound WITHOUT and alarm protecting it."
The customer smiles at the sales person in the stunned silince and you barely have to say anything more about the alarm except "would you like keyless entry with that?"
I don't think we need to blast every reason we can think of 'the internet, wal-mart, crappy tire, FS, the cheap consumer' as to why some of you are experiences what you think to be bad times. It started to sound like a bad, whiney country tune up there. This was a good topic. We are all in it to make money we know that.
But what is still GOOD about doing this for a living?? Does anyone have any fun anymore?? Ect, ect thats where this should've went.
I don't know about anyone else, but I am still in it to get paid a decent living for doing what used to be my hobby, and built kick-*** cars!
Now think of it that way, how many people to you know can actually say that. We didn't all go to school to be in the car audio industry, we used to do it for fun, and life led us in this direction.
For the whiners: "Life sucks......get a f**'n helmet"
-Sparkology
Sorry I don't usually rant.........and......I'm done.
PS: No dave I don't need the ring in the lot, hehe!
[ April 26, 2004, 01:49 AM: Message edited by: CLUBCONCEPTS ]
04-26-2004, 03:59 AM
#40
Yankee
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 3,599
Dukk
Average systems are way different. Used to be once you got a cutomer past just a CD player they moved to better front speakers, a sub, and amplification all around. These days I see way to many decks running stock or $79 coaxials and a 1000watt Class D on a big sub system in cars. IMO your average car stereo system sounds worse now than 5 years ago because of this.
Skewed priorities, I may not have money but I want to look wealthy (class envy at its basic level, and nobody would rip off the rich!)
Power is cheap. As a result woofers are inefficient and need big power - leading to the rampant boom crap systems I seem to be harping on
The Music industry is supporting the boom crap and that’s what an entire segment of youth thinks music is.
Video has degraded sound quality overall. Dude has $1500 so he buys a $700+ headunit, a sub and sub amp and well if there is a little left over maybe some coaxials. Then since there is an obvious $700+ headunit in the car it gets stolen and guy says forget it altogether. As you can see all these points are loosely related so far.
I disagree a little, video gets their buttox in the store.... but you are right, skewed priorities again.
There is MUCH more "marignal" gear available now. Internet manufacturers and direct sales has spawned this market. Conversely, quality gear is better than ever - you just need to find the right people to tell you which catagory Brand X is..
Misinformation and "new product hype" causes too much confusion to new enthusiasts. This makes it harder for professional sales and install staff to educate people.
This is where a quick responding media and internet forums are not always a good thing, bad info seems to stick in the collective mind (this forum is good at piercing the veil of fact and fiction and generally promotes no fiction)
ChrisB
Well well well.. where do I get started? First off, I beleive in general customers have gotten cheap. Most people instead of going for warrenty and service, they want the cheapest price, but then when something goes wrong they'll throw a hissy fit. I can see this more and more everyday, everyone wants a deal and it just doesn't work that way.
It looks like product and demand have met, the market is close to being, or is, saturated.
DWVW - I think with margins decreasing then the retail stores have to adjust as much as they can. Good sound is relatively inexpensive right now but the competitive emphasis is on install and the ave install is much more elaborate than a few years back
Average systems are way different. Used to be once you got a cutomer past just a CD player they moved to better front speakers, a sub, and amplification all around. These days I see way to many decks running stock or $79 coaxials and a 1000watt Class D on a big sub system in cars. IMO your average car stereo system sounds worse now than 5 years ago because of this.
Skewed priorities, I may not have money but I want to look wealthy (class envy at its basic level, and nobody would rip off the rich!)
Power is cheap. As a result woofers are inefficient and need big power - leading to the rampant boom crap systems I seem to be harping on
The Music industry is supporting the boom crap and that’s what an entire segment of youth thinks music is.
Video has degraded sound quality overall. Dude has $1500 so he buys a $700+ headunit, a sub and sub amp and well if there is a little left over maybe some coaxials. Then since there is an obvious $700+ headunit in the car it gets stolen and guy says forget it altogether. As you can see all these points are loosely related so far.
I disagree a little, video gets their buttox in the store.... but you are right, skewed priorities again.
There is MUCH more "marignal" gear available now. Internet manufacturers and direct sales has spawned this market. Conversely, quality gear is better than ever - you just need to find the right people to tell you which catagory Brand X is..
Misinformation and "new product hype" causes too much confusion to new enthusiasts. This makes it harder for professional sales and install staff to educate people.
This is where a quick responding media and internet forums are not always a good thing, bad info seems to stick in the collective mind (this forum is good at piercing the veil of fact and fiction and generally promotes no fiction)
ChrisB
Well well well.. where do I get started? First off, I beleive in general customers have gotten cheap. Most people instead of going for warrenty and service, they want the cheapest price, but then when something goes wrong they'll throw a hissy fit. I can see this more and more everyday, everyone wants a deal and it just doesn't work that way.
It looks like product and demand have met, the market is close to being, or is, saturated.
DWVW - I think with margins decreasing then the retail stores have to adjust as much as they can. Good sound is relatively inexpensive right now but the competitive emphasis is on install and the ave install is much more elaborate than a few years back
