Can I bitch for a min about the internet, local shops, and wire???

[Johnny248]

I don't know where to start with this rant.... So I will start with what just pissed me off....

Doing a simple 4 channel amp install in a vehicle which my customer had already upgraded the head unit, and added a single woofer and amplifier. This was a pretty basic low cost 4 channel amp install, and so (I know someone will bitch about lazyness or hackness or whatever, but think what you want. I've done this hundreds of times, and don't see a problem with it) the plan was to install said amp under a front seat, make the normal power and signal runs, AND run four speaker leads from the amp up to the head unit wiring harness and back into the factory speaker wiring. This is where my problem started. Normally I would twist up 16 or 18ga copper primary and build my speaker wires. BUT, I was about 3 feet short which what I had on the rack. Ok, no biggie, speaker wire. Right? Wrong, I forgot to re-up after using up close to 200' of copper 16ga speaker wire on the SUV I worked on last week. F*ck me. There is know way I'm wasting the 12ga or 8ga twisted pair ofc wire I have have in stock. Soooo... I figure I will run out to the store, get a nice 50' roll of speaker wire and be done with it.

First off, I guess I haven't been to the store lately, because finding speaker wire is not as easy as it should be. First of all, I checked Meijer,Walmart, BestBuy, ABC Warehouse, and Radio Shack because there are all basically in one area near me. The options are HORRIBLE! Meijer & Walmart had some Scoshe CCA car audio rolls. I checked home audio also and they had some nice RCA Speaker wire which did not have any specs. Opened it, CCA. Wtf?? ABC has some E3 CCA everything. They had a couple RF Amp kits for $$$$. No thanks. Best Buy? They had a 30' roll of 18ga wire, and some $100 monster home wire. I asked the employee there what the deal is? They used to carry the nice smoked RF wire, not it looks like they are getting out of the business since there is one small corner left with a couple items. Anyway, last stop is Radio Shack. By the time I got there, they were closing. So back to Meijer for some Scoshe CCA 16 ga wire.

I guess I am old school, but I prefer OFC speaker wire over CCA. It flexes better, generally has a better jacket, doesn't fall part while stripping,and most of all generally has some consistency of its AWG rating. Which gets to me to the next thing. There SERIOUSLY needs to be a better industry standard when it comes to wire. There is so much variance between manufactures, materials, insulation, and prob even length. I think they just roll the die to see what they should print on the next batch. "8ga CCA" which looks like 16ga OFC, 16ga CCA which you can't even see in a cross cut. "12ga" which looks like 24ga. It is crazy.

Has the car audio customer evolved into such a cheap ass that quality is not even a factor any more? Is cost the only factor when buying products? Spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars and amplifiers, speakers, source units, etc, but buy the cheapest, crap wiring available? Seriously, you can buy a very high quality 4ga OFC amplifier kit for ~$55. but why spend than when you can spend $20 a get some CCA undersized wire? I just don't get it.

So my final point on the wire, is it has come to the point where someone can't even go to the store and buy some OFC wiring if they wanted to spend the extra money, because the cheap cheap cheap walmart type shopper has ruined it.

---Note to all. I really doubt anyone is going to take the time to read this. I'm not sure how much sense it makes, I didn't take the time to read it over. Just me bitching and ranting about the frustration of the market these days. My old lady is tired of listening to me bitch about things she doesn't care about, so I figured at least I could put it out there if anyone did care lol

Edited June 14, 2012 by Johnny248

[05 obs]

I agree, it has come to the ebay and walmart shopper dictating the way industry goes. That is why true enthusiast and hobbiest flock to the internet for internet direct brands. There seems to be a reversal lately with a good bit of the i.d. companies going into retail with SHOK, DC, Sundown, and more. Hopefully it will change and you wont have to go online to knu, or wait 3-10 days to get a quality product. Hopefully this industry comes back strong like it has been but can make it to brick and mortar stores so it can help with jobs and popularity growing again.

[Trey_Dog650]

i buy good stuff online. and you could have went to another shop to get good wire, i know overpriced but you only needed 3 feet

[05 obs]

i buy good stuff online. and you could have went to another shop to get good wire, i know overpriced but you only needed 3 feet

No he needed 20 feet or so, I am sure he didnt just splice it together he reran the runs.

[Johnny248]

It was in the evening, and trying to get over to a specialty shop wasn't happening. I used to work for a company called American Terminal Supply a long time ago, and we sold wire which was made in the USA. In fact, I still have a TON of 8ga power cable from Global Sound Int. which purchased their wire from the same company we did. (I'm sure all of this has changed, and if they are still selling wire any more, it is imported, and who knows of what quality) My local car audio wholesaler doesn't carry any wire or amp kits that worth a damn. Their best kit id a CCA Street Wires kit. That being said, I've been doing most of my business with KnuKonceptz. Believe it or not, Bill used to buy product from me at ATS way back when he was with American Bass. One thing I can say about the Knu products, is that I never have to worry about getting a good quality product. There higher end power, speaker, and rca cables are very nice. I've never had a problem. Pricing is not the cheapest, but I feel is very fair for what they are selling. Also, whenever I place an order, it shows up very fast. Seems like most orders are shipped out the same day or next. So as long as I'm not in a huge hurry, waiting is never more than a couple days. That being said, I think I need to put together another stock ordered so I don't have to bitch about this whole thing again lol.

It is nice to see the support from the online brands likes SSA, Fi, Sundown, etc. At least the aren't just some label which finding anyone responsible for it is next to impossible. It would be nice to actually get to see and feel something in person before buying though...

[Johnny248]

i buy good stuff online. and you could have went to another shop to get good wire, i know overpriced but you only needed 3 feet

No he needed 20 feet or so, I am sure he didnt just splice it together he reran the runs.

Correct, I'm no that ghetto lol I take pride in my installs, and do my work with the idea that someone may go into this dash for some reason in the future, and when they do I'd like for them to say "wow, whoever did this did a nice clean job" instead of "whoever was in here really f*cked this up, what the hell was he doing? " lol

[IBleedMusick]

Actually first thing I would've done is go to another shop you don't have friends at other shops? Its a good practice to have a few guys you can defer to if you are ever in a bind especially if your end up with tight deadlines and need extra help or run out of stock cough cough. As far as the stores go yeah I wouldn't go to any of those places for good affordable speaker wire that just ain't happening lol. I read the whole thing my favorite part was "I went to Walmart"...really? You should've known you weren't going to find any brand worth a damn and then best buy wants an arm and a leg for their crap. Why didn't you hit up brandsmart though, they sell some stuff that would help you in a pinch.

[87chevyboi]

lol ive done quite a few cars in my shop and been like wtf are these people thinking. Theyll come to my shop and say, uh my radio just quit playing idk what happend. Ill say well whats it doing? and the next question is who hooked it up? lol i take the dash apart and theres electrical tape everywhere wires undone lookin like shit and i look at the customer and just wanna be like wtf did you do? hahahaha but it makes me money so fu%k it

[Johnny248]

Actually first thing I would've done is go to another shop you don't have friends at other shops? Its a good practice to have a few guys you can defer to if you are ever in a bind especially if your end up with tight deadlines and need extra help or run out of stock cough cough. As far as the stores go yeah I wouldn't go to any of those places for good affordable speaker wire that just ain't happening lol. I read the whole thing my favorite part was "I went to Walmart"...really? You should've known you weren't going to find any brand worth a damn and then best buy wants an arm and a leg for their crap. Why didn't you hit up brandsmart though, they sell some stuff that would help you in a pinch.

There are no local-local shops near me. I haven't gone to Wal-Mart or anything looking for electronics in years and years, but I do remember going into wal-mart or meijer back in the day, and being able to buy speaker wire. I'm pretty sure they used to have Scosche OFC speaker at some point. And if you couldn't find some car wire, you could usually get a spool of Acoustic Research or some sort of 'ok' home style speaker wire or zip cord. Times have changed. I guess it has been longer than I thought lol So, lesson learned. Be more prepared in the future lol

[imfrom210texas]

To OP... Ass as it makes me... You ran out due to bad planning...can't be mad at Wal-Mart for that.. Its Wal-Mart, not Custom Sounds or any other chain stereo shop. No disrespect intended whatsoever, just the reality in my opinion.