Where to buy ???

[Vista2Swift]

Dear Gurus,

The way I see it..atleast in B'lore, if One is going to buy his ICE, he has 3 choices

1. Company Showroom/dealer (e.g. JBL guy on Lavelle Road)
2. Grey Market/ National Market
3. Car Accessory Shops on JC Road, Mission Road etc. (e.g Pitstop, Hot-tracks etc)

I prefer the 2 option due to price/know the ppl there etc. so I have not tried the other options for any of my cars/friends cars.

But I like to know the pros & cons of the other options

Please comment/suggest,it will help us noobies(lot of cons/fakes out there )

MODS: I dont know if a similar thread exists ! If it does please DO WHAT YOU DO BEST

[rocksterraghu]

Please search before creating a thread.

Here we go:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/ask-gu...bangalore.html (car audio components required in bangalore)

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/ask-gu...bangalore.html (ICE Installers in bangalore)

Mods, please close this thread.

[Vista2Swift]

I was not asking which shops/places to buy from. I have lived in B'lore all my life and had cars ever since I can remember - I know a lot of shops/installers & I know that the Gurus have also suggested a lot of them.

Maybe my question was not clear enuf. Let me put it this way...

What I would like to know is & maybe there are other similar things which I haven't yet come across.

Stuff like...

1. How good is the warranty/service backup of these Car accessory shops?
2. Do company service centers repair stuff bought w/o B&W?
3. Do Company dealers do installations ? If yes, do they charge for it?
4. Grey market stuff - really fakes ??? Taiwan/Chinese make
5. What does warranty cover ?
6. Is there any other way of getting ICE equipment?

These are few questions that come to my mind while buying stuff for ICE (I will post more here later ). My idea for starting this thread was to share experiences, things to watch out for (like fakes) etc.

I am sure that other noobies also have questions abt this. I invite everyone to discuss these here becoz its a sic feeling after finding out that you have been cheated

MODS: If theres any other thread covering all this, then, Please PM me the link and close this thread.

[navin]

Originally Posted by Vista2Swift

1. How good is the warranty/service backup of these Car accessory shops?
2. Do company service centers repair stuff bought w/o B&W?
3. Do Company dealers do installations ? If yes, do they charge for it?
4. Grey market stuff - really fakes ??? Taiwan/Chinese make
5. What does warranty cover ?
6. Is there any other way of getting ICE equipment?

1. depends on the shop, your relationship with it, it's relationship with the manaufacturer and the manufacturer itself. Blau and JBL for example are 2 examples of cos with good A.S.S.

2. Usually yes but they will charge you.

3. If they do install they are entitled to charge.

4. Some are outright fakes others are stuff that has been imported without the payment of duties and taxes.

5. Depends onf company. Blau for example covers everything - parts and labour.

6. what other way? you want to make HUs, amps and speakers at home?

[EatMyDust]

Originally Posted by navin

6. what other way? you want to make HUs, amps and speakers at home?

No, I think he means Internet? E-bay?

What about shops and installers that sell second hand ICE equipment?

[Vista2Swift]

Originally Posted by EatMyDust

No, I think he means Internet? E-bay?

What about shops and installers that sell second hand ICE equipment?

Yeah and also what abt stuff bought from abroad. What are the pros & cons involved in that ?

P.S. Caution : For Bangy Guys: Please don't buy stuff from METRO (Yeswantpur or Kanakpura Road). My friend bought a pair of Pio TS-20 tweeters and they turned out to be fakes.

[panky12345]

Originally Posted by Vista2Swift

Yeah and also what abt stuff bought from abroad. What are the pros & cons involved in that ?

P.S. Caution : For Bangy Guys: Please don't buy stuff from METRO (Yeswantpur or Kanakpura Road). My friend bought a pair of Pio TS-20 tweeters and they turned out to be fakes.

Buying off internet/ebay may seem lucrative, but at times they turn out to be B stocks/DOA/refurbished.

TS-20 : genuine 1800-1900; fakes 650 - 1200 (depends how efficient is the sales guy)

[speedzak]

Fake Tee Yes 20?
75% of them sold in India are fakes. Does it actually makes a difference if it is fake or original? Last I heard, they were bought in bulk quantities by the americans for the extra uses in their prisoner camps!

[panky12345]

genuine TS20s are very very bright producing irritating highs, fakes are still OK. ~ managable ~

[EatMyDust]

Originally Posted by panky12345

Buying off internet/ebay may seem lucrative, but at times they turn out to be B stocks/DOA/refurbished.

What does B-stock mean?

[rocksterraghu]

From my personal experience, the fake TS-20s sound much better than the original. The original sound like Dapic tweeters, if not worse.

When I looked closely at the fake and the original, I found that the fake had a shiny dome while the original had a pale, spongy look (Or am I confused? ). Doesn't matter since I never paid for any of them.

Vista, how much did your friend pay for it? If it is less than 500/-, then there is no harm in it, since Metro doesn't assure genuine Pioneers. However, if your friend has paid 1,500+ he has been cheated.

OTOH, Buying second hand ICE is a risky process if you don't know the seller personally. The ICE may have been used improperly (max gains, overloading), tampered (wrong connections, shorted terminals), repaired or God knows what it has gone through.

And by the way, there is a good discussion about buying ICE online here:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/ask-gu...ce-online.html (Buying ICE online)

[Vista2Swift]

Originally Posted by eatmydust

What does B-stock mean?

I think he meant "seconds stuff"

Originally Posted by rocksterraghu

Vista, how much did your friend pay for it? If it is less than 500/-, then there is no harm in it, since Metro doesn't assure genuine Pioneers. However, if your friend has paid 1,500+ he has been cheated.

He paid Rs.1500 and yeah he was cheated, but I'll tell you guys whats the funny part about this - he got a B&W for it, the tweeter works so he can't claim warranty (those guys are not experts), basically hes stuck with those tweeters. I know you guys are saying that the fakes sound better than the original. But that the case only in TS-20s what if he had bought other stuff .

If one has bought fake stuff with B&W but the stuff still works ? What to do ? besides getting to a tiff with them.

[panky12345]

fake stuff will not have company B&W, its only dealer/retailer B&W. Go to that cheat & insist on companys warranty, see what he says.