Hell Yeah

[ricardobaltazar]

So my reciever blew a couple months ago and it was seriously bad times. It was a Pioneer VSX-3000 that a friend had given to me for free(!) since he'd gotten it for free himself but had no interest in hi-fi.

Oh well, so I searched high and low in this dump of a town that I call home and there is not one reciever to be found. Not even a cheesy 80s model SoundDesign. Fortunately the town where I grew up is awash in stereo equipment. I went back this weekend and got:

Technics SL-PC15 5 disc CD changer: Goodwill - $19.99
Sherwood RA1142 Stereo Reciever: Auction - $5.00

Kenwood Basic M1 Stereo Amplifier: Auction - $12.50

I'm seriously thinking about dealing stereo equipment; buying it at dirt cheap prices and reselling it to college students in the area.

Oh, in the meanwhile I 've got the tunes cranked up on my new reciever. I have to laugh at my roomate who bought a Panasonic home theatre system for several hundred dollars when I've got all the sound I need from a $5 reciever and several sets of cheap but powerful speakers.

Good lord I'm such a nerd.

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[type_x]

> I'm seriously thinking about dealing stereo equipment;
> buying it at dirt cheap prices and reselling it to college
> students in the area.

I sell car audio for a living. If you want to do this in a retail environment, the profit margins are huge. Seriously, the cost on a $999 Fujitsu Ten/ Eclipse CD head unit is less than $600. I try not to sell Sony crap, but most of their decks are over 60% GP. And with speakers it gets even better. We sell a brand called Power Acoustik that has a 73% GP margin. On top of that, warranties are huge bank. I sell a 3yr or a 5yr extended warranty with 2/3 of all my deals. Warranties are basically 99% profit margin, so a single $1000 warranty puts $990 GP in my monthly commission (of which I get paid 19% on top of my salary). Plus most retailers give their employees additional bonuses for selling a lot of warranties. I won't even get into how profitable high-end RCA/ power cables and power accessories can be, but with any major system I sell their totals alone get up over $500. Plus I get everything by Fujitsu Ten/ Eclipse, Precision Power, Nakamichi, and JL Audio 14% below cost. Everything else I get at cost, including wheels, tires, and security items.

Selling audio equipment rulez.

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[type_x]

> how cheap could ya get me an Alpine/Kenwood/Pioneer Deck
> with Sirius and MP3 capabilities?
>
> my kenwood deck is nice, but I want to upgrade to something
> with MP3. and I can't be without my Sirius.
>

See, I would recommend an MP3-compatible Pioneer DEH-P4500 which I sell for $229, but it uses XM radio and not Sirius. Same deal with Alpine. XM and Sirius are not cross-compatible.

Kenwoods I have as low as $229 with Sirius and MP3 capability, but our Kenwood cost is not as low as other chains since we don't sell very many of them. Big chains like Twetter or Circuit City sell a lot more Kenwoods and surely have lower costs on them, we mostly deal in high-end car audio.

One other thing which is very important to know before picking a deck: do you have or plan on using amplifiers/ subwoofers/ high fidelity speakers (separates)?

Really, I would urge you to reconsider the Sirius thing since it likely won't be around in two years, and go for something like the Eclipse CD3403 with MP3 decoding (I can sell them as low as $249 with MSRP of $319). Comparing Eclipse to Kenwood is like comparing BMW to Buick. BTW Eclipse has nothing to do with the car by Mitsubishi, it's a high-end audio brand by Fujitsu Ten. The 3403 has a rotary knob volume control, very simple to use commands, and a much more elegant, refined look to it. Plus it comes with a 3 year factory warranty and a 1 yr theft warranty (Eclipse head units have built-in tracking systems called ESN, are useless once removed from the car they're installed in, and are virtually unstealable). Eclipse is known for exceptional sound quality. I have the CD 55060 model in my Eclipse (car) and the CD8061 in my Isuzu. Neither have ever skipped, even under full throttle with bass slammin. The shizit.

And you could always get the external Sirius processor. I mean, definitely get what you're going to be happy with, I'm just speaking from my experience with customers and from my own purchases. Your car should be the place where you can play your music as loud as you want, and never have to worry about equipment failure.

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