PhilC
Member
Registered: 21st Jan 06
Location: Lancs, UK
User status: Offline
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Hey, just thought I'd share my experiences when setting up my sound system.
Got my 1st car in January (Corsa B, T Reg) and bought some 17s and 6x9's straight away. Fitting the front speakers wasn't a problem, I did waste an hour or two following the loom from the back of the car for my rear speakers. Finally gave up and ran my own from the back of the headunit, and yes, the original Vauxhall wiring for the rear speakers did leave the headunit. Also fitted a CD player.
So all was fine for about a week, until I decided I'd re-route the rear speaker cables. Basically ended up snapping one, so it was a trip to Maplin for some 26p per meter cable. Got some fat stuff for my sub as well as an amp wiring kit, but we'll come to that later. Re-routed the rear speaker cables and all was fine and dandy.
Roughly 2 weeks later...
My sister then decided she wanted my rear speakers and headunit, so I sold them to her for the price I bought them and got some more. Thankfully, no complications.
A further 4 weeks on...
I then cut back on other luxuries for a few weeks and got myself a sub. Bolted that down etc, again no complications.
Not long after...
When it came down to finding the right amp, I decided to go with one of Blaupunkt's new line amps from an online dealer. 6 days after I'd placed my order, I'd had nothing but an order confirmation, and by this time, I was expecting a despatch notice. I emailed the company asking how long it would be before my amp was despatched. I received the following reply...
Phil,
Thanks for your mail.
Apparently Blaupunkt have encountered a production problem with their new model GTA1350 amplifier and the promised availability date has been put back.
As soon as we have a definite date, we will be in touch by email.
Apologies for inconvenience caused.
Regards.....Customer Service
(GUTTED!)
So I left it at that and just sat patiently waiting, all the while knowing my sub was lonely in the boot. It was like waiting for Christmas when you're a kid, only not knowing when it was going to be. The weeks when on and I started to become a little inpatient. This became unbearable after roughly 30 days, so I emailed them back enquiring for an update.
Few hours later...
I receive the following reply from the online company...
Phil,
Thanks for your mail.
The amplifiers arrived here approx. 10 minutes ago - we will be confirming dispatch to you later on today.
Thanks for your patience!
Regards.....Customer Service
(YES!!)
This was followed by...
*,
Thanks for your order ref *, your invoice number is *.
The goods will be despatched today by * Express couriers to:
*
The delivery is a two (working) day service, but parcels sometimes arrive next day. The parcel will need to be signed for.
We have charged your credit card with the sum of £*. A receipt is on the outside of the parcel, in the 'documents enclosed' envelope.
We recommend your retain your receipt in a safe place, as it will be required in the event of a guarantee claim and a charge may be made for providing a duplicate.
Should the parcel not arrive, or you have any other problems, please do get in touch.
Thank you for shopping at *
Customer Dispatch
The day I received that turned me into a Christmas Eve like mood, where I just wanted the day to be over and to get my god damn amp!!
The next day, I'd promised my girlfriend that I'd go with her family to see her younger sister's performing arts show that they were doing as a rehearsal before it was examined the following day. It was actually quite good, but that's irrelevant. My amp did arrive that day, but I wasn't to know that as I stayed the night at my gf's house. Next morning, I was planning to head to college as usual for a Wednesday morning, but decided against it as when I got home to pick up my lunch that I'd made the day before, I saw a big fat Blaupunkt box, and the sky looked fairly clear. The days schedule could only then take one course...
The day after the amp arrived...
I threw the amp into the boot of my car, still boxed, and headed into town to pick up a few mates (who conveniently have absolutely nothing to do on Wednesdays and were more than happy to help out). All the wiring was in, and it was just a case of connecting it all up. All was marvellous until it came to the + wire.
The inline fuse came separate, so I posted a thread on here asking where was the best place to put it (cheers guys!).
It then started to rain, which was a bit of a piss off really, but Pro Evo 5 helped lighten the mood, and that was the end of Wednesday.
Thursday morning I did manage to find my way to college, all the while thinking there was 5 minutes work to be done and my months of wait would be over. During my lunch hour, me and one of my mates went out to the car to finish it off. We pushed the wire through the grommet, installed the fuse, and all that was left to do was connect it to the battery...
It was only then I noticed that there was a spare empty thread on the +. So I had a route round in my tool kit looking for a bolt with roughly 5/6mm thread no longer than 2cm. All I found was a 5mm thread about 3cm long, which in my opinion allowed too much 'play' for the terminal connector. The + was left disconnected. I returned to the afternoon lessons rather disheartened that my months of wait would be extended a further 3 hours until I could get to a hardware store on my way home. I shared my story with a few classmates who all found it funny, but also rather gutting. About 45 minutes into the lesson, a friend sitting next to me picked up something off the floor and said "Will that do"? As I was taking notes, I wasn't really paying much attention until this seemly perfect sized bolt was held inches from my face...
He'd found, what we thought to be, the perfect sized bolt on the floor of a computing room!!??
As you can imagine, the rest of the lecture seemed to drag on for days. Once my watch hit 4pm, I was gone, and could more than likely be found sprinting for the car park holding a 6mm bolt with approximately 2cm of thread...
The bolt did fit exactly and the system sounds awesome. I then bounced back home and returned to CS.
God bless you all 
[Edited on 27-03-2006 by PhilC]
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