Trustworthy, quality car audio shop in Houston

[masraum]

I'm wanting to upgrade the stereo in the Boxster. I'm planning to order a kit from Rod Birch at Car Audio Innovations. If it was just the head unit, I'd install it myself, but since I'll be doing the amp too, and Rod says that's a bigger job, I think II'm going to take it somewhere. I'm curious if anyone on the board knows oof any good installers in Houston.

[imcarthur]

Be forewarned that any installer will be less than thrilled to install new equipment that you bought elsewhere . . .

Ian

[red-beard]

Steve, if you get answer, I need this as well. Not for a stereo, but for Radio Equipment.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by imcarthur

Be forewarned that any installer will be less than thrilled to install new equipment that you bought elsewhere . . .

Ian

Yeah, I have been assuming that might be the case.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Steve, if you get answer, I need this as well. Not for a stereo, but for Radio Equipment.

I'll let you know. I've got some other feelers out besides on the board.

[bell]

Same here.....still have tons of friends in the industry after 20 years......

[bell]

Currently getting a list/contacts /numbers together for you....3 or 4 places, all reputable and top level work.....

[masraum]

Wow, thanks tons

[bell]

Here's a start...
Call Rigo Lara At Unlimited Kustoms. 281 807 6667. He's had his work in magazines. Tell him John sent you. (My friend who knows him )

Also mobile one (still getting more info )

Stay away from audio express i was told more than once lol

More to come

[masraum]

Excellent, thanks tons. You're in the know. Let me ask you a question.

I was thinking that I would get the gear from Rod Birch. He sells it as a kit with everything including the correct colored bezel for the dash, wiring, everything to practically make it plug and play. I had considered putting it in myself. Rod said that installing the head unit would be relatively easy, but that replacing the stock amp with a new amp would be much more time consuming. Since I'm in an apt now, I don't think management would appreciate me doing that extensive an install. So my thought was to buy the kit from Car Audio Innovations and then get someone else to install it. But, if I'm getting someone in Houston to do the install, and they are trusted to do quality work, then do I need the kit from Rod or should I just purchase from the installer which may make them a bit happier about doing the install?

Thanks for your help and guidance.

[David]

Steve, you're always welcome to do work at my house.

[bell]

I know the later boxsters use fiberoptics between the stock head /amp, if rod has a wiring adapter for the stock amp harness it probably wouldn't hurt to get that. I would consult with whatever shop you decide to go with and explain to them your expectations. ....most likely plan on having to cut the harness at the amp, have them do it where it can be resoldered back together later (meaning leave enough wire).
If you can show them the rod birch parts online they will be able to tell if it'll make their job easier and the end result better. ....
Explain you want zero permanent modifications done as you'll want to return it back to stock later.....and save the stock equipment....

[masraum]

Originally Posted by David

Steve, you're always welcome to do work at my house.

Thanks David, I may take you up on that. I'm just not sure what I want to do. It would be nice to let someone else screw with it, but then I've got to trust them and that they'll do a good job. I'm sure Bell will come up with a few trustworthy folks.

Originally Posted by bell

I know the later boxsters use fiberoptics between the stock head /amp, if rod has a wiring adapter for the stock amp harness it probably wouldn't hurt to get that. I would consult with whatever shop you decide to go with and explain to them your expectations. ....most likely plan on having to cut the harness at the amp, have them do it where it can be resoldered back together later (meaning leave enough wire).
If you can show them the rod birch parts online they will be able to tell if it'll make their job easier and the end result better. ....
Explain you want zero permanent modifications done as you'll want to return it back to stock later.....and save the stock equipment....

Thanks, unfortunately, Rod doesn't show the stuff from his kit online. He sells upgrade kits, so you can get the head unit with the bezel and wiring or you can get the head unit with the amp and bezel and wiring (and tools if there's anything other than common hand tools, I assume that means the stuff to pop the oem head unit out). So if you buy the gear from him, he includes the extras, but I don't think you can buy the extras separate. If I was closer, I'd just let Rod install, but Cali is quite a drive from TX.

I'd like to order the kit, but I also don't want to screw someone local buy not buying from them. I'm just not sure.

This is what Rod said about the installation.

We can supply this radio, prewired for your car with the anthracite grey dash bezel, and it’s straight-forward, involving a microphone and GPS antenna to position and route respective plugs.

The wiring of the amp is not plug and play, and it’s certainly a job routing cabling into the trunk through the battery compartment but no major disassembly, really, lots of trim panels, plastic, etc. The amp is concealed in the compartment at the rear of the trunk-we make that part friendly for the mount for sure.

I’d say the time required to upgrade just the headunit should involve a few hours, or a full day. The amplifier installation will be a couple long days, perhaps, depending on progress and comfort/skill level.

I suspect part of it is that he's being conservative since he doesn't know my competency which is totally reasonable. It is a bit scary that he thinks it could be "a couple long days". I don't want to spend that much time standing on my head in the footwell of the boxster.

I've installed stereos (never any amps) and speakers in cars with build dates ranging from 1965-2004ish. For the most part, the installation of the head unit is pretty easy. I've also never had a problem taking interior bits off, doors, etc.... I suspect I would be on the short end of the spectrum. Not nearly as quick as a pro that does it daily, but probably much faster than "a couple of long days".

[masraum]

FYI, a few folks on the LSR PCA facebook site recommended Custom Car Stereo on 59 down near Sharpstown mall.

If you look in their gallery, it's full of Porsches, lots of them, plus Audi, BMW, Merc, Ferrari, Aston, Lambo, Brabus Smart, etc....

Apparently, according to them, when Steven Tyler ordered his Hennesey Venom, Hennesey had them do the audio install too.

When I spoke to the guy today, he seemed knowledgeable and his place seemed like a quality place. They had a Morgan 3 wheeler inside today when I got there. Apparently, the customer was supposed to pick it up today, but because of the rain, he couldn't. Wow, it was freakin' cool. I was too stoked to ever think about taking some pics.

I think that's the place that I'm going to go with. They advertise Pioneer and Alpine on their website. I told the guy that I had been planning on going with Kenwood. He said that they could do Kenwood, but he would prefer Pioneer (which was my second choice if Kenwood wasn't available). I'm also getting an Amp put in and a backup camera. The parts are going to cost essentially exactly the same thing they would have cost for me to order from Car Audio Innovations. Labor is going to be another 50%, but it would be 25% less if I wasn't doing the backup camera.

They said that it should take one day. I'm hoping to be able to drop it off early one day and pick it up the same afternoon, hopefully, late next week.

[masraum]

OK, I've had the car back a bit. I also had them tint the windows with a ceramic based tint while they had the car. They did a top notch job on the stereo install. I went with a Pioneer AVIC-7000NEX head unit (7" touch screen, built in NAV, BT, etc...), a 4 channel amp, and a backup camera. The install looks and works great.

The tint is also extremely well done. It's got a lifetime warranty. It's the best tint install I've ever seen. I've been to several different shops over the years and had all sorts of installs, but they all left me wishing that I'd just bought pre-cut tint and installed it myself, but not this time.

I would definitely recommend this place if you're in Houston. They aren't the cheapest place around, but then you are trusting them with your car.

[red-beard]

How long did the install take?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by red-beard

How long did the install take?

I dropped it off midday last Thu, and could have picked it up Fri afternoon, but waited until Sat morn to avoid the traffic on 59. That was for everything, head unit, amp, backup cam and tint.