*cough* Zed Audio *cough* But yes, I agree....it's crazy the killings some companies are making. What's more amazing is that it's not the low-end or even most midline companies.....it's the super duper high end products that are the worst. And yet, people are obviously paying the prices, because those companies are still in business. I also agree with the lack of standardization. While there are "generally accepted" ways in which certain things "should" be tested, obviously not everybody is following them. Infinity and their sensitivity specs, Xmax #'s being "transposed" with Xmech, etc etc I also think there is a general lack of knowledge by the "professionals" in the industry. I honestly think the most mis/uninformed are those who have scary title like "MECP Certified Installer". People see that and assume they know what they are talking about, when they are the ones who spew the most intelligible statements. But, overall knowledge by sales/installation staff is severely lacking. And what makes it worse is that, rather than the manufacturer's help train this staff, they simply inform them on what to say about their products to increase sales. Rather than educate, they train them to sell on myths, snake oil and magic pixie dust. Follow that is the lack of competent shops. Rather than push products that deserve to be sold, they design their sales floor and training programs to push and sell the products that simply have the highest markups and/or fringe benefits (better quantity discounts, etc etc). Not to mention the general lack of ability to demo/use/hear equipment at them before you purchase a product. Just a guess, but I'd say that most shops have less than 20% of their available products on display and/or available to hear/touch before purchase. Add to that the lack of competent sales staff, and how is the average consumer supposed to make an informed purchase? Finally; Lack of inforcement of unauthorized sales by manufacturers. Many will still warranty unauthorized products even though it states otherwise on their website. All they are doing is undercutting their authorized dealer network and decreasing the willingness of the consumer to buy from authorized dealers. Why spend the time/money to purchase authorized if the manufacturer is taking away most of the "authorized" advantages. And, no matter how many "warnings" are on their website, I see hardly any manufacturers actually doing anything to combat/decrease unauthorized product whoring. All mighty dollar is more important. As long as more product is rolling out the door...... Actually; I do have one more: Lack of manufacturer support of competitions. Car stereo comps are dying, slowly but surely. Lack of interest and lack of support is killing them. I'd type more here, but I've already wrote a novel....... [/soapbox] **Show of hands of how many actually read this entire post** **raises hand** i agree with you on the MECP thing, i have it and really all it means is hopefully you wont kill yourself or blow anything up while working in a shop
