If they’re selling it out of the back of a truck…chances are it isn’t “high end” stuff…

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So what do I mean by this?  Well it looks like our friend the guy with “excess” stock, cancelled orders, missed deliveries, what ever story they come up with, is back.   I have had several calls from new clients over the last week saying they got an amazing deal on some real high end speakers.

“They retail for like 2 g’s and I got them for $150!!” I was told by one rather enthusiastic customer.

I did a little digging and if you google the model #, all that comes up on the first 3 pages of google are “scam alerts” from multiple states about people selling this stuff out of the back of their trucks.  One lady in Chandler stated the guy opened her trunk, put the speakers in and demanded $200!!  There were also a couple mentions of there being rocks in the box when the person got home to unpack the speakers, so they paid X amount for a box and a cinder block!

So lets think about what “high end” really means.  Short of it being stolen merchandise, do you really think that any company that makes a quality product wants their stuff being sold in this manner?  The manufacturers website for this stuff throws up HUGE red flags.  First of all the pricing on their products is ridiculous, they sell a 1 box home theater, supposedly 2000 watts, with a receiver, 5(small) speakers, powered sub and an iPod dock.  This is suggested retail at $5200?!?!?!  Besides that ridiculous pricing, the specs they give are nuts, I think they got some decimal points in the wrong spots or something.  The best part is when you click on the “contact” link at the top of the page all you get is a fax number.  Yes ladies and gentlemen, this manufacturer of high end equipment doesn’t have an email address or a phone number, just FAX!!!

So yes, you are getting 95% off of this speaker system, and yes the speakers should work when hooked up to a receiver, if you get speakers in the box, never tried plugging a brick in to an amp before.  But lets be honest, when a deal seams to be this good, it is too good to be true.

These guys have been mostly seen in parking lots near banks and grocery stores, so not only as a safety precaution because these guys can be VERY pushy. If you can get a license plate # do so and call the police non-emergancy number! And NEVER agree to buy them and let them follow you to an ATM…This is just common sense stuff boys and girls!!

As always if you have questions, concerns or doubts about stuff call you friendly neighborhood English Guy!!

So what would the “TV Guy” put in his own house?? pt.1

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I have recently moved in to a new home and will be embarking on building my own home theater setup.  What I want to do is post blogs on the progress, what components I choose and why, the steps involved in the installation, and of course the final product.

 

Lets start with the parts I already have…

TV-For a monitor I chose a Panasonic TCP-55st30 plasma.  I chose this specific model for a couple reasons.  First and foremost I am a plasma guy. I play video games and watch alot of sports, so the 600hz refresh rate is a must.  Plus I think the coloration on the PDP’s are more life like than and LED or LCD.  This is a 3D model, but I will not be using it for 3D. I went with this over a lower 1080p panel as it does have the single pain and Panasonic’s sub pixel control that allows for better black levels.

Receiver- For this I chose a Pioneer Elite VSX-50.  This is my go to receiver for most of my clients, and I would not recommend something I wouldn’t buy myself.  My favorite thing about this receiver are the AirPlay, which allows wireless streaming of audio, music I’ve bought, Pandora, etc, from my iPad and laptop. This is a fully networked A/V Receiver so anything that is on the same network you can stream audio from. Much easier than having to deal with hundreds of CD’s, and means I don’t have to my iPad plugged in to the receiver. And this has nothing to do with what it does, but I dig the piano black finish.

BluRay/DVD- I chose a Panasonic DMP-BDT110. This is a wireless capable 3D BluRay player. As I stated earlier, I wont be using it for 3D but the option is there should I feel the need one day. I also wanted the wireless capabilities so I can stream things such as NetFlix. It also has a better video and audio processor than the model below, DMP-BD75.

 

That is what I have so far.  I will be choosing speakers and furniture this week so I will blog again later once these choices have been.  I chose these items due to my personal experience installing them and am open to comments, suggestions, critiques on these choices.

Don’t always take “the experts” word for it…

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Maybe I should rephrase that…don’t always trust the experts word.  I say this in response to an experience I had with one of my clients today.  They had purchased a Denon receiver from a major electronics retailer and have been experiencing issues with it. It goes in to protect mode after about an hours use, volume goes up and down at will, sometimes doesn’t pass video, you know the usual things!  She was still under the 24 month manufacturer’s warranty so I suggested to take it back and have them fix it, which she did. This was about 5 weeks ago, and she got it back yesterday. Not a bad turn around in the grand scheme of things (no that wasn’t sarcastic, that actually isn’t bad).

 

So I went over there today and set it up for her, and of course it wasn’t 100%.  They fixed 0 of the 3 major issues. And I know what you HT geeks are saying…”it’s the HDMI cables silly English guy”.  I thought this also, so after the 4th different HDMI that I tried it still wasn’t working, all 6ft cables so no issues with length of cabling.  I digress, so I asked to see the repair invoice she got from repair people. It said the following:

“Factory update firmware; factory reset.  Tested all modes and function, all working”

So here’s the 2 reasons for this blog…

1. There is no physical way that I know of to do a firmware update on a receiver with no USB or Ethernet, or no factory listed firmware update on their support site for the specific model.

2. Obviously they didn’t test ALL modes and function’s because they STILL don’t all work!!

 

So as I said…don’t always trust the so called “experts” word for it.  Ask them to show you that the item is fixed before you leave the shop. Also question anything on the invoice that you don’t understand. My client is a little old lady that didn’t know any better, so I got her on the phone and she questioned the person she was on the phone with.  Lets just put it this way he started talking BS to her for about 2 minutes before I took over the call and asked him to explain how they did said “updates”. After he said “uhhhhhhhhhhhhh…..wellllllllll…..i thiinnnkkkkkkkkk….” I was on the phone with a store manager and my client has a credit for the receiver coming back to her credit card and we are replacing the receiver with one that if it does go wrong, I will fix it and not lie to her about what we’ve done.

Have no fear…The English Guy is here!!!!!!  Seriously though, if you don’t know ask someone. Any reputable install company that I know of will be more than happy to answer any questions that you may have whether you purchased from them or not!! Don’t be stuck taking the “experts” word for it…because some “experts” don’t always know their you know what from their elbow!!!!

Is customer service dead? Depends on where you shop, I think

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ann-brenoff/remember-customer-service_b_1186946.html?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl7%7Csec3_lnk3%26pLid%3D127010

I came across this article when I was browsing through my favorite web browser’s main page, and it really strikes a chord with me.  As a small business owner I feel that customer service is the life blood of my business. I find that referrals count for about 80% of my new customers. I guess that means I am giving good customer service huh!  So obviously customer service isn’t dead in all aspects of the retail world.  Many of the reasons mentioned in this article are reasons my clients have told me they will no longer shop at this retailer. Great for me, bad for them!  I have always said that doing business with a local small business is always better than some giant company where once they get your money your just a number in the sometimes functional computer system.

Now on the flip side of this I take many comments about poor customer service with a large grain of salt.  Having worked at the retailer mentioned in this article I find that what people remember and what actually happens are sometimes polar opposites. I remember getting a “secret shopper” report on myself once that according to the customer I failed miserably, but when you compared the scores they gave against the comments and the receipt, you could see the issues with it.  There were a couple that stuck out in my mind from this specific one.  The first being that I was given no points for introducing my self and giving my name. Yet in the comments they said I came up and said “hi, I’m Mark” and handed them a business card. In my mind I should have gotten double points for that!  The second being that I did not mention any type of extended warranties or accessories. When looking at their receipt we saw that they had purchased a couple HDMI cables as well as the 4 year in home warranty.  So get those salt licks out when you hear someone complain about poor customer service.

So in closing, I think there is an easy way to make sure you get good customer service when purchasing electronics, sweaters, or anything that you spend your hard earned money on. SUPPORT LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES!!  Ask your friends, family, neighbors, other businesses that you trust for their recommendations!

 

 

 

 

Scary Wiring!

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This is an install I recently came across in a home.  I wont name the national big box retailer who did the install but the customer was charged almost $600 and this is what they did!   The biggest and scariest problem was that the power cord for the TV was run through the wall.  This is against Arizona building code because the cord is not UL rated.  Secondly it is plugged in to a cheapo extension cord that most people would plug a lamp in to!  Thirdly there are power cords, speaker wires, coax cables, Ethernet cables and HDMIS all intertwined together which not only looks bad, but also can cause interference in your picture and sound, this was the main reason The English Guy was called in, to figure out the intermittent humming noise from the speakers, and the grainy picture. The original installers were called to fix the issue but they couldn’t figure out what the issue was, and charged her $100 to come out and tell her “there’s nothing wrong with it”  So why am I blogging about this?  Mostly because its just ghetto and should never be done like this and people need to realize what bad installations look like.  You also have all the right in the world to complain about this to your installer and make them do it correctly and most importantly SAFELY!

 

Most Common Misconceptions About Flat Panels..

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When you walk in to your local big box retailer your slammed with all the buzz words of the home theater world. 1080p, HDMI 1.4, 120, 240, 600hz, and the list goes on and on.  So do you believe go by what it says on the fact card, or what the young salesmen is telling you is best? Here are some basic things you should know that will make buying your new home theater equipment easier.

1. How many Hertz(Hz) do I need??

The easiest comparison I can make is think of hertz as horsepower, the more you have the faster your car will go.  Same is true in your flat panel.  The higher your Hz are the faster your picture refreshes, thus reducing motion blur and “ghosting” on the screen.  LCD’s and LED’s max out at 240hz.  Plasma’s are 600hz. The human eye can’t noticeably tell a difference much above 120hz. I find this to differ between brands, so trust your eye on this one.

 

2. You have to buy the most expensive HDMI cables on the shelf to get the best picture.

There is alot of opposing opinions on this subject.  But here are the facts.  Unlike an analog cable(component for example), HDMI transfers a digital signal. This means as long as the display receives enough of the signal it will display a picture.  The average system has runs of 10 feet or less, so spending big bucks on HDMI’s will net you no better quality.  Runs significantly longer than 10 feet you will need a cable with better shielding to reduce interference, or an HDMI over CAT5e balun can be used. There are much better places to spend your money when piecing together a home theater system that will net you bigger and better gains than a $100+ 6ft long HDMI!

 

3. You should pay more to hang a 60″ TV as you would for a smaller TV

Total BS. I have hung more TV’s than I can count and the process is exactly the same whether its a 13″ or a 70″! Don’t be fooled in to paying more for this service just because you want to buy a larger TV.

 

4. A Plasma TV wont last as long and takes alot more electricity to run than an LED/LCD

Again not true.  When flat panels first came on the market they all consumed a bunch of power and didn’t last very long. Lets be honest, they didn’t look that great either!  All major brands of TV are now energy star rated, and yes a plasma may cost the better part of a one or two dollars a year to run. As for how long it will last, honestly something else will go wrong with it before it “wares out”. Plug your flat panel in to a proper surge protector, that doesn’t mean that 8 outlet power strip we all have hiding somewhere in out house, and that will dramatically improve the life of your TV.

 

5. 480, 720, 1080, I, P…what do they all mean?

These are all a measurement of lines of resolution.  To keep it simple, the higher the better.  Now this is where you can save some money on a new TV.  High Definition is made up of 720 lines or more of resolution.  HD broadcasts are either 720p or 1080i(not a noticeable difference to the naked eye). 1080p is ONLY going to come from a BluRay DVD, or certain pay per view movie and events. So how will this help me save money?  Well, if your not going to connect a BluRay, then go with a 720p TV.  92% of peoples TV viewing is from their cable or satellite provider so having a higher resolution TV will not make a difference when watching your favorite TV shows!

 

Hopefully this will help you when making your next TV purchase! As always please click the “contact us” link if you have any questions on this or anything home theater! Please feel free to comment on this entry. All feedback is welcome and encouraged!

Custom Home Entertainment Solutions

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From bedroom TV mounts to complete home theaters, we do it all! Our team of home electronics experts speicalize in custom home entertainment solutions, which means we design and install based on your unique specifications and budget!

Tell us what you want, and we’ll make it happen! Where the national electronics stores say it can’t be done, our expert team will find a way. Check out our list of home theater installation services, or simply contact us today to schedule a FREE in‑home consultation!