The Saga Continues.....

[Helipilot11]

Helipilot reporting from FOB ( ), Afghanistan with breaking news of the 2014 AR 240 being held captive by a Nashville Audio Installers. Here is the story.....

While in the process of buying my boat I mentioned to the dealer in Nashville if he recommended an installer for a stereo. While I did not end up buying the boat from the Nashville dealer he got me in contact with an installer. The installer and I worked out a package we both thought would work well. I have attached the list of items at the bottom. I bought the boat from Stokleys Marine near Lexington, KY, and what an awesome experience I had. They are truly about customer service which led my wife to drive 4 hours to sign the papers. Stokleys drove the boat 5 hours down to Nashville on a Saturday for the install of the stereo since my wife was unable. Talk about people taking care of people. Well the boat arrived at the installers on a saturday but was not touched since the General Manager was not there. From the start I have only talked to the GM and was told the install would only take 2 days at the most. I got an update the work on the boat had started on monday and would be complete by wednesday. My wife arrange with one of our friends to pick up the boat on wednesday to finally bring her home! Not so fast, late tuesday I was informed the wrong clamps were ordered and they needed a 2" clamp for the tower and would not be in until thursday. This would also provide them extra time and allow them to detail the boat. Immediately red flags went up and from my hours of trolling I knew the tower was 1 7/8" and a 1.9" clamps was needed from JL. When I told the installer that he was taken back and seemed as if I didn't know was I was talking about. (Thanks Jetboaters for all the great info) To my surprise later in the day he did say that his tech was wrong and I was right about the clamp but it should still be here on thursday. So once again my wife schedules the pick up with our friend for thursday at the end of the business day to ensure it is completed on time. I spoke to the GM several times on thursday and was told it will be ready. He did however throw in that the tech was still working out how to install the enclosure in the steering wheel compartment. WHAT! you had three other days to figure that out, what have you guys been doing! Red Flag number two. My wife and our friend still drove the hr down to Nashville for pick up and what do you know the boat is not done! Never received any word of the boat not going to be completed on time. They said the tower has not been wired and the tint on the windshield was not done correctly. The owner of the company came out and said to come back in about 2 hours. After dinner my wife returned to the installers to find nothing more had been accomplished since she arrived two hours prior! This is totally unacceptable, spending close to 5,000 on a stereo and window tint should provide for GREAT customer service. I guess not at this company. My wife let them have it and left the store without the boat.

After my wife left the GM called her to apologize since he was at a different store that day and that the boat was not picked up. He took the blame since his installers led him to believe it would be done. Im glad he realized that it was a huge inconvenience for my wife and our friend to drive an hr one way to get a boat that was not ready. To bad he didn't do that before they left, I thought he was the GM. He should know the status of all the projects especially a huge install like this one. He is the one who set it up to begin with! So, to make it better he said he would move the enclosure under the co pilots seat like @redthumper9 and also a similar vent for free. He original said it would be 500 dollars of work. I actually think this is solving a lot of his problems with the enclosure going in the steering wheel compartment. Sorry for stealing your ideas thumper but that thing is sweet. I hope the installer can do at least half the job you did. He also said he hopes the installation exceeds my expectations, well I hope so you will have had the boat for over a week by the time the boat is picked up.

So guys I needed someone to vent too....



Here is the list of equipment being installed. @David Analog do you mind looking this over. The confidence in my installer right now is pretty low.

-4 MX650 JL Speakers
-2 MX770 Tower Speakers
-M1000/5v2 JL AMP
-JL M10W5 10" Sub w/ built in enclosure
-XSP-MX2000 battery (dual battery)
-BSE-7610 ACR Solenoid 120 amp
- 35% window Tint

 

[Johmas50]

@Helipilot11 That is going to be a sweet setup. I live in Lexington and bought my boat from Stokley's also. They are absolutely awesome and have always bent over backward to assist me in any way, great dealership for sure.

 

[redthumper9]

Imitation is the best form of flattery! No problem at all. That location has worked out well for me. FYI.....the little Yamaha logo sticker was purchased on ebay. It is a 3d style logo and was super cheap. I think I bought like 6 of them for under $15 or something like that. Good luck from here on.

 

[JC6275]

@Helipilot11 , I can't imagine dealing with this if I were in the same town as the installer, let alone in AFGHANISTAN!!! sorry it hasn't been smmoth for you... Thank you so much for your service. And also the sacrifices that you and your family are making. Stay safe my friend, and hurry home!!

 

[GTBRMC]

Sorry to hear about your disappointing experience with the audio installer.

Having said that, Stokleys Marine near Lexington, KY def went the extra mile and more for you. It's great to read about such excellent customer service.

Best of luck with the rest of the boat prep.

Also, safe return for you and thank you for your service.

 

[Helipilot11]

Thanks everyone for the support. I guess it is in the installers hands to repair the relationship.

 

[David Analog]

Quote: "Here is the list of equipment being installed. @@David Analog do you mind looking this over. The confidence in my installer right now is pretty low."

Helipilot11,
Sorry, I just saw this. Nice to see that you supported a legit authorized dealer.
All great equipment.
I know it is summer but be patient. It appears they are a bit over their head. Pressure won't help. Don't drive yourself crazy. Reset your expectations. Have your installing dealer contact me if there is anything specific they are having trouble with.

 

[Big Shasta]

Hope you get it worked out, I hate being jerked around. If they do a good job in the end, it'll be worth the wait. But if it's gonna take 2 weeks then say 2 weeks....Why don't businesses underpromise and overdeliver, seems like they always overpromise and underdeliver anymore.

Thanks for your service. I'm a contractor for the Navy and I'm in Bahrain supporting an MH53E Airborne Mine Countermeasures squadron right now. I only do it for a few weeks at a time though, nothing like your sacrifice. Stay safe.

 

[Helipilot11]

@David Analog I think with the extra time things will work out. I told them to keep the boat as long as possible. I think after today the work will be watched a lot closer. I think the tower is kicking their az* the most along with the window tint. Not sure why the tower is giving them so many problems? I know people were saying tinting curved windows is difficult. Do you think the amp is enough for the system? I will keep everyone posted on the details to come.

 

[Helipilot11]

@Big Shasta I totally agree. I hate it when people say one thing and then are too afraid to say something. I’m sure they will do great work but it bothers me to a great degree when people don’t keep their word. I just hate making my wife run around along with someone else who is going out of their way to help move the boat. I think the biggest failure is on the GM. He is not managing his people or work schedule properly if something like this falls through the crack. Not saying installs should be treated differently but you would think something of this caliber would get a little more attention.

'Merica

 

[Geiger41]

@Helipilot11 With the way Obama is running things, you should just be happy you have internet over there in Afghanistan lol

 

[Helipilot11]

@geiger41 Haha...no comment. Some guys out here only get one or two hot meals a day. I can't complain being in Aviation we get treated a little better. I love your system, while it is similar it is also way different. You got a lot of power behind those speakers. Do you have any videos of the sound quailty? I also like the light install you did. Nice work.

 

[ScarabMike]

Thats going to be one hell of a system!! Cant wait to see it completed. Good luck out there man. And if you need some ass kicking done, let us know. Im sure that can be arranged.

 

[David Analog]

@David Analog I think with the extra time things will work out. I told them to keep the boat as long as possible. I think after today the work will be watched a lot closer. I think the tower is kicking their az* the most along with the window tint. Not sure why the tower is giving them so many problems? I know people were saying tinting curved windows is difficult. Do you think the amp is enough for the system? I will keep everyone posted on the details to come.

Yes, power is good, even a bit over the top on the subwoofer....but unless you abuse the power I don't think you can have too much.
JL Audio is not yet shipping a swivel collar but it's coming soon. In the end, your particular tower may require swivel collars to correctly orient the speakers. Make sure the installing dealer considers the near term availability of this option when positioning the tower speakers.

 

[Helipilot11]

@David Analog thanks for the input. I will have to keep my eye out for it. How will the swivel collars differ from the collars offered currently?

@ScarabMike I cant wait for it to be installed either. My poor boat has been transient for almost 2 weeks now. It is time for her to come home.

 

[David Analog]

@David Analog thanks for the input. I will have to keep my eye out for it. How will the swivel collars differ from the collars offered currently?

@ScarabMike I cant wait for it to be installed either. My poor boat has been transient for almost 2 weeks now. It is time for her to come home.

Not sure unless I saw which tower you have. But on some Yamaha towers the swivel collars will keep the speakers from toeing inward. Or, they greatly expand where you can install the tower speakers because they can correct for any compound angle.
Odin with Earmark Marine used the prototype swivel collars on his Razor (should be a thread on here).

 

[redthumper9]

Swivel clamps were a necessity for my mounting location. Like David said, may be worth the short wait depending on where you mount them.

 

[Helipilot11]

@geiger41 do you have a picture of your tower speakers from the swim platform looking forward?

 

[Geiger41]

 

[David Analog]

I'm mainly concerned about the recent forward-leaning tower that has a large continuous radius and no straight transverse tube. Now that I think of it, if your tower diameter is under 2-inches then this issue probably does not apply.