These guys are great. Super efficient with time. Stick to the quote and do super clean work. I brought in an Alpine head that was draining the battery and couldn't get the parking brake switch to work. Plus, brought a better dash bezel that needed to be custom retrofitted with current bezel controls. Came out cleeeean and fast. Will be back, strong shop. read more

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Not cool. Waste my time saying they have a woofer for a certain price but when I get there the price is hundreds higher. I don't know how it's even possible to miscommunicate since it was quoted through messages. Super lousy. read more

Ending Feb 5, 2026 had my Mercedes SClass upgraded and it totally changed the sound and performance of my car. Ray was very easy to talk to and he explained all the options I had available to upgrade without breaking the Bank. He also drove me home and picked me up when the service was completed. I have 4 more vehicles to modify their audio system and I will definitely use his service. read more

So let me start by saying I'm 35 years old- I've been coming here since I was 15. Brought them my very first car to have alarm installed. Ever since then I'm been a loyal customer. Not only that but I own an auto repair shop in Alameda, and have referred ALL my customers to these guys for their audio needs. Now, moving forward to 2024 I brought in my most recent purchase to them to have an auto start installed. The car I bought was in MINT condition. It's a 1993 GMC typhoon, if you don't know about them do some research. They are extremely rare, and parts for them are extremely expensive. Anyways there's not a single crack in the dash, not in the leather, the paint is immaculate, it's a time capsule. Fresh from the 90's. So I bring it to them and since I already have a viper alarm installed the mechanic who I dropped the car off to tells me it will be 150$ to add the remote start option. Ok cool, he tells me 1.5-2hrs should be ready. I leave and come back exactly 2 hours later. (As usual) the car isn't ready yet. Now I own a shop, and I know how it is blah blah blah. My issue with this whole thing is it's an every time thing, either they can't gauge how long jobs will take or they make it seem like it takes longer then it does to squeeze some more money out of ya. Which brings me to my next problem. I wait an extra 42 minutes, while all the prostitues in the area scour my car incase that might be what I'm doing hanging around in their area. But atlas, my car is ready and I go to pay, oh no what's that?? It will cost 300$?!? But I was told it was only going to be 150$?? "Well it took extra time blah blah blah" (it's literally the same story EVERYTIME) which is what leads me to believe the whole taking extra time thing is all BS. Anyways I pay the hefty fee even though I never agreed to it and there was never any sort of contract signed (obviously shady business dealings) and get in my car and leave. Only the next morning I notice something that was never - and I'm 4020101773% sure about this, NEVER there prior to the remote start being installed. A crack in my dashboard area right by the headlight switch. So I called them back the next day and asked what happened. He OFCOURSE denies any wrong doing even though I just bought the car and inspected almost every inch of it and admired how the dash board wasn't cracked AT ALL which was amazing to me for a car this old. So he ask the mechanic how did the work and he says "no ofcourse I didn't break that, infact I had no reason to even go near that all my work was under the dash!" Ok maybe so, either way the crack wasn't there and now it is. Anyways I decided to remove the panel (the correct way) and see if there was any reason for him to go back there and guess what?! Yup you guessed it! There's a brand new harness that isn't OEM that is running behind the light switch. So looks like there was infact a reason for you to go behind there. (See attached picture) As a business owner myself, it truely doesn't make sense to deny and no own up to this time of bull crap because of the sheer volume of customers I can and have referred to you not to mention the countless cars of my own that I brought to you (and ALL of my previous ex girlfriends cars as well!) So as much as I hate to do it I will be referring all my customers else where and if they ask I will have to break the news to them. You didn't want to own up to replacing a 35$ headlight switch panel that you broke. Thanks for showing your true colors -Alex (with the white typhoon) read more

Oakland Hi-Fi - The crack in the light switch panel that was NOT there before - Car Stereo Installation Near Me - Oakland, California

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Everything was great. My factory radio died and they recommended a Sony radio to replace it. They did the job quickly and got the quoted price and took me home while the was being done. I'm completely happy with the result. read more

The area might be sketchy but the service was great. I went to get a new Apple car play installed and Sal was great. Throughly went over all my options and was able to do same day installation. Sal and Rey answered all my questions and communicated every step of the way. If you're in Oakland, I would recommend this shop. read more

Sal and the guys at Oakland Hi-Fi always do amazing work. I have been coming here with motorcycles and cars/trucks and they have great prices, fast service, and they do good work. read more

I am truly shocked to see the mixed reviews for this business. I've taken several of my cars here and they have always been professional, reasonable prices, knowledgeable, and great work. It's already tough to do business with all the ongoing trafficked women posted around the area, all the crime in the area, and even customers stealing products; but to see the bad reviews on here do not do this business any justice. Really hope this review helps bring in more positive reviews and brings in more business for them. Thank you Hi-Fi! read more

Ok so here we go well my thoughts about this stereo place hmm well my thing is I shopped around an found out this this stereo place was pretty good on there prices they seam like they weren't preasureing me on witch product I should get pretty much I explained that I wanted a decent alarm system an they recommended me one for my vehicle witch was a good fit for my car thank you guys for making my life a little easier now I'm going to have a goodnight rest knowing my vehical was equipped with hi fi alarm system Thank you guys I will be recommending this place o yea very freindly an clean shop.. read more

I have been shopping for a new car stereo for my 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland. When I came across Oakland Hi-Fi. Ray gave me a great price on a new stereo, but after talking for a while he recommended a Pioneer 4500NEX because I have a media, DVD, and CD player not to mention the steering wheel controls too. The installation went smoothly and everything works great. I can still use my steering wheel controls like it came right out of the factory. I plan on doing audio and alarm upgrades and Ray is where I'm going to have installed. Shout out to Salvador lead technician with 30 years of experience and his helper too. If you are looking for an upgrade at a reasonable price stop by Oakland Hi-Fi! read more

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very good work, fast service, Ray has always worked with, great prices. A+++++ excellent customer service!

I have to admit, I am extremely disappointed in this place and hate leaving bad reviews but I wanna warn folks right now. If you find an issue, or end up stuck in the mountains because the alarm system bugs out and shuts your vehicle down be prepared for this company to not take any ownership for it. Not to mention they were late on multiple occasions, and when picking up my vehicle the install tech told me verbatim that he had no idea he had todo an alarm which is why he was so behind and he did his best to get it done but he had to rush and install it. I'd like to add that they never provided any instruction on how to bypass the alarm in case of an emergency like I had, which could have costed me my life. My truck shut down with my dash board flashing "theft" and I couldn't restart it which lead me walking 13 miles to find help because I had no cell service. Thank god I found help and was able to make it back safe but along the way home every-time I turned the truck off it couldn't turn back on. This lead me to being stuck 2 additional times returning back home from my trip. Here's the best part: When I try to give my feedback and not do a review online he says that they provided perfect service and it's all me and I'm blaming them for my short comings and that he's happy to hold the mirror for me. Mean while I had it towed to my mechanic which he was able to narrow it all down to this companies recently installed alarm. (I've had the same mechanic for 10 years) I'm a business owner, and I would love for a customer like me to openly come and tell me their thoughts and tell me how it is avoiding a bad review by speaking to me directly. This would give me the opportunity to get better. But not this guy. As you can see in the msgs below it's my fault. I am happy to provide more info around this matter if you want to msg me directly. I did not want todo this but this level of denial and delusion is very concerning. I am very fare and can even show you msgs between me and his wife with her saying sorry for all the delays and me saying it's totally cool I understand that stuff happens. But yet, I'm in the wrong. read more

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Was looking to get some bass in the car. Was told to come in to get my car done after work and try to make it at 5pm to try to have it done at 6pm. Made it at 430 and they told me to leave it and come back the next day and they were just standing around had me driving for an hour for nothing read more

Don't buy anything n this shop, I paid $ 850 n an amplifier and a subwoofer, next day someone broke into my truck and took my amplifier and the subwoofer;/ this people knew where exactly I had my stuff:/ I called the owner of this shop but refused to talk to me because this fk Pakistani thinks that he's only one who speaks English perfectly:/ I spoke with his workers but the guys like idiots oh im sorry we completely forgot to screw the subwoofer and the amplifier read more

I recently took my vehicle to this business. My husband recommended we try this place; he had used this business in previous years, when it was owned by the prior owner. I am sorry to say the quality is NOT the same and making an appointment is useless. I shall not return. Blessings. read more

Paid $500 to set up and install my backup camera and tint all windows. Same day service if you come early or not busy. Grateful for their service and quick turnaround. The tint was $300 and backup camera install $200 read more

Garbage. Long story short, I only came here because I was lazy to do it myself and I'm broke. I got quoted $150 to install my own head unit. Came to the shop to see if they could really do it and 3 of their installers said it's good to go. So I agree to get it done. They made me pay first which was weird but I didn't care; I mean fuck it, it's was only $150 and 3 of their "installers" said it was good to go. Before they started anything, I told them that maybe it would be a good idea to check my stereo and make sure the inputs/outputs worked and the stereo powers up before the rip my dash apart. The "Installer" then hooks up power to it and says "yeah yeah yeah it works". So they continue to take apart my dash. Here's where the fun starts. "Installers" drop and loses the two 10mm bolts that keep the dash in place, then they can't figure out how to get the subwoofers to work. Instead of noticing that they didn't have the right parts/wiring and harness for it, they turn around and say that the stereo doesn't work. So I tell them if you can't you can't and asked if they could put the old stuff back in. They were kind enough to do so. Afterwards, the "installer" told me that I should go to the front and ask for my money back since they couldn't help me. He also told me before he even started, not to listen to the two up front because they try to sell people shit they really don't need. That was honest. So I go to Rey, who 10 minutes earlier tried to sell me a $500 zero gauge wire lol saying "I get what I pay for", and tell him that they couldn't get installed what he said they could. I was kind and asked for just a PARTIAL refund for the job they couldn't do and this dude had a audacity to say, "I actually should charge you more since they had to investigate the stereo and it took more time doing so. Your "install" took more time than I quoted. Your stereo is bad and you can either buy a new one from us or we can call it even". Lololol. Judging from the shit installs they had going in their garage, he OBVIOUSLY needed that $150 more than I did so I didn't want to argue with the guy. If that's how he does business that's how he does business. The 2.5 star screams awesomeness. I've been in the car community for 20+ years, dealt with numerous big name installers and I've never once experienced anything close to the kind of shitty service I've got here. I had to make a yelp account just to give them this one star that really should be no star. I get Money is tight and I work hard for mine. I bet you do too. Don't spend what you worked hard for at a place where they don't work hard for it. If you do waste your beans here don't say I didn't tell you so. In conclusion, I wasted $150 at this place just to go home with a sad face, the same stereo I came with (that's now flapping around because of those missing fasteners), a dirty car and on top of all that they didn't reconnect my air conditioner. Sloppy, unknowledgeable, careless, reckless work is done here. Rey was actually correct with one thing that came out of his dishonest mouth.. "you get what you pay for here". Their 2.5 star rating to backs that up. You better believe I'm Reposting this on all the forums like a Karen. I'd hate for anyone else to go through this shit. If you don't believe me, dm me and I'll prove it to you. Hope this was worth $150 Rey! You put up customers for a tank of gas. Good job! Way to go buddy! Keep up the good work! I'll definitely be back for that $500 0 gauge wire and $1200 custom box that you probably couldn't build anyways really soon! ***Update. I went to back to a more reputable installer in Richmond, who all of you probably heard of before, right after I left and put down a few dollars more on top of the $150 I lost at Oakland hi-fi and I come to find out that the stereo, all the speakers and a/c all work perfectly. I was told over there the same thing good old Rey said, "you get what you pay for!" Haha. Go figure. Ill walk and take my losses gracefully. So big thanks to Oakland hi-fi! Y'all should just close! 2.5 stars is embarrassing. read more

Oakland Hi-Fi - Sloppy and careless workmanship - Car Stereo Installation Near Me - Oakland, California

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Horrible service, pulled up to the back where they install was completely ignored by two workers. Called the owner and still no compliance. DONT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY!!! read more

Very expensive if you compare the prices of the model numbers to other competitors. Bestbuy sells the same stuff with warranty for half the price. Bestbuy does installation for free. Sorry you cannot compete with good prices and good customer service. read more

Complete con artist, do not come here. Attempted to sale me all kinds of equipment that I did not need but presented it as if it was necessary to resolve my issue. When I decided to just have a deck installed. They advised me that it required way more work than it actually did and overcharged me. read more

Very disappointed with the job, they installed an alarm and engines at the 3-door civic hatchback 98. The first time you see a defective rear engine, I went to have them repair it, which took me all day when the lady told me that in 3 hours it would be ready, when I returned the panel of my door was broken and also the door bolt but José did not tell me anything, until I asked him, he told me that he was going to pay me and I did not tell the owner which was my mistake to trust In José, more apart, they polarized my car, which was still bad because the worker had never worked in one, so they only returned $100 dollars for the work, or I realize that a door does not open, a damaged motor or a bad installation, I just hope I My guarantee covers me, but ones are not enough, I would not like to return, maybe they damage something else read more

I will never recommend this place to anyone. I keep a business card with the rest of my business cards but I put "BAD BUSINESS" written on it to remind me. Tints... They tinted my rear windows, the back was ugly, the top was not even and they told me something about how they cant do it, and thats just the way it is for my car. So i believed them until I saw the same car with a smooth clean tint. I took it to another place and they fixed it. Waste of my time and money. Oakland Hi Fi will be nice, take your money, and do the job. But when you bring the car back to question something, good luck on having them fix it. Use your money elsewhere. read more

Good products at a good price, fast install. Very happy with the Morel amp and JL speakers. New owners are great to work with!

This guy basically charged me $500 bucks well $480 then put $450 on the receipt. The alarm that was installed after looking it up was $100 dollars on Amazon. And the one that I believe I paid for he picked it up and put it back down and said are you sure you don't want the 1 for $ 600. I was in a hurry because my catalytic converter had been stolen and the thieves were looking under my car again. When I question him by text there is no reply. Take your business elsewhere better yet just look up whatever product he is trying to Install. I feel he stole from me just like the thieves. Money is to hard to come by these days for you to over charge customers that work for a living. Do better in my community sir. read more

Don't ever go to this place a complete con artist RIP OFF, doesn't care about the customers budget all the complaints in these reviews are true. I took my car to them bcuz I remember the previous asians from many years ago. They are gone! We find out the amplifier is blown out and 2 factory subwoofers. Ok no big deal. I was desperate to fix as I was trying to sell the car I had the for sale sign in the window. I leave with Uber which was first mistake,he calls me and somehow comes up with 1800 dollars worth of work which I thought was pretty epensive, then he was like yea the parts blah blah blah the labor blah blah over the phone. And when I heard that I didn't have to pay any cash up front I'm like um ok I guess Kinda coherced me into saying ok fix it. What he didn't tell me until after they replaced the over charged parts. Was the snap finance credit company would charged me 4400$ if I didn't pay the 1800 in three months now here I am with a car I sold and jammed up with snap finance wanting thousands of dollar's for a car I don't even have anymore. why would you pick a credit burea for ur customers that charges 3 times plus more the actual fee to fix the music in a middle of the ghetto where no one has that kind of money. I should of got the sign to runaway when i seen a married couple arguing with the owner over a diagnostic fee the employee told them less then after the inspection said more and then said sumthn disrespectful that had them infuriated I actually had to mediate that situation and calm the couple down and make the owner cut their diagnostic in half. Just do go he it's a headache there are options, AND YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!! read more

My first time going here the workers was so helpful. Helping me find the right things so that my music can sound great and I also got my windows tinted here I would Recommend to here read more

Overview: Fast service, cheap price, friendly technician, easy to find location. Details: My husband is a private investigator (or was before he was run over by a big-rig...) and has limo tint on all the windows of his Ford Focus wagon- illegal in California, but necessary for his work. Its been this way for almost three years, ever since he got the car. In the past three months, though, he's been pulled over three times for it! Thankfully, it resulted in nothing more than a fix-it ticket. Being kind of new to Oakland, we had no luck finding a place that would remove the tint from the front windows and make the tickets stop. We lucked out with the auto-repair (Seven Eleven Body Shop) so we called them and got a referral to this place, Oakland Hi-Fi. Thirty bucks and forty minutes with a razor blade and baby shampoo later, the car was taken care of, without a single scratch or gouge to the glass that either of us could see. We are both VERY happy with the work. read more

I know other people have had bad experiences here but fortunately, mine was much better. My car was broken into and they took the stereo (argh!) after getting my car repaired, I got a recommendation from the body shop I used to visit Oakland Hi-Fi. I stopped in and got a quote, but only after did I read the reviews... Thank goodness I didn't read before because I would have been scared off. Due to the poor reviews, I ended up calling a bunch of other places to get quotes but Hi-Fi was $200 less than any other place--not only did I need a stereo, but a car alarm too. After deciding I couldn't justify an extra $200 for the same products, I took my car into Hi-Fi and haven't regretted it. They did a great job installing the stereo, it works and sounds great. The car alarm works well too. Additionally, the man who installed my car system was awesome, laid-back, and super friendly. The people working the front (the owners?) were also very nice. Car break-in's and theft are VERY frustrating but Hi-Fi stereo made the aftermath a lot easier to deal with. read more

Ok so I've been here twice and each time I got great service! The only reason why I didn't give it 5 stars was because the guy doing the work on the car could be a little nicer by at least saying hi or at least saying come again or something. Couldn't even get a smile out of him or anything. Anyway that's beside's the point. I've brought two vehicles in for radio installations and they were both quick and was only charged $50 bucks for each installation and I have not had any problems with either of them. Thanks for the quick, cheap fast service! read more

I've been coming to this place since 2007 & it's sad to see how horrible the service has become! I've always come here solely for the tints and have had 2 new cars done with no problems over the years. Not sure if the management changed, but I will not be back. I called and was quoted $100 for the two front windows. Great price! I come in and was told that it would be 45mins to complete. Turned out to be almost 2 hours! When the work was completed, there were air bubbles all over. I was told this would go away after sitting in the sun. Although this has never happened in the past (always great work up front), I agreed and paid. The guy only charged me $80 (bargain right! Wrong!) and I should have known something was up. I returned less than 24hrs later to have them removed. They were tacky as hell & I have a brand new car. I read another review on here that a lady was told to go to the other shop. I received the same runaround. The guy proceeds to tell me he doesn't normally do the tints and that I can have them redone. Why did you agree to do them and take my money if the original guy was busy?!? He was very misleading & did a shitty job on top of it!! Overall, I wasted $80 & don't even have the tints anymore. I'll take the loss for a piece of mind and never do business here again!!!! read more

If I can give them a rating any lower I would. Nsever going to recommend anyone to this shop again. Bought a 2-way page alarm because the owner said it was the better alarm. If I had known it was like any other alarm probably went to a diffeeent place for my alarm system for $60 rather then $250. Got ripped off..... read more

Lady told us $120 to tint the Windows two weeks ago, we show up and she says no I never said that its $200. She was very rude about it too, just walked away without explanation. read more

Randomly decided to get my window tint done, I called plenty of places but they cost an arm and a leg and I remembered that I got my tint done here back in 2009 and it came out lovely still to this day the tint looks brand new and then I only paid $150...anyway I stopped by and was desperate so I asked the price he said $220 that's the base rate so I said ok... I asked him if they take card or cash and he said cash.. Um ok so why does the window and register say you accept cards ???? Humm.... He said it would take an hour and thirty min.. So I decided to time it...my alarm went off an hour and thirty min later and two min later he called and said it was done.. Cool would have got 4 stars for that... However I go get my car two hours later and go check my car out and there is bubbles on three Windows that's not how it's supposed to look.. So I go to the shop and they are closed for 30 min for " lunch" ...really lunch at 4:00??? Really rude because if your the only one at the shop then you should call the one client that you had and say hey I'm going to lunch would you like to come before or after?? Annoying.. Anyway I ask about the bubbles and he would only look at them after I paid .. In cash mind you ...after we go look at the car and he's like " oh yea those are not supposed to be there" 30 min later and I'm picking out all the bubbles in the Windows I'm sorry but I don't care how small that's now how it's supposed to look... He re does them and tells me that the rest will disappear in two days... I'm willing to bet my $220 that I paid that I will have to go back to get them re done ?? It looks like a half ass job and mind you I'm coming to sf for this .. Only good thing about it comes with 1 year warranty but shit ho many times will it take to get this right? I will be updating the review after I go back in two days So I come back to get them re done and same thing there is tiny bubbles in the front two windows. I recently had a baby so no time to go back to get them re done so I went last week showed the guy and he say ok come back when you can told him Tuesday ... I call today Monday 2.6.17 and he says they are busy but they have another shop at 4011 international blvd (sound factory) so I call them he says yea ok it will take an hour come on down. Cool. Again I'm coming from sf so there was traffic to get there. Get there and a guy is basically saying it's normal, this is my first time, if he does it again it will be worse ,willing to give me 100$ dollars .. basically trying to get me to say fuck it and him not to have to fix it.. I'm sorry but why have a one year warrenty on something if your not willing to fix it.. long story short don't go here..one guy says one thing and the next guy says the next thing .. did I get my windows fixed no his long Serman of why i shouldn't get the windows re done is what took up lost my time .. bad customer service all the way around the bored read more

Updating my review things have changed since I've been there back in the day. I called ahead made an appointment no one called to say that wouldn't be fine I get there the lady is gone come at 4 30 which is 15 minutes after my appointment only to tell me that she can't do my car today because of cars they are doing. I took off work to go there told her that I would never come back in about horrible customer service that she didn't call me even running behind I couldn't do it at all. Chalk this one off your list people go somewhere else this new owner is a reject. read more

Me and all my friends go here to get our windows tinted. It's a third party tinter I believe, so the prices were only flexible to an extent. I had no complaints about the quality of the tint though. They guarantee it, lot of places say that, but they seem like they'd follow through on it. These guys have been here forever, I don't go to stereo shops often, but if I do it's usually here. read more

They installed a DVD system in the stop working 10 months later. They replaced under warrant again and told me to pay $50 more for a new DVD system. At 11 months it stopped working, we had them looked at it and they got it to work with the remote only! The owner said not to worry, he will replace it when he gets back from China... They never called me back, so I stopped by and the lady kept telling me the owner not back. She was very rude! Finally after 3 months she told me they will not replace... I have to pay for a new one! She was very rude again! I will never buy from here and recommend no one does too! read more

This place sucks. They have poor customer service and the manager is very rude and prejudice. Going to them is a waist of time and we all know time is money. Don't spend yours here. read more

I came here to get tints! This shop was once owned by someone who was to afraid to open but now that these new guys have took over the shop they have flipped this spot! They do really good work! My tints came out nice and fast! They are very talkative which I like and very understanding! There clean about there work and try to beat any price thrown at them! read more

i was shopping for a car stereo and the auto mechanic i'm dealing with told me about Oakland Hi-Fi, i went there and found out that they've the lowest prices ever so i bought a stereo and they installed it then i came back after a month and changed it for a better brand. They didn't charge me for labors or anything just the price difference. They are friendly and helpful that i even went twice to consult them about other stuff with my car and they checked it for free read more

Been out here in the Bay Area visiting for the last week or so, and will be making the long slog back to Austin starting Friday morning. The stock radio in my '08 Subaru Forester was always pretty anemic, and so I looked on Crutchfield's site to see if the Alpine deck I bought last year for my Toyota Pickup (CDE-134HD) was still being made, and nope, it ain't, but they brought out a replacement for it (sans HD radio), the CDE-152. That deck, coupled with the plug-n-play "Power Pack" amp is more than sufficient as far as my listening needs. Too late to have it shipped, so my bud called Oakland HiFI and spoke with Brian, and they had both the deck and Power Pack amp in stock, and their cost with installation was cheaper than what I would have gotten it for at Crutchfield. One of his friends had Oakland HiFi install a deck in his Accord, and he was VERY happy with it. So, we made an appointment to get it installed this morning. Dropped in at about 10 am, and met Daniel...he grabbed the components and started to work on the wiring harness immediately. The guy who did the install came and grabbed the deck and amp a few minutes later. In less than an hour, it was all done. Ran back to Alameda where I'm staying (ten minutes away) and was going through the settings on the deck and realized the back speakers weren't playing when I turned the fader. So I called Daniel and he said "Bring it right back and we'll get on it." It was no big deal to head back over...the guy who did the install fixed everything within a few minutes! I can't say enough about how awesome Daniel and crew are! If you want a car stereo installed, definitely call Oakland HiFi. They are the biggest retailer of Alpine in the Bay Area, and they know their stuff, and it's done right. if there's any problem, they will solve it super-fast, and have you on your way and rockin' out in no time! Now I just have to go through and "RTFM" to learn how to work this thing! ;-) read more