Sound Waves — Attraction in Fairfield

These guys are the best. Literally one of the best shops in the United States. Read full review below for details. I've worked with them a few times over the last 2 years. The first time I had them install Dynamat throughout my C43 AMG to help with rattles. Second time was this past month. They installed Focal Inside speakers into the same car. Replaced all 13 speakers in my car’s “Burmester” premium sound system as well as added more sound deadening material to help with some of the rattles and improve sound quality by removing vibration. Replacing the speakers with very high end speakers alone was not enough. Although there was a big improvement, the sound was still off. They were too bright and mid heavy. I called Focal to see if there was a way to dial down the brightness a little with the factory equalizer. They said they are designed to be more neutral and bright but most people need to get a separate dsp/amp to fix it since you don’t get enough control with the factory eq. They explained it the following way, which was also explained to me by the pros at Sound Waves. The car manufactures use very cheap speakers (even in premium systems), but compensate for their physical decencies by playing with the equalization of the amp to make it sound better. Once I replaced the speakers, I had a tuning deficiency from the factory amp that was compensating for the garbage speakers that used to be there. I told Focal where I had the work done and they said Sound Waves is one of only 15 shops in the country they recommend to people. There might be other shops that can install the speakers since they are designed to be plug and play, but only 15 shops that can tune it after and make it sound right. In the end Sound Waves installed a Helix V Twelve DSP/AMP and tuned it perfectly. I have 2 settings, driver and all, depending on if I have people in the car with me. I can add up to 10 sound profiles. The whole staff is very pleasant to work with. Rory is very helpful and answers all my questions when I call. Rory even picked up my car and took it to the shop for all the work to be done multiple times. I have small kids and it's hard for me to find time to do this. They made it happen. Sam and Joe, the owners, are very nice, easy to talk to, and answered my questions. I spent time in the shop with the other guys, including about 2 with Chad (the sound god who tunes the cars). Chad is friendly and personable. He spent the time with me to go over everything I needed/wanted to know about the car. He measured each speakers distance to my ear for the driver's setting in the DSP/amp. We listened to it to see if there was anything I wanted to modify, but honestly what he did was perfect. Sounds just like my high end system at home! I was worried about spending the money to do all this and then not be pleased with how it turned out. They exceeded my expectations. The sound is fantastic and the...

I did my first install with Sound Waves in the early 2000's.

I spent my life being a session guitar player for the larger well-known studios in NYC - I heard some of the highest fidelity desks (Neve-SSL) & Studio Monitors that were ever in production. Hearing music through that level of gear completely changes you - it’s very hard to listen to stock systems or even what a prosumer market considers to be an ‘upgraded sound experience’ i.e Bose, Harmon Kardon, Infinity

When I originally decided to upgrade my car audio I wanted to ride around and reference the songs I was working on, I stumbled upon Sound Waves - I called in & told them my story, they were extremely knowledgeable.

After the install of my first pair of MB Quart components - I was blown away. It wasn’t just the bass-heavy loud sonics which I wanted and I was expecting - it sounded like the Hifi systems I had been listening to for years - but even better because inside a car you’re essentially always in the sweet-spot, completely submersed in the sound. I Put crazy miles on my car just driving - it became my favorite place to listen to music.

Jump to 2015 I wanted to find a suitable replacement on par with the MB quarts that started my love of high-end car audio, I was pointed to Hertz Audio for my JK Wrangler, Went With Hertz Audio with JL subs, Sound Waves killed it again, the jeep sounded unreal.

Now I am in 2018 and just got a new JL Sahara, this will get long - so I will shorten it, for some crazy reason they replaced the 6.5” size speakers with 3.5” & 4” Ported! I was in disbelief.

I was stressed - I told Sound Waves if I can’t get my system from my 2015 JK in the JL I don’t even want to do it, I am trying to slowly level-up my sound. Within 25 minutes of opening up the roll-bar and dash, they had a plan to install my 6.5”’ Hertz speakers into these tiny molded plastic spacings and to bypass the Chrysler 8-channel stock amp,

To give you an idea the ’stock sahara speakers’. looked like Amazon Echo dots, it was laughable, They fabricated my 6.5” speakers and did not even touch the grill, no aesthetic changes, looks like I pulled it off the lot.

My new system sounds better than my 2015 and I am hard to please, A mix of Volume, Knock, & Clarity - Don’t mess around with any other dealers, if you want a professional to work on your vehicle call Sound Waves, Vinny, Tasha, Jose & Chad will make your car sound...

Brought my 99 CRV in today because my drivers' door speaker wasn't working. Mutually agreed with Rory at the front desk that I would be charged the hourly labor rate because I wasn't getting any new modifications. I left then after an hour I came back because I grew bored of sitting in the McDonalds next door. After a few minutes of arriving back I was informed by Rory that multiple wires on the harness were pulled out from wear and tear (I knew this was the issue), Rory then brought me inside the shop to confirm my suspicion. The receipt states, "check front driver speaker, customer believes wire from door boot is loose... front door was taken off, plug at door is broken with multiple wires disconnected. Suggested to customer to purchase whole new harness". When I saw my car in the shop, the door was not removed, it was merely opened and had a flashlight pointing at the jam nearest the hinges at the boot. I regret not taking a picture at the time because there was quite literally noting done to my car more than opening the door, and sliding the boot back to view the harness. No door panels were taken off, not even a single clip or screw was touched. I was told by one of the staff in the shop that I myself need to go to a junk yard to then find and pluck an old wiring harness from a vehicle that I could then bring back to Sound Waves for an install. When it was all said and done I left Sound Waves with no actual work done to my car, my drivers' door speaker still didn't work, and I was out $53.31. I understand that you guys are running a business but this is not in any way a good method to build a repour with new clients. I would have happily tipped the staff involved for taking a look but this is just ridiculous. I will not be coming back, nor will I ever be recommending Sound Waves to friends, family, or peers. I'll happily remove this review if I am given a...