Crutchfield Store — Local services in Hollymead

The staff was above and beyond five star. My experience at the Charlottesville store started about 4 to 5 weeks ago with a gentleman by the name of mr. Colin Moore. He scheduled my install for me and he was very patient quite knowledgeable and understanding. Because I must have called him more times than I can remember 10 to 15 at least, with question after question and each time he met me with the same energy and professionalism that drew me in to have my install there. I mean I had a 9:00 a.m. appointment, I was scheduled to be out by 1:00 p.m.. I arrived at 8:40 a.m.. Team leader miss Marissa Page let me in early. She greeted me with a smile and informed me that my installer would be in shortly and asked me to have a seat. While I was waiting I decided to have a look around. Wow! Amazing any all and everything you could want for your home boat or Auto was there. Just like in the magazines only in 3D. While looking around I came across the coffee machine. Sales advisor ms. Andrea Phillips helped me get it up and running also with a smile. My certified AV MECP certified technician. Mr. Xavier Williams arrived shortly thereafter. This young man got right to work on my install I was having an LOC 7 lineout converter and a JL 5 channel amp installed in my 2008 Cadillac DTS. But here's what I really like about Crutchfield...there customer service and policies. He came to me a little after 1:00 p.m. and told me he was having problems getting the distortion worked out in the install. He informed me that he had tried it with and without the LOC but he didn't give up. 1 I told him thank you no worries take your time. He went back to it and I got a chance to meet Mr Chris Barefoot, another sales advisor. He made sure I was comfortable. Directing me to a semi food court and put on some good music to keep me entertained. I kid you not I sat there. I lost track of time. I thought I was sitting in my living room or a lounge somewhere just relaxing and man I tell you when I looked up it was 6:00 p.m.. then I was refunded over $300 for parts and materials which I'm quite sure another shop would have figured out a way to keep that money. This company is staffed with integrity. And I would like to give a special thanks to one of the managers Mr Paul Kavanaugh for overseeing the project personally. I say this from the bottom of my heart... From the time they answer the phone when you place your order to the time they ship it and you follow up with them for any reason, they earn your business!!! And the only reason I gave them five stars is because there wasn't any room to give them anymore... Oh yeah, one little small detail I forgot to mention. I drove over 2 hours from the Washington DC area for this install because the time you spend talking to them on the phone and the knowledge they have with the equipment and materials, it was just a no-brainer for me to let them do the work that I wasn't going to do myself. So I would like to once again thank them very much. And that goes out to the entire Crutchfield...

Meh. Based on the website, I was really looking forward to being in the brick and mortar store. Was disappointed. I had a list of specific gear I had worked up using the Crutchfield website. I wanted to audition several bookshelf speakers and a couple of turntables. I fully understand the store can't show every single item listed online, but the selection was lacking and disorganized. A fair amount of the speaker displays didn't have a model or a price listed, just a speaker sitting on a display table. Not a single speaker from my list was on display, or available to listen to. Open spaces in the turntable section, too, like "something " should be there, but maybe just a dust cover lying there or empty. (But the Pro-Ject "Dark Side Of The Moon" special edition table was cool as all get out!)

There were only a couple of other customers there, but I wandered around looking at speakers and turntables for about 10 minutes before anyone spoke to me and that was only after I approached the sales counter. They said someone would be with me shortly, and I did speak with a sales person about 5 minutes later. We discussed my needs and he immediately ruled out a pair of PSB Alpha 5's because my 70x2 watt Denon AVR was slightly underpowered for them, so I appreciate that insight. Likewise, we ruled out Wharfedale Diamond 12.0's for other reasons, and the Elac Debut 2.0 were physically too large for my use case. Decided on the KEF Q-150's. Only color in stock was black, which was ok by me.

When we discussed turntables, he used a kiosk screen to show me various models. I wanted a unit with a pre-amp and USB capability. I had really focused on the Sony PS-LX310BT, but he pointed out that it used a proprietary Sony cartridge which would limit any future replacement or upgrade. So I went with the Audio Technica AT-LP60XBT-USB.

So my 75 mile trip (each way) to the store was essentially the same as calling a Crutchfield sales counselor for a phone consultation. I didn't get to touch or listen to a single item I was interested in. Brought the speakers and table home, got them set up and am happy with the result. The first thing I listened to was Maynard Ferguson's "MacArthur Park" from the 1974 "Live At Jimmy's" album. I've listened to that cut hundreds, if not 1,000+ times, over the years and I heard depth and nuance I have never experienced. Likewise, Buddy Rich's 1968 "Channel One Suite" (live at Caesar 's Palace) blew me away. The Q150s are fantastic.

I am pleased with my purchase. Just disappointed in the experience. Crutchfield's reputation allowed me to take a leap of faith. If I had been in Best Buy, I would have walked out after 10 minutes of wandering alone in...

I have been a Crutchfield customer for over 20 years. In the past year, I have purchased several different car audio products from Crutchfield. I keep coming back to Crutchfield because of the value proposition. You may find a lower price on a specific component, but beware that most of the time there are multiple "accessories" required to install that radio, amp, or remote starter. When you purchase that new head unit, Crutchfield will make certain that any needed adaptors, wiring, or other items required to make your installation smoother (or to work at all) will be called out and identified. Many times, items like your faceplate or dash adaptor are included in the cost of the radio.

When it comes to installing your news system, Crutchfield provides detailed (and vehicle specific) instructions. Furthermore, Crutchfield has technical experts available to talk you through the installation. I can tell you that these folks are truly EXPERTS! If you have never installed a newer unit in a car with CANBUS communication and factory integration, then you are going to be so thankful that tech tech support is only a phone call away. I have called them in the evening and on the weekends, and have yet to come to a dead end. The tech support staff has the expertise to talk you through your issue, and if needed, actually video chat with you as you show the technical representative exactly what challenges you are having.

Finally, Crutchfield keeps fantastic records. They know what you purchased and when you purchased it. They have records of calls to tech support, as well as the resolution. I can tell you that, once you experience the "white glove" service that Crutchfield provides, you will never go back to another "on line" retailer or big box electronics store.

I would like to particularly call out Crutchfield sales rep "Trish" as well as Tech Support folks - Sal and Damien. Wonderful folks providing excellent...