World Wide Stereo — Local services in Montgomery Township

I reached out in June of '23 via email about upgrading the audio in my car. We emailed about what I was looking for, how to achieve it, etc. Parts were chosen, pricing set, and installation was scheduled for August.

The installation was performed. The sound was kind of "meh" at first, but I was told not to run the system too loud for about 20-25 hours of use for the speakers to break in.

After that period, the sound was pretty bad. I called up WWS and it was no problem, with the speakers broken in, it was time to actually tune the system.

The sound was actually great and I was happy with the system...

Then it got a bit later in the year (late Nov '23) and we started having freezing temps overnight. When I would get into the car in the morning things were horrible. Distortion, popping sounds, it was bad.

WWS made an appt for me to come in and look. Of course by the time I got in there when they'd open, it was warm and they couldn't replicate the issues.

I kept telling them that I thought it had something to do with freezing temps and moisture, based on when the issue was and was not happening... but they kept assuring me it was not that.

They replaced the speakers. They replaced the amp. Nothing was helping.

Each time I had to make an appt... I had to take a day off from work because it had to be during the week when their installer worked.

SO MANY missed work days, lost PTO. WWS never did anything to make up for this or compensate me for it, or even to try to share in the pain by agreeing to do some work on Saturdays when they are open.

That said, I agreed to it... they couldn't find the issue. It was happening for days at a time without working at all as the temps got colder in Dec.

Finally I was determined and ran my car through a carwash on a freezing day and drove over there and got them to verify that I was right all along... moisture was running through the door (which I am told is normal for my car) and freezing on the speakers. That was the issue.

So their solution was foam baffles... fine with me. They installed them and the freezing issue was fixed!!

But... the sound was horrible. They forgot to open up the backs of the baffles so there was a "resonance" issue.

Again... taking time off from work, I had to go up there. They cut open some of the back of each baffle and it helped. Was it great? No… but it was good. Throughout the months that passed I got more and more defeated and started to accept less than perfect.

After that, I started to notice that on drives over about 15 minutes, one of the speakers started putting out a high pitched constant tone. When it was quiet in the car the sound was maddening and embarrassing if I had others in the car.

I reported it along with any information I could think of about when it happens/etc. Their people even witnessed it themselves, but no solution could be found.

Their installer, throughout all of these issues, is constantly blaming it on the car manufacturer/stock system, making tons of excuses, blaming me, and developing more and more of an attitude. The initial popping/distortion from freezing, and every other bad sound issue, nothing was ever his fault and he took 0 responsibility for it or for his inability to diagnose any of these issues.

Eventually his attitude got so bad that I snapped and for the very first time, developed an attitude of my own. I pushed and pushed and finally got them to agree to replace the amp, where I felt the issue was.

They agreed to do it, though the installer was so sure it was not going to help.

It fixed the issue, of course! But then my touch screen had no sound and phone calls were silent!

He did some adjusting and got those issues straightened out but now music sounded horrible again.

There's more (not good), but the review is at the character limit. Be careful if choosing to...

I wanted to share my extremely positive experience dealing with World Wide Stereo -- both the Ardmore, PA store and the customer helpdesk. Thriving local businesses that care about their customers are at the heart of their communities so, whenever I can, I like to support them.

I recently purchased a Sonos Amp (back ordered) and 4 Bowers & Wilkins CCM 684 ceiling speakers. I love to listen to music at home but would not call myself an audiophile. In fact, I'm quite a neophyte when it comes to higher-end audio equipment. I wanted to take the opportunity presented by a back-to-the-studs kitchen remodel to put in ceiling speakers. I was aware of B&W as a quality brand but, having done a little online research, was was open to professional recommendations. I knew World Wide Stereo would give solid advice, based on their local reputation.

I dealt initially with Patrick in the Ardmore store. My predisposition towards B&W, together with Patrick's endorsement and the experience of listening to a pair, was enough to convince me to spend more than I ever thought I would spend on speakers. I ordered them a few days later and the were shipped to my home, arriving within just a couple of days. The kitchen construction is still ongoing with the ceiling not yet up, so I have not heard them at home yet. I'm very impressed with the quality and ingenuity of the speaker design, which is likely to make installation very simple and (I hope) quick.

Even though not legally required in residential buildings (only commercial premises), I decided I wanted to install back boxes for the speakers. These will not only help insulate the sound from a second-floor home office, but should also improve sound quality downstairs. The B&W OEM back boxes seem steeply priced at $150 each (more than a third of the cost of each speaker). They are also very hard to find used. Other manufacturers offer cheaper alternatives but I was concerned about suitability for the 684s. In the end, I designed my own back boxes, using Hardie backer (concrete) board and acoustic foam bought via Amazon. My contractor helped me build them and I am very happy. My total outlay on two 5'x3' sheets of board and some acoustic foam (plus a nominal amount for a couple of hours of the contractor's time) is around $60 per box -- pretty good for a custom solution.

During the the past few weeks, a couple of technical questions occurred to me. I was passing the Ardmore store and Ryan was very helpful in answering a question about optional speaker placement. I also called the Worldwide customer helpdesk a couple of times -- as I said, I am pretty new to this -- and was assisted by the very helpful and knowledgeable Ira. It struck me as a sign of a great business that Ira appeared as excited by my home-made back boxes as me, and genuinely exuded a passion for making customers' listening experience as pleasurable as possible, without needing to break the bank. Well done...

I first came to World Wide Stereo in 2017 to upgrade the AV gear in my home. At the time I did not want to spend too much money but wanted to improve both the viewing and listening experience of music and movies. I went into the Montgomeryville store where Shawn serviced me, he took the time to compare different audio systems, TVs, etc. He came out to my home before I bought anything to look at the space and he helped me decide on what to get that would fit well within the boundaries of my home and budget. World Wide Stereo installed it all, tuned it all up and they did a very, very, very professional job. Little details like labelling every cable comes in handy later when you change your system in any way.

Moving forward to July 2020, I came back to World Wide Stereo. This time to select A/V gear for my Florida home. I was concerned because I thought I might be better off using someone local in FL, but was not happy after an experience with a firm coming out to my home and then attempting to price gouge me. Shawn looked at pictures of the house, listened to what I wanted and even FaceTimed with me to get a good idea of the space.

The gear I wanted for the FL home I wanted to go higher end on and I was prepared to spend more. But I was more apprehensive because of the higher ticket price and that I would be installing myself and I am not an Audiophile.

To cut the rest of the story short, again Shawn and the team helped make sure I got the right gear, and went install time came, Shawn and an engineer were on a FaceTime with me to dial everything in. I installed an 85" TV, front speakers, side speakers, sub-woofer, and 6 speakers in the ceiling.

The sound and picture quality is amazing! I prefer it over going out to a movie theatre. The only problem is that my family now all want to come to my house to watch a movie because of the amazing experience. You can hear all the sounds you miss that make the listening experience worth it!

It was very enjoyable to work with Shawn and World Wide Stereo. Very caring. Very knowledgeable. And the service continued even after the system was paid for. They took their service all the way to final install and a...