Mr Droo
Registered
Electric Avenues - “Amplirider†Triple input mixer and amplifier. What shall follow will be a review of the product and the customer service experience I had.
Let me preface this by giving a description of what I wanted to accomplish by starting this project. I wanted to listen to music, hear the directions from my GPS, and to hear the local fuzz through my Radar/Laser detector. It led me on a quest to find a relatively cheap alternative to the MixIt2 and StarCom setups that allow multiple inputs to be fed into one (or two) headsets/earphones. It also needed to be made specifically for motorcycle use to accommodate vibration and the elements (somewhat). That's a lot of expectation into one product!
I first decided to make my own cord (what a newbie!). I soldered a dual female 3.5mm stereo splitter into a single 3.5mm stereo jack. It worked for the most part, but in its function, it clearly reduced the audio output of both my music and radar/laser volume by about half. I used it at the Haya in the Hills 2011 event and decided it wasn't going to be around much longer. It ended up in the trashcan just inside the parking garage of my apartment complex as I strolled through with my armfuls of gear. No pic... it was atrocious, believe me.
The next iteration of this quest led me to a product made by Belkin called the “Belkin Rockstar.†I bought it at a local BestBuy for $15 and it was supposed to allow a bunch of iPods to listen to music at the same time. It says you can hook up more than one audio source and it'll scramble them all together for one or more headphones to hear. GREAT! Hmm.... Not so much. It, just as my homemade cord did, reduced overall volume by half. It was unsightly mounted under my mirror extender, which, my selection of available cords made it the only logical mounting location. As you see, it's white and neon green. I “colored†it with a sharpie marker and it looked even worse coming out of the package.
I grew tired of using this piece of junk and went googling... which brought on a whole slew of crap, but a needle in a haystack was uncovered. A sole owner, self-manufacturer, and customer service representative, all rolled into one person. Gary. Electricavenues.com This bloke from Canada devised several different electronic devices, in which one, made my lips curl and pulse surge. His motorcycle product is called the Amplirider. It comes in two forms. One with the volume knob attached to the amp another with the volume knob isolated from the amp. In anticipation of being let down, I emailed him a million and one questions. As I lay playing some Call of Duty – Black Ops, ten minutes after firing off the initial email like a devastating missile, Gary emails back answers to my questions. What? Huh? Already? YES A hand-built, triple input, single output, made for motorcycles, volume amplifying, small form factor.... YEEEEESSSS! ...all for $58 shipped...
I promptly sent money via PayPal and Gary emailed me saying he received the money and would send MY Amplirider with its own serial number in a few days. When he builds an amp, he posts its serial number on his website, along with your name. So cool! Nine business days go by and it arrives in the mail with a personalized note.
I buy a bunch of wires, relay, connections....
I take a bunch of things off the bike, namely the dash panels and windscreen.
Installation goes almost as planned. I get it all hooked up. Power to everything. Audio cords ran and placed out of the way.
I turned the bike on with everything ready to rock-n-roll; however, no sound coming from the Radar/Laser detector.... WTH? Unplug the STEREO jack and restart the detector.... Still no sound... WTH? I listen to the audio coming through and it's loud as hell and rockin! I go inside and start searching my issue. Apparently, I was unaware Escort 9500ix radars REQUIRE a mono input jack and a ground loop isolator. Uh... nowhere in the manual does it indicate that. Well, I find out that the instant in hooked up the radar with the stereo input without a ground loop isolator... inline with an amplifier, I fried the audio chip on my detector. Fried. Like bacon.
A bill of $125 plus shipping to get it fixed. I let Gary know what happened and he offered to pay half of my repair bill (which I thought about it for a few days and said it was up to him). He decided he would paypal half of the repair bill back to me (which was more than the amp cost initially). He also sent me (for free) a handmade ground loop isolator with a mono jack on one end and a stereo jack on the other. I was having issue with the wires of the amp coming out of the front next to the volume knob, so he sent out (for free) another face plate without the hole for the wires, so I could relocate the wires out the back.
I received my detector back and Gary's cord and face plate two weeks later.
So, hooking everything back up and again anticipating something else going awry, I turned the key on BB's ignition and heard my detector, music, and GPS singing all at once!!!!!
Immediately I took a ride through areas known to be populated by the local PD. All is well with the world. My journey is over. The only thing now is to enjoy what I've done in the last few weeks of this year.
'Yall, it has been truly a great customer service experience with Gary. Even if I had zero problems getting it all to work the first time around, his attention to detail in returning thoughtful emails and his talent in making his products is not common in today's world. Here's a handshake Gary. Thank you.
Electric Avenues
Gary@Electric-Avenues.com
Let me preface this by giving a description of what I wanted to accomplish by starting this project. I wanted to listen to music, hear the directions from my GPS, and to hear the local fuzz through my Radar/Laser detector. It led me on a quest to find a relatively cheap alternative to the MixIt2 and StarCom setups that allow multiple inputs to be fed into one (or two) headsets/earphones. It also needed to be made specifically for motorcycle use to accommodate vibration and the elements (somewhat). That's a lot of expectation into one product!
I first decided to make my own cord (what a newbie!). I soldered a dual female 3.5mm stereo splitter into a single 3.5mm stereo jack. It worked for the most part, but in its function, it clearly reduced the audio output of both my music and radar/laser volume by about half. I used it at the Haya in the Hills 2011 event and decided it wasn't going to be around much longer. It ended up in the trashcan just inside the parking garage of my apartment complex as I strolled through with my armfuls of gear. No pic... it was atrocious, believe me.
The next iteration of this quest led me to a product made by Belkin called the “Belkin Rockstar.†I bought it at a local BestBuy for $15 and it was supposed to allow a bunch of iPods to listen to music at the same time. It says you can hook up more than one audio source and it'll scramble them all together for one or more headphones to hear. GREAT! Hmm.... Not so much. It, just as my homemade cord did, reduced overall volume by half. It was unsightly mounted under my mirror extender, which, my selection of available cords made it the only logical mounting location. As you see, it's white and neon green. I “colored†it with a sharpie marker and it looked even worse coming out of the package.
I grew tired of using this piece of junk and went googling... which brought on a whole slew of crap, but a needle in a haystack was uncovered. A sole owner, self-manufacturer, and customer service representative, all rolled into one person. Gary. Electricavenues.com This bloke from Canada devised several different electronic devices, in which one, made my lips curl and pulse surge. His motorcycle product is called the Amplirider. It comes in two forms. One with the volume knob attached to the amp another with the volume knob isolated from the amp. In anticipation of being let down, I emailed him a million and one questions. As I lay playing some Call of Duty – Black Ops, ten minutes after firing off the initial email like a devastating missile, Gary emails back answers to my questions. What? Huh? Already? YES A hand-built, triple input, single output, made for motorcycles, volume amplifying, small form factor.... YEEEEESSSS! ...all for $58 shipped...
I promptly sent money via PayPal and Gary emailed me saying he received the money and would send MY Amplirider with its own serial number in a few days. When he builds an amp, he posts its serial number on his website, along with your name. So cool! Nine business days go by and it arrives in the mail with a personalized note.
I buy a bunch of wires, relay, connections....
I take a bunch of things off the bike, namely the dash panels and windscreen.
Installation goes almost as planned. I get it all hooked up. Power to everything. Audio cords ran and placed out of the way.
I turned the bike on with everything ready to rock-n-roll; however, no sound coming from the Radar/Laser detector.... WTH? Unplug the STEREO jack and restart the detector.... Still no sound... WTH? I listen to the audio coming through and it's loud as hell and rockin! I go inside and start searching my issue. Apparently, I was unaware Escort 9500ix radars REQUIRE a mono input jack and a ground loop isolator. Uh... nowhere in the manual does it indicate that. Well, I find out that the instant in hooked up the radar with the stereo input without a ground loop isolator... inline with an amplifier, I fried the audio chip on my detector. Fried. Like bacon.
A bill of $125 plus shipping to get it fixed. I let Gary know what happened and he offered to pay half of my repair bill (which I thought about it for a few days and said it was up to him). He decided he would paypal half of the repair bill back to me (which was more than the amp cost initially). He also sent me (for free) a handmade ground loop isolator with a mono jack on one end and a stereo jack on the other. I was having issue with the wires of the amp coming out of the front next to the volume knob, so he sent out (for free) another face plate without the hole for the wires, so I could relocate the wires out the back.
I received my detector back and Gary's cord and face plate two weeks later.
So, hooking everything back up and again anticipating something else going awry, I turned the key on BB's ignition and heard my detector, music, and GPS singing all at once!!!!!
Immediately I took a ride through areas known to be populated by the local PD. All is well with the world. My journey is over. The only thing now is to enjoy what I've done in the last few weeks of this year.
'Yall, it has been truly a great customer service experience with Gary. Even if I had zero problems getting it all to work the first time around, his attention to detail in returning thoughtful emails and his talent in making his products is not common in today's world. Here's a handshake Gary. Thank you.
Electric Avenues
Gary@Electric-Avenues.com
