Not necesarily true, if this guy is installing it all himself he can get a pretty adequate system for $800... I built mine from the ground up... 250 for top of the line pioneer deck... $120 for nice clarion components up front... 100 for 5'1/4's in the back.... 175 for a 600 watt kenwood amp for the subs, and 200 for two rockford HE2 tens... I built the box myself (saved 100) and bought all the wiring kits and etc from different suppliers online... all in all install costs were under $75 and thats only because i bought top of the line wiring ( Why do it half a-- the first time and have to COM do it all over again later on, do it right the first time and when you upgrade components you wont have to rewire.) Install costs are really what kill you... If you have a nice ride get to know the owner at a small car audio shop, if its nice enough they might say "hey if you throw our sticker on there we will install it all for free and give you a nice deal" i have had a friend who had that done with his truck he has only $1200 in his system and he's winning SPL comps. If you want it bad enough you can get it... CHECK thezeb.com for crazy deals on car audio check the specials section, its crazy stuff. If I can be of any more help let me know!