I have read a lot about "white van" speakers, and always wondered what would happen if I was ever approached.
Well one day a couple of years ago it happened!
I was about to leave the parking lot of the local supermarket, when I heard the words "Hey Dude, wanna buy some speakers?"
There behind me was the infamous white van, loaded full with speakers.
I got the standard talk "just come back from a job site, customer didn't want all the speakers, boss will kill me...etc"
Now for some background. I have been involved in speaker design for over 30 years. I was chief engineer at KEF, then Infinity, now at TAD.
At the time of the white van event, I was on my way to a party to meet up with a past president of the Audio Engineering Society and also Tom Hollman from THX.
Perfect timing. So now for some fun........
So I asked for the guy to tell me all about them.
After the usual nonsense talk, I said "Now let me tell you about speakers"
I had just received a review in Absolute Sound of my TAD Model 1 speakers, so I pulled the magazine out of the car, flipped open to the relevent pages (now dog-eared from showing them to anyone I could accost
) and said "Now this is a speaker"
I give him credit. He said " so you don't want to buy one of these then?" after which he jumped in the van and took off rather quickly.
That made my day, and of course was a great conversation piece at the party
Andrew
Well one day a couple of years ago it happened!
I was about to leave the parking lot of the local supermarket, when I heard the words "Hey Dude, wanna buy some speakers?"
There behind me was the infamous white van, loaded full with speakers.
I got the standard talk "just come back from a job site, customer didn't want all the speakers, boss will kill me...etc"
Now for some background. I have been involved in speaker design for over 30 years. I was chief engineer at KEF, then Infinity, now at TAD.
At the time of the white van event, I was on my way to a party to meet up with a past president of the Audio Engineering Society and also Tom Hollman from THX.
Perfect timing. So now for some fun........
So I asked for the guy to tell me all about them.
After the usual nonsense talk, I said "Now let me tell you about speakers"
I had just received a review in Absolute Sound of my TAD Model 1 speakers, so I pulled the magazine out of the car, flipped open to the relevent pages (now dog-eared from showing them to anyone I could accost
) and said "Now this is a speaker"I give him credit. He said " so you don't want to buy one of these then?" after which he jumped in the van and took off rather quickly.
That made my day, and of course was a great conversation piece at the party
Andrew
LOL! I love reading this stuff,the measurments of the Bose radios are also good..
I was walking into the auto-parts store one day and a guy asked me if I wanted some speakers,said he had them in the back of his van..sure enough a van parked across the lot..
I laughed and said no-thanks.. I didn't think the "white vans" were still around..
I was walking into the auto-parts store one day and a guy asked me if I wanted some speakers,said he had them in the back of his van..sure enough a van parked across the lot..
I laughed and said no-thanks.. I didn't think the "white vans" were still around..
White vans are everywhere. Last time I was accosted was a couple of months ago by a white van (yes white) at the gas station. He started at $1500 but because I looked like a smart guy he thought I'd know that was the MSRP and that he could do it for half that. I guess I had a bit of a smirk on my face and he asked why. I said I couldn't believe you guys still drove white vans. Well, I guess he was new to the business and looked kind of stunned. I thanked for his time.
That particular article goes back a bit. Here it is from this site:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30513&highlight=
That particular article goes back a bit. Here it is from this site:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30513&highlight=
I'm actually going to be biking around quite a bit this summer with a small, decent-quality amplifier. (Likely a Gainclone, if I can ever get one of the bloody things to work.) I also will have a laptop, a microphone, and a multimeter. (I'm going to be looking for speakers at garage sales for my boss, so I'll be needing it anyway.)
Also, I'll have a cell phone, so that once I've proven their claims as BS, I can report them to the authorities.
Being a geek is sweet.
Also, I'll have a cell phone, so that once I've proven their claims as BS, I can report them to the authorities.
Being a geek is sweet.
If you ever want to see what retail white van speakers look like check out Nuance if you're in Canada... Very shady operation. Same kind of deal as the above almost, they charge ludicrous prices $5000-10,000 and then if you don't 'jump' at buying them because they're 'so' amazing they slash the price by 40-50% to make you think you're getting the deal of the century. they have a website with zero pictures of there speakers, and good luck trying to get any specs out of them other than "all our speakers are 6 ohms, have a sensitiviy of 90-92db, and are between 80-150 watts in terms of power handling."
A side note, this company 'Nuance' has actually threatened legal action against certain audio mags wanting to do reviews of their products, and barred audio journalists from viewing their rooms at audio expo's etc.... Bose x a billion^2. It's a shame too, because they're robbing business from the many legit and excellent canadian speaker companies.
/end rant.
Tristan:
A side note, this company 'Nuance' has actually threatened legal action against certain audio mags wanting to do reviews of their products, and barred audio journalists from viewing their rooms at audio expo's etc.... Bose x a billion^2. It's a shame too, because they're robbing business from the many legit and excellent canadian speaker companies.
/end rant.
Tristan:
I thought the whole "white van" hoax speaker sales was happily a thing of the past.. I'm quite surprised to hear that this old confidence racket is still running..
Something like 24 yrs ago I was acosted by a fellow in a white van at a local mall a day or two after spending relatively big bucks for a pair of AR 58S. I asked him what he had, and of course in those days spkrs sold out of these vans weren't made in China..
I think he was selling "EPE" speakers, apparently a knock off of the then well known EPI. (They still exist up in Newburyport, they just don't make speakers anymore.. ) I just laughed and said I didn't need any speakers, wouldn't buy out of the back of a van at any price, and you'd still be amazed at how quickly the price fell. I just walked away..
About a week later one of my room mates fell for the scam, and bought a pair - he wasn't the most honest fellow on the block, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. They sounded just awful, and I had the unenviable task of explaining to him that EPI and EPE were not one and the same company.. IIRC this particular pair of knock offs were made in Taiwan, and actually had almost decent drivers in them. I put some acoustical fiberglass in them and that did seem to help a little. The boxes were very flimsy.
There are knock offs of B*se speakers floating around in the orient that actually outperform the originals apparently by a pretty big margin in some cases. Long ago I heard a pair of Royal Sound clones of the 301, surprisingly decent.
I'm quite surprised to hear that this old confidence racket is still running.. Something like 24 yrs ago I was acosted by a fellow in a white van at a local mall a day or two after spending relatively big bucks for a pair of AR 58S. I asked him what he had, and of course in those days spkrs sold out of these vans weren't made in China..
I think he was selling "EPE" speakers, apparently a knock off of the then well known EPI. (They still exist up in Newburyport, they just don't make speakers anymore.. ) I just laughed and said I didn't need any speakers, wouldn't buy out of the back of a van at any price, and you'd still be amazed at how quickly the price fell. I just walked away..
About a week later one of my room mates fell for the scam, and bought a pair - he wasn't the most honest fellow on the block, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. They sounded just awful, and I had the unenviable task of explaining to him that EPI and EPE were not one and the same company.. IIRC this particular pair of knock offs were made in Taiwan, and actually had almost decent drivers in them. I put some acoustical fiberglass in them and that did seem to help a little. The boxes were very flimsy.
There are knock offs of B*se speakers floating around in the orient that actually outperform the originals apparently by a pretty big margin in some cases. Long ago I heard a pair of Royal Sound clones of the 301, surprisingly decent.
If there's any moral that emerges here, it's not really so much "buyer beware" as perhaps that honesty often protects you from the dishonest. These are usually confidence scams that feed directly off of most peoples worst behavior. Like the ******* who tells you that he's trying to ferret ten million dollars of blood money out of some destitute and hungry third world nation, and would you be kind enough to help him for a cut of it. Sorry, but going along with this is probably even MORE slimy than the original scam! I mean, these guys aren't actually doing something this disgusting - they just want to profit off of anyone who actually wouldn't mind assisting in it.
The "white van" guys who approached me in Ann Arbor fifteen years ago gave me a story similar to the "excess from an installation" and that if they can sell them before showing up back at the warehouse, we'll both profit by this "off the books" transaction - wink wink.
Sounds harsh, but I really don't feel at all sorry for anyone that gets burned. There certainly are legitimate cases of consumer fraud, but for many like this one, the greedy will get what they deserve.
The "white van" guys who approached me in Ann Arbor fifteen years ago gave me a story similar to the "excess from an installation" and that if they can sell them before showing up back at the warehouse, we'll both profit by this "off the books" transaction - wink wink.
Sounds harsh, but I really don't feel at all sorry for anyone that gets burned. There certainly are legitimate cases of consumer fraud, but for many like this one, the greedy will get what they deserve.
Nicks said:Hi guys,
Just to add another story...
These "white van" guys work in sweden too.
I guess its a global market
Yes, it seems from previous threads they exist all over the world. However, I have only one story about someone encountering them here in Sweden. On the other hand, I have heard many stories of people using the same trick to sell suits here (although not from white vans, but ordinary cars).
Tenson said:
They are or where about in the UK.
I had a blue van pull up at the side of the road whilst I was walking home from Uni and two Irish blokes asked if I'd like to buy some speakers.
I hadn't even heard of the white van scams back then(2001) but I carried on walking and just said "no thanks!" My rule is never deal with anyone that comes to you offering something, always make the first move yourself and if pushed, tell them **** off. You should have seen me at a Market in Eygpt! God I hate that hardsell stuff.
Looking back now, I wish I'd entertained myself by taking a look at whatever junk they had in the back of the van.
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