I remember a year or two back, there were several threads circulating the various forums about 2 guys who traveled around in a white van, stopping people in parking lots and on streets trying to sell them what seemed to be an awesome set of speakers at an unbelieveable price.
Well, I just wanted to let everyone know that I was just approached tonight in an almost identical manner. In all honesty, I looked these things over with a fine tooth comb and they DID seem to be very nice. The midranges were kevlar cones, silk tweeter, and they had 10" nomex coned subwoofers built in. If these things looked good to me, they would look good to ANYONE. So just becarefull out there. Even if you do think they are nice, convince them to come with you to your house and let you demo them out first
Well, I just wanted to let everyone know that I was just approached tonight in an almost identical manner. In all honesty, I looked these things over with a fine tooth comb and they DID seem to be very nice. The midranges were kevlar cones, silk tweeter, and they had 10" nomex coned subwoofers built in. If these things looked good to me, they would look good to ANYONE. So just becarefull out there. Even if you do think they are nice, convince them to come with you to your house and let you demo them out first
Maybe the White Van Boys have expanded to include closeouts of quality manufacturers among their normal cheapies.
I once saw a discount closeout style catalog with some speakers that were reviewed in glossy magazines the previous year for $1500 selling for $125 a pair. they were by a well-known company.
Perhaps the White Vans will pick up a closeout if it is cheap enough, so quality goods can sneak into the picture.
I once saw a discount closeout style catalog with some speakers that were reviewed in glossy magazines the previous year for $1500 selling for $125 a pair. they were by a well-known company.
Perhaps the White Vans will pick up a closeout if it is cheap enough, so quality goods can sneak into the picture.
Some guys in a white van flagged me down in the summer of 1997 in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and tried to sell me some thousand dollar speakers at 90% off.... I never looked at them, and suspected they were stolen. I told them I had a nice full system at home with no room for more equipment (a complete lie). I thought of calling the police to report the attempted sale of stolen goods, but decided to just let it drop. 
Until 5 minutse ago, I thought it was a fairly isolated attempt to fence stolen goods. Now I'm curious....
Until 5 minutse ago, I thought it was a fairly isolated attempt to fence stolen goods. Now I'm curious....
Hi
I was approached in South Kensington last year by some guys offering to sell me speakers out of a white van. Ironically, I was on my way to buy some luch having worked with a Martin Audio / Crown based PA all morning. I decided not to mention this and politely refused. I wonder if they saw my drama tech crew T-shirt?
Anyway, unfortunately one of my friends was taken in by the scam and bought a pair of speakers for £200. They stopped him right outside a cash machine! I examined the speakers and they had very poor build quality - the cases were made of thin chipboard covered in cheap veneer. When I took one of the cones out, it had a pressed chassis and a tiny magnet assembly. Only the tweeter and midrange drivers had crossovers, which I think were first order and made of small, cheap looking components.
Their brand was BSS Audio, which we later dubbed bulls*it sound! They had a very high power rating given the size of the drivers. According to my friend, the guy was very convincing, and even went so far as to hook one of the units up to his van's radio tuner as a 'listening test'.
I felt very sorry for my friend, as he had been saving up to upgrade his HI-FI and thought that this was a great deal. Fortunately, the uni ran an artice on the front page of our paper to warn people about the scam. Here is another article I just found, which describes the incident very well:
http://www.londonstudent.org.uk/12issue/news/leadingnews.htm
See ya,
Tim.
I was approached in South Kensington last year by some guys offering to sell me speakers out of a white van. Ironically, I was on my way to buy some luch having worked with a Martin Audio / Crown based PA all morning. I decided not to mention this and politely refused. I wonder if they saw my drama tech crew T-shirt?
Anyway, unfortunately one of my friends was taken in by the scam and bought a pair of speakers for £200. They stopped him right outside a cash machine! I examined the speakers and they had very poor build quality - the cases were made of thin chipboard covered in cheap veneer. When I took one of the cones out, it had a pressed chassis and a tiny magnet assembly. Only the tweeter and midrange drivers had crossovers, which I think were first order and made of small, cheap looking components.
Their brand was BSS Audio, which we later dubbed bulls*it sound! They had a very high power rating given the size of the drivers. According to my friend, the guy was very convincing, and even went so far as to hook one of the units up to his van's radio tuner as a 'listening test'.
I felt very sorry for my friend, as he had been saving up to upgrade his HI-FI and thought that this was a great deal. Fortunately, the uni ran an artice on the front page of our paper to warn people about the scam. Here is another article I just found, which describes the incident very well:
http://www.londonstudent.org.uk/12issue/news/leadingnews.htm
See ya,
Tim.
why must they use white vans??? hmmm...pretty funny...I guess they have a group or something and they all go out to get some cheapie speakers or steal some and try to sell them....hope they get caught...it sucks...luckily I dun see that happenning here...we only have magic stones and miracle medicines...which I dun fall for...only those old ladies...
They only want you to think they are stolen - and therefor you are getting a good buy. First rule of the con is to appeal to the mark's greed.
In the end, you get exactly what you deserve. A crappy set of speakers that cost you twice what they should because you were willing to buy stolen property.
(What me bitter? after having had my gear stolen too many times, I am so happy when I hear about people being burned. If people would not buy stolen things, less things would be stolen. )
In the end, you get exactly what you deserve. A crappy set of speakers that cost you twice what they should because you were willing to buy stolen property.
(What me bitter? after having had my gear stolen too many times, I am so happy when I hear about people being burned. If people would not buy stolen things, less things would be stolen. )
li_gangyi said:
Well, I doubt that they buy the white vans in a group anyway. Too many differences in safety and emission requirements between nations. Some years ago, I read of an American who came across a great deal on a new Alfa-Romeo in Italy. He had it shipped to the USA. When he tried to register it here, he found that the modificatons necessary to put the car on the street in America would double the price of the car. Some great deal, LOL.
As far as working together in a group to buy the speakers-well, I would think there is somebody somewhere making these things and he sort of "franchises". That's my bet. If the individual "franchisees" come across legit close-outs, (which can be very, very cheap), they might add that to their van's stock.
If the individual "franchisees" come across some not-so-legit deals? Well, use your imagination.
I have lost things from locked cars sitting not 10 feet from my bedroom window. From inside my locked house. I had a buddy whose Classe and CJ system got stolen last year. Not an insignificant amount of money. And given thier production numbers, they might show up sometime or another when someone wants to get them fixed.
I had insurance on most of it - but it still did not make up for the hassle of getting it replaced (which was not even possible in some cases).
I had insurance on most of it - but it still did not make up for the hassle of getting it replaced (which was not even possible in some cases).
Here are a pair that look identical to the ones my friend bought, for sale on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3059324221&category=14993
See ya,
Tim.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3059324221&category=14993
See ya,
Tim.
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