PSA: Don't buy speakers out of a White Van / other vehicle

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Fireman

Golden Member
May 18, 2000
1,269
0
0
Home Theater Magazine actually did a write up on these. One of the reviewers was approached by some guys in a white van etc. etc.
They gave them a full review with photos, pulled the guts and all.
They said they actualy played pretty loud, but the quality was garbage of course. And the guts were all el-cheapo stuff. Funny review though.
 

cubby1223

Lifer
May 24, 2004
13,518
42
86
I ran into one of these guys 8 or 9 years ago outside of a Best Buy. I didn't even give it a second thought and walked away as quickly as I could. They are still around?
 

Slick5150

Diamond Member
Nov 10, 2001
8,760
3
81
I bought some Dynalab (white van) speakers from a guy on Craigslist for $20 just out of curiosity. I asked him, "So, did you but these from guys in a white van by any chance?" and he just laughed and said yeah, won't fall for that one again. He had paid $250 for them.

For the $20 I paid, I'm happy enough though. I stuck them in my basement where I just needed something loud that would thump, and they do that. Had I paid $200, or wanted them for clear home theater sound, I'd be pretty pissed.
 

jtvang125

Diamond Member
Nov 10, 2004
5,399
51
91
I was browsing through the home theater section on recycler.com and there's a bunch of people trying to sell their white van speakers near msrp value. I don't know if they're trying to make a quick buck by buying them and selling them at those outrageous prices or did they really get scammed into paying almost msrp prices for them. They were mostly women too.
 

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
94,668
14,929
126
This is a global event. I have met them in Canada, US and Taiwan! Do I have sucker written all over the back of the car?
 

CrystalBay

Platinum Member
Apr 2, 2002
2,175
1
0
This is so funny, because I was approached by the white van speaker scam... This happened in Riverside county about 3-4 years ago. I felt like reporting the vehicle license , but didn't... The guy says you wanna good deal on some killer speakers....I said nah....This happened by a Tweeters store...
 

ultimatebob

Lifer
Jul 1, 2001
25,135
2,445
126
How bad ARE these things, anyway? If I could get them for say... $50, would they be worth it then?
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,203
45
91
Originally posted by: ultimatebob
How bad ARE these things, anyway? If I could get them for say... $50, would they be worth it then?

You can get a pretty nice set of bookshelf speakers for that much (Insignias B2111 from BB have been in that range).

They should outperform anything these guys are making across the country based on what I know about them.

If you're talking about a 5.1 set, you can get a decent 5.1 set with receiver for ~$160 refurbished from Onkyo for a nice starter system.
 

Nocturnal

Lifer
Jan 8, 2002
18,927
0
76
Quick question, is it a stupid idea to buy a cd/mp3 deck off eBay? I notice A LOT of the sellers offer the warranty through them and not through say Alpine. I've heard that these are grey market items or possibly even stolen. Is there any truth to that and what should one look for when wanting to purchase a deck off eBay?
 

jtvang125

Diamond Member
Nov 10, 2004
5,399
51
91
Originally posted by: Nocturnal
Quick question, is it a stupid idea to buy a cd/mp3 deck off eBay? I notice A LOT of the sellers offer the warranty through them and not through say Alpine. I've heard that these are grey market items or possibly even stolen. Is there any truth to that and what should one look for when wanting to purchase a deck off eBay?

It could be a grey market unit but mostly likely it's because most companies will not warranty their product if you did not buy them from an authorized dealer. I know for sure Alpine is one such company.
 

Blain

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
23,643
3
81
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Don?t buy speakers out of a White Van / other vehicle
(or the same type people sell on ebay)
If I buy through a forum or ebay, how can I know what type of vehicle delivered the speakers? :roll:

 

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
94,668
14,929
126
Originally posted by: SilthDraeth
IS it possible to add Bose speakers to the white van scam list?

nope, they don't drive them around. They run a higher level scam. The suckers, I mean customers, go to them.
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,203
45
91
Originally posted by: Blain
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Don?t buy speakers out of a White Van / other vehicle
(or the same type people sell on ebay)
If I buy through a forum or ebay, how can I know what type of vehicle delivered the speakers? :roll:

I guess you have me there? :confused:
 

coolpurplefan

Golden Member
Mar 2, 2006
1,243
0
0
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: SilthDraeth
IS it possible to add Bose speakers to the white van scam list?</end quote></div>

I tried out some Bose computer speakers at a local store and was not impressed. I was trying to be nice and polite to the guy in the store about it, but I couldn' t bring myself to tell him I liked the speakers. Usually, if a salesman takes the time to set up speakers for you to let you hear them I'd like to say something positive or whatever, but I just didn't like those speakers.

I have a pair of JBL Duet speakers now. But, I bought them on eBay knowing full well they are remanufactured speakers. I heard remanufactured Klipsch speakers are good but the JBL remanufactured make a little scratchy noise sometimes when I turn the volume button.

I still left a positive response on the eBay seller because I still like the sound. It practically lifted me out of a depression (exaggerating). I was kind of disturbed and annoyed by my really puny 3 watt speakers from Altec Lansing. The JBL Duet 12 watts really solved that problem because some movies I downloaded had low sound. Now I can hear them and the voices sound acceptable too. People sound normal and I like it. :)

February 20, 2014 EDIT: I've had Creative T12 speakers for a while now which I consider slightly better than Creative T20 speakers. I'd like to try Tannoy Reveal 402 or 502 but haven't yet. For whatever reason, I couldn't really hear much of a difference between a sound card and on-board sound. But I didn't try in games.
 
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YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,203
45
91
May be that there's some dust in the volume knob that you could remove by turning the control all the way up and down several times in a row. It's worked for me on a few sets that I've tried it on (although not that model).
 

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
6
76
oh wow... it didn't even occur to me they were trying to scam me with cheap speakers.. I simply said no cause I thought they were STOLEN 3000$ speakers offered to me at 200$, and I did not want to buy stolen goods. (maybe I would have noticed the scam if I actually bothered examining the speakers instead of refusing outright)

Then again, if I didn't think they were stolen, I would have thought they were scamming.
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,203
45
91
Originally posted by: taltamir
oh wow... it didn't even occur to me they were trying to scam me with cheap speakers.. I simply said no cause I thought they were STOLEN 3000$ speakers offered to me at 200$, and I did not want to buy stolen goods.

Then again, if I didn't think they were stolen, I would have thought they were scamming.

Good work on not buying them :)
 

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
6
76
heh. This reminds me the first ever phishing email I received (and I have NEVER heard of the concept before, that was way back then)...
I sent a reply "excuse me sir, but the phone number you provided does not work, furthermore, the law firm you claim to be from is actually a construction firm, and my mother informs me that we have no rich relatives who live/d in South Africa"
Sadly I did not receive a response, or my millions of dollars in inheritance money. ;P

Oh, the white van guys gave me the following story:
"We were picking up some high end speakers from our supplier for a job, and he gave us two extra by accident, we have to go straight back to work or our boss will fire us, but if we show up with two extra speakers he will take them for himself, so how about you buy them, dirt cheap, so could at least get something out of this".
 

BassBomb

Diamond Member
Nov 25, 2005
8,396
1
81
Someone tried to sell my speakers near my Tim Horton's which I visited with friends while at lunch at High School.

I drove there and was waiting in car for my friend and they crossed the plaza to me and tried to sell me 4000$ speakers for 1000$ (I had never had a job in my life up to that moment) I told him I don't have that kind of money, I'm still in school. And I was ready to leave.

Then he was like WAIT A MINUTE, shouldnt you be in school? get the f out of here.

Once my friend got out of the store we went back to school
 

montypythizzle

Diamond Member
Nov 12, 2006
3,699
0
71
I got some awesome Clipsch speakers and they were a steal at $150 for the whole 5.1 system, even came with 18g Monstir speaker wire.

If you guys want some I will go to my dealer in his champagne colored van tomorrow.
 

CasioTech

Diamond Member
Oct 1, 2000
7,157
9
0
I get these losers bothering me 3 or 4 times a year.

same story, extra set of 4g speakers, need to sell for beer money.

this time they had a pickup so I said

"hey shouldn't you guys be in a white van?!"
DRIVER: laughing his ass off
PASSENGER: naw dog I got awesome system
"let me guess, left over four thousand dollar system, selling for just enough money to hit up a strip club, right?!!!!"
DRIVER: laughing his ass off
PASSENGER: laughing his ass off
DRIVER: take care dawg! *hauled ass.

 

Soundmanred

Lifer
Oct 26, 2006
10,784
6
81
Originally posted by: CasioTech
I get these losers bothering me 3 or 4 times a year.

same story, extra set of 4g speakers, need to sell for beer money.

this time they had a pickup so I said

"hey shouldn't you guys be in a white van?!"
DRIVER: laughing his ass off
PASSENGER: naw dog I got awesome system
"let me guess, left over four thousand dollar system, selling for just enough money to hit up a strip club, right?!!!!"
DRIVER: laughing his ass off
PASSENGER: laughing his ass off
DRIVER: take care dawg! *hauled ass.

Another awesome and most likely untrue story from the master.