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The White Van Speaker Thread To Warn The Unsuspecting

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goraman

goraman

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The idea here is to post names and pictures of white van speakers, to help others identefy this junk. White van speakers have been sold by con men in you geussed it white vans often claiming to have an extra order of $2,000 or $3,000 doller speakers for cheap before they return back to the store .unsuspecting buyers get pure junk paying much more than there worth.
Please post pics of white van speakers and tell your white van story.
 
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We had one preying on the poor bastards walking out of Best Buy a year ago. They didn't bother with me. I don't look like their demographic.
 
When I went to the bank last week, the branch manager went out to the parking lot to tell a guy in a truck w/ canopy to quit bothering customers - apparently he had just moved to the area and had a great deal on a stereo....
 
Saved by HPMs

goraman said:
The idea here is to post names and pictures of white van speakers, to help others identefy this junk. White van speakers have been sold by con men in you geussed it white vans often claiming to have an extra order of $2,000 or $3,000 doller speakers for cheap before they return back to the store .unsuspecting buyers get pure junk paying much more than there worth.
Please post pics of white van speakers and tell your white van story.
Click to expand...

The guy that used to date my sister-in-law has a set, still in the box, waiting to be installed. I knew right away when I looked at them that they were White Van speakers, but I didn't have the heart to tell him. He fell for the pitch and paid hundreds for them.

He's not dating my SIL any longer but we see each other from time to time. I'll try to at least get a brand name. I'll bet they're still in the box too. We gave him a DVD player for Christmas 2006 that was still unopened last August. He's really, really not into technology!

Lastly - the online classifieds around here are full of them. The popular brand names are Divinci and Hauffman. I write to these guys asking pointed questions just to make them squirm and they almost always direct me to BS websites to go along with the phony speakers.

For the record, I was approached in a McDonald's parking lot about 20 years ago by two guys selling speakers from the back of a van. It was a textbook example of the scam. I didn't fall for it because I had a relatively new set of HPM-100s at home and had no urge to replace them. I still have 'em too, twenty years later!
 
Audioline.
Techwood.
Theater Research
Dogg Digital(thanks,EW)
Genesis(not the vintage company or the modern high end brand)

Along with the names already mentioned.
Jimmy
 
I was never netted into one of these scams, though I was quite shocked to hear that some of them were going on right in my backyard (I live in Chesterfield, MI), just over a mile from my house. The brand around here is Genesis Media Labs, though we've had a few of the others (no Doggs that I know of, though). I saw this report in a consumer website devoted to this scandal. You can read about instances of this scandal in your own locality here.

I was curious after reading this, so I searched for GML stuff and came upon this. I just had to laugh. Let me quote for you some of the more outrageous claims:

"People, who know sound, know Genesis Media Labs. It's a name that commands respect. Genesis Media Lab speakers are ranked among the finest in the world. Genesis has pioneered many internationally acclaimed innovations. No other manufacturer has done more to advance the art of digital loudspeaker engineering. Cutting edge professionals are launching digital loudspeakers and the element is Genesis Media Labs. Professional technology and only the highest quality speaker components are used. Making great speakers is an art, much the same as a live concert performance."

Atrocious grammar aside (read the first sentence and cringe), this is the most misleading and just plain inaccurate drek I have seen in a long while (and I have a strong interest in politics!). Some of it doesn't even make sense--"...and the element is Genesis Media Labs." What the hell does this even mean? Here's the tell-tale "buzzword bingo" for you: "digital loudspeaker." It's a shame that, in this day and age, unsophisticated buyers would not even be phased by that phrase. What makes a loudspeaker digital? A loudspeaker, by definition, is analog in nature.

But it goes on:

"Genesis Media Labs standard policy is to never be satisfied. The customer is #1! We attract more and more satisfied customers by providing them with quality products, reasonable prices, and excellent customer service. We are always striving to improve our products and service.

To see more about this product visit the manufacturer's website at: www.genesismedialabs.com

BRING THE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE HOME!"

Really? Excellent customer service, eh? The kind that ceases to exist when the customers figure out it's a scam. Reasonable prices? Yeah, as per the scam. Pawn off a $50 set of speakers for a "deal" price of $700.00, collect $650.00 in profits and irreparably damage the reputation of the genuine boutique loudspeaker market in the minds of the general, unsophisticated consumer base. Sounds like a great deal to me....

I also love the glossy, fake periodical references posted on the page. One of them refers to a feature called a "digital audio impute." They even try to appeal to those patriots among us with what looks like a "Made In USA" stamp in the lower left hand corner.

This sort of thing just disgusts me, frankly. Curious as I am to see, as fellow AK'ers have wondered, if the drivers used in these could be halfway serviceable with a decent crossover, I for one will not perpetuate this scam even so far as to pick up a set for cheap at a pawn shop or Goodwill somewhere. I don't know if this qualifies as a White Van story as per the OP's request, but here's my $.02.

Regards,
Squonk

P.S. How dare they drag through the mud the name of my favorite band of all time, to boot! Peter Gabriel would be rolling in his grave, except that he's not dead yet. Let's just hope his studio is not one of the ones "...launching digital loudspeakers..." unless it's with a trebuchet.
 
I see Streehm speakers on eBay all the time. I don't know their authenticity, but the speakerss have a cheap price and look for what they are sold as. I always look for "MDS" as a red flag.
Metallic Driver Syndrome.
Mike
 
SDAT Speakers

I have looked at these speakers on Overstock.com and thought that they were White Van material.
I've googled them and can't find out who makes them.
Does any one know anything about them?
 
Saw the white van at Future Shop last month. trying to sell a pair of Davici Speakers. Box had a $2,000.00 price tag on it.
I laughed at the guys and then went to my cousin's for dinner.
Guess what he was proudly hooking up?
Of course by the time we got back to the parking lot they were long gone.
 
I bought a pair at a garage sale, they looked good, (Theater Research) or something like that. Got 'em home hooked 'em up and kicked them to the curb.

I paid 20 bucks and learned my lesson.
 
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