Beware of White Van Speakers

cabron50

cabron50

Joined
Sep 5, 2005
Messages
273
I was headed into Best Buy yesterday with the intention of buying a couple recently released CDs. Before I made it to the door, I was approached by three shady characters driving a white cargo van. They told me that they were audio installers who had just came from a local recording studio where they had installed a few professional grade sound reproduction systems. The speaker company had sent too many speakers for the job and the extras had to be liquidated immediately, so they said. They would sell me the extra speakers at a deep discount. They opened the door to the van revealing several HTIB systems. They were made by a company called Divinci Sound and had some impressive specs printed on the box along with a UPC code that said "MSRP $1,800." They also had some glossy product catalogs from Divinci Sound explaining why theirs are the best speakers and HTIB systems ever. "Some guy just offered to give us a check for $400" said the head shady character "but we don't take checks. I could let you have them for less if you pay cash." Being a bit of an audio enthusiast, I knew that an HTIB has never been anywhere near a recording studio and that this had to be some kind of scam. I walked away. I returned home after my shopping and did some research on Divinci Sound. It is one of several brands pushed by con men known as "speakerguys" in a scam that always happens just as I described above. The HTIB probably costs the speakerguys about $50. If thay can get you for $300 or $400, it's a nice profit. Keep an eye out for these con men and don't get scammed.
 
They usually hit me up when I an at the ATM

It got so bad that one white mini van slowed down
The driver rolls down his window
I say , "NO I don't want to buy your POS 2 watt rated speakers"
"Speakers? Nah man...we got sneakers" And the van whizzed off

The story they usually tell me is
"They made a mistake at the warehouse and loaded up TOO many speakers"

LOL
SPEAKERGUYS?
That is a funny name for scammers
 
I was with my brother when scumbags like this approached us in a Target parking lot. My brother is a cop. He spotted them driving around while we were in the store and called the dispatch desk to have a car sent down. As we exited the store and walked across the parking lot they approached him with their 'surplus" speakers. He played along and had them pullinto a parkign spot. They did so nose first. The the squad car showed up and he identified himself as a police officer and had them exit the vehicle (the engine was off). He was carrying his off-duty weapon. They got nailed. An ID check revealed both were wanted for felony theft and fruad. Evidently they were hitting this lot 4 times a week but were gone by the time the cops got there. Not this time.
 
Yeah, when someone offers to sell you something at a great price because it's stolen, that's a tip off that you're facing bad news.
 
Well I must admit that I am the not so proud owner of a DiVinci speaker system and I would like to nut kick/fire the guys who ripped me off. It was a painful lesson learned!
 
"Old scams never die...they just... - well, they never die!" Had this pulled on me on a monthly basis at least 15 years ago. They'd even pull up next to me at a traffic light and give me their spiel. My response was always: "OK, let me get some cash. Pull over in that parking lot and I'll be back here in 20 minutes." At which point I was offered a selection of verbal profanities as the driver hit the gas and the van sped off. And yes, it was always a white van! Do these guys get a "fleet discount"? ;)
 
jawilder said:
Well I must admit that I am the not so proud owner of a DiVinci speaker system and I would like to nut kick/fire the guys who ripped me off. It was a painful lesson learned!
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At least you can laugh about it!!

What is the deal?
Does it sound DECENT?
Is it noisy (high signal-noise ratio)?

I always figured they just tampered/replaced (fraud) with the labels
So a 5 watt rated speaker all of a sudden became 200 watt speakers
 
The also open up a trunk at the Brewers Retail (only in Ontario, pity us) and say the same stuff, car stereo, speaker,
 
well the sound isn't bad. It's not Bose or Onkyo by any means, but... it's fair. They are tower speakers and after a month the "piano finish" base fell of of one speaker and now off all of them (happened in the move). It's loud enough with good base but when it's on Tuner and turned off, then you can still hear it on low. When you do turn it off, it comes on at half volume blasting you out of the house. I learned real quick to just mute it when not in use. All in all, I would really like to run in with these guys again!
 
Bushman5 said:
WHAT THE HECK, those guys (the van and speaker salesmen) hit BC a lot last year.
Click to expand...

Last year? This has been going on for decades. I used to work at the most well known A/V/software chain in the province, and they actually had the balls to come into the parking lot and try to hit people coming into our store. They would also hit us up when we were coming back from lunch if they didn't recognize us. The owner of the company was furious with these guys, for a while (about a 6 month stretch) they were showing up every day. They hit me and my friend, and we decided to do something about it. We told them to leave as this was private property to which their reply was "the parking lot is public, and we're staying here as long as we want to". To which my friend replied, "Okay, stay forever then", took their keys and dropped them down the drain.
When they threatened to call the cops, we called for them instead (just being helpful), and had them arrested for:
-loitering
-trespassing
-selling on private property without permits/owner's permission. The company owned the property, parking lot included, of every location he had a store at. Happened at two other stores before they got the hint.
The van sat for two weeks before we had it towed to the vacant lot next door. by the time it was picked up, it had been vandalized beyond repair.
 
Same thing been running in England for years. I've been approached with a pair of Acoustic Audio studio monitors. Ha!

Here's a list of mfks to watch for:

* Audiofile
* Acoustic Lab Technology
* Acoustic Monitor
* Acoustic Response (not to be confused with the company Acoustic Research, which involved the famous and respected Henry Kloss, who went on to found KLH and Cambridge Soundworks), Acoustic Image, Acoustic Lab Technology
* Blue Ridge Sound Engineering
* Canyon Audio (not to confused with Canary, these are basically the same as Theater Research)
* Denmark (not to be confused with Denon)
* Dogg Digital, Digital Dogg Audio (reportedly very popular on eBay)
* DCS Digital Audio (Logo looks similar the the DTS logo)
* Dahlton
* Dynalab (not to be confused with Dynamat)
* Divinci
* Divinci Audio
* Elite Audio (another Theater Research brand, less common)
* Epiphany
* Fluance (not the worst offender)
* Grafdale
* Digital Pro Audio, Pro Audio, Digital Audio, Digital Audio Professional Speaker Systems, Digital Audio Skyline Digital Research
* Epiphany Audio
* Kirsch (not to confused with Klipsch)
* Omni Audio
* Protecsound
* Pro Dynamics
* Paradyme (not to be confused with Paradigm)
* PCS
* PSD (jokingly referred to as Paid Scam Drivers). Not to be confused with PSB.
* Theater Research (has many other names)
* Samaurai
* SDAT(Super Dumb Audio Theme)
* Sinclair Audio
* Streem
 
Weird. I got hit up, months ago, by the same guys in a Ralph's parking lot, near Laguna Beach, CA.

I told them I was going to go to an ATM to get some cash to get rid of them, they offered to they'd follow me to the ATM. That right there creeped me out almost more than they "Hey, we're in an unmarked van with REALLY EXPENSIVE speakers! Selling them for CHEEEEP!"'

So weird that it's the EXACT SAME format, in the same rented white van everywhere.
 
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And when they get too old to sell audio crap, they move on to selling steaks out of a freezer in the back of a pickup! Acually, I've heard these guys make incredible money. Profit margins sore when there's no pesky inspectors or Government agencies to get in your way! Is that stuff even beef?
 
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