I'm bored at work. Here's a little story.

Last year my uncle was approached by 2 guys who said they worked for a home theatre installation company. They were in a white van and had a few boxes with speakers in them. The speaker set that caught my uncles attention were these tall, really nice towers labeled "msrp- $2000/each" on the side. The 2 guys gave'em a story of how the speakers were ordered by mistake and they wanna dump'em before going back to the office. Guy was asking for $500/each and my uncle was reaching for his wallet. I ran in the house to go online and do a quick research but it was too late. He offered them $300 for both, guys said no and left. Then they came back and took his $300 and gave him 2 beautiful towers that looked like this..


so when I did my research... turns out that every single person who had a set, was approached by 2 guys in a van with the same story! AND.. it was happening nationwide! If you do a search on theatre research you'll find a bunch of posts at different forums of pissed of people who got scammed. The more vulnerable you are the more you paid. Some people paid $100 for a set.. some paid $800 for a set. Everyone thought they were getting a deal. Speakers look really nice, the guys had a good story that made sence, and the msrp on the box. The company, theatre research, also has a legit website. So, I laughed because they suckered my uncle. I laughed because they've been doing this for so long and getting away with it. (just read a report of them getting people recently just a few blocks from my job). So i've been following this around for a whole year. Some people say they love the speakers and they feel like the price was fine. Some people hate the fact that they were "scammed" so they won't even hook them up. In other words, theirs mixed reviews. No legit or big name site/magazine has reviewed the speakers. I tried calling the company and they wouldn't answer (ofcourse). The speakers are all over ebay too at mixed prices. I ofcourse educated my uncle on the scam. Linked him to all the sites. But, something amazing happened. When he hooked them up, they sound AMAZING!!! We (my uncle and i) are somewhat audiophiles so we know a little bit of what we're listening too. The bass was punchy, the highs were nice, it was clear.. they're good speakers! Why in the hell is this company allowing their speakers to be sold this way? It's a mystery to me. Now ofcourse, not everyone will agree. Some people say they sound like crap. But you have to keep in mind that most of the people saying they hate them are the ones that feel scammed. So it might be psychological. My uncle doesn't feel scammed so he loves them. I don't know. Well i'm picking up a set from a disgruntle purchaser who feels he was scammed for $400. Looks like i'm getting them for 3/4 of what he paid. Amazing. I don't get it.

I have talked to those guys before also, and i did purchase some speakers from them for about 150$. i cant complain as i hooked directly to my receiver and connected my pc to that. they sound very good. They where a different type than those. they sounded very good. (but then again i think jensen stereos sound good also.)

Those look like some high quality home theatre speakers there.

I'll take a pair

I reall hope a van like that comes around..Hell I'll offer them 50 bucks!

I wonder if they are "hot" (meaning they are stealing them)

They looks Bitchin', I would LOVE a pair of those. You know what I say about the speakers? A speaker is As good as the amp you hook up to it How many Watts are they?


Mliv, your link dont work, so heres a google search
http://www.google.com/search?q=theat...=revision&cd=1

Fixed the link.

They sound good. You just have to hook them up right and use the right amp. But again, that's my opinion. Some people really hate them. lol

Looks like tehy come with preamps built in.

I'd love to get my hands on a pair, anyone who says they got scammed for 400$ is dumb. A speaker enclosure like that itself can cost 400$ easily. Not to mention, those drivers are powerful, considering each tower is 400w peak.

I offered the guy $100 for his "scam". I'm waiting for a phonecall. If I get'em and for some reason I dont like the sound i'll just switch the drivers. but i'm sure their great.

edit- I lost my chance about 6 months ago in mass. I went to a bank and I spotted them in a home depot parking lot. I tried to catch them but I couldn't. Who does that? Who looks for a scammer to get scammed? lol.

I'll take the drivers, heck, I'll even buy the whole set if you dont like em

I've had some guys in a white van approach me outside of a Lowe's before. They wanted to sell stereo equiment to me, but they looked **EXTREMELY** sketchy and, in all honesty, what moron would buy stereo equipment from two guys in a van? You think this is some "aggressive" new marketing plan from Best Buy? It's obviously stolen equipment or a scam or something you probably don't want to get involved with.

Got the speakers last night. Both for $80. The guy complained about how he got scammed for $400. I asked him.. "did you even hook them up to see if they sound somewhat decent?" and he said.. "No.. i just put them in the corner". I'm going out now to get some speaker wire to try them out.

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The Great International White Van Speaker Scam

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Link

I've been hearing about this scam in it's many forms since about 1996. It's amazing that it's still around.


Good Luck with the speakers you got MLiV!!

These guys are in Rockford IL all the time.
Usually somewhere around the Best buy store.

I offered $40.00 for a set but they wouldnt bite.
Ive also heard of people buying brand name speakers from them and discovering that the components have been replaced with cheap ones.

Yea, that happened to me about 4 years ago... i had no idea it was like a nation wide thing going on. I didn't have any cash to pay for them, but they looked real nice.
They actually stopped me in a parking lot at the local bagel shop. The whole thing seemed fishy and I got the notion that these speakers wer probably 'hot'

I was in the parking lot of a local computer shop about 6-7 months ago and two guys in a Chevy Tahoe stopped and asked me if I wanted to buy some stereo equipment (Speakers,Amp etc) I declined and they drove off, thought it was strange...

Damn I wish someone would try and sell me some high nd stereo equipment at knock off prices. If someone offered me those speakers for less than £100, i'd cough up the cash.

I was stopped in Pittsburg PA back in 1989 by the White Van Speaker "Scamers"

My car was full of stuff no room to pack in anything else.
I told them I did not have room. They came down more on the asking price.

I told them I would give them all of the money in my pockets.
They asked how much it was. I said I'm not real sure.
If you want me to buy them thats the offer.
They declined. I drove off. Still holding my $20.38.

I thought it was a scam then, and still think someone is getting scamed in deals like this.

hooked them up properly with 12 ga wiring and a denon amp and they sound great. I dunno, i like them. highs and lows were off which could make a speaker noob think their crap but with a little adjusting on the amp, now they sound good. I cranked the volume up slowly and they handled the power pretty well. I had to give up because my eardrums were hurting and the speakers still looked like they could go up even higher. to better describe them since i can't invite everyone to my house for a listening party, they sound like a cheaper set of infinity or polk speakers. since i like the cabinets i might swap out the drivers but I don't see a need for that now. i think their great for a home theatre but definantly not worth $400. I got'em for $80 and it was a good purchase. if these jerks come around offer them $100/pair but no more. If you were to build your own cabinet with drivers, you would spend alot more and quality would be almost identical (if cheaper drivers are used ofcourse).

man this spekars are awsome

amn i like them

are you thinking to make a boomb with them !!

man how many watt they can go !1

good luck with them

lol..
what's with you middle easterns and bombs. no computerking.. no bombs.