I've been White vanned

Well, gang, I think I've passed a rite of passage yesterday when, on the way homw from work, a guy in a tan mini-van motions for me to roll down my window. He then asks if I want to buy some new speakers. Mind you, this was while driving 45 MPH down Telegraph Rd. Anyone from Southeast MI will know what that is. Since he was in a mini-van, and a tan one at that, does the speakers he offered me count as White van speakers?

BTW, I did not buy the speakers.

 

Same here. Been years.

"Got these awesome Panasonic VCRS and Technics speakers! Over half off!"

No, thanks. I'm amish.

"Okay, suit yourself, pal!" >slam< (Driving off).....

 

They used to be all over the place like mosquitoes. "Brand" name speakers like "Bostom" straight from "the factory" wherever that was. If you opened the speaker cabinets you hadda be careful 'cause the drivers were light enough to float away on the breeze!

 

Just once..

I'd like to have one of those idiots over the house and let them listen to some real speakers. I have heard that when you cut those boxes open they are like car speakers.
I have guys come into my pharmacy all the time trying to sell flowers, cookbooks, passes to restaurants and gas stations and stuff. I tell them all the same thing: Pay my rent for a month and you can sell your junk here.
No takers yet.

Peace
Norm

 

Capitalism at it's worst! Hey bigger is better...Wow, look at the size of that...

 

I'm proud(?) to say that, over the past decade or so, they've tried that scam on me three times -in three different states (CA, MO & GA)! As recently as 2001, too.

 

It happened to me once 2 years ago near Wrigleyville. I drove off laughing before they even got halfway through their spiel. They followed me for a few blocks until they realized that I was a lost cause.

 

They also try to sell them here on Long Island. I heard a police call for "Man in Van selling Speakers" last year but the van was awol by the time a patrol car responded over.

 

The exact same thing happened to me about a year ago...on Michigan Avenue just east of I-275 (I live in Canton, Michigan). The guy didn't even wait for a red light! I'm wondering if it's the same guy/crew.

Not only did I not buy the speakers, there was no way in heck I was even gonna pull over...

 

Re: Re: I've been White vanned

'Twasn't me. I usually don't sell speakers on US12 'til I get past Dick Scott Nissan! Small world, no? Look for that huge crane sticking up on Canton Center Rd. over the Lower Rouge bridge (or where the bridge USED to be)...I'm within a three wood of that. (Yes, it's a P.I.T.A. to get down to Home Depot or Std. Federal...)

My last speaker experience was about 6 years ago, up on 8 Mile at Haggerty, right at the intersection. My reply was to shake my head, roll up the window, and crank up the stereo in the car.

Can't be as bad as those guys selling meat off of those refrigerated pickup trucks. We still get one every now and then on a warm summer day. Like I'd buy something edible AND perishable from someone off the street? No...I prefer to live past my 40th birthday.

 

Re: Re: Re: I've been White vanned

I'm probably within three 3 woods of the crane...if Tiger Woods is doing the driving.

Yeah, I was just bitchin' to my coworkers about the road being closed...it's made the intersection of Sheldon/Geddes/Michigan (one of the few detours) into the most wacky intersection in the area. Just about every time I go through there I see a near fender bender.

 

"Ya see, I had a load of speakers to deliver, and they put too many on the truck. I don't want to go back to the garage with extra speakers, so I want to sell these real cheap. These are BIG speakers and they sound great. Look, the boxes are still sealed!!"

UGH! I can't believe they still do this!!!

 

Nothing like that has ever happened to me. Is it my face?

BTW, I know what Telegraph is, but I've never heard the term "White vanned" before?

 

This happened to me three weeks ago.. same happend to me. Itold him to post em' on ebay. He said, what's ebay?

My Lovely Bride said... "I can't believe he doesn't know what ebay is...."

 

Yep, send 'em to eBay and watch as everyone avoids bidding on 'em. But there will always be suckers out there...

Anyone know where these things are made? Are they dirt cheap imports? Or thrown together here in the states somewhere?

Maybe I should have pulled over and demanded a demo. Could have hooked them up to the subwoofer amp in the trunk and launched those cheap woofer cones across the intersection.

 

I hear from a few friends of mine they're trying this in Austin (Texas). It
happened to me a few years ago. I told the guy before he even opened
the doors on his van,no I'm not interested ,he said how'd you know
I was trying to sell something. I just had a gut feeling,my BS meter
was going off. I've heard a few of the speakers these guys are trying to
sell ,incredible.I can't believe someone would buy these. But like one post
said,they are big. I guess a lot of people think the bigger the better!
For just a little bit more money they could actually get a fairly good pair
of speakers.
txguitar

 

This is hilarious!

Up until recently, I worked at a high-end A/V shop. As I was walking out the door for lunch one day, the "white van" pulled up to offer "a great deal on speakers the boss sez we must get rid of".

What I laugh I gave them as I turned around and pointed to the sign on my store

This scenario actually happens to me rather often. I supposed 3 times in as many years. In college, I knew a guy that actually got suckered into the scam. Funny thing is, he only got one speaker! It was a terrible thing. I think he paid ~$100.

I believe Home Theater magazine did a test on these type of speakers a couple of years back. Their findings were fantastic. They said that the speakers had NO crossover and were of the poorest quality.

 

Heck, going to a garage sale or thrift shop, you'll sometimes find vintage Advents you can get dirt cheap.

Sad thing is, I could buy some inexpensive speaker components from one of a couple of speaker supply places I've used, run the parameters through the software, and design something that would STILL sound like music. INCLUDING a crossover!

Heck, I refurbished an older pair of Radio Shlock speakers that I'd trashed the woofers in. The Philips woofers were something like $12 each (Madisound had a special), and the tweeters no more than $10. I used the existing crossovers, and used the box dimensions and driver parameters to determine a proper port size to make a vented system. Sounds pretty darned good to me! It's no Wilson WATT Puppy, but for something to toss around outdoors or in the garage, it beats any of those plastic "outdoor" speakers for the same price.

 

Westferry Road, London, UK.
Ran into the same guys three times in the same afternoon.
Long may the scam live!
Jeff

 

The White Van speaker scan happens all over the world. I know of it in the USA, England , Australia and here in New Zealand.

I wrote an article on it for my magazine back in 1987.

 

AudioEnz wrote:

>I wrote an article on it for my magazine back in 1987.

I'd love to see the story... Is it available anywhere. For some reason this scam is both global, uniform, and surprisingly it's always speakers and not vcrs or microwaves. The sociology of Hi Fi and big speakers? Jeff

 

Why that sounds like they're describing those infamous old EPI speakers from the 1970's! (Which, despite their handicaps, somehow managed to sound good for the price, at the time. And they did have a capacitor to keep the bass from burning out the tweeter; so I suppose you could say they had a crossover.)

Oops -- thread poop. Sorry.

<I must be getting dyslexic. When I first saw the thread I thought it said "I've been Vanna Whited"! Anybody out there selling vowels?>

 

Sorry, no vowels today--I'm heading outdoors in a few minutes to work outside and enjoy the day! Hope the speaker van doesn't come by.

By definition, a single capacitor is a simple 6db/octave crossover. Even Dad's old Admiral hi-fi in the basement had a capacitor on the tweeter.

Hey, at least Jack and the rest of us weren't Art Vanned! (Drive-by furnishings...??)

A Detroit joke...