Street scams.---------------------------Exposed.

[HAMSTER INSPECTOR]

Have you ever rncountered any street scams? Here are 2 that I have seen many times.

- You are getting into your car at a shopping center when you are approached by a guy that tells you that his boss sent him to pick up 2 speakers at a distributor. The distributor gives him 2 sets of speakers, so now he is willing to sell you one set for almost nothing.

Scam exposed:

The speakers are actualy very low quality, but large and expensive looking speakers with a counterfiet box of a well known manufactuer. Quality speakers these days are very compact and not 3 ft. high like they use to be.


- A guy appraoches you and tell you that he is in town for a clothing convention. He has clothing that he has broght to show and does not want to pay tax and shipping to return them to Italy. He will sell you leather coats for cheap.

Scam exposed:

The clothing are very low quality, the leather is synthetic and not worth anything. A guy was showing me coats and telling me the lining is shearling. Shearling is the skin removed from sheep with the woll still on it and is cut to 1/4 in and used as a coat lining. This material is very warm and expensive.When I touched the shearling, I told the scammer that it was synthetic. He just turned and walked away. Many of these guys pulling the scam claim they are from italy, buy they speak with a russian accent.

 

[Garrett]

Scam exposed:

The speakers are actualy very low quality, but large and expensive looking speakers with a counterfiet box of a well known manufactuer. Quality speakers these days are very compact and not 3 ft. high like they use to be.

The "white van" speakers are infamous. However, sad to say, quality speakers are still typically very large. To deliver something close to full range sound means you need to move a lot of air (and 3ft high is not a large speaker).

 

[Safdar]

I was working late one night at a small restaurant. A man with a french accent comes he appears to have trouble communicating in english but eventually communicates that he is from Montreal and he was in town playing a charity soccer game. His car broke down and he needs $150 for the tow truck. I told him no I couldn't help him, thinking how can someone travel and not have a credit/debt card or how he could not contact someone on his team to help him.

A few weeks later I was listening to the FAN590 and I hear one of the commentators tell this story with the exact details and he ended up giving him the money. He called Varsity Stadium and they told him this guy has been doing this scam for a while.

 

[PurpleMonkey]

LOL.. Yes the speaker scam happened to me in the early 90's. I told them I was LE and they turned around, walked back in the white van and drove off burning rubber.

 

[Pedro Sanchez]

The dudes going around selling speakers out of a van have numerous stories. To many speakers shipped, to much stock etc. But what they are doing is not illegal believe it or not.

 

[Mongrel4u]

The dudes going around selling speakers out of a van have numerous stories. To many speakers shipped, to much stock etc. But what they are doing is not illegal believe it or not.

well...yeah...provided the speakers arent stolen

 

[PurpleMonkey]

The dudes going around selling speakers out of a van have numerous stories. To many speakers shipped, to much stock etc. But what they are doing is not illegal believe it or not.

Actually it is. Because ...don't forget the word...TAX. Unless it's personal property (ie. CL)

Street selling...Chinatown old ladies get busted with $100 ticket for selling $1 veggies..most only have 20-25 piles ($25 inventory).

 

[Mongrel4u]

The "white van" speakers are infamous. However, sad to say, quality speakers are still typically very large. To deliver something close to full range sound means you need to move a lot of air (and 3ft high is not a large speaker).

Well yes and no.

There are many really good compact/jewel type speakers perfect for the home....but if you are wiring a night club or a concert, you'll need the big stuff (but how many are in the market for speakers like that for personal use?)


Quality speakers come in all sizes. The question is "what do you need them for?"

 

[reef]

oh the old "extra speakers" scam, I had that a couple years ago actually. Guy drives up and says he got 5 "sets" instead of 5 speakers so he was selling them for cheap... and yep, big jumbo ones. It was funny how much lower he went, ended up saying he'd settle for a little bit of pot.. I just laughed and said bye. lol

 

[dirkd101]

That speaker scam, I can't believe it's still around. The funny thing is that there are people out there that actually fall for these scams.

 

[Ceiling Cat]

I know a fool that actualy bought speakers out of a van. When I told them that they were inferior quality, he said: Yeah, but I like them. Thats all that counts! ( the guy must have a tin ear )

 

[raydeon]

Have you ever rncountered any street scams? .
..............................

- A guy appraoches you and tell you that he is in town for a clothing convention. He has clothing that he has broght to show and does not want to pay tax and shipping to return them to Italy. He will sell you leather coats for cheap.

I came accross a similar guy about 25 years ago in Paris. I was waiting to cross one of the big boulevards when that car with licence plates from Milan stops and tells me he needs money to get back to Italy, and offer me a 3/4 long antelope coat. I bought it for 50FF and ended up selling it for 3 times that amount back in Canada. (It was too big for me)

 

[Garrett]

Well yes and no.

There are many really good compact/jewel type speakers perfect for the home....but if you are wiring a night club or a concert, you'll need the big stuff (but how many are in the market for speakers like that for personal use?)

Quality speakers come in all sizes. The question is "what do you need them for?"

None of the compact/jewel speakers offer full range sound (and I would qualify full range as being able to go below 30hz in room convincingly). Most of the cubes are very limited, with the Bose cube perhaps the best example of poor sound in a small container. This is simply physics at work, you need to move air to hit these frequencies.

Keep in mind the original poster said there is no reason for a speaker to be 3ft in size any more. This is simply not true. Size still matters when it comes to speakers. Most people buy small speakers for aesthetic reasons rather than sound.

 

[digitald]

Speakers are like car engines. You can tweak a small engine all you like but it's like the old expression says: there is no replacement for displacement.

For example, I was listening to an old album earlier today which I hadn't heard in quite some time: Alan Parsons, Tales of Mystery and Imagination. The song, The Fall of the House of Usher, at loud volumes with nice speakers (15" JBL woofers for a start) pounds your chest when the thunder rolls in. NO tiny speaker - regardless of how good you think it sounds - does that.

IMHO

None of the compact/jewel speakers offer full range sound (and I would qualify full range as being able to go below 30hz in room convincingly). Most of the cubes are very limited, with the Bose cube perhaps the best example of poor sound in a small container. This is simply physics at work, you need to move air to hit these frequencies.

Keep in mind the original poster said there is no reason for a speaker to be 3ft in size any more. This is simply not true. Size still matters when it comes to speakers. Most people buy small speakers for aesthetic reasons rather than sound.

 

[Mongrel4u]

ok then...I got schooled