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Paradigm Speakers - FRAUD ALERT

post #1 of 23
4/26/06 at 3:40pm
Thread Starter 
Being on a low budget I'm always on the lookout for deals in pawn shops. Today I found a set of Paradyme 3810SL speakers for $69!
I restrained myself from buying them on the spot in order to do some research first. Good thing I did.
Apparently they are sold by a company here in SW Texas as what is know as the "White Van Scam". Notice the spelling is Paradyme and not Paradigm. What's funny is that the same pawn shop has some Audiophile speakers that have a similar cabinet. I'm not sure if what they are doing is illegal. They're only asking $69.
Just wanted to give others a heads up on this scam.
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post #2 of 23
4/26/06 at 4:16pm
You find a lot of white van speakers in pawn shops. People don't like them and pawn them to get rid of them or to raise some money.
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post #3 of 23
4/27/06 at 2:54am
Ha! The white van visits Texas, too? When I lived in downtown Los Angeles, I used to see those guys every week. I'd chat with them (they were friendly) but knew better than to buy anything.

Legally, I don't think it's illegal to sell a product with a misspelled name. It's not technically counterfeit, but the OEM would probably have a legitimate copyright infringement claim. Reminds me of the time I found some Shrap calculators at a swapmeet. I regret not buying one now; I'd love to leave it on my desk at work for a few laughs.

Have you ever found a genuinely good deal at a pawn shop? I used to browse them, but usually found endless junk and anything decent was priced waaaaay over market. Junk stores and thrift shops... now there's some real action.
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post #4 of 23
4/28/06 at 8:14pm
Nationwide underground chain evidently, when I lived in Boston c1995 a friend actually bought some of them.
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post #5 of 23
4/29/06 at 7:45pm
Reminds me of the time when I bought Grabo headphones.
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post #6 of 23
4/30/06 at 10:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cotdt
Reminds me of the time when I bought Grabo headphones.
Is there such a thing?
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post #7 of 23
4/30/06 at 11:11am
you have the white van guy's there too?
its been real big in Australia over the last 12 months

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...d.php?t=424392 (need to register to view)
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post #8 of 23
4/30/06 at 12:04pm
I have heard about the white van speakers before and always wanted to see what kind of crap they were selling and their sales pitch. I don't expect to see it in my area here in Florida, but will be on the lookout for them when I move to New Jersey in a couple months.
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post #9 of 23
4/30/06 at 12:06pm
The scam was already old when I started selling high-end audio in 85. Some of my octogenarian co-workers recall the “Van” scam starting in the middle 70’s. They claim it started in Cambridge Massachusetts. Since Cambridge was the center of the US audio universe thru the middle 80’s their story is credible.

If I had a dollar for every time someone came into the store that I was working at and proudly asked how much the speakers that they had purchased off the back of a van were, I’d have a bunch of dollars. The person selling the speakers insinuated that the speakers were “HOT” and also showed a price book that showed that they retailed for $800 a pair. They usually settled for $100 to $300 depending on the marks wallet. We calculated that the speakers’ actual production cost was closer to $30. Back in the day the speakers tended to be fairly big with many drivers. I’ve seen drivers that were actually nailed (Roofing Nails) into the cabinet. I’ve also seen speakers with no crossovers . When you look up the brand in the Orion Bluebook you amazingly find that there is no such brand.

As with most scams they count on the marks greed. Generally speaking if seems that the deal is too good to be true, it is.
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post #10 of 23
4/30/06 at 12:20pm
Yikes: I disagree strongly with one of your opinions. Yellow mustard. Yuk. :-)
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post #11 of 23
4/30/06 at 12:25pm
White van speakers aren't always a bad deal.

Take a look at these measurements. If you didn't see the URLs, could you tell by looking at them which were the white van speakers and which were the $4000 Zu Druids?


http://www.gr-research.com/images/dahltonresponse1.jpg

http://www.soundstagemagazine.com/me...ncy_on1530.gif

Think about it. You get the sound quality of $4000 speakers for a very small price.
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post #12 of 23
4/30/06 at 12:35pm
Zu Druids? Enough said.
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post #13 of 23
4/30/06 at 4:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yikes
Zu Druids? Enough said.
I personally think the zu's they are no better than white van speakers. Doesn't surprise me if they both measure like crap.
I heard them at an audio show and I am just not impressed at all....
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post #14 of 23
4/30/06 at 5:21pm
I got white-vanned, but the guys were friendly enough I had a chat with them and had a look at their speakers just out of curiosity. They were tiny satellite speakers, mounted on a large stand, I wasn't impressed. They thanked me for my time and went to their next target.
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post #15 of 23
4/30/06 at 8:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rocktboy
I personally think the zu's they are no better than white van speakers. Doesn't surprise me if they both measure like crap.
I heard them at an audio show and I am just not impressed at all....
My point exactly.
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