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ACOUSTIC IMAGE SPEAKERS ARE A FRAUD! STAY AWAY!

WARNING!!!

The two 5 star reviews below were undoubtedly posted by people who either 1) have no experience with speakers or 2) are con artists promoting their wares.

Acoustic Image is just one of the fraudulent brand names con artists use to sell their product. It is a nationwide scam job. They usually (but not always) approach people in white vans and offer to sell them speakers at ridiculously low prices. They use manufacturer names that are similar to real, reputable manufacturers...for example Garfdale (a rip off of Wharfdale) or Acoustic Image (a rip off of Acoustic Research). Acoustic Image is a popular choice for scammers in Chicago and the Midwest in general.

Many people are sucked in by the scam and believe they are getting a hot deal. They are wrong. Any of the speakers, including Acoustic Image, are made of ridiculously cheap materials. Consider this: NEVER has an Acoustic Image speaker been reviewed by an Audio magazine. Not once.

I am not making any of this up. If you do not believe me check out the following excellent website that details the inner workings of the so-called "white van scams". The answer for Question 8 lists many common names the scammers use, including Acoustic Image.

http://www.frii.com/%7Erjn/audio/whitevan.htm

These speakers may be worth $50, but not much more. They are definitely NOT worth whatever you payed for them. If you have already been scammed go to the website above for information on what you can do. If someone is offering you Acoustic Image speakers and you haven't bought yet -- DON'T! It's not worth it.

Similar Products Used:

Energy, NHT, Klipsch, Infinity, Paradigm. They are all infinitely better than Acoustic Image. In fact, any speaker you grab out of a dumpster will sound as good as these...maybe better.

DOES NOT EXIST!!!! IT'S A FRAUD!!!! DON'T BUY IT!!!

DOES NOT EXIST!!!! IT'S A FRAUD!!!! DON'T BUY IT!!!

This is most definitely a scam!!! I bought one a little less than a year ago. They were high pressure sales from a white van. DON'T FALL FOR THE SCAM!!! ANYBODY SELLING PRODUCTS FROM THE BACK OF A VAN IN A PARKING LOT IS NOT A REPUTABLE BUSINESSMAN IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! Someone said they witnessed this happening, well I had it happen to me! Please don't fall for it. The speakers are good, but sh!t I can't even find the company that made them, let alone figure out how to get in contact with the seller. Anyway, just stay away from those scams. The speakers were not worth what I paid for them. They advertised them falsely and made them sound like they are the best available. They aren't terrible, but they are not worth what I paid.

Similar Products Used:

NO SUCH PRODUCT

After tweeks, not bad

Gotta tweak em

Yes these are dreaded 'White van speakers'. But the good thing if you have purchased them is they are salvagable cheaply. Here is what I did. I took them all apart. Each (4) driver is just held in by 4 screws. Two mid woofers and two tweeters. Go to Radio Shack and get a two-way crossovers and screw it into the wall of the speaker just below the back tweeter, not the titanium one. Wire the mid woofers in parallel not in series. Cross them over at 2500 hz. Take the titanium tweeter and wire that one up at 2500hz and above. I didn't hook the back one up, it sucked. I braced the cabinet with dowel rods and stuffed with batting. These are really nice sounding if done that way. For cheap these can be brought up to respectability. I put these up against Bose 301's and they smoked them if thats saying anything. E-mail me if anybody has any questions. Doug

Similar Products Used:

Lots

perfectly decent sounding - nice highs - clear enough

cheesy logo - moderate bass

Of course I searched eBAY immediately after purchasing these speakers (Acoustic Imgae 600SL tower). Nothing. At that point I knew something was amiss. These 2 guys had the same story as the other reviews - extras loaded into their Blazer by 'idiots at the warehouse'. Illinois plates. Convincing with seemingly real PO and laminated employee tags. But to my surprise they are perfectly decent speakers, they look fine, they sound fine. Now granted I am not a crazy audio buff, but I have a pair of Bose 4.2 and had a pair of Bose 901s, and do know a fair amount about good vs. bad sound. These Acoustic Image speakers are fine for general use and work great with the TV etc.....Yes I guess I got 'scammed' too, but as someone else wrote in their review -- it was more of a hustle because they do work and they sound pretty good. I would have been happier had I paid $150 or less though.

Similar Products Used:

Bose 4.2 - B&W - Boston Acoustics

Highs excel (although front highs are better quality than rear)
Lows perform well. (better with sgh10(valorize))
Pretty good specs

Need to make sure that they are wired properly.
Not very efficient. (my pair can handle more than 250WT per speaker.)
Need to seal tweeters, speakers.
Needs better isolation.
***Needs a crossover.

The story to follow. The problems is, that the moron that is making these speakers, is not being consistent. My brother in law bought a pair after I did because he was some what impressed. How ever, his pair sucked. Mine are working Fine.

Believe me, I have researched this matter, or as some people choose to think of it, a mystery.

I was confronted by a young man and two of his buddies, in a white van with the logo of a reputable theater store here in Dallas. (Who is till in business) As this young man proceeded to ask for $1200. I said no way. Finally talked him down to $200. and yes I Knew something had to be UP.

Took them home they did not sound very well, I opened them up, and to my surprise they were wired wrong. After I fixed the problem, the purred.

Hooking these up to a Yamaha DSPA-1 and next to Martin Logan’s, they were keeping up or sometimes staying ahead. Yes, I only paid $200.00 for them But I have gotten my moneys worth.

Going back to my opening, this company, scam, luck, or what ever it is that you would like to call it, could be making more money if they would have made their speakers with in a consistent spec. Using the same speakers tweeters ECT.

Similar Products Used:

Martin Logan
Sonus Fabers (however, these S. F. far exceed all speakers, in my opinion)

Thanks to this page I beat the scam. I made the white van guys hook the speakers up and they sounded awful. Then I checked the internet and found this site in one click. Man, am I glad the internet exists!!

Moral: Never buy anything out of a van!!

It looks nice

I was tricked.

I really dont care that I along with all the other poor schmucks on this site were scammed. I havent been able to hook up the speakers to even try them out yet. Obviously the men in the white men saw me coming from a mile away. Does anyone know if there is any special wires i need to hook these up to my stereo? Thanks please email me at pjdelong1@yahoo.com

This is quite strange. The same scam has been tried on me about 10 times around England (in several places throughout London but also in Manchester). I'm not sure what brand they said the speakers were but it's the exact same deal (white van pulls up, guy says he's meant to be delivering speakers to someone but has got an extra set, already signed for and is willing to sell it for a bargain price). I've never bought them (mainly because I figured it was some kind of scam but also I don't need/want any speakers.
It seems funny that the scam is exactly the same in the UK and US.

Not too bad speakers. Nice tweeter, solid bass, not much distortion

Slightly tinny in the midrange

Yep, the white van made it down under. Must have good mileage on it. The speakers they sold me seems to be OK. I played a few different styles of CD and a DVD on it, all cames through with no discernable abnormalities. Pushed the volume and it didn't distort. Bass seems to be quite strong but not to the same extent as a subwoofer. Midrange seems to be a bit tinny but could be the fact that we've got slate floors.

Would do quite nicely as a set of front speaker whilst I push my older set as surrounds. Just add a centre and a receiver and I would have a decent theatre system as a budget. Nothing stellar to scream about, after all I paid only $400 for them. But it suited my purpose.

From the way people are bagging the product I thought I had gotten done really badly. But I suppose to get the Klipsch I really want would have set me back two grand instead.

Summing up, OK speaker if you're not relying on it as your only set. Put it in an enviroment with complementing components and a strong amp.

The extra plug in the back is nothing but cosmetic. Check out the other articles in this forum as it seems that each and every reviewer's experience is different. Then make up your own mind.

Similar Products Used:

Bose, Sherwood

Sad to admit it, but these are fantastic speakers. They have pretty good highs, decent lows, and the mids are the gem. The "titanium" tweeter is holding its own and really does fill our basement [which is very large] with great sound. These speakers are fantastic for large rooms.

They sound horrible in smaller rooms. If a 27 inch television is too big for your room, then they're too bad for your room. THEY COME FROM THE BACK OF A VAN.

OK, so you have probably read that you shouldn't buy these speakers and that they're evil. I don't know; I kind of regret not purchasing reputable speakers from Hi-Fi Buys or something. Truth of the matter is that they sound great for left and right channel usage. The bass module provided very nice bass until it blew and I had to replace it with a Marantz sub, but the amp sounds good!

The 6 1/2s are worth about $400 with their store-bought equivilants, but truth of the matter is that if you spent over $200 for them, congrats, you've been taken!

What else do I say? We all are part of an ellite club of idiots. The first thing our parents told us was not talk to strange people and riding in the backs of their vans. These guys somehow find idiots like us, people who are trying to assemble a respectable sound system...that fact amazes me, how did they know I needed to buy the speakers? Well, monkey monkey monkey...look for more details at www.themidwestonine.com or www.nishantbhatt.com

byeee

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Kenwood other $200 speakers [$400 pair]