Author Topic: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown  (Read 69224 times)

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Offline ciccio

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #50 on: October 08, 2014, 07:47:04 pm »

"You can't cheat an honest man."

But when it turns fake - you should remember your thoughts or intuition that probably something was wrong with the deal and that your greedy side took over.
... and now you are punished for you greed.

If, we, people were perfect and 100% honest - such scammers would have just died out of hunger - no sell will be possible.

A real story: some years ago a policeman (out of service, wearing civilian clothes) was scammed at an highway service station by some guys who sold him a perfect imitiation of a brand name video camera (made in clay...).
When he discovered being scammed he runned back the highway and confronted the scammers with his gun, severely wounding one of them.
He was arrested but I do not remember what happened after.
I remember seeing this gang of scammers  in that service station every day, for maybe 5 or 6 years, and the police could not ignore them.. Maybe they sold good merchandise to the police..
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Offline NiHaoMike

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #51 on: October 08, 2014, 07:57:47 pm »
Would be funny if some "scammers" started selling fake Beats headphones that work better than the real thing...

Also, on the watch scam, I wonder how they'll react if you put the (real or well made fake) watch on to "check if it fits", with the intent to pay for it if it fits...
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Offline Macbeth

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #52 on: October 08, 2014, 08:35:29 pm »
There are gangs of these scammers all over Europe, moving quickly from place to place. They can be actually very aggressive, sometimes literally jumping in front of your car to force you to stop to deal with them. Some will even steal stuff from your car while you are distracted by dealing with one of them. These are usually gypsy/Roma gangs from the Balkans - Bulgarians, Romanians, etc. running these schemes.

One thing I would like to point out is that the Roma are NOT the normal Romanians. Roma are of course the same as the gypsies, pikeys, or Irish travellers we are cursed with, but not allowed to talk about for fear of Political Incorrectness. Shit-rags like the Daily Mail in the UK try and make out Romanians = Roma. Me, I welcome hard working Romanians into the UK, but please keep the gypsies and Roma out!
 

Offline janoc

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #53 on: October 08, 2014, 09:00:32 pm »
One thing I would like to point out is that the Roma are NOT the normal Romanians.

I have never said they were the same. It could have sounded like that, because most of these gangs come from Romania where a large (and very poor) Roma/gypsy population lives. I am well aware of the difference, my homeland having enough trouble with some of these folks already.

I LOLed at the fact the "valves" werent even hooked up  :-DD :-DD. whoever decided to put blue LEDs under them were amateurs, valves dont glow blue unless they are gassy ::) they should have gone for orange LEDs or some tungsten lamps at reduced voltage for that "authentic" valve look O0 ::)

Then you haven't seen the standard audiophool junk where blue LEDs are used to light the tubes:

E.g. this one:
http://s86.photobucket.com/user/dgwojo/media/ASL_AQ-1002_05_zpsa5d568e9.jpg.html

It is similar thing like the blue neon glow under cars that used to be so popular ...
 

Offline Macbeth

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #54 on: October 08, 2014, 09:02:39 pm »
Allegedly german design. Turns out, it's a local company who buys chinese speakers and re-brands them. The difference is that they're not cheap at all and they do a REALLY good job with the branding. Like, really well designed packagings, leaflets, manuals, badges, etc. it's remarkable! But people have found the exact same ones from a chinese (and cheap) brand.
Sounds a bit like the LeCroy Wavestation vs Siglent SDG1000 series. I'm sure there are many more rebadges if Chinese stuff selling for top dollar too.
 

Offline Macbeth

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #55 on: October 08, 2014, 09:15:25 pm »
Dave you may not be aware of it but your language in the video is certainly not suitable for young adults or children wanting to learn about electronics.Regards Wayne
Bollocks. Are you a real Ozzie? did you vote in that cunt Tony Abbott by any chance? Do you really think young adults or even children give a flying feck about a few swear-words?

Have a watch of . Stephen Fry's take on how great swearing is!  :-+
 

Offline Macbeth

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #56 on: October 08, 2014, 09:21:39 pm »
Rather than basing your theories on a fictional series, you might want to take a look at a related TV show called "The Real Hustle", in which a variety of cons used in real life are demonstrated on unsuspecting members of the public. Many of these exploit confusion, compassion, or any number of entirely worthy human impulses.

What sort of 'greed' do you think the scumbags who extort vast sums of money by frightening elderly residents into worthless 'repairs' to their homes are exploiting? Or fake 'charity workers' who are simply lining their own pockets?
The Real Hustle is great. Now I am naturally a skeptic, even a cynic, and so won't fall for those guys scams. But that gorgeous "Jess" - I'm sorry all the blood drains from my brain to another region, and I think I would really have to fight hard to avoid her scams!  :-DD
 

Offline DavidDLC

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #57 on: October 08, 2014, 09:26:46 pm »
Is it just me or is the video quality a little weird on this episode?

What's the problem?

Just the introduction looks a little soft compared with your normal quality. Good tear down none the less.

It is different because Dave was using a new super camera he bought from some guys in a white van at a very low price. Good deal !  :-DD
 

Offline Sionyn

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #58 on: October 08, 2014, 09:42:46 pm »
Should have saved that speaker for a "Photonicinduction style PMPO test"...

And then there's Beats, essentially the same scam nicely hidden in retail packaging.
http://www.vox.com/2014/5/29/5761084/sound-experts-agree-beats-by-dre-arent-anything-special
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/09/beats-headphones-reviews_n_5294628.html

No clue what's going to happen now that Beats is owned by Apple. Either they will improve it to the point where it's no longer a scam (though still not good value) or critics will use that as a strike against Apple.

exactly beats and audiophile products are the scam in them selves just better quality
eecs guy
 

Offline Sionyn

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #59 on: October 08, 2014, 09:44:34 pm »
Speaking of dodgy as watches dave, here are a few a delboy dropped after he was frightened off by someone shouting police :-DD
eecs guy
 

Offline zapta

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #60 on: October 08, 2014, 11:08:37 pm »
Dave, tell us the truth, how much did you pay for it?

 

Offline divelectservices

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #61 on: October 09, 2014, 01:17:35 am »
Getting "diddled" at a motorway stop is very different in the USA!   :-DD
 

Offline marcan

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #62 on: October 09, 2014, 07:35:36 am »
The projector is straight up DIY projector construction. The difference is that DIY projectors usually actually use decent resolution screens (I myself built one, back in the day when I had little money and lots of time) and are also much larger. This stuff made sense back when 1080p projectors were hideously expensive and you could get a cheap laptop 1920x1200 LCD screen, strip off the backlight, and build an oversized but functional projector out of it for much less.

The design certainly works, but it's highly suboptimal as far as light loss. The color filters in the LCD mean that you only get 33% of light output; after the polarizer, that's down to 15% or so. That's why they need noisy fans and yet they're very dim. And yes, their lamp is bog-standard HID crap, not an actual projector bulb. They even have the rear reflector that looks identical to the one that I used with my DIY projector. The one good thing these projectors have going for them is that the replacement bulbs are dirt cheap.

This is the 1024x768 one that I built back in 2007. Same construction: standard HID light bulb, reflector behind, fresnel lens, panel with backlight stripped, fresnel lens, output triplet lens (sorry, I don't have a photo of the innards). At least mine had an e-ballast instead of the crappy magnetic ones, and seems like it was brighter too!

I actually spent some money rebuilding it as 1920x1200, kind of gave up on it since it wasn't that bright and kind of loud, shortly thereafter got a real job, and bought myself an Epson EH-TW3200 instead.

You should take apart a real projector sometime; it's a world of difference :-). Yes, the construction inside this cheapo scam projector is "decent" once you start with the premise that you're going to build this kind of projector, but the design has nothing to do with the way real projectors are designed. Real consumer projectors either use a DLP chip and a color wheel, or dichroic color splitters and 3 high-density, monochrome LCD panels arranged around another dichro prism. The light path is also much narrower and much tighter in real projectors, none of this wide-open crap with wiring next to the lenses!
« Last Edit: October 09, 2014, 07:38:47 am by marcan »
 

Offline G7PSK

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #63 on: October 09, 2014, 08:55:39 am »
The issue with that projector wasn't that the lens was flapping about, but that they'd used plastic fresnel lenses and a standard LCD panel!
It was basically a monitor with a brighter backlight & some bits of plastic
 kinda reminds me of these


I had one of those lenses when I was about 12, on a hot summers day it could crack concrete and turn clay to pottery in minuets, it ended up getting dropped from my bike and splitting open, it was filled with what smelt like turpentine.
 

Offline eripaha

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #64 on: October 09, 2014, 09:43:35 am »
Dave your videos have always had some of what a positive spin to them (even the rants). This video did not have that positive vibe im sorry to say  :-[
 

Offline Rasz

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #65 on: October 09, 2014, 09:57:46 am »
Sounds a bit like the LeCroy Wavestation vs Siglent SDG1000 series. I'm sure there are many more rebadges if Chinese stuff selling for top dollar too.

and HAM gear
http://hamgear.wordpress.com/2014/10/08/the-end-of-alinco-as-we-know-it/
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Offline teda

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #66 on: October 09, 2014, 11:10:53 am »
It says 7.1 A/V on the front. I wonder how that is done with 5 chip and 1 sub amplifiers? Oh and where is the "V" in "A/V"?
 
 

Offline c4757p

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #67 on: October 09, 2014, 11:31:56 am »
It says 7.1 A/V on the front. I wonder how that is done with 5 chip and 1 sub amplifiers? Oh and where is the "V" in "A/V"?

Directly after the forward slash, I believe.
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Online Andy Watson

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #68 on: October 09, 2014, 11:36:26 am »
V for valves, surely? :)
 

Offline VK3DRB

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #69 on: October 09, 2014, 01:33:44 pm »
Things have not changed. In Sydney there was a company called David Starr Enterprises in the late 70's - run by an Italian mob "family". Liars, cheats and thieves of the worst kind. They were the same was white van scammers.

It is a case of buyer beware and know what you are buying. Today I scored a genuine Vision Mantis, excellent condition with 2X, 4X and 6X lenses at a near dumpster price for $A 900 the lot. Had a bit of dust on it, but I cleaned it up with eucalyptus oil and isopropyl alcohol and it is like brand new. You cannot beat a Mantis for electronics. I knew what I was buying and I did my homework.

 

Offline tszaboo

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #70 on: October 09, 2014, 05:56:44 pm »
Dave, tell us the truth, how much did you pay for it?
No, this was the EEVblog white van dumpster scam . badum tss
Drop some nicely looking gear near the EEVblog corporate tower's dumpster Dave will take it, and he will only realize he was scammed after the twitter messages  :-DD

Thanks Dave for the video!
« Last Edit: October 09, 2014, 08:41:01 pm by NANDBlog »
 

Offline sonnytiger

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #71 on: October 10, 2014, 12:06:28 am »
If they were going for dirt cheap why would they use a toroidal? Even my Yamaha RX-596 uses a standard e core.
What gives?
 

Offline kwallen

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #72 on: October 10, 2014, 01:11:07 am »
If they were going for dirt cheap why would they use a toroidal? Even my Yamaha RX-596 uses a standard e core.
What gives?

Lots of cheap Chinese gear seems to originate from material that is rejected from reputable manufacturer's contracts. I'd like to say they're rejects from something proper, but the pinched primary winding suggests otherwise. I doubt you'd ever be able to track down the origin of any of that stuff even if you tried, so I guess we'll never know. The VFD is certainly from another product though, there's phosphor panels for modes like Dolby Digital and others that this box certainly doesn't have the capability to decode.
 

Offline sonnytiger

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #73 on: October 10, 2014, 02:46:50 am »
Ah OK I see, interesting, you really have to admire the lengths they will go to to save a penny :P
 

Offline digital

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Re: EEVblog #671 - White Van Speaker Scam Teardown
« Reply #74 on: October 10, 2014, 09:49:55 am »
Dave you may not be aware of it but your language in the video is certainly not suitable for young adults or children wanting to learn about electronics.Regards Wayne
Bollocks. Are you a real Ozzie? did you vote in that cunt Tony Abbott by any chance? Do you really think young adults or even children give a flying feck about a few swear-words?

Have a watch of . Stephen Fry's take on how great swearing is!  :-+
Yes I was born here generations ago and whether I voted for the Prime Minister is none of your business so what is your point.
 


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