Hey the White van guys tried to sell speakers to me. Ha, ha, ha (1 Viewer)

[Geoff L]

Just because they are manufactured by Gold Sky, which builds speaks for brands all over the world, why would you let that and that alone it appears, sway your purchase.

Fluance speakers have been sold for at least 2 years, have good to excellent customer service and the reviews on their speakers seem to speak very clearly for themselves.

Just because GS builds "some crap for some brands", means nothing to the already well established brand, Fluance!

If the speakers where in the running for possible purchase to begin with, I certainly would not let the fact that Gold Sky manufactures them sway you.
Just (to many happy customers) for one to "IGNORE"!

IMO
Geoff

 

[DaveGTP]

Then again, there are plenty of companies that make both great products and bad ones...Car manufacturers come to mind.

I guess that's true - firsthand experience with a POS '93 Pontiac Grand Am (Quad-4, junky engine) that I am still paying CC bills off on didn't stop me from replacing it with a '94 Chevy Beretta (great car, good reliable engine) or my current supercharged Grand Prix.

I haven't let the white van guys scare me away yet .

 

[JeremyFr]

POS '93 Pontiac Grand Am (Quad-4, junky engine)

Hey now!!! hehe I own a 98 Grand Am with the 2.4 TC basically the same as the quad 4 and I'm getting ready to roll 100,000 miles and its running like a beauty hehe

 

[JeremyFr]

and to answer the question of why I would stray away from Fluance knowing they're built by gold sky is these 2 quotes from there website regarding there speakers.

Fluance speakers, the choice for audio enthusiasts around the world, are recognized as an outstanding performance product that delivers amazing sound, superb build-quality and unprecedented value. We have accomplished this by strictly adhering to a single goal:

These are obviously both lies why buy from a company that cant come out and say "we buy cheap speakers from some company in china that mass produces them and sell them to you for little over what it cost this company in china to make them with sub par components and slave labor."

 

[Jorge UF]

Well I don't think I will ever buy fluance speakers. Gold Sky obviously knows that these speakers are being sold through this scam, yet they continue to do it. I think its a little different when car manufacturers try to design a cheap yet reliable car, and the end product end up being crap. Hell were human, but Goldsky could give a rats ass. I have never heard Fluance speakers, but only know that they have gotten some good reviews so I take it they must sound great, but I don't wish to support a company like that.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Jeremy,

Sorry but if that was the case then just about every
mainstream speaker company would have to come out with the
same admission. Arguably some of the best speakers in the
world use drivers from Asia.

 

[DaveGTP]

Hey now!!! hehe I own a 98 Grand Am with the 2.4 TC basically the same as the quad 4 and I'm getting ready to roll 100,000 miles and its running like a beauty hehe

Well, the 2.4L is basically the same idea, but the redesign did make it a lot better than the 2.3L Quad-4. Admittedly, by '95 they had fixed the head gasket/engine block cracking problem (supposedly). And on where stuff is made, it seems like 90% of stuff you buy in a store is all made in Asia (Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, etc). Most computer motherboards are made in Taiwan, and now some in China.

 

[JeremyFr]

I can definately understand both of your comments regarding products made in Asia, but when you buy a motherboard does the box read Designed and built in america only to find when you open it the board has made in taiwan printed on it?? Usually not. I have no problem with Asian built products and dont take my statements as if I do. I'm sure that even my Energy's that I love so much have components built somewhere else.

The only point I was trying to make is that Fluance blatently leads you to believe the speakers are at least in some way produced in Canada/Sweden when infact they are designed engineered and built in China by a wholey seperate company and in reality are nothing more than independant distributors for this company. I know I'm probably being harsh here but it just irk's me when companys are untruthful in there advertising or how they present themselves.

 

[Geoff L]

Who's to say Fluance speaks are not designed in Canada and R&D in Sweden,,, (only then to be farmed out) and built in China.

It all might very well be a bunch of poppie cock=BS, at least they have decent reviews for the speaks people pay for.

As Brett made mention, many of the big speaker players have "parts of some sort in their speakers" being produced somewhere in Asia.

Fluance may spin their web of words to sound more impressive and quit possibly mislead, but they certainly are not the only ones out their doing it.

Can you say Bose and the mouth full of BS they market....

Cheers
Geoff

 

[JeremyFr]

Check out www.goldsky.com they design & build all the speakers meaning Fluance does not its as simple as that.

And I realize they're not the only ones who bs about there product hell thats half of marketing. But even companys like Bose dont say we design and build our products here in america only to find out they're desgined and built by a wholey different company in a whole nother country.

I'm not trying to turn this into a fight or drag it out because its useless on the simple basis that in the end people will buy what they want no matter the quality. I heard the one statement about how they've been in business for 2 years that means nothing most things work fine the first couple of years, let have 10 years go by and see how the products bought today are still working then.

 

[Geoff L]

Argggg

Double post....

 

[Geoff L]

I really could care less who makes them, they certainly won't be in our home any time soon..

I was the one who posted the GS-link in this thread and have been aware of GS making Fluance and others speakers for over a couple years. I believe GS headquarters (here in the states) is in the Empire State building.
Been to the GS web site many many times....

I actually bought my nephew a set of their HT 5-speaker packages a year plus or so ago. This was after hearing a number of decent reviews. For the money they did easily (surpass the few dollars) we spent. I was actually quite surprised at how they sounded. Certainly no B&W, Revel, etc, but much better sounding than I had imagined they would be.
I gave him one of my older DIY Shiva subs to fill the bottom end. His mother still loves me to this day for our very noisy gift.

I was just playing devils advocate. I do "VERY MUCH AGREE" with you that the Fluance web site information is extremely misleading as to where and whom builds Fluance speakers...

Back to the White Van scam man...

Regards
Geoff

 

[Jason GT]

I don't believe some of the statements that are being flung about so casually.

First of all, I do not own Fluance, have never heard them, etc etc etc, but I do find many of the assumptions stated in this thread to be questionable:

1) GS "designs and builds all their product" - this could well be true, while Fluance does its design work. How do you know that Fluance doesn't do their own engineering and spec a design to GS for manufacture? It's not an uncommon arrangement. Perhaps Fluance IS bsing, but don't forget that GS could also be making a product spec'd by Fluance.

You might be surprised about the number of products that you buy which are Made in China. (and JeremyFR, please don't be so cavalier about the term "slave labour".)

2) "most of our products are UL approved" I know this does sound a bit funny, and it is pretty funny, but remember that the GS site is business to business, not so much for the end user. Not having UL approval may be a nonfactor in some of the world's markets.

3) "Gold Sky obviously knows that these speakers are being sold through this scam, yet they continue to do it." From a business perspective, they take an order from a distributor (White Van central) and pump out the order as specified. What, and how, the distributor does with the product is up to the distributor. I doubt they track what happens to their speakers afterwards.

Do I support the White Van guys? Can't say that I do. However I think there is a LOT of misplaced and misinformed blame going on around here.

 

[Chris Elm]

April 12, 2003
Dan Ritchie said:

Hey at the Texas DIY 2002 event that I hosted last year a guy brought a pair in with him.

We took measurements of them and everything and the info and measurements are posted here on our site:

http://www.gr-research.com/diyevents/white.htm

Oh yea, they sucked, but we all got a big kick out of him bringing them in.

I wish those guys would try selling some of those fine speakers to me. He, he, he...

Looks like you finally got your wish Dan.

See this thread if you get bored and need another laugh.
ANOTHER WHITE VAN DISCUSSION

Here is something I posted in the second page of that thread:
--------------
I too have been reading Audioreview.com for the reviews on these speakers. Hilarious!

This is one of my Favs:

Price Paid: $198 at White van outside Of

Product Model Year:
2002

Summary:
OK------------So as the story goes white van yada yada yada----------------------Acoustic Image 6.5's mini towers
Acoutic Image (Never heard of them) $1200 dollars (Don't think so)However, THESE SPEAKERS ARE WELL WORTH THE $198 I PAID!! And after reading about 10 pages of reviews from complete idiots who are to busy feeling like they got robbed!! HOOK THE DAMN THINGS UP. I am running them through a Sony DTS amp (350 watts) and they KICK-----------HARD! For everybody who wasted my time reading your long a@@ boring story only to tell me in the end that you haven't even hooked them up yet??????????????? EARTH TO PEOPLE-- This is a helpful audio R E V I E W site and I stress the word REVIEW. Get a grip on your life and stop feeling sorry for yourself. These speakers sound great for what I paid and I hope to run into the white van again because I will buy another pair, the only thing I would do different is try to get an even better deal than I did the first time!!!!!
P.S. If anyone is looking to sell another pair of 6.5's we can talk!! E-Mail me please

Strengths:
PLAY THESE LOUD!! THEY CAN HANDLE IT!!
USE A GOOD AMP AND YOU'LL BE HAPPY!
THEY LOOK GOOD

Weaknesses:
NONE YET ONLY HAD THEM FOR ABOUT 2 HOURS, MAYBE IN A FEW MONTHS OR A YEAR I'LL BE WRITING A FOLLOW UP REVIEW WITH A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW----------ALTHOUGH I HIGHLY DOUBT IT!

Similar Products Used:
Bose, Polk, Paradigm, Klipsch, B & W
---------------

So go have some fun, and read these reviews.

 

[Chris Elm]

And here is something posted by Eric Eickhorst, which is funny also...





Oh, man, this is too funny. I just took Brian's advice and checked out some of the reviews on AudioReview - hilarious! I love how people actually put where they bought them: BP Oil, KMart parking lot, etc. Check out this guy's opinion of the "Grafdale GD507 Professional Loudspeaker System":

quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reviewed by: Angry D, Casual Listener, from North York, Ontario

Price Paid: $200 at parking lot at Don M

Product Model Year:
2003

Summary:
Product: Samaurai Speakers

I have now joined the brotherhood of the scammed. Well I Just bought some crappy Samaurai speakers from some guy in a parking lot at Don Mills and Steeles about an hour ago. I only stopped there to buy 2 tires for my car. He was a persistent little as@hole, who wouldn't take no for an answer. I thought I was slick. I interrogated him for 30 minutes, he had an answer for everything. He ended up scamming me out of $200. He showed me receipts, and a piece of sh@t laminated spec sheet. He gave me the same bullsh@t overstock story. The man even hooked them up so I could listen to them! They sounded fine!
The fag gave me a sob story about five children, and how he was coming back from a delivery from City TV . after I handed him the money. The cocky bast@rd had the audacity to give me a receipt for the list price of $2800, and some 5yr bullsh@t warrenty. The f@uckin troll said all I had to do was go to:

Westmont Corp.
75 West Beaver Ceek unit #9
Richmond Hill, ON

ask for a mythical man named Steve. Who would hook me up with any repairs I needed
Just like the endless list of other victims. I went home to see how much they were worth. Typed the name in the search engine, pressed enter, and a list of scam sites came up. The guy was driving a red minivan with the license plate AMFE 304. When I hooked them up at home, only one of them sounded alright, the other one sounds like sh@t.
That guy better hope I never see him again. BECAUSE I AM GOING TO BEAT EVERY PENNY HE TOOK ME FOR, OUT OF HIS FAT, SWEATY FACE!!!. If you live in the Toronto area, and have a similar story, email me.
I want to start my own "coalition" against evil. The name of or campaign can be "Toronto Freedom"

P.S: Fu@k going through the U.N, because we are going to break every rule in the fu@kin GENEVA CONVENTION!

CAN I GET A HELL YEAH!!!

Strengths:
Can you repeat the question

Weaknesses:
Where do I start

Similar Products Used:
What's the point
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Maybe even funnier are the people who think these are great speakers. Must be nice to live in a world where you're so blissfully ignorant of everything.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

I was actually approached near Toronto the other day about buying speakers...if I hadn't been in a rush I'd have loved to take a look at what they were selling

 

[JackS]

If anyone has noticed, many of these speakers brands have a little simularity with a ligitimate brand. In this case it was Grafdale. I've also noticed several with a rip-off of the AR company. Instead of Accustic Research they may be named Audio Relaunch(? guessing here) or other simular acronym of the good AR name. When selling these speakers, I would assume they could also be legally referred to as AR's. The White Van guys seem to skirt all the ethic boundries but still stay with-in legal limits and continue on with their well known rip-off tactics. I've never heard these speakers but if anyone really beleives they can buy $1500 speakers for $200 out of a van, they have got to beleive also that the speakers are stolen. Anyone with such a belief is probably getting what they deserve.

 

[IraSWeiss]

This is an old story to me. My next door neighbor bought a pair of Dahlton towers from a white van guy. Same blurb about the overstock, etc. The sad thing is that he is a police officer. He thinks they sound fine.

 

[chris_everett]

Well, I decided to go to the source on the Fluance issue, and I sent them an e-mail, shown below.



I participate in an on-line forum that discusses home theater technology, including speakers. Your products have been regarded quite highly, however there has recently been some concern that your speakers are built by a company in china called "goldsky", who apparently also makes the infamous "White Van" speakers, of whom you are no doubt familier. One forum member obtained technical data for those "White Van" speakers, and the results, to put it mildly, are laughable. Both myself and the other forum members would appreciate your response to these concerns, in what makes Fluance speakers different. Also there is some concern that your products are not clearly advertised as being made in China.
Your prompt attention to these questions would be greatly appreciated. You can reply to this e-mail or you can call me ***-***-**** to discuss these matters further. I will be willing to post a reply to this concern on the forum and hopefully clear the air.

Sincerly,
Chris Everett

This was there response:

Hi and thanks for contacting us about this issue. We are aware of someone listing goldsky as being affiliated with our company. This is not true in any way. Our products are of superior quality and have received nothing but great reviews form our customers. We are not familiar with goldsky extensively but have done some research into them after hearing about them.
They are not an audiophile speaker company and their products are intended for other markets than North America.

Our products are assembled researched and developed in Canada. We are very knowledged in what we do and have great expertise in cabinet design and driver/crossover* technology. You are welcome to buy one of our products and decide for yourself and truly hear the difference.

Thanks for contacting us and please do not hesitate to contact us agin
regarding us and our products, Greg Sales @ Fluance

I wasn't very happy with this response, so I sent a follow up:

Hello.* Thank you for your prompt reply.* I am afraid that there are still
some unanswered questions concerning your products.* If you will compare for example your AV-4 speakers and the AV988F from GoldSky, you will realize that both of these speakers have exactly the same specs, right down to dimensional size. I believe that there may be very valid reasons for these issues, that do not shed a negative light on your company.* I am afraid that this issue may already be costing your company sales, and I would appreciate a detailed explanation of these issues.

Sincerely,
Chris Everett

I have not heard a response yet, but I will keep you posted on what they have to say.

 

[JeremyFr]

Very nicely put I look forward to seeing there response. On a side note I dont remember who or what thread it was in but I remember reading a while back about someone who opened up there Fluances to take a more indepth look and several things came under question etc about them.

First thing that was of concern was they claim to be biampable/biwirable (all in the same) yet internally it appeared that either way you were running through the same circuitry on the "crossover" which consisted of a coil and a few capacitors. This was also questioned due to the lack of bridges on the binding post's for single amp applications. Also I remember this person bring up construction quality was shall we put it to be expected for a speaker in there price range.

I'm cannot fully knock on Fluance's products being that many people own them and like them and I've never personally heard them yet heres a turn around on that, I truely can not knock white van speakers either since many people buy them and like them and I've never heard them...... catch 22 huh??