Archive: White van speakers

Boy do I have a deal for you!

By Michael Jones

March 2004 (article originally appeared in print in May 1996)

The return of the white vans

Some things never change. Auckland newspaper The New Zealand Herald reported in February 2004 about a speaker selling scam, with speakers being sold from the back of white vans. Way back in May 1996 AudioEnz ran an article on this subject.

If you wanted a new pair of speakers, would you buy them off the back of a truck?

Don’t laugh – in the last few months several hundred people have done just that. Believing that they’ve been offered a bargain, buyers have reportedly paid anywhere up to $2000 for a pair of cheap speaker boxes valued by audio experts at around a couple of hundred dollars.

For several months I’ve been hearing about salesmen cruising the streets, looking for punters likely to want a pair of speakers designed to appeal to the “rock hard” crowd.

By repute, claims were made that the speakers were worth $2000 or more, and that they were being used in nightclubs and recording studios. At first I found it hard to believe. But as the reports kept coming in – first from Auckland, then Wellington, and now Christchurch – the magnitude of this began to set in.

These speakers have been sold under two brand names – Acoustics and Linear Phase. The importer is Sound Labs, based in Auckland.

Selling speakers from the back of a van or truck is not a new phenomenon overseas. It’s been known in the USA for several years, particularly around university campuses. A recent migrant from Australia told me that the same thing was happening across the Tasman a couple of years ago. (Interestingly, one of the brand names used in Australia is the same as one of the brand names used in New Zealand).

Speaker background

New Zealand is well served in terms of hi-fi. For example, there are well over fifty brands of loudspeakers available – probably a higher ratio of speakers to population than anywhere else in the world.

The vast majority are imported and distributed by well established firms. They support the brands in terms of promotion, stock availability (so you can actually hear the product), and back up. If something goes wrong with your speakers, there are spare parts available and the expertise to repair the speakers.

These speakers are on-sold to retailers, either the chain stores or hi-fi specialists. At these retailers you can see and audition the speakers of your choice. By doing so, you can ascertain whether the speakers are appropriate for your musical needs.

Fifteen minutes of fame

Recently the television consumer programme Fair Go investigated this practice. I was invited along to Auckland’s Axent Audio, a drive unit and speaker testing specialist, to observe the measuring and dismantling of a pair of Linear Phase speakers, and to be interviewed as an expert witness.

I watched as Axent’s Graham Bowers ran the speakers through Axent’s measurement regime and, while the results were being computed, we took the speakers apart.

The results were not inspiring. The cabinet was constructed of thin chipboard, with no bracing. This means that the cabinet would be prone to vibrate along with the music, altering the sound considerably (this is known as cabinet colouration).

The drive units were cheap – definitely not what I’d expect from 17 years in the hi-fi industry to find in a speaker reputably worth $2000, or even $1000.

I asked a member of the hi-fi industry familiar with driver manufacture what the ex-factory cost for the drive units would be. The estimate was around $10 per speaker, ex-factory.

The measurements carried out by Axent Audio were no more inspiring. From around 700Hz upwards, the frequency responses – which ideally should be flat – were a series of peaks and troughs. The loudspeakers were rated at a sensitivity of 92dB and had a rated power handling of 250 watts.

The first is an important factor. The higher the sensitivity, the less power needed to reach a certain volume level. A speaker with a sensitivity of 92dB needs only half the power to reach the same volume level as a speaker with a sensitivity of 89dB.

According to Axent’s measurements, the Linear Phase speaker under test reached a sensitivity of 88.3dB from 250Hz to 1kHz, with the sensitivity over other frequency bands being lower still. This means that the speaker will require more than twice as much power as a truly 92dB sensitive loudspeaker to reach the same volume level.

Axent’s Graham Bowers estimates that the speaker under test would have a power handling of around 60 watts.

Combine these two factors and what do you have? Many people buying these speakers are under the impression that the speakers will deliver high sound levels of music for long periods. The measurements suggest that the speakers will not.

Should you buy a pair?

Once upon a time in New Zealand – not too many years ago, actually – it was difficult to find quality hi-fi gear. Severe import restrictions made hi-fi rare and expensive.

Today there is a huge range of hi-fi product available in New Zealand at all price ranges. They have full warranties that are easy to access – and distributors and retailers often go the extra mile to satisfy customers. They are available from retail outlets that will be there tomorrow.

So should you buy a pair of speakers from the back of a truck? As Fair Go’s Raewyn Rasch said, “Don’t do it!”.