"white van" speakers story - 10/09/04 05:34 PM
This came as a hilarious shocker to me when I discovered last night that I actually own a pair of the well known "white van" scam speakers that are often sold in parking lots. Here they are, the infamous Acoustic Response series 707:
http://www.swcp.com/pcaskey/gifs/ar-707.gif
I bought these speakers about ten years ago (I've learned a lot since then!) at a pawn shop for around $90.00. Keep in mind that these were my first set of my very own speakers that I could afford and my only source back then to compare them to was my portable Panasonic system (those 80's boomboxes with detachable speakers). I thought, "oh my gosh, these have great bass!" Little did I know that I would eventually come to despise that bass. I was also impressed with the nice gold metal knobs on the front. I thought I was getting a good deal on something that looked like they were sold only for expensive professional installations.
I'll tell you what finally brought me to research these speakers. I hadn't even listened to them in a LONG time. They were just sitting there taking up space in my bedroom and were being used only as stands for pictures and a satellite receiver! But just recently I asked you guys about buying an older stereo receiver to replace my junk Sony because I was finally going to upgrade the bedroom system. Someone mentioned that I should just look for something new since I was just wanting 2 channel. I didn't want anything expensive, but I wanted something that sounded nice. To make a long story a little bit shorter, I ended up with a Rotel RA-01 integrated amp for $310. It sounds VERY satisfying although I probably could have gotten a Denon or something similar for less money. Well, that's beside the point.
Anyway, I took the amp home and decided to hook it up these monsterous speakers to see what it could do with them. Believe it or not, it tightened up that loose boomy bass that I remembered so well. Still, the sound was reminiscent of speakers that used to come with those all-in-one component systems with the turn table on top that were popular in the late 80's. Remember those...always looked fancy, but usually sounded like crap? I used to want one of those! I was so naive.
Well, it had been awhile since I had listened to these crap speakers and by now I have come to recognize and appreciate good quality sound ever since I've been listening to my Axiom M60's for a little over a year. So I chose this time after all these years to investigate how such expensive looking speakers (although ugly & vintage looking) could sound so bad even with Rotel's clean power. I couldn't help but to laugh out loud at my discovery! I guess that is why I felt compelled to share this story although I feel a bit ashamed about it! Thank goodness I was never approached by one of those vans ten years ago because I probably would have fell for the scam and paid twice as much!
The purpose of replacing the bedroom system is to get something highly enjoyable (and listenable!), but not loud. So I've decided to get rid of those monsters and replace them with the Axiom M3's. Initially, I was going to get the M22's, but I will not have a sub. Apparently, the M3's are a bit better with bass in that respect. Also, before I bought the Rotel, I found a review of it online matched to the M3's and they were found to be a very musical together. I'm sure I won't be disappointed...but I'll be sacrificing a LOT of bass! HA!HA!
http://www.swcp.com/pcaskey/gifs/ar-707.gif
I bought these speakers about ten years ago (I've learned a lot since then!) at a pawn shop for around $90.00. Keep in mind that these were my first set of my very own speakers that I could afford and my only source back then to compare them to was my portable Panasonic system (those 80's boomboxes with detachable speakers). I thought, "oh my gosh, these have great bass!" Little did I know that I would eventually come to despise that bass. I was also impressed with the nice gold metal knobs on the front. I thought I was getting a good deal on something that looked like they were sold only for expensive professional installations.
I'll tell you what finally brought me to research these speakers. I hadn't even listened to them in a LONG time. They were just sitting there taking up space in my bedroom and were being used only as stands for pictures and a satellite receiver! But just recently I asked you guys about buying an older stereo receiver to replace my junk Sony because I was finally going to upgrade the bedroom system. Someone mentioned that I should just look for something new since I was just wanting 2 channel. I didn't want anything expensive, but I wanted something that sounded nice. To make a long story a little bit shorter, I ended up with a Rotel RA-01 integrated amp for $310. It sounds VERY satisfying although I probably could have gotten a Denon or something similar for less money. Well, that's beside the point.
Anyway, I took the amp home and decided to hook it up these monsterous speakers to see what it could do with them. Believe it or not, it tightened up that loose boomy bass that I remembered so well. Still, the sound was reminiscent of speakers that used to come with those all-in-one component systems with the turn table on top that were popular in the late 80's. Remember those...always looked fancy, but usually sounded like crap? I used to want one of those! I was so naive.
Well, it had been awhile since I had listened to these crap speakers and by now I have come to recognize and appreciate good quality sound ever since I've been listening to my Axiom M60's for a little over a year. So I chose this time after all these years to investigate how such expensive looking speakers (although ugly & vintage looking) could sound so bad even with Rotel's clean power. I couldn't help but to laugh out loud at my discovery! I guess that is why I felt compelled to share this story although I feel a bit ashamed about it! Thank goodness I was never approached by one of those vans ten years ago because I probably would have fell for the scam and paid twice as much!
The purpose of replacing the bedroom system is to get something highly enjoyable (and listenable!), but not loud. So I've decided to get rid of those monsters and replace them with the Axiom M3's. Initially, I was going to get the M22's, but I will not have a sub. Apparently, the M3's are a bit better with bass in that respect. Also, before I bought the Rotel, I found a review of it online matched to the M3's and they were found to be a very musical together. I'm sure I won't be disappointed...but I'll be sacrificing a LOT of bass! HA!HA!
I spent about two hours the other day searching the board whether or not I was going with the M3's or the M22's. I didn't want to ask because the subject has been beaten into the ground. It seems for people that have heard both, they are divided pretty much equal as to which one they favor so I figured I won't be disappointed either way. But several recommended if there will be no sub, the M3's would probably be best. They also cost $125 less than the M22's. But now that you point about the bass not necessarily being "better" on the M3's and even less accurate, I'm going to have to reconsider my decision. I didn't really want to spend a lot on the bedroom system because I'll be pissed off if I find it more enjoyable than the few thousand dollar setup in the living room! Maybe I just forget about Axiom and get some Bose instead! 