Ironically, just before I started reading this thread, I had an aquaintance call me to suss out 'those speakers sold out of a white van' because a wealthy client of his had just bought some. I second Ernies comments wholeheartedly, how can these people(who buy them that is) be so naive'. Most of us here work damn hard to build a good reputation, part of which is to give good advice, and if I had a customer who was dumb enough to fall for this scam, they would very quickly become an ex-customer. And to 'smamme2' it isn't just a nationwide scam, we cop the same thing here in Australia, only the price is different. Try $800 if your'e a tradesman( they even pull up at building sites) through to over $1100 if they can sweet talk a suit! At a Hi Fi shop I used to work at, we once had a sales call from a 'potential' customer looking to buy a 'high end' pre-power combo for his recently purchased 'audiophile' speakers. Funnily enough, the sale was lost because he didn't appreciate the laughter when he finally admitted buying the speakers out of a white van, further laughter, over the even higher price!
Iain