- Report: #256334
Complaint Review: Robert M Sullivan Rob Sullivan Robbie Sullivan Sully Sulli GulfStream Audio Frontrange Audio - Denver Fort Meyers Tampa Orlando Fort Lauderdale San Diego H Florida
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Robert M Sullivan Rob Sullivan Robbie Sullivan Sully Sulli GulfStream Audio Frontrange Audio
USA Denver Fort Meyers Tampa Orlando Fort Lauderdale San Diego H, Florida, U.S.A.
Phone:
303-618-0975
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Robert M Sullivan Rob Sullivan Robbie Sullivan Sully Sulli GulfStream Audio Frontrange Audio Robert M Sullivan White Van Speakers Scam DiVinci sound Di Vinci speakers suv pts 303-618-0975 con man con artist Denver Fort Meyers Tampa Orlando Fort Lauderdale San Diego Houston Atlanta Chicago Cleveland Las Vegas Boulder Daytona Dallas Florida
The Di Vinci AV 2098 Receiver , and the White Van Scam
------------------
$ 3895.00? This is a piece of pure White Van scam junk that is not worth $ 38.95, and is the worst piece of equipment I've seen in nearly 30 years of reviewing, building, and most of all enjoying audio equipment- although the new White Van Scam "Genesis Media Lab " line such as the 'G 610' is equally awful- and CNet can show you what happens when this junk blows up, as it will. The 'fraudsters' in their White Vans, feed you bogus ads and stories of having 'excess equipment I can give you at a great price', (hence the term White Van Scam- see Wikipeida) - or show you ads, and "reviews" that a little digging has confirmed were written by and posted by these shysters - the DiVinci ad copy alone contains more bs than a barnyard.
Audio hobbyists laugh at the propaganda spewed by the White Van crowd, it's actually hilarious as GR Research writes in their excellent debunking of the claims made for this stuff. If you have a friend who is into audio gear, they may get a laugh out of reading the E Bay ads. The terms used by these creative writers are foreign to world of quality audio , for example - they claim a 'long range' (ha!) tuner vs. the correct term which is 'high sensitivity'. The outdated AC-3 input is called 'active scan' , in an effort to confuse you with 'progressive scan' which yields a sharper DVD picture when connected through the component video outputs any decent piece of equipment has, including AV receivers- but then the DiVinci has a long way to go before qualifying as decent. The fabricated claims and utter nonsense reads like the gibberish of the Craigs Lists legions of Nigerian Scammers, INMHO.
You can find extensive coverage on this junk via online audio sites, however, these sites are not likely to be seen by the target market for the White Van crowd: the uninitiated and folks new to the market. In effect, these guys are predators, and the quality, or more accurately, utter lack thereof, of the wares they are peddling needs to be exposed.
So, while the other listeners and I spent more time with this piece of garbage than it deserves, the outlandish claims being made for this thing need to examined. As one lady put it - "they are advertising Tiffany's, but delivering costume jewelry and cubic zirconium."
One need only look at the weight of this thing, and the lack of basic audio video inputs and outputs to see that it does not deserve being mentioned with the legitimate audio products of the world, but if anyone needs any more convincing - here we go.
(1) The Tuner:
In metro New York, despite being attached to antennae, ranging from a basic dipole, to the consensus world best that I use for DXing (pulling in distant stations), the legendary AV-2098 "Long Range" tuner (what shyster came up with that tag ?) failed to pull in stations cleanly received by a Sony ICF- CD 513 under cabinet kitchen radio-CD player. A "$ 3895" receiver bested by a $ 99 kitchen radio from Target- oh my. White Kitchen Radio 1, White Van Scammers- 0 . A Yamaha receiver on sale at Radio Shack for $ 229 crushed the DiVinci in all catagories, including tuner performance, and outperformed the Sony kitchen radio.
(2) The Inputs and Outputs.
A quality A/V receiver should be able to control your entire system, with inputs for for all of your video equipment- cable box, VCR, DVD player - and at this price point, it should have multiple HDMI inputs and outputs, so you can run a single cable to your TV/monitor, component video in and out, and 'upconversion', whereby the signal from a DVD player, even an older one, is upgraded to a picture of much greater resolution, such as 720 p (progressive).
Look at the back of the 2098. Not even component video, much less HDMI, just an S connection (ok for an old VHS VCR) and a single, outdated "AC-3",connection. It forces you to find a DVD player that still has the Dolby Digital decoder built in -these will usually be older models such as the Sony 400 model, that may lack progressive scan,and the sampling rate will be lower than current players.
As noted the DiVinci video connections are primitive- lack of HDMI or even component video outputs is inexcusable for a $ 389 receiver, much less one that claims to be worth thousands. As if the spoof reviews, awards, and fabricated engineering citations (they should be ticketed for selling the cheapest of Chinese junk) aren't enough, these shysters have the nerve to claim the unit is "HD compatable". This p.o.s. (piece of ___) lacks the inputs and outputs necessary to get the advantages of HDTV - the only more absurd and outlandish claim I've seen is for the 'precision Lynxis crossover' in their speakers - which is wired precisely so the 4 driver "4 way' system in effect becomes a 2 way system- absolutely flabbergasting.
Compare the pictures posted by the hucksters for their "$ 3895 receiver" to the superb $ 1200 Denon AVR-3806 pictured here I've posted, or receivers offereing superb value such as the Pioneer 912. It's worth 1000 words.
(3) The Power Amp - 400 Watts per channel !!
Right. This paperweight is 4 times as powerful as the Denon which weights more than three times twice as much, or twice as powerful as a classic power amp such as my 80 pound Perreaux 2150. What ever you say, boys.
Comparing the Denon to the DiVinci would be like a shootout between Tiger Woods and the ranger at your local municipal course, so I tried to find something to match up with the 'awesome' DiVinci. I dusted off my my 1980 vintage 35 watt SX 737 Pioneer receiver. It in turn dusted off the DiVinci with each of the 4 speaker sets we tested with - the Pioneer had much deeper and tighter bass, better imaging, a much smoother midrange, a crisper, clearer high end - enough said. The Yamaha- Radio Shack $ 229 receiver rated at 90 watts per channel also crushed the DiVinci in every performance parameter.
The only thing 400 watts about this piece of scrap metal might be the light bulbs inside- but then, such a bulb would melt the ultra cheap and chintzy components - the all important power supply could not have cost more than $5. I did not bother to take measurements of the power amp- their own specifications claim 1% distortion at 1 khz- the midrange of the audio spectrum where power amps are the cleanest, and measured distortion levels the lowest. Without realizing it, the scammers have admitted that the AV 2098 has audible distortion of the worst kind- I won't bore you with an explanation but the bottom line is that this level of distortion is audible, and literally gets on your nerves !
CONCLUSION: I've spent more far more time on this thing than it deserves, but after seeing friends of friends ripped off, and reading the outrageous marketing materials, I felt this scam needed to be exposed to the E Bay community. As I said in my review of the speakers:
I was not prepared for just how bad this thing is- for example, the sound on the "Master and Commander " DVD - an excellent test of bass response- was almost pure distortion- no sense in wasting any more space - the best use of the DiVinci AV 2098 or any of the Genesis Media Lab or other White Van 'receivers' is to take the sheet metal, hammer it into a usuable garbage can, and toss the useless electronic components into it.
This thing should be sold in Dollar Tree, not on E Bay.
See also C Net (Genesis G-610) and the AVS FORUM on the DV 2098.
Guide ID: 10000000003159937Guide created: 03/08/07 (updated 06/21/07)
Speaker Scammer
Robert M Sullivan date of birth June 3, 1968 phone 303-618-0975
Robert M Sullivan
seminole, Florida
U.S.A.
------------------
$ 3895.00? This is a piece of pure White Van scam junk that is not worth $ 38.95, and is the worst piece of equipment I've seen in nearly 30 years of reviewing, building, and most of all enjoying audio equipment- although the new White Van Scam "Genesis Media Lab " line such as the 'G 610' is equally awful- and CNet can show you what happens when this junk blows up, as it will. The 'fraudsters' in their White Vans, feed you bogus ads and stories of having 'excess equipment I can give you at a great price', (hence the term White Van Scam- see Wikipeida) - or show you ads, and "reviews" that a little digging has confirmed were written by and posted by these shysters - the DiVinci ad copy alone contains more bs than a barnyard.
Audio hobbyists laugh at the propaganda spewed by the White Van crowd, it's actually hilarious as GR Research writes in their excellent debunking of the claims made for this stuff. If you have a friend who is into audio gear, they may get a laugh out of reading the E Bay ads. The terms used by these creative writers are foreign to world of quality audio , for example - they claim a 'long range' (ha!) tuner vs. the correct term which is 'high sensitivity'. The outdated AC-3 input is called 'active scan' , in an effort to confuse you with 'progressive scan' which yields a sharper DVD picture when connected through the component video outputs any decent piece of equipment has, including AV receivers- but then the DiVinci has a long way to go before qualifying as decent. The fabricated claims and utter nonsense reads like the gibberish of the Craigs Lists legions of Nigerian Scammers, INMHO.
You can find extensive coverage on this junk via online audio sites, however, these sites are not likely to be seen by the target market for the White Van crowd: the uninitiated and folks new to the market. In effect, these guys are predators, and the quality, or more accurately, utter lack thereof, of the wares they are peddling needs to be exposed.
So, while the other listeners and I spent more time with this piece of garbage than it deserves, the outlandish claims being made for this thing need to examined. As one lady put it - "they are advertising Tiffany's, but delivering costume jewelry and cubic zirconium."
One need only look at the weight of this thing, and the lack of basic audio video inputs and outputs to see that it does not deserve being mentioned with the legitimate audio products of the world, but if anyone needs any more convincing - here we go.
(1) The Tuner:
In metro New York, despite being attached to antennae, ranging from a basic dipole, to the consensus world best that I use for DXing (pulling in distant stations), the legendary AV-2098 "Long Range" tuner (what shyster came up with that tag ?) failed to pull in stations cleanly received by a Sony ICF- CD 513 under cabinet kitchen radio-CD player. A "$ 3895" receiver bested by a $ 99 kitchen radio from Target- oh my. White Kitchen Radio 1, White Van Scammers- 0 . A Yamaha receiver on sale at Radio Shack for $ 229 crushed the DiVinci in all catagories, including tuner performance, and outperformed the Sony kitchen radio.
(2) The Inputs and Outputs.
A quality A/V receiver should be able to control your entire system, with inputs for for all of your video equipment- cable box, VCR, DVD player - and at this price point, it should have multiple HDMI inputs and outputs, so you can run a single cable to your TV/monitor, component video in and out, and 'upconversion', whereby the signal from a DVD player, even an older one, is upgraded to a picture of much greater resolution, such as 720 p (progressive).
Look at the back of the 2098. Not even component video, much less HDMI, just an S connection (ok for an old VHS VCR) and a single, outdated "AC-3",connection. It forces you to find a DVD player that still has the Dolby Digital decoder built in -these will usually be older models such as the Sony 400 model, that may lack progressive scan,and the sampling rate will be lower than current players.
As noted the DiVinci video connections are primitive- lack of HDMI or even component video outputs is inexcusable for a $ 389 receiver, much less one that claims to be worth thousands. As if the spoof reviews, awards, and fabricated engineering citations (they should be ticketed for selling the cheapest of Chinese junk) aren't enough, these shysters have the nerve to claim the unit is "HD compatable". This p.o.s. (piece of ___) lacks the inputs and outputs necessary to get the advantages of HDTV - the only more absurd and outlandish claim I've seen is for the 'precision Lynxis crossover' in their speakers - which is wired precisely so the 4 driver "4 way' system in effect becomes a 2 way system- absolutely flabbergasting.
Compare the pictures posted by the hucksters for their "$ 3895 receiver" to the superb $ 1200 Denon AVR-3806 pictured here I've posted, or receivers offereing superb value such as the Pioneer 912. It's worth 1000 words.
(3) The Power Amp - 400 Watts per channel !!
Right. This paperweight is 4 times as powerful as the Denon which weights more than three times twice as much, or twice as powerful as a classic power amp such as my 80 pound Perreaux 2150. What ever you say, boys.
Comparing the Denon to the DiVinci would be like a shootout between Tiger Woods and the ranger at your local municipal course, so I tried to find something to match up with the 'awesome' DiVinci. I dusted off my my 1980 vintage 35 watt SX 737 Pioneer receiver. It in turn dusted off the DiVinci with each of the 4 speaker sets we tested with - the Pioneer had much deeper and tighter bass, better imaging, a much smoother midrange, a crisper, clearer high end - enough said. The Yamaha- Radio Shack $ 229 receiver rated at 90 watts per channel also crushed the DiVinci in every performance parameter.
The only thing 400 watts about this piece of scrap metal might be the light bulbs inside- but then, such a bulb would melt the ultra cheap and chintzy components - the all important power supply could not have cost more than $5. I did not bother to take measurements of the power amp- their own specifications claim 1% distortion at 1 khz- the midrange of the audio spectrum where power amps are the cleanest, and measured distortion levels the lowest. Without realizing it, the scammers have admitted that the AV 2098 has audible distortion of the worst kind- I won't bore you with an explanation but the bottom line is that this level of distortion is audible, and literally gets on your nerves !
CONCLUSION: I've spent more far more time on this thing than it deserves, but after seeing friends of friends ripped off, and reading the outrageous marketing materials, I felt this scam needed to be exposed to the E Bay community. As I said in my review of the speakers:
I was not prepared for just how bad this thing is- for example, the sound on the "Master and Commander " DVD - an excellent test of bass response- was almost pure distortion- no sense in wasting any more space - the best use of the DiVinci AV 2098 or any of the Genesis Media Lab or other White Van 'receivers' is to take the sheet metal, hammer it into a usuable garbage can, and toss the useless electronic components into it.
This thing should be sold in Dollar Tree, not on E Bay.
See also C Net (Genesis G-610) and the AVS FORUM on the DV 2098.
Guide ID: 10000000003159937Guide created: 03/08/07 (updated 06/21/07)
Speaker Scammer
Robert M Sullivan date of birth June 3, 1968 phone 303-618-0975
Robert M Sullivan
seminole, Florida
U.S.A.
