Price Paid:  $300.00 from Circuit City, Annapo

Summary:
I'm reading all these negative reviews...but I'm not seeing it. I bought AI 12.3's almost 10 years ago in College from the notorious white van. After hooking them up, I believed they had to be stolen. I was pushing them with a DENON AVR-50 (75W per channel) and they worked pretty well. Used them throughout college for house parties. 8 years later and they are still going strong....they are the main speakers for my Home Entertainment system (center, rear sattelites, receiver, and sub are ONKYO) and they sound great. Interesting so many people think it's a scam.....but they worked well for me.

Weaknesses:
Not a crazy audiophile so I can't really say. I can say they sound pretty good to me.

Price Paid:  $0.00 from White Van

Summary:
Anybody who fell for the white van speaker scam in the bay are can return the speakers within three days to: 480 Lindbergh Ave Livermore, CA 94551 After 5:30 pm I followed the bums to this location, this is their base of operations. Fell free to voice your outrage at the punks who run the scam...

Price Paid:  $400.00 from Post Office, Lisle I

Summary:
I bought the A.I. Tower speakers 600SL in the Fall of 2001 when I was in college from the white van people coming out of the post office. I went back to my dorm and hooked them up using monster cable that I bought. They work great (I don't know a whole lot about speakers but they always sounded great, never had a problem). They look great too. I only used them for about 6 months until I graduated. Since then they have been in storage. I'm looking to sell them since I don't need anything as loud anymore (not a college chick anymore). Email me if you're interested. If not, that's fine too - no hurt feelings. But listen, the speakers work fine - especially for the price you will probably end up paying from the white van people. If you feel scummy about buying them from a van and now you find out its a scam - get over it. You should have thought of that when you were driving to the ATM or dishing out your hard earned cash. Funny, they never take a check, do they? That should have tipped you off. But if you like the ones you got and want some tower speakers to go with, drop me a line. Until then, I hope you don't beat yourself up too much, afterall they work and look great!

Strengths:
Great look, great sound, great price.

Weaknesses:
You feel bad buying them from the white van people, especially after listening to everything everyone says. Bottomline is you don't have to tell anyone where you got them.

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer, Sony

Price Paid:  $150.00 from Inner City Gas Stati

Summary:
Wassup. Yeah, they hit me hard. I was pumping gas and just paid for it when a beat-up white van drove by. Guy hollered out the window "Hey, cheap speakers. C`mon, just take a look." The scam alarm bells were triggered right away, but I've never bought out the back of a van before even though I've seen it in movies. So they showed me their stuff, told me that it's extra goods, got to unload, off inventory record so they, the delivery men make a quick buck while I get a bargain. So I forked out the cash for a home theatre system: a subwoofer, four speakers and one centre speaker. They took the cash, loaded the good into my car and were gone as quick as they came. I had a story to tell my grand kids now. My only disappointment was that this was a cheap marketing technique. I would have been happier if the goods were hot.

Strengths:
Nice finish, digital amp built into the sub, DTS ready, a max power output of 900 watts. Buying an equivalent system with such power via "legit" means would cost about $800/-. Also, sound is crisp and clear, bass is booming. The digital interface is comparable to any expensive brand.

Weaknesses:
No warranty. I know the aftersales is zilch. Also, the included cables are the worse of quality and too short. I will be getting better cables.

Similar Products Used:
Infinity, Bose, Sony, Aiwa, JBL.

Price Paid:  $100.00 from parking lot

Summary:
I got a pair of the 600 SL's for one benjamin. Best money I ever spent! I'm from Jersey and it's hard to scam a good ole jersey boy. There were two kids in a parking lot and I was almost laughing at the younger of the two because I wasn't buying his line of crap about how they were unaccounted for after they finished installing a home sound system. He gave me the full academy award performance too! Jumping up and down like a fool. I wanted to hit him just for that and told him to calm his silly ass down. Being from Jersey, I thought they were stolen and told him that to his face. He said no here's my card, etc. Then I said OK, whatever, stop wasting my time, how much do you want for them. He showed me the literature and said they were worth a grand and I would be lucky to get them for $600.00 I laughed at his face and walked away. Then he did the same thing that I'm reading all over these posts and he said OK how much are you willing to pay. I told him I never even heard of them so one buck, take it or leave it. I made sure they weren't rocks in the boxes and took them home and they sat for a week before I even hooked them up. I hooked them up and couldn't belive my ears. They sounded really good. So good, in fact, that I unhooked my old speakers(Technics) because they were making the 600 SL's sound worse. True, they could use a little help in the bottom end but if you adjust you EQ you can get past that. They are good speakers, don't listen to anyone who says they aren't, they're lying. Just don't pay over a buck for them and they are a very good investment. One year later I'm still enjoying them. PS - I told them they didn't need any beer money because I just gave them $100 bucks worth.

Strengths:
crisp clear sound, especially the high end

Weaknesses:
not enough low end