May
26
Theater Research/Elite Audio = Buyer Beware…
Theater Research/Elite Audio = Buyer Beware…: Josh Ray, on a Chinese company that sells terrible speakers with fake specs and awards. They’re using direct marketing (have the speakers loaded on a white van that goes around town…) to sell these at “ridiculously low” prices.
Before leaving the site, have a look at our most popular entries:
- Review: FixTunes (September 14, 2006)
- Apple Lossless offerings from the iTMS not likely—for now (June 28, 2006)
- Review: Datasafe oomi (June 7, 2006)
- HOWTO: Move your iTunes music while preserving library data (May 11, 2006)
- Batteries 101 (May 8, 2006)
- Presentation: iPod Hi-Fi, plus a few thoughts (March 2, 2006)
- Presentation/Review: Creative Zen Vision:M (December 9, 2005)
- Review: Alegria Audio Ling bookshelf speaker system (November 9, 2005)
- HOWTO: Put together a $3K audiophile CD player for $555 (October 20, 2005)
- HOWTO: Build the CMoy pocket amplifier (October 16, 2005)
I have a pair of elite audio tower speakers and I think they sound really good for the price I paid. I’ve listened to comprably priced speakers and they sound waaaay better than the Klipsch synergy line speakers I was planning on buying. Just my two cents.
...added by megan /// November 18th, 2006 at 10:55 AM
I purchased a pair of EA-1620 and got scammed. They were driving around town, and claimed that they had ordered too many. Then they showed me the MSRP of $2200, and said they would sell them to me for $400. I bought it, hook-line-and sinker. BEWARE! I do believe it’s a scam!
KEVIN
...added by kevin /// April 7th, 2007 at 14:18 PM
Hey me too. Except I didn’t give them money, I gave them an iPod and the Bose Sounddock to go with it. I guess I wasn’t out much, but the quality of these speakers is SHIT. They sound fine, but they’re falling apart. I didn’t think it was a scam until I saw the same 2 guys in a truck doing the same thing around christmas time in a hotel parking lot by where I live. Might I ask what state you live in kevin?
...added by Billy Kid /// April 17th, 2007 at 17:33 PM
A man came by my workplace. He wanted to barter his speaker system for a complete pair of prescription eyeglasses valued at $600.00. He said he would trade the Elite Audio EA-7012 model, valued at $2999.00, for the eyeglasses. His story was that he set up corporate parties in tents and set up speaker sound systems for these parties. The set he had in his car was an extra brand new set.
My husband did the research and found this website. BEWARE of this scam. We were lucky. We did not buy or barter.
...added by IML /// May 23rd, 2007 at 02:06 AM
Correction. EA 7012 model was stated as being regularly priced at $2999.00. He had a nice catalog to show me.
...added by IML /// May 23rd, 2007 at 02:09 AM
IML: I’ve fixed the wrong formatting concerning the price in your first comment.
Good to know you didn’t fall for this scam!
Also: good to hear this site was of help!
...added by Konstantinos Christidis /// May 23rd, 2007 at 02:33 AM
I bought a pair of the Elite Audio Tower speakers and I suspected it was a scam, but I offered only $300 dollars for the pair and the guy took the deal.
I think they sound amazingly good for $3 or$ 4 hundred a pair. Just try to build a pair of speakers with the same components as in the Elite audio’s. You’d be at $600 a pair unfinished, easy.
PS they sound best with Rock/Fusion music such as Eric Johnson, Stu Hamm, Al DiMiola, Etc.
...added by Alan /// May 28th, 2007 at 18:04 PM
I have a set of tr-2900’s right next to a pair of Magnepan SMGa’s and a pair of Ohm FRs-11’s and a pair of Klipsch kg3’s and a pair of little Infinitys. They sound fine and are not junk. I paid $200 for them and that’s what they’re worth. They get louder than any of these other models. The subwoofers are very impressive. If they’re too boomy for you the crossover on the back is adjustable. Yes I bought them from a kid in a Lexus SUV. He brought them in the house and hooked them up and they sounded good enough to buy. You people need to chill out. All modern theater speakers have this weird dull flat sound. Placed too close to the TV they produce rainbows but so do the Klipsch. The highs seem balanced. The website exists to inflate the price and I don’t understand their marketing strategy but they are decent speakers
...added by Tony Stark /// August 6th, 2007 at 19:58 PM
I was given an Elite Audio 6040…sound is fine in kids rec room…however no remote. Any ideas on how to program a replacement would be appreciated.
...added by Michael /// September 18th, 2007 at 15:05 PM
I received an EA 7012 system from someone who didn’t want the system and told me that it worked. I need hook up information on this because I can hook the sub into the TV directly and it works fine, but none of the speakers will function. This system is supposed to have a built in pre amp….is that correct. Any help would be appreciated.
...added by Steve /// September 22nd, 2007 at 03:32 AM
Thee is no hook up sheet and no official website that I can find Steve. Since they are cheaply made and sold from china i think it’s highly likely there are no english instructions or if so they would be thrown out by the scammers who purchase them from china…. maybe wrong tho
...added by GoodWillClubbing /// October 31st, 2007 at 21:58 PM
Well, I guess i dont know what to think. I just got back from the new local salvation army that had a complete set, with the reciver, speakers and floor speakers as well and paid $450 for all of it. (no remote) it sounds like it was a great deal at the time but now im not quite sure. Is the whole set worth 450??? Should i try to bring it back???
...added by Matt /// November 13th, 2007 at 18:59 PM
Matt: I wouldn’t pay $450 for it. Try to return it if you can. (And hey, it’s not the end of the world if that attempt fails.)
...added by Konstantinos Christidis /// November 14th, 2007 at 13:11 PM
I’m sad to hear that people are not getting what they paid for but I guess it is a chance you take when your on the street buying something. I paid $300 three years ago for a TR-602 set; 4 towers, 1 center, and 1 woofer. I was at the gas station down the street from my house, so I told them to hook it all up to my old Sony receiver. It sounded great, loud, clear, and deep bass. Only later after I adjusted everything correctly that I found that the woofer had its limitations BUT by that time all my neighbors knew I was home.
Now for the last year 1/2 I’ve had them hooked up to my Harman/Kardon AVR140. I blew the woofer, so I replaced it with an Infinity.
I’ll play Led Zeppelin, rapper Too Short, down to Columbia’s Buena Vista Social Club. The horns come out crisp at any volume, well not any volume. I can’t get my H/K 140 past the half way point because by then I feel like I’m at a Metalica concert and my theater research TR-602’s are right their just warming up…
...added by Ramon /// November 18th, 2007 at 07:48 AM
I purchased a pair of TR-1610’s from a friend that got scammed by the guys in the white van. I figured the cabinets looked good and even if the speakers sounded like crap I’d replace the drivers and crossovers and have a decent loking pair of speakers on the cheap.
I hooked them up in their original configuration, they sounded sort of mediocre. I took them apart and realized that the crossover (if you can call it that) was cheap and clearly not designed for this application. I replaced the crossover with one taken from an old set of old Infinity Reference Series bokshelf speakers I used in my garage. Connected the crossover to the two woofers and the tweeter in the front of the cabinet and used the top set of binding posts on the back.
The bottom posts I routed to the side woofer and connected them to a dedicated subwoofer amplifier with a low pass at 50Hz. Also extended the port tube that comes out of the back of the cabinet by 2.5” to properly tunbe the resonant frequency at about 45Hz.
The system now sounds SPECTACULAR!
If anyone is interested in detailed instructions on how to transform your speakers into something worthwhile, email me at guaaronteed@yahoo.com.
...added by Aaron /// November 22nd, 2007 at 21:37 PM
I got the same pitch at a sky bank parking lot… Although I paid 200 bucks for the 5.1 system, I pretty much threw out the sub and just used the 5 speakers with my sony head unit. Sounds Fing awsome! I do know it was a scam now but I think it was a mutual deal. That’s what we both get for bying/selling shady products.
...added by Ryan /// January 5th, 2008 at 06:22 AM
I have an EA-608 in my family room, but I got it for free. It sounds pretty good but I have no remote control so I have to hook it up to a different unit for it to work. Anyone have any clue on where I can get a remote control for this setup?
...added by Chris /// January 14th, 2008 at 16:47 PM