Cheap Interconnects from Hong Kong

Wow really...becareful who you order from...

I will say the counterfitters have gotten much better on AQ products lately. In the past it was very easy to spot a fake but they are getting much better & now alot also include packaging, which some look very close to the origional.

For HDMI cables, Vodka, Carbon & Chocolate are ones that there are plenty of fakes out there (lots on Ebay), & they do include packaging (which do look close to the origional, especially if you don't know what to look for). I find the fit & finish of the knock offs, still not up to the same standards.

I recently purchased a pair of King Cobra RCA's with packaging. When I compared them to my Diamondbacks that I purchased a couple years back I noticed some differences in the connectors. So I opened up the ends to compare. What I found is a cable that appears to be made of the correct parts but did not have the fit & finish of my older Diamondbacks. Things like insulation not cut as neatly, & end wasn't wraped as well (clear vs black). The bare conductors were long & sloppy, & also had a bunch of nicks out of them. The area of the center conductor covered with heat shrink was much less & abit lose (could move around).

I sent pics to Audioquest & they said it was a legit cable but I wasn't happy with the purchase, so I returned it. I purchased another set from my normal AQ supplier & of course opened it up as well. What I found was fit & finish that matched my Diamondbacks.

So now I'm not sure if the first set was legit or not (maybe a "second"). Have the counterfits got so good that even the manufacturers have trouble spotting some of them?

Things with King Cobras are getting ever hairier
these days.

The lack of the "Audioquest" logo on at least
one of the RCAs is a sure sign of a fake. Now
they even started selling Audioquest empty boxes
for those who want to get more creative, like this
seller:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AudioQuest-King-Cobra-RCA-1M-1Pair-Free-shipping-/180793916890?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a18283dda

Had a glass of wine, tired after work, CLICK-ClICK
BANG-BANG you get taken:(

Below is the sample of the fake ones:
Nordost ReDawn: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250712211049&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_3312wt_1139

PS Audio AC-5: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150508098427&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_500wt_1156

I found this thread after seeing a massive assault of XLO speaker cables from Hong Kong on eBay. Having owned (and still owning) a number of XLO speaker cables the fakes are just obvious to me. It reminded me of the book 'Blink' - trust your intuition. Why do the older cables - Ref 2, Pro 600 - have the anachronistic latest bananas? Even if the wire is real, is it even terminated in the right direction? It just makes me shudder. I'm going to Hong Kong soon, but don't intend to do much high-end audio shopping.

Its getting so bad,there are "authentication" services now offered on ebay.
Just hit the "US Only" button on all your searches.
My worry is they will ship abunch here, and sell them here with a US address.
These are very bad times for audiophiles looking to upgrade, unless you buy from authorized dealers.
The only safe way anymore.
Recently bought some 72v Colorados on ebay from a US seller at a ridiculously low price, couldn't pass it up (the active audioquest would be harder to knock off I would think).
Bought the auction, and then the worry set in.
Did he buy it from China, got a fake, and decided to resell it?
Something to think about on the non actives(reselling after they bought knockoffs!).
Mine turned out to be real (If they could make them sound like mine do, they would be so rich they would not have to sell on ebay, or knockoff audioquest).
I would not chance it, buy from well known sellers or authorized dealers.

I bought a pair of the CV-8 DBS 72 and columbia interconnects. No original packaging but the nice velvet bag. I am no expert but the cables looked pretty good to me. When I put them into my system they were really, really nice. I am not sure if they are fake or not but they seem genuine to me. My guess is there are some run off the assembly line as "extras" the person I bought them from was very responsive and shipping was fast. I don't trust the Chinese just as much as the next guy but these seemed O.K. to me.

The Kimber Kable is made in the USA. The KK cables from Hong Kong and China are inferior knock offs. Buyer beware.

It looks like the very same companies that moved their manufacturing to China are the ones crying counterfeit.

Last year there were a lot of Square D counterfeit circuit breakers being sold in the U.S. Well, I also went know for a fact that after Square D built their factory in China, they were told they cound not run a third shift.

Guess who ran the third shift in the new Square D factory? Yes, it was the Chinese Government who ran it using all of the Square D machinery. Is it any wonder that a great many of the Chinese circuit breakers found their way to the U.S. electrical supply houses.

Public owned companies here are obligated to make profits for their shareholders, they shut down U.S factories, and this is what we get in return.

BUY cheap get cheap!!

ebay doesn't sell anything Ebm

Ebay sell garbadge for the most part audio wise a lot of chinese knock offs!!

i'm really interested in trying xlo cables, and they seem so cheap in hong kong, after reading in the forum i don't wanna risk buying from hong kong ebay, of course this is not to say that all the cables there are fake.
The thing is i don't live in the US and xlo kind of don't answer their e-mail, couldn't find xlo i like from audiogon here either, what do i go about getting their cables?

I bought Audioquest optilink-5 for $120.00 from eBay Seller in Hong Kong not long ago. IT'S FAKE. It sounds so dull. My AQ optilink-A that I bought from local Magnolia HiFi sounds much much better.

Hong Kong is also a great place to buy high end watches. I've seen them for as much as 99% off MSRP. I don't know how they are able to get such a good deal from the manufacturer. (/ sarcasm)

Short answer is yes, they are fake. Now they may in fact be the raw materials supplier to AQ, XLO, or Kimber , but they are not selling authentic product.

Now as to that making an audible difference???? My $60 Bell & Ross is still ticking.

I just bought AQ gibraltar from hong kong on ebay. If these are fake my ears don't care. They are that good. One thing these are not the current version but an older version. I had bedrock before and the printintg matches and the cable is similar but the sound is not similar. These cost more but they sound so much better in every way. I will by interconnects from same seller. I feel i saved $800.00.

It is frequently easy to spot counterfeit AQ cables. I would say the majority of the ones on E-bay from a multitude of Hong Kong sellers are fake. If you look at a genuine AQ King Cobra you will notice that the cable jacket itself is composed of a mix of black and red interwoven strips, with a bit more black than red. The red strips are grouped together in rows of blocks along the length of the cable that are as wide as the black strips separating the red rows. Most of the ones on E-bay have fatter red sections. The width of the red and black strips is not equal. When you look at a real AQ King Cobra cable you should be able to see three complete rows of red blocks on half the diameter. Also, real AQ cables are really not shiny at all, while E-bay rip offs often have a bright sheen. The cable is the most important and difficult to manufacture part. The connectors are relatively inexpensive in bulk. E-bay counterfeits often have real AQ connectors on fake cables. Some have fake connectors and cables. I personally would not buy cables from Hong Kong on E-bay.

I have often wondered about the Audioquest speaker cables being sold on e-bay from Hong Kong.The cables look authentic and some of the buyers have 100% positive feedback and have sold numerous ones of these.

Fake Cardas.LINK>>>[http://www.cardas.com/content.php?area=support&content_id=7&pagestring=Warning!]

A few years ago, I bought some Monster M1 audio cables off ebay which came from Hong Kong for 15.00 per cable. The local dealer was selling them discounted for 100.00. I bought 4 pairs and they looked like the real deal when I received them. They sounded absolutely horrible, etched, thin, pure garbage. Then I did a side by side comparison with my "real" Monster cable and noticed a few subtle differences. The spelling on the cable wasn't straight, the quality of the rca connectors although looking the same, were cheap imitations. I threw them all in the trash. Morale: buyer beware.

Intellectual property? Copyright laws? We don't need no stink'n laws.
All I can say is: caveat emptor! 8^)

Hifitime has hit the nail on the head. The practice is, to the detriment of designers who believe they continue to 'own' their intellectual property, quite common.

It's interesting to note that there are over 50 King Cobra interconnects for sale, but less than 10 Columbias (which would be much more difficult to fake, due to the DBS attachment).

I guess that pretty much sums it up.

Since it sounds like they are made in China,the factory may run a quantity of the assembly line for themselves. Audioquest might not even no they do it.Or they could be pure counterfeit. Being that its a most likely an easy to copy product,who knows. I sure wouldn't want to get cheated on pure counterfeits.[http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue18/audioquestinterview.htm]

I bought some speaker jumpers from a ebay seller in HK. They were homemade, not name brand so they can't be counterfeit, but I thought the quality was pretty good.

Mark

I bought a Monster HDMI cable (top of the line) on eBay and I believe it was fake as I took the whole package to a Best Buy store and compared the eBay one with the one sold in Best Buy side by side. The fake one lacked some logos and description. The cable did look like the genuine one. The seller was in U.S. and I returned it for full refund. I guess there are more abuses in eBay.

Some are, some are not. I bought some PS Audio power cords from HK and if they are fakes they are very good ones as the appear completely identical to the ones I have bought here. I bought some alleged Siltech speaker cable also, I think it is genuine, it appears to be cable bought in bulk and terminated there but it could be counterfeit. I have also seen slightly misspelled versions of famous wire products that I have no doubt were fake. There are HK companies like Sweetcome who produce cables under their own name who have good products. I purchased replacement umbilical cables and power cord for my Musical Fidelity M3 from them and am very happy with results. The PS Audio is made in China anyway and these were the previous generation so I suppose they may have been disposing of them over there to keep from depressing US market. I purchased some here from dealers disposing of their old stock.

yeah...stay from Hong kong or China.. it most likely ITS NOT original items...

Look closely at the photos in the ads.Do you see the Audioquest name or logo? Probably not.Check out this warning of fraudulent sales of Oyaide goods from their website.This stuff happens a lot on the internet.Buyer beware.

http://www.oyaide.com/e_audio/support/support_index.htm

Methinks you've answered you own question.