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Counterfeit Audioquest Cables

I just wanted to put out a general query in regards to how people feel Audioquest is handling the issue of counterfeit cables. Personally, I am a huge fan of Audioquest and their products but I feel there could be a little more room for transparency on their behalf... No pun intended...

I don't mean to sound like a total heretic or a paranoid conspiracy theorist but I don't feel like my suspicions would be totally misplaced if I were to speculate that Audioquest is not only benefiting from the existence of bogus copycat look alikes but that they are deliberately allowing it to happen if not entirely responsible for it in the first place.

It is undeniably an effective way to dissuade consumers from private sales and coercing them into paying full retail prices for any of their products. It's also hard to ignore the steady decline in classified ads for Audioquest products on the various audiomarts.

Also, to the best of my knowledge, the AudioQuest Authentication Process also does not require them to explain their findings thus granting them authority to summarily judge a cable's authenticity.

In my humble opinion, a company as innovative as Audioquest could certainly divine a method to apply serial numbers to their products. That way, everything could be traceable and consumers could register their products. Not to mention that Audioquest could rebuild some of the lost confidence in their brand name.

Am I totally out of line here or perhaps missing something obvious? I would love to hear more points of view...
pontifex
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
I've also thought AQ's authentication program to not have much value to the consumer. Whether it stimulates the fraud market or not, I can't say. I do agree that it does tend to scare buyers into paying more money to buy from authorized dealers. You would think a company of that size would have serialized cables, especially at the higher end, but then that might help the second hand market, which is not in AQ's interest.
Fortunately, I am not a fan of AQ cables. While they are good, there are better, IMHO. AQ is not alone in the battle of counterfeit cables though.
kjweisner's avatar
kjweisner
293 posts
 
"Do they have a responsibility to do anything? I would think so, in order to protect their reputation."

I was involved with a clothing company that had a valuable trademark and they took counterfeiting very seriously. . .but not only for reputation. As I understand trademark and Intellectual Property law (which is NOT a lot), any company is required to actively enforce and defend their marks and IP. If they fail to do so, they can actually lose their copyrights, IP, etc. This is why Disney takes such a hard line with their marks and images. Not that they're trying to be mean or unfriendly, but that if they allow it to happen, they lose their protection.
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
My question on counterfeit cables is this, are they counterfeit or unauthorized? What I mean is are the cables cheap copies, made in some garage type facility, or are they the authentic cables pirated out of an authorized factory?
jafant's avatar
jafant
19,734 posts
 
Excellent discussion guys-

china is to blame here, as they are buying as many Cables/power cords (especially the upper high-end offerings), as possible. Not only are they buying for pleasure, they are buying to break-down the materials and/or construction aspects, to deliberate copy the legit gear. Yes, these practices will contribute to the "gray" market stuff, no doubt. Over 10 years ago, it all began w/ Tara Labs. Happy Listening!
czarivey
5,946 posts
 
Those fakes are all different:
There are ones you can't tell even if you cut or open them to see how they've built vs. originals and there are that are simply not even looking close to the real.
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