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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
pontifex OP
31 posts
 
This is excellent! Thanks for participating in this discussion. I was worried I would get a little bit of negative backlash but it's good to know that I'm not completely alone.

So far I am only familiar with Audioquest interconnects but I feel that this is a good time to branch out and try other brands. I also agree with Nicotico that their marketing isn't perfectly sound either. I think they would be better off by simplifying their lineup with half as many products and at half of their price points.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"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."

Its just the opposite. Having a good used market has a huge effect on the new market. Most people don't have unlimited resources. If they can't sell their old cables, they probably won't be buying new cables. There's more than enough examples of this. Look at companies that make other types of audio components that are not counterfeited. The most successful companies always have a very strong used market. It adds a tremendous amount of value to the brand. A perfect example is Bryston. Do you really think that having a 20 year transferable warranty costs the company money? After all, a warranty like that will definitely help the used market for their goods. Who wants to buy something you can't get rid of? Honda cars have the highest resale value, Chrysler does not. Do you think Fiat could have bought Honda instead of Chrysler? A healthy used market for a companies products directly effects the overall health of the company.
pontifex OP
31 posts
 
Very good point Zd542. I am also a huge Bryston fan and have owned over a dozen of their products. I even visited their shop once completely unannounced and got the royal treatment from them! Unbeatable service although they don't have any counterfeiting issues. At least not to the same degree.
rlwainwright
1,904 posts
 
>>Do you really think that having a 20 year transferable warranty costs the company money? <<

Yes, it does. It may not be a lot of money, but having a very long warranty DOES incur additional costs for the company.

>>Honda cars have the highest resale value, Chrysler does not. Do you think Fiat could have bought Honda instead of Chrysler?<<

What does this have to do with the discussion at hand? In any event, Hondas have a higher resale value because they are better made and last longer than Chryslers...

>>Do you think Fiat could have bought Honda instead of Chrysler? <<

Once again, what the heck does this have to do with the discussion at hand? You would be well advised to think a bit more carefully about the words you commit to this discussion...

-RW-
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
03-13-15: Zd542
Having a good used market has a huge effect on the new market.

I agree with that statement. My curiosity is why then Audioquest does not help their second hand market by putting serial numbers on their cables like Tara Labs, XLO, Stealth Audio. Purist Audio, and other cable companies do to help alleviate fraud?

AQ just says to ship the cables to us, and we will tell you if they are real or not. If we say they are not real, you do not get them back, they are "destroyed" and so is the money you spent on them. That's BS!!

They should be helping their consumers by identifying their legitimate product. It's not that hard to do. Hell, I even have cables from Snake River Audio that have serial numbers for authentication purposes. If a small company like SRA can do that, a big company like AQ can do it. They just choose not to, to help bully their consumers to buy from authorized dealers and pay more money.
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