China's companies over the years have done a lot of manufacturing "off the books" meaning the item may be made on the same line as the legit product but simply is not shown in the accouting sent to the company requesting the work. Its very easy for them to hide extra runs of a product if the company - which is usually in the USA - doesn't have someone on site. This goes on in many industries, not only high-end audio. These products never go into the dealer network and therefore cannot be accounted for. I've heard the comment that authorized dealers sell excess inventory and create "Gray Market" products. That may occassionally occur but what happens more often, and on a much bigger scale, is the Chinese manufacturer is simply selling directly to an exporter the extra product it manufactured off the books. They count on doing this and often calculate it into their quotes when pricing a cost for manufacturing a product. So is it "counterfeit"? The answer is yes but it may be the exact same product you would buy from an authorized dealer.
Counterfeit Audio?
Many of you may have seen the recent auctions for Cello line state preamps on Ebay?
I have always been intrigued by the design and rarity of Cello equipment, but otherwise would not put it on my short list of realistic purchases.
In this case, however, it seemed like a simple, useful piece of gear, which I could perhaps use as a line stage, and I came very close to bidding.
My instincts told me to pause, however, perhaps because the seller claimed "still brand new...never touched by human hands etc etc" which seemed a bit odd about the sale.
Subsequently, the item was relisted with comments about fraudulent and/or counterfeit Cello for sale.
Before reading this, that never would have occurred to me, but I thought I should ask the community here before bidding.
Any ideas or advice? This seems like a nifty collector's type component, but I dont want to pay big bucks for the high end audio equivalent of a fake Rolex?
I have always been intrigued by the design and rarity of Cello equipment, but otherwise would not put it on my short list of realistic purchases.
In this case, however, it seemed like a simple, useful piece of gear, which I could perhaps use as a line stage, and I came very close to bidding.
My instincts told me to pause, however, perhaps because the seller claimed "still brand new...never touched by human hands etc etc" which seemed a bit odd about the sale.
Subsequently, the item was relisted with comments about fraudulent and/or counterfeit Cello for sale.
Before reading this, that never would have occurred to me, but I thought I should ask the community here before bidding.
Any ideas or advice? This seems like a nifty collector's type component, but I dont want to pay big bucks for the high end audio equivalent of a fake Rolex?
- ...
- 17 posts total
- 17 posts total