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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
runnin
397 posts
 
I'm sorry, but the thread theory just sounds like paranoia, a conspiracy where the manufacturer is secretly making/selling the pirated products themselves? That just doesn't add up.

Higher end audio companies have their prices set at full retail with little discounts because the retailers have to do that, or lose out on the brand. On the other hand, they do allow negotiation on multiple item purchases, so what's the fuss?

Audioquest or any other company is allowed to sell their products for as much as they can get for them. If you don't like it, simply go elsewhere.
esthlos13
49 posts
 
Let me pose a solution - when you purchase a used audio cable direct the seller to send it to Audioquest to validate it before it comes to you and get agreement that if it’s determined to be a fraud he’s liable and you get your money back.   That should clear up any possible fraud sales quite easily.    
celander's avatar
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celander
1,036 posts
 
Another solution is to buy from an Audioquest authorized dealer and provide the receipt of the bill of sale to the second buyer at the time of selling one’s Audioquest cables. 
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mulveling's avatar
mulveling
502 posts
 
The most counterfeited high-value AQ cables have been the Sky and K2. For those particular models, you’d want to buy from a trustworthy seller that can verify the cable’s history all the way back back to purchase from an authorized dealer. From user reports, the problem is that these models’ counterfeits will have the EXACT braid and sheath used by the real deal (i.e. this is the part of the cable that’s made in China), while the interior metal is of vastly inferior quality (copper of unknown origin, or worse).

I’ve bought several very expensive used silver AQ cables over the years. And I’ve ended up with all of them having retermination/upgrade work done at AQ headquarters, so they can all now be guaranteed as 100% authentic. With careful buying, I’ve not yet encountered a counterfeit. Proceed with caution, work only with reputable sellers, and do your research - and you’ll almost certainly be fine. I’m fine with the way AQ handles counterfeits, especially given that they perform work on any genuine used cable for a reasonable fee - even if out of warranty, and whether you’re the original owner or not. I fully trust their judgement on whether a cable is genuine or counterfeit. If one day they send me a response saying they’ve destroyed one of my cables as counterfeit, I’d be bummed, but wouldn’t question them.
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