Fake ATH-ESW-9? (56K warning!) - Page 3

If they are fakes, hats off to the counterfeiter.

It's possible that they were real, and they took out the original drivers and substituted them with something else, and reassembly caused a lot of the imperfections (except for the wood). They're pretty close.

Can't wait to see the limited edition ESW-10JPNCHN knockoffs

They'll probably cost around $100 US due to their rarity.

Note: the OP said he didn't receive a box, so any speculations about the cardboard and other materials is irrelevant. No documentation too! that's what leads me to believe a driver swapout.

Difficult to say?

The wooden cups on yours do not seem to be properly seated? Maybe someone had opened them up and did not do a good job of putting the cups back together.

Is the plug on your cable gold plated or silver? From the photos they look silver color?

Do you know anyone who has a legit pair you could borrow to do a apple to apple, side by side review?

That sounds really inefficient for counterfeiters. Either way, comparing them with real ESW9s, they don't look like they were just reassembled. But I guess any number of things is possible when it's coming all the way from Hong Kong.

^^^I think the price paid was probably a dead give away, that and the fact there was no packaging. But if you could loan a legit set, then it would set your mind at ease and you could also compare the sound as well!

Hi guys,

I've been watching a set of ESW-9s on ebay, lucky I found this thread:

Audio-Technica ATH-ESW9 Headphone [GREAT BARGIN] - eBay Earphones, Headphones, Earphones, MP3 Player Accessories, Electronics. (end time 27-Feb-09 15:33:47 AEDST)

DEFINITELY fake, which is very disappointing The ebay listing even says 'don't know if this is original or a copy' so this immediately raises the alarm!

The crappy pleather bag, the poor stitching, the low wood quality and the really shaky writing on the 'right' tag indicate that we definitely have a ESW-9 fake problem here, which sucks.

Headphone counterfeiting makes me mad, because of the poor quality of the clones, and the blatant rip-off prices these go for. Sony rip off headphones go for $60AUS on ebay here in Australia

Hey guys, I'm really excited to potentially be picking up a pair of these from a seller, but I'm a bit concerned about the legitimacy of this pair. All I have to judge on before I drive over there (a fair-sized drive) is pictures of the unopened packaging.

Would any of you be willing to post pictures of what your (legit) box looks like? I'm mainly concerned about the back of the box, as there is no warranty sticker or serial number on the back of this one (though I'm not sure if there is supposed to be).

I've attached the pictures below, and I would love to hear what you all think. Thanks so much!

Purchase from legit sources only. This not only prevents you from getting ripped off, it supports the legit sellers and keeps them viable. If the deal seems to good to be true, then it probably isn't a good deal. Buying second hand from someone can be a good way to get the real deal cheaper than you would otherwise, but you must check out your seller, the answers are often there if you look. Buying supposedly new for well below wholesale prices is a fair indicator that the product is fake. Retailers have significant markup, and some can discount, however massive price reductions are not possible unlesss, either the retailer is making a loss on a particular item to get out of it, or the supplier has offered a deal to get out of the product. Retailers (bricks and mortar or via the Net)that only sell the dicount product are unlikely to have obtained the product from the supplier (particularly with current stock product) as the suppliers normal retailers would complain bitterly about the poduct being heavily discounted so that they can't sell the "normal" stock. There will always be fake product on the market, buyer beware- if it is super cheap, it is unlikely to be super.


mitch o - the box looks exactly like it is suppose to. Warranty etc is inside. It is impossible to tell you whether these are fake or not from your photos (although the wood looks different, more grain). Ask yourself is the price too cheap? And what evidence do you have that the seller is legit? (EG: Feedback etc.) If you know nothing of the seller and there is no feedback, then the risk is obviously higher.

i am encounter the fake ESW9 last weekend which is selling only $20+, it sound horrible, even worse than fake ES7. I know that shop very well, so they told me the truth.
comparing to the real ES9, i can see the fake ESW9 wood cup isnt smooth & its color is so much lighter than the real 1. The real 1 has much darker color & it is nicely polished.

Thanks for the responses guys, and I do of course understand the risk. Just to confirm with some of you others though - this model isn't serialized on the back of the box, right?

thanks

mitch

The back of my box looks just like yours...and mine are not fakes...