ATH-ES7 Buyer's Guide or How (and Where) to Avoid Fakes.
Mar 29, 2009 at 4:07 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 144

Squirsier

500+ Head-Fier
Joined
Jan 14, 2008
Posts
750
Likes
13
Greetings!

As an owner of the wonderful ATH-ES7, I've seen so many threads going on about people wondering where to buy a real pair of these or how to find out what a fake pair of ES7 looks like. I thought about doing two things with this thread.

The first, show the various pictures that has been posted here documenting the forgery (thanks to PieRat, hope you won't mind
biggrin.gif
) with pictures of the real McCoys to compare.

The second thing is for those who bought a pair of real or fakes. It would be a good idea to reply to this thread stating where you bought your pair and if they were legit or not, so we can help others who want to invest their money into this wonderful portable headphone.

Alright, here we go with the pictures (once again, thanks to PieRat for most of these ) :
 
July 17th 2011 : 
 
I didn't renew my website so the links to the pics won't work anymore. However, you can still see them by checking out my Dropbox Gallery at the following link :
 
http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/34049141/1/ES7?h=42487d


- Also, the real pair comes with a cleaning cloth for the headphone's mirror finish.

- yukihiro added info that the headband might also differ on fakes vs real ones. PieRat confirmed : "I can also testify that the headband on the fakes are real flimsy and squishy. I mean you can kind of squish the rubber headband on the real mccoys, but it feels more solid then the fakes. Like it is a thicker piece of rubber than on the fakes."

- who_me_33 added, on the fakes : "The lead is long (claims to be 1.2m, but it is more like 6 feet, or 1.8m, just by comparing it to my height). The box has no audio-technica contact details on it, and no warranty details either (nor in the box). The head band feels squishy, and if you look carefully on the side of the chrome (where it is brushed metal on the real units), you will see some moulding marks (which makes me think it is a plastic casing). Sound quality, a lot less bass, and the highs were harsh and distorted (compared to an authentic set of ath-es7's, but this was from listening to the authentic item with only one side working, and me not being the worlds most critical listener, just know what I like)."

List of CONFIRMED safe stores to buy the ATH-ES7 : (last editing May 1st 2010)

Warehouse123 - Squirsier
Guitar Center - yukihiro
J&R Electronics (WARNING, might have received a fake batch, read Edit) - ka-boom
Bluetin Japan - DeTrun
Apple Store - Squirsier
Beach Camera - Del_Griffith
Buydig.com (Refurb) - The_Other_Allen, Makenshi, Pars, konigswagger
http://iheadphones.co.uk/ - ali_x
 
Don't buy from : (last edited August 3 2011)

 

http://www.best-heaphones-shop.com - Veer : "Website looked authentic to me and I thought they were located in France so I bought it there (€109). Well turned out they were fake, so put this one on the black list."



------

Feel free to add more info to this thread
smily_headphones1.gif

 
Mar 29, 2009 at 9:46 PM Post #4 of 144
the best thing to do when buying these is to just buy from a trusted seller, amazon.com, buy.com etc, DO NOT buy from ebay. sure some of them may be real, but id rather not take that risk.
 
Mar 29, 2009 at 11:09 PM Post #6 of 144
Sometimes the shape of the headband is different in the fakes compared to the real ones.


Good guide. I bought mine from GuitarCenter.com. They price match.
 
Mar 30, 2009 at 2:17 PM Post #9 of 144
Glad the pictures help.
smily_headphones1.gif


I can also testify that the headband on the fakes are real flimsy and squishy. I mean you can kind of squish the rubber headband on the real mccoys, but it feels more solid then the fakes. Like it is a thicker piece of rubber than on the fakes. I purchased my real ones from a fellow Head-Fi'er on the site here.
 
Mar 30, 2009 at 11:04 PM Post #11 of 144
Apr 7, 2009 at 7:43 PM Post #14 of 144
Quote:

Originally Posted by my.self /img/forum/go_quote.gif
the best thing to do when buying these is to just buy from a trusted seller, amazon.com, buy.com etc, DO NOT buy from ebay. sure some of them may be real, but id rather not take that risk.


quick thread jack of sorts, I saw these on ebay going for $17 or so, realized they simply have to be fake, my off specific topic question is, is there any headphone/amp gear on ebay that is legit? I am so weary to buy on ebay...I always think of this poor guy:
1257-fake-china-thumbdrive.jpg
 
Apr 7, 2009 at 7:56 PM Post #15 of 144
Quote:

Originally Posted by freakydrew /img/forum/go_quote.gif
my off specific topic question is, is there any headphone/amp gear on ebay that is legit?


No. Absolutely not. Every piece of headphone/amp gear on ebay is fake.

*rolls eyes*

Come on now, do you have to ask something like that? There are probably hundreds of thousands of audio gear vendors on ebay. Some good, some bad. You can't possibly think ALL of them are bad, do you?

Look at the price of the item, look at the seller's feedback, look at the pictures closely, etc. Use some common sense. If something is "too good to be true" than it probably is.

If you are so worried about fake stuff on ebay, why even bother with Ebay when I (and others above me) have listed legitimate distributor sites to buy from?
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top