[DefQon]

The fake ESW10s I remember seeing pictures of all had plastic cups covered with a wood-look laminate. 

But the issue is very serious. There was an $11b NEC industry in China, with factories making products and an entire company structure, everyone in which believed they were genuinely working for NEC, but the ENTIRE THING was counterfeit. That's not a typo: $11b.

What currency is that in?

 

[zorin]

What a load of rubbish. The only reason the Beats are cloned a lot is because they are Made in China in the first place, it does't take an army of people to sneak out of the factory with an OEM/prototype design and reproduce illegally in another factory especially it is completely made of plastic. Let me say it again, there are no fake ANV3000's, the tools, materials and expertise to produce them will be through the roof, not to mention every pair of ANV3000 is serialised you can easily verify it with AT themselves. Just because a webpage looks suspicious doesn't automatically mean the website company is supplying fakes. It's called phishing and the Kaminisky attack in regards to internet security, websites that look the real deal which are not and are there to steal your Paypal, CC and bank details.

Well the best thing, as I said before, would be to collect the money and buy one so we could see for ourselves. Everybody interested in this scheme to satisfy our curiosity would contribute one dollar.
There have been genuine chinese fakes of the Sony MDR line, particularly 700s and 7506s and V6s and Pioneer HDJ-1000 and HDJ-2000, sold on Ebay. And also Sennheiser IEMs. These have been known to exist for some time. I do not think that moving on to Audio Technica headphones would prove to be a colossal problem for the counterfeiters.

Audio-Technica Issue Further Warning on Fake Copies

- http://www.henleydesigns.co.uk/ui/content/content.aspx?id=610
 
- http://www.ebay.com/gds/Sony-V700-vs-Fake-DJ-Heaphones-/10000000004764988/g.html 
 
- http://www.audioholics.com/headphone-reviews/klipsch-sues-china-manufacturers-over-counterfeit-headphones

 

 

[Currawong]

   
What currency is that in?

 
US$ IIRC.

 

[DefQon]

   
US$ IIRC.

That is huge.

 

[Chris J]

I used to have a pair of fake ESW10 Japan.

They looked damn good, and sounded pretty decent , too.
But compared to a real pair of ESW-9, they looked slightly cheaper and did not sound quite as refined.
The metal looked the same, but had a cheaper finish.
The plastic parts had obviously used the same molds, but a slightly cheaper finish.
The leather was all some slighter cheaper grade of leather.
etc, etc, etc
They fooled several people, including an authorized Audio Technica dealer.
If they were sold as ATH-ESW7 nobody would have complained.

Yes folks, fake Audio Technica 'phones really do exist.