Well, this post is going to be long and painful.
My Amazon K3003i arrived today and I'll just say it: the previous ones I posted are 100% counterfeit fake AKG K3003is. I'm embarrassed and disappointed to say that, but lesson-learned. I let my hopefulness of them being real (for an insane deal) cloud my judgement on what was right in front of me.
That said, I think some folks need to be aware of a few things. So, here are my lessons learned to start:
1) A scanned invoice from a reputable dealer means absolutely nothing when buying on eBay. Anyone can download, create, modify, or simply pull out of thin air a document that looks like a receipt. In this case, I'll be reporting this seller to not only eBay, but to Crutchfield as he is likely falsifying documents with their name on it.
2) Even a very nice, intelligent, articulated seller can be trying to screw you. He was so nice, accommodating, understanding, yet at the end of the day he is selling fake products on eBay.
3) Hate to say it, but if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Now, the IEMs. The new ones are completely different sounding, not even remotely similar. The mid-bass bloat on the counterfeit ones (while I actually kind of like it) is miles more in quantity than teh real ones. The real ones are neutral, accurate, "reference," transparent and overall extremely high quality. The counterfeit ones are a fun, consumer-friendly V-shaped sound that I thought was fairly good until I heard the real ones.
Difference in visual appearances:
1) The remote mic buttons on the real one have a reassuring click, are not sloppily made and as another poster mentioned, have a very well-defined point on the middle button. The one in front is the real one.
2) The filters, while pretty close have subtle differences. The lower one in the photo is the real one and the metal is glossier, smoother and the corners are better defined. Also, from the factory, the fake ones had the "Reference" and "High Boost" reversed. I was listening to "High Boost the whole time and didn't know it, yet they still had tons of bass.
3) Airplane adapter is of much higher quality on the real ones. The real one is on the right and as you can see, it is a very satin-like finish and the fake one is completely scratched up despite this being the first time I have ever even taken it out of the box. On that note, there are scratches all over the fake ones, yet they are brand new.
4) Serial number engraving, it's just much cleaner on the original one. See the photo where the right one is the real one.
5) Last but not least, the case. Yes, the real case despite having a late 35,xxx serial number is still the rounded, genuine, supple leather that ACTUALLY FITS THE IEMS IN IT! First case is real, second fake.
I'm sorry that I cluttered this thread with nonsense about the fake ones I bought, but I hope this helps some other Head-Fi friends. On a cursory glance of eBay, I can tell you that at least 50% of the "new in box" ones are completely fake. This current environment just sucks and I am disgusted in myself for becoming part of it, but I plan to make this right to the best of my ability.
Best,
-Collin-
