[Xinze]

 
After I bought the Monster Turbine Gold off Amazon during the $200 sale, I noticed that there were a lot of things that look different than my previous Pro Golds (which I got rid of for several different reasons). 
 
One thing is that the stress relief on the end of the cable near the 'buds is a single rubber coating into the headpiece, tipped by a gold protector. This looks weird because my previous one had the gold piece jutting out like the picture on Amazon shows...
 
Another thing is that the lid-style case has no visible "buttons" on the inside where the lid and the case meets, it's just leather(ette) with magnets inside of them.
 
Another thing is that almost everything on the outside cover and inside of the box is repeated in both Spanish and English. The "Life is too Short" motto is repeated in Spanish and French under it, and the Turbine Pro logo is much higher up on the outside box than other pictures show.
 
 
The sound is a bit less dynamic and "drier" with less bass than my previous pair of golds, which I do not have anymore for comparison. 
 
Is it possible that I somehow got a pair of fakes? Or could it possibly be another model of Monster's Gold version? The Control Talk works and all the accessories appear to be there. They were ordered directly off Amazon brand new and everything. 
 
Pics that show differences are:
Where my thumb points, my last pair had the gold caps jutting out.
 

 
 
Another:
 
 
Notice "Oir" in spanish is misspelled. 
 
 
 
This is the sketchiest:
 
 
 
 
 
Everything else seems authentic enough. Identical accessories, and the smell is even same as my previous. Does anyone have any thoughts? I've seen pretty much every unboxing video and I've never seen a combination of differences like this one. The "Super-Tips" Sticker on the box is also missing.

 

[Xinze]

 
This was my previous pair, Notice the cable guard and how much higher up the gold piece is.
 
ALSO: Both of my boxes have Monster 2010 on them, so they are made in the same year.
 
This picture matches the one shown on the monster website
 
EDIT: My current golds came with the Earhooks, last one didn't.

 

[Dacrazydude]

Did you buy them from Amazon or a seller who is "fulfilled by Amazon" or a seller on Amazon? 

 

[Xinze]

Sold By AMAZON LLC.
 
I'm 90% that they are both real, but the variation (especially the outer box and the lid-case) leaves me somewhat doubtful 

 

[Dacrazydude]

 
Quote:

Sold By AMAZON LLC.
 
I'm 90% that they are both real, but the variation (especially the outer box and the lid-case) leaves me somewhat doubtful 

Whelp. You've heard them before. Go with your ear. Personally, if you think they sound good and it was straight from amazon, I think you're fine. Might be an international version. 
 

 

[Xinze]

 
Quote:

 

Whelp. You've heard them before. Go with your ear. Personally, if you think they sound good and it was straight from amazon, I think you're fine. Might be an international version. 
 

This is actually my third pair of golds... Ordered a pair from J and R computer store a few months ago when they were On Order, waited a month and they got cancelled. Ordered a use pair off Amazon for $220, left earpiece came defective and returned it. Ordered another used pair off Amazon for $170 which I used for 2 weeks before getting annoyed by the tiny scratches on the side of the housing. Returned as different than advertised. This one just came today and being my first pair of NIB Turbines, I thought the accessories looked just fine. All the accessories LOOK identical (down to the tiny metal spring on the shirt clip), but the Lid-Case was defective or gave away the fake. Too many words on the box and outside box, and it sounded pretty pathetic...
 
Called Monster to verify, got hung up on. Called again, got put on hold for 10+ minutes and I hung up. Called the third time, a (presumably) Black guy answered and answered everything perfectly. Said there are different variations but the lid-case doesn't match so they could be fakes or just a defect...
 
Went with the safe side and I'm getting a replacement from Amazon. I just hope that they don't get pissed at me returning every third item I buy...
 
-1 to Monster customer support btw, but then.. Third time's the charm.
 
Off topic, I can still wholeheartedly suggest the Turbine Pro Golds to anyone looking for a ~200 IEM. Sounds great, lifetime warranty knocks out all competitors, and the bass heaviness is really nice for anyone other than complete psycho-neutralsound-audiophiles. Besides, in a portable situation, anyone claiming that their "amazing" BA iems offer superior SQ is blabbing or a victim of the deadly placebo effect. With cars passing by and etc, you're really not going to notice ANY sound improvement.
^ Can back this up. I have the Beyerdynamic DT770 and 990, and both sound considerablly worse when moving compared to my one pair of golds that actually worked.