# Is there any counterfeit Focal speaker in the market?



## K20Z2 (Apr 12, 2007)

Hi guys,

I'm wondering whether there's a counterfeit focal speaker and Audison amp in the market. I just bought a Focal 130KF and Audison LRx 4.300 brand new from ebay and still on the way here right now. If there's some, how can we detect the counterfeit product?

Thanks


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## 00poop6x (Jan 20, 2007)

K20Z2 said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> I'm wondering whether there's a counterfeit focal speaker and Audison amp in the market. I just bought a Focal 130KF and Audison LRx 4.300 brand new from ebay and still on the way here right now. If there's some, how can we detect the counterfeit product?
> 
> Thanks


I believe Indoaudio or Woofersetc had them. I may be wrong, either way they're unhealthy to the industry.


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## K20Z2 (Apr 12, 2007)

00poop6x said:


> I believe Indoaudio or Woofersetc had them. I may be wrong, either way they're unhealthy to the industry.


Thanks for letting us know that. I bought some items from sonicelectronix, what about them? I bought alpine amp, kicker amp kit and audiocontrol LC6i. My installer said that the items are ok, no evidence of counterfeit but they might be wrong too.


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## phatredpt (Feb 22, 2006)

Focals are copied quite a bit...


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## 89grand (Nov 23, 2006)

K20Z2 said:


> Thanks for letting us know that. I bought some items from sonicelectronix, what about them? I bought alpine amp, kicker amp kit and audiocontrol LC6i. My installer said that the items are ok, no evidence of counterfeit but they might be wrong too.


I wouldn't worry about Alpine, Kicker or Audio Control being fakes. It's usually only high dollar stuff like Focal, Dynaudio, DLS, Rainbow...**** like that.


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## effenay (Mar 2, 2006)

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/vbb/showthread.php?t=132417

http://www.focal-fr.com/counterfeit.htm

http://www.focal-fr.com/COUNTERFEITING/website.htm


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## K20Z2 (Apr 12, 2007)

I've sent an email regarding my product and Focal america will confirm its authenticity before I actually install it. Hopefully, it's a genuine...


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## azngotskills (Feb 24, 2006)

I hate to say it, but shouldnt you have checked their authenticity before you bought them?


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## legend94 (Mar 15, 2006)

azngotskills said:


> I hate to say it, but shouldnt you have checked their authenticity before you bought them?


he might be having early buyers remorse :blush:


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## Preacher (May 8, 2006)

who makes the fakes and how do they sound?


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## FoxPro5 (Feb 14, 2006)

Preacher said:


> who makes the fakes and how do they sound?


Bobditts 

Not French. 


















J/K with ya Bob.


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## kyheng (Jan 31, 2007)

Malaysia do have lots of counterfeit products, Rockford Fosgate, Focal, Soundstream(some)


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## bobditts (Jul 19, 2006)

why the hell was I brought up in all this??? lol. I dont make fakes... im the one preaching to everyone to buy them authorized. why the hell would I make fakes?

simple answer is yes, there are fakes. if the serial numbers are tampered with, then they are no longer warranty-able. they may have been originals at one time. another way to tell is to compare them to a pair from an aurthorized dealer.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

bobditts said:


> why the hell was I brought up in all this??? lol. I dont make fakes... im the one preaching to everyone to buy them authorized. why the hell would I make fakes?
> 
> simple answer is yes, there are fakes. if the serial numbers are tampered with, then they are no longer warranty-able. they may have been originals at one time. another way to tell is to compare them to a pair from an aurthorized dealer.


no no no bob he means yer the official "focal popo". i'm sure i've encountered some fake stuff in friends rides but none of it was focal. matter of fact, i'm thinking my pg xenon comps might be fake. or is the cone cheezy looking and heavy on the originals? i know 75rms was the peak on them before the crossover started to smell bad. they're rated 150rms!


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## FoxPro5 (Feb 14, 2006)

bobditts said:


> why the hell was I brought up in all this??? lol. I dont make fakes... im the one preaching to everyone to buy them authorized. why the hell would I make fakes?
> 
> simple answer is yes, there are fakes. if the serial numbers are tampered with, then they are no longer warranty-able. they may have been originals at one time. another way to tell is to compare them to a pair from an aurthorized dealer.


Deep breaths...it's going to be ok.  I'm just ribbin' ya cause you're always looking out for those that do buy wannabe Focal stuff. No harm meant brohams.


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## MidnightCE (Mar 5, 2007)

Someone in that link mentioned that the tweeter's magnet fell off, and that was a strike against it.

In my experience, that'd be a good argument that they were genuine.


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## K20Z2 (Apr 12, 2007)

The thing is that I bought this speakers on ebay and the seller said that it's genuine. I have contacted focal america and they will help me by sending the serial number of the product. I will let you guys know when focal guy tell me the result. 

I know some or maybe most seller on ebay like indoaudio and e-automart are selling fakes. I do not know about any other online stores. As long as my experience with sonic electronix, the products I bought are declared genuine and fine by local installer. My friend bought a focal 130CA from woofersect and I doubt that it's genuine. I saw the speaker grills that have the focal symbol on it are not perfectly made. I don't know any other evidence to determine fake focals. Anyone has any idea how to tell fakes since they're just so good to be real focal?


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## K20Z2 (Apr 12, 2007)

Oh another thing, is there any fake audison amp?


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## Preacher (May 8, 2006)

Bombard the counterfeiters with emails calling out the fakes and offer to take the drivers at shipping cost, This could be fun.


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## 89grand (Nov 23, 2006)

I hope the Focal 130k's I bought years ago where fakes, if not, I'm not overly impressed with them. The cones warped a little over time and I ripped the tensil lead out of one of them playing it from 80hz @24dB and up with 150 watts.


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## STI<>GTO (Aug 8, 2005)

bobditts said:


> aurthorized dealer.


Bob's in pirate mode!

That's it - Bob is now the official Focal Pirate! Aaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh.


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## bobditts (Jul 19, 2006)

89grand said:


> I hope the Focal 130k's I bought years ago where fakes, if not, I'm not overly impressed with them. The cones warped a little over time and I ripped the tensil lead out of one of them playing it from 80hz @24dB and up with 150 watts.


im going to guess that they are. all of the focals i have owned have been able to handle atleast twice the amount of clean power they are reated for. cone warpage is not something the mobile audio focals will do either.


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## 00poop6x (Jan 20, 2007)

Unauthorized internet retailers are destroying companies you guys come to love, only because a lot of e-audio-enthusiasts love to buy online.  Keep it up. The argument is that 'I can't justify paying anymore for it, it's so cheap. Either way the money is going to the company...' Can't be more wrong.

Just buy authorized, local, if possible.


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## 89grand (Nov 23, 2006)

Well, somebody bought the JBL amps I bought off ebay from JBL.

Here's the thing, let's take the JBL GTO 75.4 II I bought off ebay for $138. A store price would have been about $300 or so, which I'm not going to pay if I don't have to. If the ebay seller makes a profit from the amp at $138, then the retailer is gouging big time since the amp was obviously purchased for less than $138.


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## MidnightCE (Mar 5, 2007)

00poop6x said:


> Unauthorized internet retailers are destroying companies you guys come to love, only because a lot of e-audio-enthusiasts love to buy online.  Keep it up. The argument is that 'I can't justify paying anymore for it, it's so cheap. Either way the money is going to the company...' Can't be more wrong.
> 
> Just buy authorized, local, if possible.


I'd buy more authorised if they didn't follow the jewelry store markup model.


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## 89grand (Nov 23, 2006)

I'll buy some gear off ebay and sell it at full retail here to anyone that feels better about buying "authorized" and I'll even warranty it too.

Why not, I could buy 2 amps for the list price of one, and in the rare case someones amp goes bad, I'll give them another one, I'll get the bad amp fixed, then sell it too.


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## GlasSman (Nov 14, 2006)

I don't even know why you guys are messing around with products that are known to be counterfeited. I've made some wise equipment choices over the years and have never even come close to getting a counterfeit product. And I buy alot of stuff on Ebay. If theres a doubt it could be a fake buy from a known respected seller or choose something else.


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## bobditts (Jul 19, 2006)

89grand said:


> I'll buy some gear off ebay and sell it at full retail here to anyone that feels better about buying "authorized" and I'll even warranty it too.


that is no where near the same as being authorized. Authorized dealers for focal are given permission by Focal to sell their products. the salesmen attend training seminars given by Focal to learn more about the product and why it is unique from everyone else. 

Im not saying i prefer spending more money than what egay has to offer. I look at it this way...Spending the little bit extra knowing that the product is 100% what it says it is and getting a great warranty with it (locally) is not a bad deal.


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## 89grand (Nov 23, 2006)

Well, I wasn't really talking about Focal necessarily, just gear in general.

Most of the time "authorized" as far as the consumer is concerned, just means they'll warranty it if it goes bad within a certain time frame and nothing else.


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## Hi There (Mar 16, 2007)

The deal with most counterfeiting from countries in Southeast Asia works like this: Company X (SpeakersRUs from the EU) pays company Y (CheapChildLabor, Inc. from Singapore) to make speakers for them. They send their design, and the manufacturer sends them back a prototype. Prototype is reviewed by Company X, and ok'd for a production run of, say, 10,000 units. Company Y agrees to the run, does the run, and delivers the 10,000 units. But they don't stop there. Realizing that Company X is going to sell the speakers at a profit and take their own cut, Company Y opens its doors in the middle of the night and continues the production run, only they don't hand the speakers over to company X. Instead, they sell the extras straight to e-tailers, flea markets, clearinghouses, and other resellers of ill repute. Because there are less people in the loop, they can often do this at lower price points.

Thing is, you could be getting the exact same product...one that is identical in every way to the "real" product, and indeed came from the same place. The only difference is, company X doesn't get their cut, and the people that engineered the product don't get to reap the benefits...nor are they as apt to continue the R&D that got them there in the first place.

Counterfeiting is a 575 billion dollar a year industry. Example: 50% of New Balance shoes sold in Europe are counterfeit, and they are largely sourced from the same companies that manufacture them legitimately.


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## T-BEAR (May 14, 2008)

i agree with u



Hi There said:


> The deal with most counterfeiting from countries in Southeast Asia works like this: Company X (SpeakersRUs from the EU) pays company Y (CheapChildLabor, Inc. from Singapore) to make speakers for them. They send their design, and the manufacturer sends them back a prototype. Prototype is reviewed by Company X, and ok'd for a production run of, say, 10,000 units. Company Y agrees to the run, does the run, and delivers the 10,000 units. But they don't stop there. Realizing that Company X is going to sell the speakers at a profit and take their own cut, Company Y opens its doors in the middle of the night and continues the production run, only they don't hand the speakers over to company X. Instead, they sell the extras straight to e-tailers, flea markets, clearinghouses, and other resellers of ill repute. Because there are less people in the loop, they can often do this at lower price points.
> 
> Thing is, you could be getting the exact same product...one that is identical in every way to the "real" product, and indeed came from the same place. The only difference is, company X doesn't get their cut, and the people that engineered the product don't get to reap the benefits...nor are they as apt to continue the R&D that got them there in the first place.
> 
> Counterfeiting is a 575 billion dollar a year industry. Example: 50% of New Balance shoes sold in Europe are counterfeit, and they are largely sourced from the same companies that manufacture them legitimately.


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## pikers (Oct 21, 2007)

MidnightCE said:


> I'd buy more authorised if they didn't follow the jewelry store markup model.


Well unless you can get them at cost, that scarcely matters.

The price you pay is a secondary issue to the value you receive. If you don't think real pricing holds that value, I would advise purchasing something else.


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