rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on May 14, 2006 18:11:26 GMT
www.audioasylum.com/forums/tubediy/messages/99996.htmlthis is no occasional thing but a real problem in after market audio grade parts,especially for those looking for a bargain and usually from very questionable sources with zero history of pedigree. The old "if it looks to good to be true it probably is" seems to be an ignored warning with the evidence all over the net where cpmplete amps tout specific parts inside yet when you do the math,add up the parts cost (and that at wholesale prices) it comes to a price higher than the complete amp assembled many times ! This SHOULD set off warning bells but does not because everyone wantrs something for nothing and are in fact the enablers of the crooks out there who without a market,if it were not profitable,would be doing something else-like mugging old people in alleys...... Buyer beware ! Stick to known dealers who have a stake in the products and you will have almost zero shot at being ripped off.Shaving a few pennies then crying later about "I was robbed !" to me is peotic justice.The "I want something for nothing" no better than the crooks who take advantage of that greed Rant over
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Post by PinkFloyd on May 14, 2006 18:34:19 GMT
Sticking with the good guys is not "bullet proof" either Rick. Last year I ordered some ALPS RK27 pots from Rapid electronics and went to use one... looked right, felt right but the fact it had "soundwell" stamped on it kind of gave the game away. On closer inspection it was clearly a fake. Rapid cleared the entire batch from their shelves and sent me some free genuine RK27's telling me to keep the soundwells as well. So, this shit is finding its way into the mainstream supply chain too and it's only the diligent, observant "customers" who report back when they find something dodgy that are QCing it. The mainstream "sheds" just don't have the time to inspect every batch.
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on May 14, 2006 23:34:48 GMT
the second statement says it IS bullet proof because once it was realised they were duped they "ate" the cost of the stock and made good to their customers whereas the ones doing the actual "crooking' KNOW they are being dishonest and will tell you to go pound salt if you catch them. I would rather take my chances with a honest mistake made right by a respected source having a history of good customer relations than a shady newcomer who will take your loot and when things get hot change location (web address/site/name) and party on into the night with your loot in hand. Quick story: I kew a guy that thought he was buying a stolen big screen TV for a serious low price and when he took it home and opened up the box (a proper box for the product) he found it was stuffed with wood and bricks so he proceeded to bitch about being ripped off ! My thought is he had no problem with worrying about who the set belonged to and that if stolen was already a wrong act,or a problem dealing with someone who up front said he was a damn theif but when it was him being ripped he cryed like a fkng baby as if somehow it was OK as long as it was someone else being robbed. Being me I told him I not only had no pity for him but in fact thought it quite funny and if he did not like it too fkn bad.Deal with it. Crooks only flourish when they have a market and why in my country receiving stolen goods carries the same penalty as the one doing the actual stealing.Equal guilt as it should be
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Post by hower on May 15, 2006 3:52:22 GMT
Any chance those Rubycon is actually Black Gate???
How do we tell if it is not a real stuff???
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Post by PinkFloyd on May 16, 2006 15:52:31 GMT
Any chance those Rubycon is actually Black Gate??? How do we tell if it is not a real stuff??? Quite a lot of fake Black Gates going around and likeliehood is you'll never be able to tell so you could be paying £20 for a 10 pence cap wrapped in a Black Gate wrapper. Most of the guys that go with Black Gate only buy them for the looks anyway so who gives a damn what's under the wrapper Where there's demand there's always a shady crook waiting in the wings to supply you with knock offs but, in the markets and on the street corners, they usually declare they're "fakes" unlike some of the net bandits who would have you believe you're buying the genuine article. I honestly wouldn't know what a genuine Black Gate was supposed to look like, I've used quite a few of them but, apart from the Black Gate wrapper, have never studied them in depth. I think you'd really have to know your onions to be able to spot a fake Black Gate and the fact that Black Gates are renowned for sounding shite for the first few months kinda rules a "listen to it to see if it's a fake" test out. One of the reasons I avoid these "boutique" caps and stick to good bread and butter mainstream caps like the Panasonic FC / FM.
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on May 16, 2006 16:36:35 GMT
when you realise damn near every cap looks the same once you take the plastic wrapper off it you would realise just how easy it is to have a buch of "counterfeit" wrappers made up for slipping over bottom feeder caps just to sell them to the unsuspecting interesting lnks,not about theives but illustrative of just how easy it is to change the "look" of a capacitor www.dhtrob.com/projecten/elna1_en.htmearlywireless.com/renovating_dke38_electrolytics.htmway to easy to print up the proper labels and just slip them over an aluminum can
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Post by hower on May 17, 2006 0:44:48 GMT
The 2 site you provide is really interesting. I think that is a really tedious job. But if there is a cheap source of labour to do such modification, that will surely be good money.
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on May 17, 2006 1:49:07 GMT
consider entire amplifiers sold for $300 shipped that have $275 just in parts and you get an idea of cheap labor/counterfeiting.the same amp done legit and built by a company not only paying a living wage but medical benefits,workmans comp,unemployment insurance-all the above are requirments in the U.S. if the workers are anything other than sub contractors or part time help only-and you get an idea also of just why kitchen table operations can blow the doors off a legitimate equipment compnany and why they too have to outsource just to compete.
When I read "crappy made in china products" when it comes to a major audio company I know the person writing that has no clue and does not realise even the ones building their own product have 90% of all the goods made off shore then assembled in the home country if they are anything other than a very small operator.
Simple economics brought on by uneven playing fields where there is an advantage to the players who make it up as they go with the full backing of their governments.Unfortunately they also have no problem with copying the products they build for others,slapping their own name on the panel, then competing in the same markets with a lower cost copy using inferior or even counterfeit parts.
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