Cx500s from Ebay - Any way to check if they're real?

[cwongtech]

Hi, I recently got cx500s from
http://stores.shop.ebay.com.au/My-Earphone-Shop__W0QQ_armrsZ1

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Genuine-Sennheiser-CX500-Headphone-iPhone-Black-White_W0QQitemZ270504522855QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Electronics_Portable_Audio_Accessories?hash=item3efb537467

I'm from Australia, so it's hard to get cheap Sennheiser Earphones.
It costed me $43 AUD, was $48 AUD but seller didn't send me the white ones, (sent me black ones) so for his mistake, he compensated me $5!

Now the thing is..
The earphones I got sound good, I just want to be 100% sure, they've pass these tests:
- Cable Clip central bit is metal, the clip is also defined with a grip, has the outer edge as in the 33 images post.
- Sound does NOT turn off when slider is at minimum
- Cable winder has nice lettering (I have NO IDEA how to use these properly though, anyone help?)
- Sennheiser logo on the earphones don't have the inner ring crap.
- Pouch has nice stitches inside (not messy ones as I saw on someone else's pictures on these forums. 33 images post.
- Lettering of CX500 on the Y splitter thing is very sharp and fine.

The packaging is also good, I just wanted to ask.. for the packaging, is the 4 digit number supposed to be on a white piece of rectangular paper (glossy I think) on stuck on the outside? And what is the 4 digit number supposed to mean? Is it supposed to be unique? Or is it supposed to be the same for all cx500s?
They seem very bassy, like a small subwoofer in my ear haha =].

But the cable clip inside, you know the spring, it has 3 coils, but you can only see 2 rings.
Also the pouch tag, it seems to be sucked into the pouch, but the lettering is very fine.


Pouch


Clip

Any further things I need to tell to help you decide? =\
I can't seem to take GOOD closeups of my earphones with my camera..

[Matt]

Unfortunately the pictures are a bit too blurry to make a definitive decision. Secondly casbp.ymail has been caught out selling fakes.

http://myworld.ebay.com.au/casbp.ymail





The only other point is that in listings I can just make out that the 'Grove' on the CX's are off centre. However as I know full well, sellers use images of the real thing to sell fakes, so that's hardly conclusive. The best I can say is that if you've checked yours against the originals in my report then I guess you have the real things. BTW have you had a look inside the carrying pouch?

Fake CX500 pouch on the right (for some reason???)




Fake CX300 II pouch on the left



Last thing is the price. Given the exchange rate, the price isn't that bad, althgouh my fakes from amazon.co.uk cost me about the same!

44.80 AUD
   
=
   
25.1184 GBP
Australia Dollars        United Kingdom Pounds
1 AUD = 0.560678 GBP         1 GBP = 1.78356 AUD

[cwongtech]

Don't forget postage =]
He's been selling them at 50.80 AUD (incl postage) if you don't bargain with him.
My inside of the pouch looks exactly like the one on the left (for the fake cx500 pouches you shoved in)
The only non-genuine thing was that sony one.. But everything's has apparently been genuine.
Yeah I've checked everything, just the pouch tag looking like its a bit sucked in (insides the stitches are the same as the real ones as your 33 images report)
By the way, can you circle a picture indicating what you mean by the Grove being off-center? I don't know what you people mean by that..
The plastic around the edge of the metal grill after taking off the silicon earbuds look like the real ones from the 33 images report. (nice and smooth)
I'll try get some more pictures up of my earphones later.

[Matt]

As you can see, the genuine CX's have a very distinct grove, which is ‘V’ shaped. This 'V' shape grove is always on one side of the silver casing. On some fakes, the grove is barely visible, like in this example, or the grove is in the centre of the silver casing, not to one side as you see here.

If you have bought the real thing, then you are very fortunate. I'm not saying there isn’t any genuine Sennheiser seller out there of course there is, but counterfeits seem to be in ever-greater abundance, even from amazon as I experienced.

Genuine Sennheiser CX's with ‘V’ shaped grove.

[cwongtech]

First off, No way in HELL am I going to flip the strip things out in the pouch, they are wayyy too cool for me to risk breaking them =\
In the included pictures below, you will be able to see my inside of the pouch's stitches, and hopefully the v-grove. THANKYOU so much for helping identify what the hell a v-grove is, haha =]
I can't upload any pictures using the attach: function! Even If I only try to upload one picture (873K) it shows up as an error.
Hence I'm using imageshack.
I will be uploading a few.

Marked with "CWONGTECH 11/02/2010" paper to avoid people STEALING the pictures for ebaying fake crap.
http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/5519/img5287k.jpg - inside out pouch
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/6168/img5284g.jpg - V Grove
http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/2479/img5288j.jpg - Packaging (>PET< Symbols + 4 digit number)

The Clip:
http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/5968/img5310z.jpg - Take 1 - 3 Dullish Coils
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/1040/img5309.jpg - Take 2 - 3 Dullish Coils
http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/5051/img5313c.jpg - Central Support + Glossy support.

Album with both marked and unmarked pictures - Matt, feel free to moderate this bit if you want if you feel the need that fake sellers may use the album for their own use.
http://img121.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=img5281y.jpg


Inside out pouch + $5  Aussie Note to prove I'm a true blue aussie =] (Australian Born Chinese) (Lip not nuggeted, because I dont want to risk breaking such an awesome pouch)


V Grove


Packaging (>PET< Symbols + 4 digit number)
You can sort of see the bottom and top >PET< s , sorry I've opened it, and the corners of the packaging got a little crushed in my bag =\
The top >PET< when I use my hands to close the box, covers the bottom of the CX500 and the top of the
[_/  ] SENNHEISER words, so it sort of looks weird (and maybe fake) if you just glance at the picture..


Take 1 - Coils


Take 2 - Coils


Glossy Support + Metal Central thingy.

Updated Clip Pictures!
Verdict - GENUINE Sennheiser cx500s!
Thankyou Matt for the generous help you have given me!

[Matt]

You've done well in taking the pictures you have. My only last concern is the clip, but everything else looks fine. the only other way to know if they're fake is the sound. But with you living some 10,000-12,000 miles away, I can't tell you if they're fake or not. You've payed a good price, everything bar the clip has checked out, and it may turn out that you have the real thing.

[cwongtech]

You've done well in taking the pictures you have. My only last concern is the clip, but everything else looks fine. the only other way to know if they're fake is the sound. But with you living some 10,000-12,000 miles away, I can't tell you if they're fake or not. You've payed a good price, everything bar the clip has checked out, and it may turn out that you have the real thing.

Thanks for your help Matt!
The clip central bit (pole see-saw thing not the spring) is metal, the grip has an edge like the 33 images report.
My friend has HD 238s (Genuine, he bought it from a store in Australia) and the only difference between my earbuds and his headphone's sound is that they seem slightly more clearer, more bassier and you can hear background noise (because they aren't noise cancelling), but they sound very similar in terms of sound.

Buying a set of cx300iis for my friend, will let you know how it goes =]

[cwongtech]

Updated Photos post
Once again, Thanks matt for your help!

[Matt]

That looks fine to me. Have you asked if they’re authorised dealers?

[cwongtech]

That looks fine to me. Have you asked if they’re authorised dealers?

Not yet, they don't show up in the authorised dealers in singapore..

[cwongtech]

Hi,


Since it's not from the official Sennheiser distributor( otherwise, price should be more than double), you're not able to get the warranty from them.  However, I will provide 3 month free replacement warranty for it. Thanks.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: (my email here)
To: caspb@ymail.com
Sent: Friday, 12 February 2010 8:03:39
Subject: RE: Item no.270504522891 Instant payment received cwongtech (My email here)

I'm very satisfied, just that I would like to know where you got your goods from, because I want to register with Sennheiser for warranty purposes..
 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:49:32 +0800
From: caspb@ymail.com
Subject: Re: Item no.270504522891 Instant payment received cwongtech (My email here)
To:  (My email here)


Sorry. It's impossible to get such low price from Sennheiser  authorized dealer. Are you not satisfied with your received item?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From:  (My email here)
To: caspb@ymail.com
Sent: Friday, 12 February 2010 7:35:21
Subject: RE: Item no.270504522891 Instant payment received cwongtech (My email here)

Excuse me, I just wanted to ask, are you an authorised Sennheiser Dealer? Out of curiousity.








I don't know Matt.. these pass all of your tests, maybe this guy got the genuines from the back of a truck? Lol, I don't know.
 

[Matt]

I did have one pair of CX's (can't remember which) that passed nearly all the tests.

The final test of course, is the sound, but that would invovle buying a pair from Sennheiser. However the brash response to your email suggests that somethign is up. I don't know how this guy has done it, but there's gotta be something up! Keep us posted.

[cwongtech]

I did have one pair of CX's (can't remember which) that passed nearly all the tests.

The final test of course, is the sound, but that would invovle buying a pair from Sennheiser. However the brash response to your email suggests that somethign is up. I don't know how this guy has done it, but there's gotta be something up! Keep us posted.

Were they the fake ones that passed nearly all the tests?
My ones passes ALL the tests though, except sound (i don't have a real pair to test against), just the source may be a little dodgy..

[Matt]

I did have one pair of CX's (can't remember which) that passed nearly all the tests.

The final test of course, is the sound, but that would invovle buying a pair from Sennheiser. However the brash response to your email suggests that somethign is up. I don't know how this guy has done it, but there's gotta be something up! Keep us posted.

Were they the fake ones that passed nearly all the tests?
My ones passes ALL the tests though, except sound (i don't have a real pair to test against), just the source may be a little dodgy..

they (the fakes) were very good. The thing is the sellers response (for me) has thrown a new spanner in the works. if they were legit and if the seller was legit, surely they'd be willing to tell you of their association with Sennheiser. You may be right, the seller quite literally, could have got these from off the back of a lorry. someone might have turned over a local Hi-Fi shop and then sold their ... lute!

[cwongtech]

Uh oh..
Matt, can you try to scratch off the Sennheiser logo off your cx500s? On my left earbud, it's slightly stratched.
Mine must have been in my pocket with my keys or something, the logo has been well.. slightly damaged from something scratching it.
Is this an indicator of fakeness? =\