Fakes!
Who would believe that crooks are now targeting the audiophile community in the same way as they do the fashion and jewellery industries. Once the domain of fake trainers and watches, a new breed of counterfeits are coming to light more and more in the form of fake HiFi plugs and cables. I was not surprised at this as many of the especially ’boutique brands’ command ridiculous prices – with many people happy to pay them! Fortunately I’m not wealthy or impressionable enough to be able to purchase these overpriced products but I do have an interest in the more budget friendly but equally if not better performing counterparts.
Take for example CMC banana plugs. Not a mainstream name but they produce fantastic products nevertheless. CMC (Charming Music Conductor) are a well renowned Taiwanese manufacturer of many OEM audio parts from various audio plugs to teflon valve bases. So imagine my surprise when I saw some CMC locking type banana plugs advertised for sale on a well known Chinese goods website site for a fraction of the trade price. I just had to buy them to see whether it was too good to be true, and like all these things, of course it was!
