How to spot Sennheiser Counterfeits if they are offered to you

[paulears]

The recent topic on Sennheiser counterfeit equipment led me to take some photographs some people may have a look at their own equipment and see if it differs from genuine product.




The main clues are the aerial mount where it enters the body, the battery compartment lid which has a mould mark top centre when opened, and the rear belt clip wire a different shape. The label details are different, but the genuine Sennheisers seem to differ slightly between years too.

 

[wjauch]

I assume left in the pics is the genuine one?

 

[Captain Pierce]

It's the one on the left in the first and third pictures, but it moves to the right on the second pic.

And yeah, the back of the Sennheiser does change. My ew 300G2 actually has a label on the back that in some ways resembles the fake more (saying "CE 0682" rather than just "CE," for example.)

I didn't realize the counterfeits were that close...

 

[gpforet]

Those are photos of the G2 series which are no longer being made by Sennheiser (although there are still plenty out there and the used market is lively). The G3 use a different display/metering arrangement.

 

[mcbob]

I also notice no green backlighting on the counterfeit and, perhaps the biggest tip-off, the lettering and labeling on the counterfeit are not squared.

No self-respecting German would ever sell a product with unsquare labeling.

 

[Doc Bernard]

That is disturbing! How almost identical they are.

 

[Alex H.]

Thanks, Paul. Added to Audio 101.

 

[John Willett]

That is disturbing! How almost identical they are.

They can look very good - the first one that went to Sennheiser UK for repair looked so good the engineer had opened it up before he realised that the innards were totally different to the real thing.

The handhelds are (or were) easy to spot as the genuine one has a plug-in removable mic. capsule - the fakes just had a wired in and glued-in capsule.

Some fakes had different frequency sets that Sennheiser detailed in their literature, which was a give-away.

The other clues are the low price and low quality build - but the latter can often be difficult to spot if you don't have a real one to compare with.

 

[Duke M.]

Whew! Scared me. Had to go check mine. Thankfully they have the right antennas etc.