Sennheiser MKH-16 at BSW for $799.95

Good price. I don't think BSW would try to pass off the Chinese 416 counterfeits we're seeing around lately.
 
Rick R said:
Good price. I don't think BSW would try to pass off the Chinese 416 counterfeits we're seeing around lately.
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I really don't think they'd knowingly do that. Usually you see the Chinese knock offs on ebay or craigs list. BSW has a physical location with staff and contact information and they sell a bunch of other stuff. It'd probably be harder for them to get the knock offs than the real thing.

That's a darn good price and if I didn't already have one I'd pick one up for sure.
 
So does Guitar Center who sold chinese Oktava knock-offs.

davefisk said:
I really don't think they'd knowingly do that. Usually you see the Chinese knock offs on ebay or craigs list. BSW has a physical location with staff and contact information and they sell a bunch of other stuff. It'd probably be harder for them to get the knock offs than the real thing.

That's a darn good price and if I didn't already have one I'd pick one up for sure.
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Ed Jeffersen said:
So does Guitar Center who sold chinese Oktava knock-offs.
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The difference with Sennheiser and Oktava is that for the longest time it was almost impossible to know the true origin of an Oktava mic. They started out in Russia and weren't of the best quality, and it was actually pretty difficult to tell the difference between a knock off and the real deal. Not really the case with Sennheiser.
 
Well to be accurate the Oktava case was arguably not a "knock off" since they were made for the guy who had, or at least claimed to have, the rights to the brand. GC was buying from the same distributor they had been, it was the distributor who switched to having them made in China. Kind of a distinction with out a difference but even though I don't have a lot of love for GC I think this one goes to the distributor not GC.

The 416 copies have no legal standing at all and are simply counterfeits.
 
The Oktava 'counterfeits' story is complicated.
Even with a genuine Russian Oktava, quality was hit and miss. I don't know if that's a big of an issue today, but when I bought a stereo pair way back when, I got them from The Sound Room who tests and hand-picks the mics.
The Sound Room Oktavas are not be confused with 'Dorcey' type modification offered by Bil Sitler, Micheal Jolly and others.
 
The first pair I got was from Guitar Center, when they were still selling the Russian ones, and had to return one because it had a weird rumble that came and went. So yes I think the QA of the early imports were hit and miss. But then they were being imported by the guy who later decided to save some money and have the chinese build him the knock offs, so I don't think quality was the first thing he worried about.

Since I have bought from the Sound Room and they have been GREAT. They also did (may still) offer a discount for members of this forum. Worth asking about.
 
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