Hey guys, don't sweat this topic so much. "Counterfeit" drivers are nothing like counterfeit currency where anyone with a printer can give it a shot.

As Komoman pointed out in the other counterfeit thread, there aren't really many "fake" drivers out there. There are precious few manufacturing facilities on this planet capable of producing loudspeaker parts at a high level. The "counterfeits" you come across are the end result of normal manufacturing processes. Not everything that comes off the line is a salable item. Sometimes dye lots are bad, or glue seams are slightly off or frames are scratched. It's a lot like going to a factory outlet and buying a pair of Levis for $20 instead of $50. There are small (most of the time) unnoticeable defects that do not meet the company's requirements. You're really getting the same thing, albeit unauthorized by the parent company.

The reasons you see "counterfeits" for one brand but not another has everything to do with where they are built. For instance, JL assembles the vast majority of their drivers themselves. JL therefore has complete control of 'seconds' or production overruns. Focal has out-sourced much of their car audio line to china or Taiwan. The company tasked with building for Focal might be held to a very high manufacturing tolerance which inherently increases the number of parts which fail to meet Focal's QC (even if it's purely cosmetic and something the end consumer will NEVER notice). To simply destroy the products is somewhat of a waste, depending on your perspective. This causes the proliferation of "counterfeits."

These "counterfeits" are a problem for the parent company because they put a big question mark next to the MSRP. Many times price is a function of exclusivity and not actual performance (see Morel or Accuton). Having these 'seconds' floating around deflates the company's ability to charge for their products factoring in the desired exclusivity. On the other hand, there are underlying legal issues difficult to resolve, which in turn permit a certain number of these products to remain available. There's no chance whatsoever that Focal isn't acutely aware of the exact source of these unauthorized products. Legal issues and political borders prevent simple solutions.

The bottom line is this: the "counterfeit drivers you see floating around out there which are difficult to distinguish from the "real thing" were most likely built on the very same assembly line, and have virtually no deviation in actual perceived performance.

Don't confuse 'fake' with 'unauthorized.'

 

I guess the real question is, how do these speakers sound compared to the first quality speakers? If there is no difference in the sound reproduced by the "counterfeit" speakers vs the first quaity speakers, perhaps the counterfeits are a better buy?

 

It's entirely possible. The problem we have is that people are sometimes so invested in their pre-conceived notions and opinions that they fail to recognize facts for their value. I'm not sure test results for proof will persuade those.