Identifying fake Sony MDR-EX71SL earphones?

[elynnia]

Hi folks,

As a longtime iPod user, I've been using the Sony MDR-EX71SL for my listening needs and they have never let me down. (I've had 4 pairs, all of which got stolen, lost, or caught in an accident - never died of natural causes.) Although I've tried a variety of other ear/headphones such as the Audio-Technica EC7 and various large Sennheiser headphones, it seems to me that the EX71 is my favourite in terms of sound and value for money.

Now, I recently moved to England from Australia, and due to the lack of particularly good prices for them in the local shops (my previous EX71s were bought locally either in Australia or in a trip to Japan), I've gone to eBay to find another replacement pair of EX71s, but it seems eBay is flooded with possibly fake items, sold both from the UK, Hong Kong, and China. Although I'm aware that the general motto is "If it's too good to be true, it isn't", but even some of the local sellers seem to have clued up to it and possibly sell boxed fakes at higher prices.

Although there seem to be some guides to identifying a fake Sennheiser CX300, I haven't found any reliable way of identifying a fake EX71, so if anybody has a guide or any hints, please share them.

Thanks,
elynnia

[Jackonicko]

The EX-71 is dreadful. I'd really urge you to try something better.

If you must use these, then buy from John Lewis or a Sony Centre

[L3on]

Go for Sennheiser CX300...They are much better...

[Davo-CC]

I purchased two pairs of white 71's (returned both) in Oz. I have had the 70's for around 5 years or so. The 71's I received where night and day from the 70's that I had - I can't tell if they were fake or not (the vendor in Oz claimed they weren't), they had Japanese lettering on the box but ultimately they were very weak sounding and lacked bass, perhaps you've had the same problem?

I eventually brought in a pair of Ultimate Ears E5B's (Jackonicko recommended them to me) from Earphone Solutions in the US ( http://www.earphonesolutions.com/uleasu5ebeaw.html ), they’re very large in the ear but the bass is much clearer and more defined – I had to go back to my 70’s for a little while and I can most certainly tell the difference, in my experience they have better sounding and louder bass than the 70’s. I’d rate them at around 3-4 times the bass of the 71’s I had.

The over-the-ear cabling is much fussier and more fiddly but it does result in less brush-noise; if you do go the EB’s I’d recommend getting the optional extra cable at the same time, it’s stronger and thicker than the supplied one and well worth the money.