[romandoc]

I bought from Nick a 3ft power cord advertised on his website as made with Oyaide connectors, see here:
http://www.promitheusaudio.com/Acessories.htm
I paid $125 for the power cord since it was bought at the same time with an active preamp made by Promitheus.
Never used it since it was too short for my current system configuration, but with this recent discussion about fake Oyaides I decided to take a look at it. And guess what? It is fake. On the black molded front piece there is a name "Nicoon", but the Oyaide name is nowhere to be found. My cord and connectors look just like the ones in this picture but without the insets that say "P-037" and "C-037"


Will Nick step up and clarify + rectify this ?

[romandoc]

Nicholas contacted me and said he was aware of the problem and offered a refund. He also said he stopped selling those cables once he learned that those connectors were fake.
Male + female Oyaide AC plugs cost more than $180 together without even considering the bulk cable and the labor.

[maxwalrath]

Glad to hear everything worked out.  He is responsible for the product he sells and for advertising it, and it seems like he is trying to make things right. 

Also, from a moral standpoint, he appears to be in the clear.  He wasn't trying too hard to deceive anyone as evidenced by his pricing.... a buyer looking for Oyaide connectors is made aware of their costs by many other cable manufacturers. 

[romandoc]

UPDATE April 28 2009

The lack of response to customer's concerns is simply staggering!
So I sent in the power cord terminated with the fake Oyaide plugs a while ago as requested by Nicholas for a refund and I still have to hear from Nicholas and get a refund.
Money for the cord was paid in January 2008 (!!!) along with $2,850 for a preamp that I received in Sept of 2008.
At this stage, after multiple attempts, wasted time and energy when communicating and dealing with Nicholas for the past 15 months I will simply say this: my heartfelt advice to all potential customers is to look at the value of a component as the sum of sound quality and the added value that includes prompt customer service, peace of mind and communication from the manufacturer before, during and after the purchase.
This second part is utterly missing at Promitheus Audio, and my dealings with Nicholas profoundly altered the way I look at and value an audio component.
It's a no brainer for me now, I'd take any day a more expensive component even if it's no better sound quality wise if that means avoiding the hell I had to go through from the moment I wired money overseas up until today. Promisses, then broken promisses, then fake components, then lack of aftersale service, lack of communication, no recourse.
Not recommended!!!

[mfsoa]

Hard to imagine not knowing they were fake when the cord was terminated.

Take your pick of the two evils:

1) Mfgr knowingly uses fake components
2) Mfgr unknowingly uses fake components.

1) is barely worse than 2) IMHO.

Good words on the total value of audio gear, Romandoc.

-Mike

[marvda1]

he should have refunded the money before you returned the cable or better yet refund your money and told you to keep the cable for your trouble.

[marvda1]

by the way how did the cable sound? they might have been worth the $125 or more even with the fake connectors.

[Sonny]

he should have refunded the money before you returned the cable or better yet refund your money and told you to keep the cable for your trouble.

I would agree...
Also, shouldn't Nicholaus know that he was buying fake connectors?  I mean, it depends on the price and if they are $180 retail for the set, one would expect he would pay 50%, so $90 then make the cables...
my two cents