Swedish car audio manufacturer DLS has issued a statement publicly confirming that there is a major problem in China with counterfeit DLS speakers and fake DLS amplifiers being distributed via unscrupulous shops and also through eBay.

Here is the published DLS statement, followed by illustrated comparisons between the originals and fakes:

DLS do NOT sell over the web, ever, nor do any authorised dealers. If you see new DLS product for sale over an auction site, IT IS FAKE! DLS dealers are specifically forbidden from selling via auction sites at risk of loosing their dealership, so the odds are highly against any auction product being legitimate. If you feel uncertain that the product you intend to buy is genuine or not, contact the DLS distributor in your country and ask them if the shop is a DLS authorized dealer or not. The known faked products (there will be others no doubt) include:

• UR6S components
• UR36S components
• PS6 components
• Iridium 6.2 components
• Ultimate A8 amps

Official illustrated high-resolution photos of an original DLS UR6S speaker vs. a fake copy (Published by DLS Svenska AB in February 2006)

DLS Updated Their Warning about Counterfeit DLS Speakers and Amplifiers ^{[Updated June 5, 2006]}

Swedish car audio manufacturer DLS have updated their previous statement regarding counterfeit DLS speakers and fake copies of DLS amplifiers being distributed via unscrupulous shops and also through eBay.

The update includes high-resolution pictures from terminals and the PCB of both the original DLS Ultimate A8 and also its replica. The replica manufacturer has failed in faking the RCA terminals, so without opening the amp, by looking into the RCA terminals, and observing red / black stripes around them you can confirm an amp is a knockoff.

Here is the updated DLS statement, followed by comparative pictures between the originals and fakes:

Since many years a lot of successful products and brands have been copied, and now also DLS products. There are fake DLS products produced that are similar to the real ones but they do not reach the DLS standard when it comes to reliability and sound quality. These fake copies are mainly distributed in countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, China, Hong.Kong, Japan, Taiwan R.O.C. and The Philippines. The copied products are the speakers UR6S, UR36S, PS6, amplifier Ultimate A8 and probably Iridium 6.2. If you feel uncertain that the product you intend to buy is genuine or not, contact the DLS distributor in your country and ask them if the shop is a DLS authorized dealer or not. We know that many of the fake products are also sold on Internet auction sites, especially on Ebay. Avoid buying DLS products on Internet unless you are sure the seller is serious. If you buy on internet and found that the product is a fake copy, you will have a hard time to get your money back. On the images below you are able to see the discrepancies between fake and original on one of the copied speakers, DLS model UR6S. Now we have photos of the fake A8 amplifier as well, see the photos below.

Official high-resolution photos of an original DLS Ultimate A8 Amplifier vs. a fake copy (Published by DLS Svenska AB in June 2006)

Fake DLS A8 Amplifier Inquiry from Gunnar Spetz of DLS Sweden ^{[July 5, 2008]}

There’s this inquiry email about an A8 DLS amplifier that’s been discussed here. Gunnar Spetz from DLS Sweden answered the question in detail, also attaching pictures taken from a counterfeit DLS Ultimate A8 amp. Here is the email contents and the attached photos:

Hi James and thanks for your mail.

The A8 amplifier seen on the link is probably a fake A8. This amp was a slow seller for DLS so we took it out of production for about 2 years ago. After that we found that some chinese or Korean company produced fake copies that are very similar on the outside, it is really hard to see the difference between them as long as you just see the outside.

You have to remove the bottom plate to see the difference. I have some photos of the fake A8 PCB inside. If the products are similar to these photos, they are fake copies. I could not find any inside photo of our original A8 but they are not similar at all. I also include a photo of the original A8 outside for your reference (A8_F).

There are also some DLS speakers sold on Ebay that we know are chinese copies, it is UR6S and UR36S, also PS6 models can be found. All of them are discontinued models since 1-2 years, so if they are sold on Ebay they are probably fakes. On the speakers it is almost impossible to see the diffence between fakes and originals, but if you listen to them you can hear the difference.

It is OK if you want to add this info on the audio forum.

Best regards

Gunnar Spetz
DLS Sweden

Original DLS Ultimate A8 amplifier (Credit: Gunnar Spetz of DLS Sweden, Skeelsie of talkaudio.co.uk)

Several medium-resolution pictures taken from a fake copy of the DLS Ultimate A8 amplifier, including multiple RCA connector and PCB shots (Credit: Gunnar Spetz of DLS Sweden, Skeelsie of talkaudio.co.uk)