Quote:
Originally Posted by pkautzsch  Doesn't "FAKE" mean saying a mic is Oktava when in fact it isn't?
As long as the label on the mic says "797" it's not a "fake Oktava", even if the mic itself looks like an Oktava. Soundelux U** are more or less imitations of vintage Neumann U**. Nobody would say they're fake Neumanns.
The fake Oktavas of the last few years were illegally made in China abusing the original manufacturer's reputation by printing his name on a product which wasn't as good as the original. That's what fake is to me. Same goes for Chinese "Rolex" watches.
797 have also copied Schoeps' Colette system. But again, the label on the components says "797" and not "Schoeps". Copy yes, fake no. |
The thing is that 797 made these for the former world distributor of Oktava who lost the deal with OAO Oktava to sell and market real Oktava mics. Oktava Ltd in UK had registered the EU trademark and moved manufacturing to 797 and another chinese factory. The scam was soon revealed though, and I for one did spend a lot of time to defend the original Oktavas agains the fake Oktavas.
What probably happend is that 797 were sitting on some stock commissioned buy Oktava Ltd. in the UK. They are bankrupt so they won't be able to buy the stock, so 797 decided to clear this stock.
So, from the beginning these were fake Oktavas, but 797 has rebranded them in order to sell the lot. The 797 version of the MKL2500 is not bad at all. It's extremely close to the original. I think you can change the chinese tube for a russian even. The 797 LD capsule is very good and in my opinion not inferior to the Oktava LDC's. The result would be a decent tube LD, significantly cheaper than the MKL2500 and probably just as good.