Look out on this cable as well from Italy https://www.ebay.com/itm/284077958442 . Seller specially scratched out letters in “conductiors” word.
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I recently bought two fake AC-12 cables (one unfortunate, the other one clearly informed).
In noticed a difference on these cables: the PS-logo on the female connector is differently orientated (see the picture).
Question: how is that PS -logo positioned on your genuine AC-cables?
This doesn’t guarantee authenticity, but the picture on the right with the logo oriented as PS is how they are on a real AC12.
I reckon the IEC plug on the left is wrong (I’ve checked two of my cables)
Thank you,
The one on the left was sold to me as fake.
The right one bought as genuine is also a fake (incorrect packing).
I guess the left one that is very stiff is build up like the left on on this cross section picture and the right one that is very flexible with far less copper.
Good to know that there is another feature to identify a real PS Audio AC power cable from fakes: the PS-logo should be placed in the same direction as the CE and earthing markings.
I will check with Aspera-Audio Belgium for a real PS Audio AC-12. All AC-12’s offered on eBay are suspicious.
Now I’m wondering about the authenticity of my AC-3 and A-5 cables. 
You may be safe. The fakes imitate the more expensive cables. More money, less scrutiny.
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That makes sense and I’m glad to hear it.
But, if you can hear a difference in sound they MUST be genuine. Right? 
I hear an improvement in sound even with these fakes; Did a test starting with standard ,to shielded self-made, then these fakes and finally inserting my power regenerator and every “upgrade” was clearly noticeable. .
I am curious what next week’s test with the “real thing” will bring (a genuine AC-12 bought from the PS-Audio dealer in Belgium -the Netherlands).
I by-the-way used a very dirty recording by producer Daniel Lanois: Up - Peter Gabriel on SACD. Daniel inertially leaves recording errors and happenstances in his final mixes; In the intro of the first song one gets the creeps of a very dirty soundscape that I never noticed before. The last song has at the end details in the fretless electric bass from Tony Levin that I missed all these 34 years.
You don’t have to worry about your AC3s. Other than the AC12s, we’ve never seen any of the other AC series cables faked. Watchdog is right, it only makes sense for them to fake the most expensive cables.
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How about the AC-5s? 
Only AC12
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I also have some of these fake cables from EBay and they do sound pretty decent, but when I compared them to the real thing, they do sound more crude. The real ones sounds more refined. The Purple Rush XLO fake I got actually sounds pretty clear, but a little harsh. I use it to power my TV because it does make the TV picture sharper and brighter. Better to avoid these fakes altogether so we don’t encourage more of these on the market. They are really trash compared with the real thing.
I cut opened a fake Purple Rush and here’s what’s inside. They did go through a lot of trouble to fake these things.
That they sound kindof a little bit good is a testimony to the connectors and connector design is my guess.
The connectors are the best things on these fakes. They are at least as good if not better than the real ones. And yes they do sound much better than stock cables, but there’s nothing like the real thing. The real one’s are way better.
I have both AC-5 and AC-12. I believe the AC-12 are real because they sound better than the AC-5. Is this not logical?
Hello Jamesh,
I bought last week 2 pcs one meter AC-12 cables from Aspera Audio you official distributor for Belgium/the Netherlands. They lent me also a 1,5 meter version.
That PS logo on all three female connectors is like on the left picture in the yellow circle; Opposite directed to the CE and earth marking.
These official cables have however a small circle punched into the “P”.
The CE and earth markings are much more precisely outlined and clearly on top of the man surface.
If they’re from Aspera, you’ll know they’re authentic which is a good thing. Interesting that the CE is inverted like that though.
Doing some cord swapping on my P3, I noticed my AC-12 (which I got a few back in the day—two from a local dealer in Minneapolis back when I had a PPP, one of which I kept, and one from tmr) looks just like this sans the hole punch, but with the inverted CE as well. Interesting.