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Chinese Cables that sound good

Please share your chinese cable purchases that sounded good, and even horror stories of cables that didn't work out.

People get lured into aliexpress and other sites when the see expensive looking cables that appear very similar to well-known audiophile high-priced units, but at a fraction of the cost.

THIS THREAD IS NOT ABOUT IF ITS RIGHT OR WRONG TO COPY OTHERS' DESIGNS.  ITS ABOUT WHICH CABLES SOUND GOOD AND/OR PERFORM WELL.

There are lots of chinese cables to choose from:

- Power cables 

- USB cables (separating signal and data)

- Speaker cables

- Interconnects

- HDMI / IIS cables

 

I've tried a pair of Xansane silver plated copper, braided, speaker cables, to replace generic 12AWG copper that I was using.  The pair cost around $230 CAD.  It appeared to be made well.  However, I didn't notice any difference in the sound of my speakers.  2nd however, I also didn't take notes beforehand or do critical listening...I was just expecting to be blown away somehow but I wasn't.  I will be DIY'ing my future cables (power, interconnects, USB, and maybe speaker) using the DIY Helix cable information found on this site (link to thread).

But for now, I want to see what worked for other people.

 

128x128fai_v

Showing 3 responses by fai_v

fai_v's avatar
fai_v OP
25 posts
 

For my next cables I want to go with non-soldered connections (screw, crimped, or "welded" like how Blue Jeans Cables does their RCA's, and also go with OCC copper, but I just don't trust aliexpress dealer claims about the quality of their copper.

I've recently seen an aliexpress cable ad informing customers not to believe ads that say the material is 9N or something like that (i can't remember if they were talking about silver or copper), since for that metal, that number of N is not made and those other ads are lying to you. 

fai_v's avatar
fai_v OP
25 posts
 

The main hesitation I have with aliexpress cables is the OCC copper and low capacitance cable claims.

Some vendors are showing you cross sections/assembly views of the cables and buyers can see, for example, if conductors are soldered vs friction fit.  One can also sometime see a cross section of the cable being used.

But the specifics of the conductor metal is a big question mark for me....for now...until i buy some more cables and test the capacitance with my multimeter.  I'm not going to bring the wire to a metallurgist to test the alloy though.

fai_v's avatar
fai_v OP
25 posts
 

@roxy54 , if possible, can you let us know the length, and then use a multimeter and test the capacitance, then resistance of a single length, and then report back?

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