Chinese fake cables How fake, how good?


I have noted a number of warnings about cheap Chinese fake cables on this site but curiosity led me to the Aliexpress site where I found a number of presumably fake big name cables from predominantly Cardas, Nordost and Siltech at about 15% of the USA or Australian price. I found Cardas Clear Light interconnects at about US$100 and decided what the heck let's give them a try at that price. Before buying I asked the seller the daft question as to whether they were genuine and got the reply that they were an OEM and constructed the interconnects from genuine Cardas cables and connectors. They arrived in a plastic bag rather than the Cardas box , not a great start but the cables looked real, and when connected, much to my surprise, they sounded really good. After 100hours or so burn in they sounded great and better than the Nordost Quatre Fils I had been using. I then took them to an Australian hi end dealer who sold real Cardas and asked rather ingenuously whether my cables were the real deal. The dealer would not commit but agreed to compare them to the real thing on a set up costing at a guess around A$100,00. Neither I nor the sales person could tell any difference so he then tried them against the Cardas Clear. Then there was some difference, not extreme but subtle, and certainly IMO not worth the price difference even if you bought the genuine Cardas Clear Light. So are these cables really fake and even if they are given my experience they are well worth a try. Maybe I'll try Nordost Odin or Siltech 770i next.
mazian

Showing 3 responses by millercarbon

Great example of insulting those of us with different views while posing as morally superior. Xenophobia is prejudice against the people of other countries. Some of us are able to distinguish between the Chinese people and the political ideology ruling over them. It helps to understand the meanings of words, and use them accordingly.
You're ahead of the curve. If the people are so good then maybe eventually they will stand up for themselves. Until then- boat anchor.
nasaman writes:
All I know is that the day they (Chinese?) successfully make fake Synergistic Reserach active shielding cables/ cords, that’d be the day I’m looking into making my own cables or buying factory direct... so sad.


Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

Haven't read them all its just too much nonsense but from a quick scan nasaman seems to be the only one who gets it.

Everyone's talking about counterfeits and fakes and its all beside the point. For all we know these may very well be legit cables - legit at least in the sense of being same materials, manufacture, etc. Just not legit in the sense they are being marketed legitimately with respect to trademark and other property rights we take for granted here in the West but are so universally disregarded in China.

Ted Denney III on the other hand, so far as I know all his wire is hand made right here in America, in California, and a lot of it by the same guy who has been building them for many, many years. 

Anyone who has built anything high end audio related, one of the first things you learn is every little detail matters. Just one reason DIY cables are such crap. Clearly what the OP is talking about is not crap. It seems to be indistinguishable from the originals. Therefore, either it is indeed the exact same thing just taken from production and sold outside approved channels, or the OP, et al, can't hear.

My bet is these cables are the real deal. Just cheap. Because the companies involved, instead of doing the hard work of learning to build something good enough to be built right here in the USA and still compete on price, have decided to farm out production. 

If that happened they're the ones being ripped off. Which is just fine with me. Only adds to my respect for Ted Denney and Synergisitic Research, for refusing to play that game.