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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.
128x128mazian
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nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,836 posts
 

Sounds like you’re a mite disgruntled trying to find a bargain cable for your media needs and came here to vent as Alvin’s Cables only deals with professional videoing needs and they appear to use Chinese made cables.

There are many well made Chinese cables as members here have pointed out. What started out as knock-offs many years ago has to led to some nice personally branded cables that offer value for the money.

Your political rant kinda turns people off as it’s been discussed here to death.

All the best,
Nonoise

 

nasaman's avatar
nasaman
463 posts
 

I have couple AliExpress Odin power cords. Who wanna?

tksteingraber's avatar
tksteingraber
612 posts
 

@nasaman  If are they looking for a new home I could use them in my home theatre speakers. I do like them in some components.

locationsoundspeed
3 posts
 

Of course, I came here to vent!  That’s what forums are for. So get off your high horse.  So what if the topuc has been beaten to death. It’s a reality that never gets resolved, hence the continuous thread by hundreds of disgruntled audio professionals, who are trying to earn a living without being ripped off.   
 

RE: Alvin’s Cables.  They were used as an example, because they make it appear like they are an American company.  I actually asked them to make me custom audio cables, because I thought they were an American company.  
 

Every time I sent them my drawings, they would send me a link to a Chinese knockoff product, that is being sold by hundreds of other Chinese knockoff companies on Ebay.  

I went back and forth with them for months, before realizing they were not as they appeared.  They couldn’t custom make anything.  It was all reselling products. 
 

They are a Chinese company that sells knockoffs.  They are not an American company that sources Chinese cables.   
 

 

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