To your other point I will never buy a used cable here or on USAM after reading this.
Given my experience, I am not so sure even if buying new from a dealer will get you an authentic one, always 😃
Counterfeit Chinese Cables
I thought that I would write this for those who are curious about one of the many counterfeit Chinese interconnect cables that are available these days. I know that there have been threads about the subject before, and I was always curious because they seem to be such a bargain. I don't really recall much about what any members actually said about the performance of these counterfeit cables, and I didn't look back and do any research, but a couple of months ago there was a thread that came around to discussing the quality of Chinese made components, and oldhvymec said something that made sense to me.
He said that people that say that what they are making is junk should consider that much of what is in our gear, and a lot of our American brands are actually manufactured there. I decided shortly after that that I would take the chance on a set of interconnects, because I suspected that the interconnects going from my pre to my amp were the weak link and needed upgrading. The interconnects going from my DAC to my pre were Kimber Select which are very good, but the other set were LAT International (now defunct) which had cost $500.00 when new, but I had reason to believe they were lacking because I have one of their digital cables that turned out to be very poor sounding in comparison to others I own.
I decided on a one meter pair of counterfeit Nordost Odin interconnects for a total of $104.00 from Aliexpress. I received them a couple of weeks later. They appeared to be well made, and the locking fake WBT rca's were very impressive and are very tight.
First impressions after installing them were light, thin sound, lacking bass. Each couple of days brought improvements, but from the beginning I noticed that they were quieter. Now, weeks later, I can say that they are drastically better that the LAT's in every way. Detail and ambience are much better, but it's the focus and separation of instruments that is most noticeable.
I have no way of knowing if they are really a copy of the Nordost design, but I am impressed enough that I am going to try a counterfeit Nordost digital cable.
Obviously, this isn't a comparison that is useful to most, because there probably isn't anyone here using the LAT's, and everything is system dependent. I just wanted to relay my positive experience.
Showing 8 responses by debjit_g
well, this is not about deliberately buying the fakes from Ali, but to the point where @thyname makes - sometime back I bought 3 PS Audio AC12 power cords from authorized PS Audio dealer when they sold through dealership (this dealer was also listed in their website). When I received the cables, they looked very "genuine" superficially but sounded so so after given a long time with breakin. At the same time, there was a fake power cord thread on the PS Audio forums and I wrote to PS Audio asking if they would do an inspection of their cables which they gladly accepted. I sent just one. Within a week, I get a message from PSA that its a fake cable and asked me to sent the other two and so I did. As in turns out, all 3 were fake cables. The dealer had no idea how it landed in his stockpile. I have also bought DS DACs, BHK Preamps and Power Plant P20 from this dealer as well, so there is absolutely no reason for me to suspect the dealer. Being PSA as they are with their customer service, they replaced all 3 with the genuine ones free of cost. The bottom line is you never know what’s happening in the background, especially in the cable business where there is a huge profit margin with a fraction of the production cost. |
No, they did NOT ask for any proof of purchase. When I wrote to them, I mentioned that I bought from so and so dealer. That's it. They did not sent the fake ones back as they would destroy it (any company should do that). I have AQ cables as well and their is a lot of difference in customer service between PSA and AQ. PSA just goes above and beyond. Very few in this industry does that.
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+1
I really don't care who makes them or where. If I can buy a cable cheaper that sounds as good as a multi thousand $ cable, that's all that matters to me.
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yeah, check with continuity tester. Moreover, its always good to check the AC voltage connecting the hot + neutral, hot + earth, neutral + earth to make sure the polarity is correct and the reading are as expected. I do that for well know brand anyways just to be on the safer side. I also do DIY power cords, so I am far from getting scared. I don’t own any Ali’s power cord but they aren’t that dumb to not make the basics right. The construction as I see from the images at Ali are solid and robust, sometimes far better than some US brands. Manufacturing defect is another issue but that can happen with well known brands as well. |
@thyname have you tried one ? What do you mean by “current generation” not braided Dragons ? I am curious to get one, so wondering if you have a link to the ones you are talking about. |
thanks @thyname yes, that's the one I was suspecting as well. By any chance do you have one for yourself and compared to the original ? I am trying to find out if its worth paying the significant premium if the fake Odins can be bought for lot less. |