Would you mind telling which of the AliExpress stores you purchased the cables from, or maybe a link? Is there one store most use?
Thanks
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 17 responses by jetter
Hi ozzy, I was hoping to use the same vendor you did to try out the (pseudo) Odin 2 interconnects. The Odin 2s look visually different depending on vendor. When I checked out the HIFI-DIY vendor on Aliexpress they did not sell the cables that I could find. Any chance I am looking at the wrong vendor? Thanks |
Canare cable is manufactured in Japan. I am currently using Canare interconnects (Redco) and speaker cable (Blue Jeans), as are many here and I am told recording studios often use them. These Ghent cables seem fairly priced, I am not sure why you are implying negatively about them. |
@melm Until recently, in order for a company to be required to collect sales taxes and remit them to a state the selling entity had to have nexus. Nexus back then basically required some type of physical presence. If the company did not have nexus so was not required to collect sales tax you, the purchaser, were expected to self-assess yourself sales tax and pay it to your state, usually via your individual state income tax return. Then, due to the proliferation of online sales, all but two states have adopted a rule that if a company has an excess of a certain amount of sales to a state, even online sales, they now have nexus. The minimum amount of these sales for most states is $100,000, and for some it is $250,000 and a few others $500,000. So, if a company does not have sales equal to or exceeding these amounts there is no requirement for them to collect sales tax and you are expected to self access and pay the sales tax to the state. |
Not right on point for this thread, but several years ago I bought a couple of the WU Audio power cords off Amazon for something like $40 or $50 each. I hadn’t been using them in a long while and a couple of days ago decided to attach them to my subwoofers. One of the cloth exterior coverings was moving about (cosmetic only)and noticed on the label of the actual wire insulation was "Furukawa Electric Pure Copper Multiconductor - Made in Japan". |
@bigtwin Looking over the link you provided, there is a lot of description, and it might be there, but I did not see anything that actually says the wire is made in China and none of the pictures of the wire shows the "Made in xxx" country. I wonder if the Chinese vendors are buying cable made in Japan at volume discounts and then selling it for a markup on AliExpress. Incidentally, I would prefer cable made in Japan as are my Canare. |
Pluses and flipsides The plus is that you have informed somewhere south of 39,000 viewers that they can buy counterfeits of very expensive cables for very little $s. This alerts potential buyers of the real thing to be very careful when purchasing on the used market. The flipside is that you have informed the unscrupulous of these 39,000 of the potential to make some easy money selling counterfeits to unsuspecting buyers thinking they are getting the real thing. Unfortunately, the real loser of this situation is the unsuspecting buyer thinking he is purchasing an authentic cable. The real winner is the manufacturer of the genuine wire that is being sold for such extravagant prices. I am totally guessing that all the R&D, material and manufacture costs of the wire (genuine) is under $300. As I have mentioned before, compared to the complexity of designing amps, sources and speakers, and the complexity of many of the jobs held by members of this forum, the development of a good/excellent sounding cable seems pretty mundane. Just my opinion. |
@hdm Would you mind mentioning which Aliexpress vendor you purchased the Chinese Nordost Odin Gold IC’s (RCA to RCA) from, those are on my radar for purchase?
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Think about every one of the people who purchased Rolex knock offs? There are thousands of times more of them than those buying Chinese cable knock offs. The watches were inevitably made in China. Anyone buying either knows they are fakes. A friend who happens to be an IRS agent has bought several and swears by their accuracy. No he wouldn’t mention it on a forum.
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Excuse me, there are a number of people who are not cable deniers who purchase Mogami, Canare and other well known cables and think they are very good. Let's put it this way, I have not heard of any recording studios using your knock off Chinese fakes, but I understand that many if not most use Mogami and Canare.
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@dayglow I was reading too much into what you wrote. Thanks for letting me know. No problem at all! |