I agree with juan*, but it's only a few dollars, so...
FYI, my system is balanced, meaning all ICs are XLRs
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 44 responses by tweak1
Even though as soon as I hit play my Neardost Odin 2 speaker cables trounced the well known/reviewed and expensive cables that I had for about 2 years; last night (about a week since inserting) I played Dianna Krall ALL FOR yOU (Impulse), I haven't listened to any of her discs since in quite a while (too many CDs, so little time), The sound was complete and intimate, I felt as though I had been transported to the venue. |
I should mention, Ali-E also has many other well known cable copies, AND, no-name at even cheaper prices Also many are returnable, though it takes ~ 3 weeks to get to the Florida, so return at least as long on purchasers dime and the time to process, which is why I started with the Odin 2 coax cable, and was shocked compared to the Pangea Premier XL which is a darn good cable. Then slowly with Odin PC and XLR, the more PCs, and finally the speaker cable, which is not the same configuration as Nordosts (round instead of ribbon), but is amazing |
Thanks. I have a couple of good burn in discs, including Stereophile, XLO and Iso-Tek, which has a lot of sweeps. Reading the manual reminded me I need to do that My experience is the Neardost cables are impressive from the get-go, but improve a lot in just a few days. They've all been in the system for 10 -20 days, the last one a Gold PC between wall and Equi-power 1800 PLC |
Sharing my experience with a fellow ’phile, he noted the Odin Gold PC might not be heavy enough gauge for the PLC and recommended a Chinese PC that is available from Amazon; 10ga single crystal copper, very high quality Rhodium plated plug 1.5m just $45 with 20% discount, shipped in 2 days, compared to the ~ 3 weeks from China!. I decided to try it on the dac/pre PS- absolutely no comparison, so Saturday I ordered another for my transport, which is scheduled to arrive today On entry level kit one may not notice much, but if your system, sans cables, is $3K +, Im confident you will be highly rewarded |
As a very old timer started in audio in the mid 70s as a sales person, then store manager, eventually partner in Audio Tweakers. My partner had the $$$$$$ to buy whatever he wanted, including a dedicated listening room in his custom built house designed by an architect. It was an interesting experience to hear the cream of the cream on a regular basis, also he swapped gear and cables frequently. IMO, without a specific designed room, putting together a SOTA system is a crap shoot. My system for 3+ years now consists of; Audiolab 6000, Audio Alchemy DP-1 + PS 5, EVS 1200 or a LSA Voyager GaN 350 (both dual mono), and Emerald Physics 3.4s open baffle, no sub/s. Sadly I managed to blow one channel of the Voyager, so all wire upgrades have been with the EVS 1200, which continues to show how excellent this $2700 class D IcePower AS 1200s amp really is. And therein lies the dilemma for most hi-end enthusiasts, not realizing cables can make or break a system, and so they get trapped in a revolving door of swapping components, when most likely the issue is the room, then the cables and wires hth |
How many cars/trucks/vans have you owned other than Fords? If even one other brand, then you basically bought a copy-cat. Even if I wasn’t now living on SS, justifying $2000+ for one meter pair of the real Nordost Odin 2 speaker cable would make ZERO sense to me: value for money rules my budget. My gut tells me you wouldn’t be here if you had the stupid money Nordost charges. The real Nordost speaker cables are flat/ribbon (many years ago I had Nordost Blue Heavens (also flat/ribbon) and they were a pain as they tended to curl up). Thankfully the knock-offs are conventional round. The best part is they sound significantly better that the well know high priced speaker cables they replaced |
I had Cullen then 4 Wire World Electra 7 Power conditioning Cords @ $260 and now 2 of these * (one from wall to Core Power conditioner, the other to the Audio Alchemy PS 5 outboard PS for the DDP-1. dac/pre) + 2 Odin 2, one silver, one gold conditioning. And 2 (see link below) from Amazon. They are excellent are excellent
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Came across this flipping threw Mono Stereo Alas, no copy. Tried the email link but not working. Maybe somebody can dig for it and report back Odin Gold versus Odin 2 cables shoot out at 3mA Audio showroom, Houston, TX, United States.
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Most people here know I completely rewired my system with Neardost mostly Odin 2 IC/PCs, BUT, after wards I saw the Gold and had to try it to compare. I placed it on my Audiolab 6000 CD transport and the Odin 2 on my LSA Voyager GaN 350 amp. I have been curious to find out how much (if any difference) swapping them would make. Last night I finally did, and it was a WOW moment. Today I am ordering another Gold to replace the Odin 2 powering the transport |
I replaced 2 WW XLR ICs ($$$$) and a Pangea Premier SE Coax ($MSRP $169) with fake Odin IIs (purchased from DIY HiFi). Out of curiosity, later I ordered a Odin Gold XLR. First I had it going to my Audio Alchemy DDP-1 dac and the Fake Odin II to my LSA Voyager GaN 350. After a couple months, I kept thinking to swap the 2 XLRs: the improvement was amazing, so I ordered another Gold, which is scheduled to arrive in the next 2 weeks. Ill report once I get them broken in
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As per previous HiFi DIY china cable purchases, they beat their estimated delivery time by almost a week. I received the Odin 2 gold PC yesterday (now one on my Audiolab 6000 CDT and LSA Voyager GaN 350 amp. I applied the Mad Scientist Contact Enhancer then plugged it in. Seemed subtly better (quieter= deeper sound stage) Letting it play all day today but softly as I do chores. Will listen later |
+1 hdm Thanks for the thorough report comparing the Odin Gold to the real Valhallas. FWIW, I read the review of the real Odin to the Valhallas, to the Odin 2s. The reviewer preferred the Odin 2s Initially, I stuck my toe in the unknown waters of NEARdost Odin 2s, eventually completely redoing all my cables, except from the 20amp dedicated outlet to my CorePower 1800, for which I bought a <$50 PC from Amazon on a recommendation from a local 'phile. It was so good I bought a second one for my Audio Alchemy DDP-1s PS 5 outboard LPS. I then tried a Gold PC for my Voyager 350 GaN amp, then a second one for my DDP-1 Dac/Pre. Liking what they did (warmer and yet more open) I bought a Odin Gold XLR, which I just got yesterday. Warming the system up now to compare/replace the Odin 2s |
Listened to Paul Butterfield Blues Band this morning. I am very familiar with this disc. Completely warmed up. Cut 8 has a good bit everything on it System: Emerald Physics 3.4s OB, 12" concentric woofers with 1" polyester tweeters. Very efficient, Audiolab 6000 CDT, Audio Alchemy DDP-1 + PS 5 outboard power supply, 20amp dedicated line, CorePower 1800 PLC, all are on iso/vib devices, connectors treated with The Audio Scientist Cable Enhancer Rx. All cables well broken in. I replaced a pair of Neardost Odin 2s with Odin Golds. Obviously ~ 50 hours break in needed, but initially, the stage came forward, and wider/better separation, but the background sounded clearer and deeper in the mix. Foot tappin’, head bobbing! GOOD STUFF $62.00/1.5m UNREAL NORDOST 0.6M XLR msrp $34,999, $9999 FOR EACH 0.5M
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About 6 months ago I completely rewired my system using the Ali-E Nordost Odin 2 cables. I took a slow, one at a time approach. Each time my system sounded significantly better than with my WireWorld ($$$$) cables! As I recall, DIY HiFi (the vendor) provided the option (at a price) for boxes. I never did that, but I doubt they go THAT far. Although they use Nordost wooden blocks, and say Nordost on the cables, I seriously doubt they are true Nordost cables, just repackaged. The speaker cables are unlike the Nordost ribbon design, which IMO is a plus. Decades ago I had the Nordost Blue Heaven speaker cables (ribbon) and they were a bit unwieldy as they tend to roll up. HOT TIP: make sure you sign up for alerts. I would look at the cable offerings and save the ones I wanted for later purchase. Some 2-4 week later I would get emails with reduced prices. The best deep discount was for Odin 2 gold speaker cables, which were $180 off the first price! I expect them soon Now for power cords to my amp and CorePower 1800 power conditioner, a fellow 'phile gave me a tip for stupid cheap PCs from Amazon hth |
Ive said from the beginning, whoever is making these knockoffs, is AFAIK, "only" pirating the name and most of the model names (BAD ENOUGH), BUT,... they are not actual 100% knockoffs of the Nordost products, they should have used something like NEARdost Someone asked about Valhalla v Valhalla 2. I read a bonified review that the V2 was a big step above V1, and the Odin is above them. Originally I ordered all Odin2, but as learned more I tried the Gold, which in my SS added some warmth, so I ordered Odin 2 Gold speaker cables in January 18th from Goltech at that time they said it would ship by now. I contacted them and was told 3 more weeks. I would not use them again. Sadly, AFAIK, they are the only Ali-E company selling them. HIFI-DIY Store has great service and communication updates throughout HTH |
Don't let the trolls get under your skin. They seem to not have anything better to do with their lack of knowledge. That said from day one Ive said it is wrong to have used the exact name, when something like NEARdost would have gotten the point across FYI Valhalla is probably a 10 yo design. Odin 2 'should' be much better, and still cheap. That's what Im using over darned expensive WireWorld speaker cables and XLR interconnects, and over a Pangea Premier XL coax cable (MSRP $169) but the Odin 2 coax was half that, so I tried it alone (and was thoroughly impressed) before I slowly replaced all my cables. |
I started out with Odin silver 2s, but now use a Odin gold pc on my cd transport and to my amp (all ordered from DIY HiFi- very good service, but ~ 3 weeks) then I decided to try Odin gold speaker cables, which were only available from Goltech, who has jerked me around for a couple weeks now, making excuses: ETA now Feb 19th Even though China took 'liberties' copying the name and wood blocks, they represent seriously good value. You just have to be willing to wait about a month for delivery to FL, probably a week shorter to the left coast |
The actual Nordost Valhalla was replaced by Odin which was replaced by Odin 2, I bought (Ali version) after quite a few months, I tried the Odin 2 Gold, which added some much needed warmth in my all SS system. I also have the Odin digital between transport and DAC. It is amazing, but would love to try Odin Gold, but no one seems to make it |
I agree having upgraded my entire system about a year ago with Ali-E cables (mostly Odin 2 and Odin 1 Coax, only because I haven't found it in Odin 2). Keep in mind Ali-E is word of mouth, whereas the much more expensive cable companies spend a small fortune in monthly advertising, promoting at audio shows, long term loans to reviewers... |
MY ALI-E POST FROM 10/22: Even though as soon as I hit play my Neardost Odin 2 speaker cables trounced the well known/reviewed and expensive cables that I had for about 2 years; last night (about a week since inserting) I played Dianna Krall ALL FOR YOU (Impulse), I haven’t listened to any of her discs since in quite a while (too many CDs, so little time), The sound was complete and intimate, I felt as though I had been transported to the venue.
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@questforhifi and Roxy I noticed when I saved an item but not buy it, that the price would drop significantly over time Roxy, I bought the Yangsane coax ( Pouch says Yangsane) Grey Knight High Fidelity OCC Silver Plated Coaxial SPDIF Subwoofer RCA TV HD Audio Cable 75 Ohm Digital Audio Decoder Cable ~ $9 including shipping. Truely amazing, bettering my fake Odin 2, and Odin 2 Gold coaxes I will order their XLR to compare to my Odin 2 Gold |