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.
I am outside of that set. For the cable business generally, "ripoff" comes pretty close to describing their exploitation of the audiophile buyer IMO. And they've been doing it for a very long time. They buy Chinese cable, terminate them and mark them up 20X. I have no qualms Some of these cable formulations are 40 years old. |
@melm guess you did not watch the Cardas video. That is okay you do you I just despise the entire counterfeit industry. Your opinions are very similar to the majority of people's justifications for buying counterfeit goods. All the top manufacturers of copper wire and cable are based in Japan and the US. I am sure they have extruders in China. The largest copper producing country is Chile then Peru, DR Congo, China, and the US is number 5
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It seems the US Government and Corporations were perfectly willing to place US citizens in direct competition with foreign labor markets. Free trade agreements have done this. You can compete with foreign labor, you just have to be willing to accept the same wages and resulting standard of living. I have no sympathy for companies that produce goods overseas in China for next to nothing and then sell them here at exorbitant prices. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. |
Some people have counterfeit cables mixed up with fake. The counterfeiters are telling you the truth, and you're paying very little for them, what's the issue!
The fakes are the problem, you're paying for the real deal, getting something else. I don't think anyone here has a problem stating sellers of fakes are criminally libel.
I can understand why Cardas has patents, they do use proprietary copper in their cables. Still haven't seen a listing of all these other patented cables with their proprietary metal, parts and design.
Funniest thing is, usual attack around here is cables and cable manufacturers are snake oil and snake oil salesmen, why the sudden compassion for snake oil proprietors. |
