I admit to be a bit conflicted in buying a pair just for fun… although this is not stopping me from buying real ones. If I could afford them, I would probably buy real ones… but a full loom would cost roughly the same as my system, so that would be a hard sell.
I swapped them in to my headphone system between my DAC and headphone amp. I had a pair of Harmonics Pro-Silway 2 before the switch (high quality “budget” ($600?, 25 years ago) interconnects (silver coated copper). I was expecting a notable shift to a bit more trebly sound. No, immediate noticeable change… pretty good for $50. I’ll have to hook them up to my break in system and see what they sound like with a couple hundred hours on them.
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I guess if the cables were not labeled Nordost Odin 2 it would not have attracted so much attention.
Again, I don't expect it to be much, but I hope I am surprised. For the total price including shipping it is worth a trial.
ozzy
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@rsf507
I do take issue with this Chinese cable being marked as "Nordost Odin 2." I can’t say I know what the legalities are. Google, an American company, permits them to advertise this way and is happy to take their money. American capitalism at its . . best. I am confident that no one will think they are getting the "real" Nordost Odin 2 for the price being asked. While the cable and terminations look fine enough, the wooden rings that carry the false labeling seem crudely made compared to pictures of the real ones. So it’s a poor counterfeit. Nevertheless, as to my personal point of view I hold no brief for Nordost. I can buy a nice car for what they charge for a 1 meter pair of their Odin 2 interconnects. 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.
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Ozzy, I think you will smile at taking the plunge. FYI: they are returnable
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@rsf507
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
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@ozzy
Any reason you didn’t go with the Gold?
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I can only speak for myself.
I know I could never afford the real thing even used. I don't expect much but you never know.
ozzy
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I guess I don't understand why are you guys supporting these known fakes?
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I'm sorry guys I just couldn't resist. I just ordered a 3M pair of the "Odon 2" xlr interconnects.
ozzy
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@theaudioamp
Yup. It's the wild west out there and getting worse. The world needs to wean itself off. As Mr Dylan said 'there ain't nothing made here no more'.
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Just for fun after reading this thread… and having had a real set of Odin 2 interconnects in my home for a few weeks I ordered a pair. They arrived a few minutes ago.
Says made in USA. I guess if I was ordering these second hand and wasn’t familiar with the real ones… how would I know they are not real? They are definitely lighter in weight. The wood blocks are much less well finished, the locking rca connectors are functional but don’t look like high quality.
I am going to experiment with them on my headphone system when I have some time.
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@juanmanuelfangioii I did that, for years. I've spent what (for me) is a small fortune on various EU and US brands. My last interconnects were 300$ a pop and, having a tri-amped system, costs add rather fast. Then one day you try a 50$ knockoff cable and it sounds better than any cable you've heard in 25 years hobby, crushing your existing cable, and being cheaper to booth? Well, let me tell you, you BUY IT, and you buy MORE OF IT. We only live once.
Why can't a EU-made interconnect sold for 300$ sound as good, I don't know, maybe it's time we ask the cable companies why 300$ in Europe buys you 2 feet of ENTRY LEVEL CABLE.
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Is anyone willing and/or able to discuss the nature of fungible vs non-fungible cables whether said cables are counterfeit or otherwise?
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On a side note:
Roger Waters is an idiot.
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When the argument is weak in comes xenophobia and maga hats. No one said a thing about race and the only politics I have seen was mention of the CCP.
Special.
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What we have here is case of good old American marketing deception. Man, I should be living for free based on all the freebies handed out by Americans. Marketeers count on suckers, based on continuation of falsehoods stated in marketing, no lack of them. Suddenly, people at least getting something for their money, and good value proposition based on posts here, are the suckers, and the sellers thieves. I think some have the whole equation mixed up here.
@theaudioamp They don't care about the price charged for them, preposterous, the anger goes up in correlation to price, Go through endless threads here for proof of that. Doesn't even make sense based on logic, I'd be far more pissed spending a $1k fake vs $100 fake.
I won't even argue in regard to the fact Chinese play by different rules, mentioned that in prior post. US made decision to play this game knowing full well the rules of game. Short term profitability and regard only for investor class by global capitalists made this happen. This is war of capitalism, no chivalry, total war, this is always the way it goes with humans.
Suddenly all this concern with ethics and principles, and all over some relatively cheapo cables. Is this really the line in sand you're drawing, those lines were obliterated long ago. You all better get real, understand we live in global world, never going back to this protectionist isolated realm of self sufficiency. The MAGA world is pure delusion.
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@sns
You really need to learn more about the people you are putting down. Very few who assign the term snake oil care about the price that is charged for cables. They care about the lies that are told to sell them. Short of bias, I have no idea how you could arrive at the conclusion you have arrived at.
Your attempt to play the race card is very weak. It is a statistical reality that the vast majority of counterfeit electronics and related equipment comes from China. That is a factor of lax laws, and more importantly lax enforcement of intellectual property, especially foreign owned, but it is even an issue with their domestic IP. Their own companies have a difficult issue with stolen IP as well. IP theft is rampant there. It is a reality that ethics in business in China is not at the level that it is in many other countries and not just advanced economies. There is no point in my doing a dissertation on it in a forum. There are a ton of researched articles on this already.
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If you say so. Try staying on point what is the title of this thread?
If you want to talk about the high price of Cardas or Transparent cable I am sure there is a thread on it.
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Why do we have to go over and over the difference between fakes and these knock off or counterfeit cables. The fakes are theft, the knock offs or counterfeit are a known, people are purchasing with full knowledge, eyes wide open. Again, if there are harms or patent infringement, prove it in court.
And how do you know these cables not quality, many posts here attest to value proposition.
Its quite transparent much of this antagonism towards these sellers is due to nationalist biases. No anger amongst the snake oil proponents for 'theft' by snake oil manufacturers and sellers charging big bucks, and all this anger towards foreign sellers hardly making a buck selling these relatively low priced cables! Something other than rip off of consumers at work here.
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+1 @juanmanuelfangioii
People are so entitled that they will buy fake Nordost incorporating stolen intellectual property, as opposed to something made competently and without stolen IP. They feel they are "entitled" to have access to this intellectual property even though they have no paid for it.
@sns , these "companies" are taken to court all the time by those that are harmed (the companies owning the IP). Individuals rarely are due to the low cost/benefit.
I personally find it disgusting the hoops people go through to justify this is okay. But maybe if you have never created anything of value, you won't understand.
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@rolox As I stated before, nothing to do with race or country.
Yes I do live my life to the code of ethics and integrity. The money you spent on fakes could have bought a quality cable from a small North American or EU manufacturer that is not stealing IP and or Trademarks.
Dead set against all of it. No matter the Who or the Where, no matter the What and could care less about Why someone is doing it or using it.
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@theaudioamp You assume these people principled. On what grounds? Nah, they're just picking and choosing, not consistent. Or, is it they're principled due to assumption they have truth on their side? We've already established the counterfeit cables are not theft, consumers not being misled. Take the sellers of these items to court and prove harms if it indeed theft. Until adjudicated in court these sellers not guilty and/or involved in theft. And guess what, these cables have been around for years, no one's being fooled, they know exactly what they're getting.
To repeat, the only fraud being perpetuated is from those selling fakes, passing them off a real, selling at price of real item.
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I bought audio quest cables once I had to re-terminate them when I removed the pretty cable cover under was the cheap AQ wire they bulk discounted I showed this to the AQ sales rep he just smiled at me. Now Cardas are wonderful to deal with as has been Nordost. I once had a long run of costly Nordost chewed a bit by my puppy I sent them to Nordost they repaired free of charge.
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The people who advocate for and look the other way w.r.t. counterfeit goods and stealing IP (music, videos, etc.) are the first to scream when they government does not give them handouts, or when taxes go up, or when the plant they are working for shuts down and manufacturing moves.
People think that the 1% is out to get them and that they are powerless. They are partially right, because they are too busy screwing each other for the 1% to ever worry about them.
@sns , I expect most people with reasoned views on why cables don't do what audiophiles think they do and are willing to state that, are for the most part principled and while they don't like the business practices of the companies that sell those types of products, they like theft even less.
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Not even the 'big name' cable manufacturers up there with him. Still waiting to hear from "cables are snake oil" crowd. What side they on here?
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One would think juan would have broken the skin on his drum by now
Probably just lonely, like all soap box evangelists
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@rolox ,
Talk about a coincidence, while I was looking at the Neardost cables I decided to buy a Rolox watch!
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@juanmanuelfangioii AHAHAHA
Come on, give me a break. You just CANNOT put fake baby food and counterfeit 15.000$ high-end audio cables in the same argument. Counterfeit cables that are built by the same Chinese companies who build their own original "brands", and probably the same companies who do an awful lot of OEM work for the rest of the world. They are not the same people who make fake baby food and fake medication. A little bit of nuance wouldn’t go amiss.
I’m just an audiophile with a low budget but a big DIY (mostly) system. I’ll buy whatever sounds best that I can afford, if that means buying knockoffs then so be it. I would probably prefer if the cables were’nt fake-branded (I actually like the "Nordeast" imaginary brand some of us use to describe them, they should use it) but l won’t lose sleep over it. They use it to attract people’s curiosity, and it works. No one ever got fooled into thinking they were buying the real thing - because this is NOT baby food.
Ethics and integrity? I sure hope you’re a paragon of virtue yourself, to be so judgmental to others... but mostly I’ve noticed this type of excessive reactions towards counterfeit cables (and towards most cheap things coming from china) comes, in our hobby at least, from a mix of audio snobbery and basic racial prejudice.
"NoW Go eNjOy YoUr fAkE CablEs" >> I will, and I’m actually going to order the new "Gold" version to compare it to my Silver ones :-) . Apparently, it sounds quite different, and some find it even better. Loads of fun for us the poor! ^^
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Chinese cables are great. I fully recommend AT Audio (Ali) or DIY with Xangsane sterling.
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May he Rest In Peace, but one thing I admired about my Dad is that he could beat up almost any other Dad, if it came to it.
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Did not mention you. Though I do not proofread my posts and misspell a word and commit grammatical errors, I maintain my ethics and integrity by not being a willing participant in a criminal enterprise. Well other than paying my taxes that is.
Have a good evening chimp. Ooops another typo.
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You're the one that called me out chump.
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@roxy54 do not flatter yourself. Nor you Tom.
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Updated correction: This thread is actually getting funnier and more entertaining than even some good SNL shows. Perhaps it was predictable/inevitable.
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@roxy54 ,
That typo comment was directed at me...
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@juanmanuelfangioii ,
What are you referring to? I didn't correct another one of your numerous typos. I get it; English isn't your first language. Maybe not your second.
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Well stated.
Along with the American industrialists who work hand in hand with them. If any of them were reading this thread, they couldn't stop laughing.
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The only thing that's changed since US started playing this rigged game, with full knowledge of it's rigging, is sudden awakening to realization China now real competitor to American hegemony over global affairs.
In 1980's I recall telling people they were about to see the greatest redistribution of wealth the world had ever seen. Very few took this seriously, they needed to believe in American exceptionalism, the idea we no longer needed manufacturing, we'd supply the brains rather than brawn.
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Yep and people that are on the CCP payroll that influence enforcement.
Along with the American industrialists who work hand in hand with them. If any of them were reading this thread, they couldn't stop laughing.
All the best,
Nonoise
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Yep and people that are on the CCP payroll that influence enforcement.
The only thing stopping the US from sanctioning China is our big money donors who own lots of manufacturing in China
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The only thing stopping the US from sanctioning China is our big money donors who own lots of manufacturing in China (it's how our manufacturing got there in the first place) telling the politicians not to do it. It's how they make their money.
All the best,
Nonoise
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"Wow another Typo. So what? And I am me. Roxy you are wrong and are clueless on 8031 certs. Also it is the principal [sic] that counterfeiting is supported. Do you think these people are only making knockoff cables [sic] ...
Do what you like [sic] you are who you are and I pointed that out earlier.
Have [sic] great rest of your day.
You all are so special."
You are certainly different: principle / ? / . / a
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Dead set against all of it. No matter the Who or the Where, no matter the What and could care less about Why someone is doing it or using it.
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And like there's never been US made knockoffs, counterfeit and fake items.
For some people its like every citizen of some country they don't like is the worst. And every American exceptional? How about some from all countries are exceptionally bad or good, vast majority somewhere in between. Since when did the govt. of any country define every single person in that country. Funniest thing is, if I were to judge US individuals in this manner, conservatives would suddenly turn into liberals what with Democrat President and majority Congress.
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A vibrant Chinese economy would facilitate China demanding imports of American produce.
That’s good innit?
China imports thousands of dollars of things from America every year. Do Americans not like that reality?
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Wow another Typo. So what? And I am me. Roxy you are wrong and are clueless on 8031 certs. Also it is the principal that counterfeiting is supported. Do you think these people are only making knockoff cables...
Do what you like you are who you are and I pointed that out earlier.
Have great rest of your day.
You all are so special.
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Those plane parts that Juan is speaking about are supposed to be subjected to rigorous testing prior to installation I'm sure, and I would think that at least in a country like ours that has pretty strict regulations regarding aviation that there would be regulations regarding sourcing.
None of this has much if any importance regarding speaker cable and interconnects. Lives are not at stake, and as we have said before Juan, I'm sure you own plenty of goods that are supporting the Chinese economy. None of us likes that reality, but it is the way it has been for quite a while now.
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