Revisiting Chinese Knockoff Cables


Why I don/t know, but the first thread has been removed recently. So, having benefited from it greatly, I felt compelled to recap my journey, so that others of limited budgets might make a huge leap that they otherwise could not afford:

When I first got my EVS 1200 I was using Series 8 WireWorld interconnects, speaker cables and Pangea Premier XL 1.5m coax cable. As you mentioned, I was extremely happy with the amp (compared to PS Audio M700s). Eventually I came across the Chinese Cable knockoff thread and first tried the fau-Nordost Odin 1.5m coax which was/is amazing: as they were so cheap compared to the $169 1.5m Pangea, I also bought a 1.0M Odin, but didn’t try it until after I replaced both the WW cables with Odin 2 XLRs and cables. Then I replaced the 1.5m with the 1.0 and was kinda blown away that 0.5m of the same coax could be THAT much better.

While my all SS system sounded very good, it was a bit too sharp, so I ordered Odin Gold speaker cables (at ~ $170/2.5m). Unfortunately one leg must of had a bad solder joint as it barely sent the music . It took a couple months before they replaced it, which I finally installed 2 days ago: BAM. Even immediately, but of course it needs break in time. The weather here (Ft Lauderdale) has been really bad, I have only left for short quick trips. Today we are under a tornado watch, so won't leave, but as soon as I can get out for a few hours I will put on my XLO burn-in disc, which I use on everything I insert, including the M 700s, EVS, and Voyager which expedites break in, which still takes a good 50-100-200 hours!

Summing this up: cables can/do make or break a system. If I had these cables when I first got the EVS, I probably would never have gotten the Voyager, which of course I am itching to compare again, but could still be awhile

tweak1

Showing 5 responses by musiclover1

Concur with everything hdm said above......I have numerous "Neardost" gold in my various systems, and have had zero issues (with one minor exception on one XLR IC...and the ALIEXPRESS seller immediately made it good by sending out a replacement IC).

The "Neardost" Gold do have a somewhat warm balance but not at the expense of detail, timing ( PRAT), etc. Superb value for money spent.

Cheers.....

I have purchased several different cables from various Chinese vendors on Aliexpress (power, interconnects, etc.) and found most  of them to offer "extreme bang for the buck".....YMMV

CHEERS...

I have several of the Chinese "Nordost Gold", power cables and they don't sound remotely harsh....in fact the opposite.... As they say YMMV.....

CHEERS....

middlemass...

What didn't you like about the Chinese "Odin Gold" speaker cable (I am referring to the round body style (not the flat wire type) compared to the silver " Vahalla " from RM Digital?

middlemass...

Thanks for the feedback.... Just to confirm, you tried the Gold round Speaker cable for a period of time, then went to the Vahalla 2 (flat) Silver Speaker cable (your above post mentions trying seven different Gold cables ( 2 interconnects, 5 power cords).....

Thanks...