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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. 

Nordost ODIN&2 RCA Fever Audio Signal Cable Double Lotus Sterling Silver Audio Cord Video CD Amplifier Tube Cable High Quality| | - AliExpress

128x128roxy54
ghdprentice
6,938 posts
 

@thyname

 

I think these were about $110 delivered. I certainly did not think they would sound like the real thing. But I am a scientist… and couldn’t help but want to actually know what I was talking about.

 

My interest was, we’re these actually “made in the same way”, so they were really complete rip offs and sounded very similar… with some compromises. Or, alternatively, like Mexican Salsa in Eastern Montana. Yeah… “it is red” in photos… and looks a lot like ketchup… let’s use ketchup!

 

Yes, when bicycling across Montana and going into “Mexican” restaurants I got served ketchup as salsa with chips (having lived next to the Mexico boarder and spent a couple years living in Mexico, I can assure everyone salsa tastes is nothing like ketchup… anywhere in Mexico.

So my conclusion is that Chinese Nordost Odin 2 knock offs are nothing like the real Nordost Odin 2. They only look like it. Ok, not a surprise… but I know this from experience not just thinking.

 

I was in charge of all information technology at a global semiconductor company (Burr-Brown Corporation) in 1999. I needed to assess the risk of the “millennium bug” shutting our system and consequently putting us out business when the date flipped over to 2000. I read these ridiculous books that premised that “this chip” has an embedded date with the year represented as two digits (like ‘99, as opposed to 1999) and therefore chips are in 60% of the mechanical devices on earth… so they will all fail. Utter nonsense. None of these idiots actually sampled the percentage of components with the problem and did the legwork to figure out which devices and consequently systems would be vulnerable. What BS. I would read the first few chapters of this stuff and toss it in the garbage.

We, upgraded two systems… (a couple million dollars)… and not a single system failed… I was there at corporate headquarters when we powered down all our system a couple minutes before midnight and brought them back up a couple minutes after. Yawning, and heading home a half hour later.

rickysnit
79 posts
 

My issue is with the outright violation of IP rights

Lol, it's China! I have McIntosh interconnects, Fendi hats, LV & Cartier sunglasses and a brilliant Japanese movement Rolex DateJust - Chinese knockoffs are just another element of life, it won't / can't stop.

rolox
180 posts
 

@rfnoise that Underwood power cord is definitely exactly the same as the "Accuphase" branded PC sold on AliExpress. I have a couple of them, they're OK and look great, but I would NEVER pay 300$ for one. They are 20$ on Ali. For 300$ you can buy two extremely good PC on Ali...

rolox
180 posts
 

@rickysnit exactly, Chinese counterfeit have been there forever, they're a part of life and one could say they're a cultural thing - in the meantime Rolex has never sold so many genuine watches, stores are empty as there is too much demand vs production, with prices skyrocketing in the stratosphere, and I'm not overly worried about LVMH either - smame as I'm not worried for Nordost! In the end I would say those counterfeit cables hurt the smaller, less known brands more because they can sound just as good for a fraction of the cost.

rolox
180 posts
 

@ghdprentice you must have bought some very bad fake Odin. If I except the last Odin "Gold" ICs I returned because they sounded overly smooth and dead, I’ve never had a single fake Odin sounding bad. Some take a bit longer to burn in. But I’ve never had a single one sounding harsh, trebly, compressed - maybe slightly congested and dynamically challenged before burn in, but that goes away quite fast.

In any case they all turned way better than they have a right to be at the price - and I vastly prefer them to all my "genuine" cables which include VanDenHul and (entry level) Nordost.

Bear in mind I’ve never tried any off their XLR cables, only RCA, but still, I guess you just purchased some very bad version (bad solder, wrong use of the cable geometry, whatever).

The speaker cables were the only ones sounding very bad at some point. They took ages to break in in my system due to the very high sensitivity of my speakers and the very low current traveling through the cables. At some point they became so harsh and congested and bass shy that I almost took them out of the system, but I’m glad I didn’t, because they now sound fantastic, smooth open and transparent.

Of course I never compared them to the real Odin cables, but in my opinion the right versions of the counterfeit cables can easily compete with cables at 10x the price, which is already not so bad.

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