I do understand your thinking on this. I was too harsh.
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.
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Regarding the ethical question, if I buy something which is a copy and know it is a copy is that a problem? If a local artist paints a copy of Vincent van Goghs starry night and I like it and pay him $500 for it has anything unethical occurred? I don’t think there is an ethical question here since everyone in this discussion knows these cables are copies. The only problem occurs is it people buy them and attempt to resell them as the genuine article, which I agree is disturbing. |
+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 |
@roxy54 wrong again: Yep the H word in Mandarin. Two Wrongs Make a RightDescription: When a person attempts to justify an action against another person because the other person did take or would take the same action against him or her. Logical Forms: Person 1 did X to person 2. Therefore, person 2 is justified to do X to person 1.
Person 1 believes that person 2 would do X to person 1. Therefore, person 1 is justified to do X to person 2. Example #1: Jimmy stole Tommy’s lunch in the past. Therefore, it is acceptable for Tommy to steal Jimmy’s lunch today. Explanation: It was wrong for Jimmy to steal Tommy’s lunch, but it is not good reasoning to claim that Tommy stealing Jimmy’s lunch would make the situation right. What we are left with, are two kids who steal, with no better understanding of why they shouldn’t steal. Example #2: It looks like the waiter forgot to charge us for the expensive bottle of champagne. Let’s just leave -- after all, if he overcharged us, I doubt he would chase us down to give us our money back that we overpaid. Explanation: Here the reasoning is a bit more fallacious because we are making an assumption of what the waiter might do. Even if that were true, two ripoffs don’t make the situation right. Exception: There can be much debate on what exactly is “justified retribution” or “justified preventative measures”. Fun Fact: Three lefts make a right.
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