Chinese fake cables How fake, how good?


I have noted a number of warnings about cheap Chinese fake cables on this site but curiosity led me to the Aliexpress site where I found a number of presumably fake big name cables from predominantly Cardas, Nordost and Siltech at about 15% of the USA or Australian price. I found Cardas Clear Light interconnects at about US$100 and decided what the heck let's give them a try at that price. Before buying I asked the seller the daft question as to whether they were genuine and got the reply that they were an OEM and constructed the interconnects from genuine Cardas cables and connectors. They arrived in a plastic bag rather than the Cardas box , not a great start but the cables looked real, and when connected, much to my surprise, they sounded really good. After 100hours or so burn in they sounded great and better than the Nordost Quatre Fils I had been using. I then took them to an Australian hi end dealer who sold real Cardas and asked rather ingenuously whether my cables were the real deal. The dealer would not commit but agreed to compare them to the real thing on a set up costing at a guess around A$100,00. Neither I nor the sales person could tell any difference so he then tried them against the Cardas Clear. Then there was some difference, not extreme but subtle, and certainly IMO not worth the price difference even if you bought the genuine Cardas Clear Light. So are these cables really fake and even if they are given my experience they are well worth a try. Maybe I'll try Nordost Odin or Siltech 770i next.
128x128mazian
The downside to dealing with China - obviously the cheap labor is the reason why many countries do business with China - is that China is an excellent example of a state that is heavily involved in technology theft and misappropriation of ideas and products by any and all means available. 
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A few months ago I spot someone selling a pair of fake Kimber TC8 speaker cables on Audiogon. I've been using the Kimber speaker cables for many years and I knew they were fake immediately. I asked the seller if they were authentic or fake the seller responded they were authentic. I reported it to the admin of this site but I'm not sure what happened. So be careful.
I have personal experience in making my own DIY cables, owning relatively high end cables, and also with "fake" cables purchased from established hi-fi shops in china.
On the whole, and considering the cost, time of DIY, quality of materials, and workmanship, etc I find the china fakes very, very good and make for a very compelling argument. often the china retailers communication is better than their western counterparts, and although shipping takes a while, I've never had anything arrive damaged, or not at all. 
I am currently using a "fake" nordost odin supreme xlr interconnect purchased from china, and it sounds great. so much so, that my DIY cables, and more importantly, my much more expensive branded cables any sitting in the cupboard- they don't sound as good as the china "fake".
I also made a DIY version of the nordost odin supreme power cable, and it sounds great too! again better than my branded cables of much higher cost. so, im considering purchasing more of the "fake" nordost odins (speaker, xlr, power) now. just my own real world experience...
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