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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.
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mikeybc's avatar
mikeybc
50 posts
 
I have a fake pair of Cardas Cross speaker cables,  8 ft with bananas.  Put a max bid in on eBay for $75 and won them for 65 bucks U.S.   Pretty convincing looking though...the shrink is correct and   even the outside diameter is within .001 inches. (Spec is .580 inch,  measured .579 inch)  not much weight to them,  my genuine Quadlink 5c power cables feel much beefier despite being smaller. 

Sound was just so-so..no different than any cheap generic 12 guage wire.  They ended up in my HT system because I really dont care too much about HT.

 They look just nice and thats about it.


boxer12
8,656 posts
 
It would be one thing if they were making their cables under there own name & marketing them that way to see if they could compete. But misrepresentation of a product is wrong on so many levels, it's pathetic.  
ivan_nosnibor's avatar
ivan_nosnibor
1,052 posts
 
The whole point of making a counterfeit is to rip you off. Most people are pissed when that happens.

I guess some people seem to have trouble picking up on the concept. I imagine this might give the counterfeiters some pause...maybe they’re not good enough at what they do??

1st counterfeiter: "Hey, are we supposed to be rippin' people off??? Or are we "manufacturers" now?? 2nd: "Hey, I dunno man, ya got me!"
cd318
2,636 posts
 
@mikeybc , err sorry for mentioning this, but you realise that even a bone fide Cardas cable will sound the same as 12 gauge, right? Or maybe they're not fakes after all.

Why do you think cable manufacturers only gently, very gently IMPLY and SUGGEST that their products might be better than the norm?

I have never seen any cable ever advertised as offering better performance. There might be a reason for this too.

For cable manufacturers to decry Chinese fakes must be the greatest irony in audio.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! 


markalarsen's avatar
markalarsen
658 posts
 
Counterfeit cables not only are of much lower quality, but anyone caught selling them are subject to a Lanham Act lawsuit. eBay will not advertise them if told they are counterfeit. AudiogoN will not advertise them. Buy this junk, if you like, but I can tell you first hand, it will not perform as well. The exterior may look the same or similar, but if you cut one in half, it exposes the low quality of the product.
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