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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.
128x128mazian
jafant
19,036 posts
 

Germantown


Welcome! I share your joy in carefully selecting Cabling for every system.

I, too, never (knowingly) purchase Audio junk-sourced to china. Not enough quality control nor vetting for me. It is no secret that some Cable companies secretly purchase the bulk materials from china as mentioned above. Worse,  these same companies allow manufacturing out of the states, then bring products back in country. Tara Labs was popped a few years ago on this very practice/subject. Audioquest, Cardas and Wireworld  may be guilty of their respective newer cable offerings.

I really like the Audioquest Storm Series Power Cords, for the record.

Prior to any purchase, ask questions , do your homework and research these manufacturers.  Happy Listening!

audiogabby's avatar
audiogabby
178 posts
 
Fake, clone, copy, imitation or any other name for that matter, those cables do work when you connect them to your equipment. Some of them ( like in my case) outperform highly touted U.S. made reference cables. The seller informed me when asked that they were a copy. Let’s say i’m happy with my $225 cables that replaced a $500 pair of cables. Just so we are clear, I’m aware some of them are real bad.
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
nasaman writes:
All I know is that the day they (Chinese?) successfully make fake Synergistic Reserach active shielding cables/ cords, that’d be the day I’m looking into making my own cables or buying factory direct... so sad.


Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

Haven't read them all its just too much nonsense but from a quick scan nasaman seems to be the only one who gets it.

Everyone's talking about counterfeits and fakes and its all beside the point. For all we know these may very well be legit cables - legit at least in the sense of being same materials, manufacture, etc. Just not legit in the sense they are being marketed legitimately with respect to trademark and other property rights we take for granted here in the West but are so universally disregarded in China.

Ted Denney III on the other hand, so far as I know all his wire is hand made right here in America, in California, and a lot of it by the same guy who has been building them for many, many years. 

Anyone who has built anything high end audio related, one of the first things you learn is every little detail matters. Just one reason DIY cables are such crap. Clearly what the OP is talking about is not crap. It seems to be indistinguishable from the originals. Therefore, either it is indeed the exact same thing just taken from production and sold outside approved channels, or the OP, et al, can't hear.

My bet is these cables are the real deal. Just cheap. Because the companies involved, instead of doing the hard work of learning to build something good enough to be built right here in the USA and still compete on price, have decided to farm out production. 

If that happened they're the ones being ripped off. Which is just fine with me. Only adds to my respect for Ted Denney and Synergisitic Research, for refusing to play that game.
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jbpezzini
10 posts
 
I bought last week a pair of Odin 2 XLR from Aliexpress. Clearly fake but sounds very good for the money. I replace an old synergistic apex and  odin 2I sounds better, clearly In bass punch and definition. Keep warm sounds off my DAC denafrips, pre ARC ref 3 and power ARC ref 110 and LUMIN A1. I bought another one. I connect it between DAC and pre. When the new one arrives I’ll test connecting pre and power.
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