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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
avhifidelity
45 posts
 
I have genuine AQ HDMI Carbon and AQ HDMI Mocha (similar to Coffee). I purchased an AQ HDMI Vodka from China to compare to these two cables. Video aside cause it is very difficult to distinguish differences and all three to me look very similar, the Vodka sounded more dynamic and had more discernible impact in the lower frequencies than the Carbon and was very close to the Mocha with DBS pack, which had slight edge in dynamics. This is what I would expect if Vodka was genuine based on AQ price points on these cables.  Physically, the cable itself looks genuine, but the HDMI connectors appear to be either poorly assembled outside of AQ factory or discarded by AQ quality control and somehow found its way on the open market.  The packaging at first may appear genuine, but the overall colors seem slightly muted when compared to several AQ boxes I have and missing #6 bullet point in English on the back of the box.  
Overall, I would say the sound quality of this Vodka cable is surprising for not being a “genuine” AQ approved product.
213runnin
914 posts
 
I wonder how many of these threads are just trying to market Chinese knock offs?  

When you buy an Audioquest(or whatever brand) knock off, then that is a sale that prevents Audioquest from doing business.  When enough of those illegitimate sales occur, Audioquest has to lay off Americans who market, distribute and sell their cables.  

Then they have to spend less in the American economy on advertisements and such as they cut back.  Multiply this by 1 million different companies that made the mistake of getting their products manufactured in China, and you begin to see how China is dismantling the American economy, and pocketing the profits.
boxer12
8,656 posts
 
213, What china is doing with fake products identified as authentic products is wrong on so many levels. Absolutely despicable.  
builder3
770 posts
 
Yes, contrary to one of the posts above. If a company builds a crappy product and sells it for a high price with ridiculous claims, that’s one level, and should eventually sort itself out in the free market. If an overseas company builds an out and out counterfeit with a famous name attached, that's an entirely different category. They’re criminally trading on that established brand, and also effectively cheapening it with their deceptive practice. The idea that there’s even a thread trying somehow to quantify this is offensive. Counterfeiters are thieves, there’s no candy coating it.
L.
jagjag's avatar
jagjag
89 posts
 
Cables.
There is no winner here.  Choose your path.

Originals - You pay a lot for safety, and re-sale value, and guaranteed performance levels. 

Illegal copies - Don't cost as much as "originals", you dont know what you are getting. Might be great, might be crap. The key risk is safety. 

The best bet? - Make your own. But, only of you know what you are doing (for the sake of safety) 
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