Great example of insulting those of us with different views while posing as morally superior. Xenophobia is prejudice against the people of other countries. Some of us are able to distinguish between the Chinese people and the political ideology ruling over them. It helps to understand the meanings of words, and use them accordingly.
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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xenophobia: fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign |
Wow do I come into this discussion late! Two years! First, let me say I am one of the poor sots that can hear cable differences. It's a curse. For you that don't, you are blessed. You will never be tempted to pay the ourtageous prices for cables the rest of us are. Second, I, like most of you, have a beer bottle pocket and champaign taste. That said, I am in the process of upgrading/tweeking my old sound system. At the core is a 90's era Conrad Johnson preamp and amp. I have loved my old Cardas Quadlinks that I have owned for 30 years. They were my reference cable. The truth is, however, the highs now sound veiled. They are lacking the detail and sound staging (like air) that new cables and tastes seem to be. I tried 4 different levels of Cardas cables and without a doubt chose the Clear interconnects. I paid $2800. NUTS. Me and the price! Before I bought those, I returned a set of Parsecs because for that sound, they weren't worth $400. I bought "Cardas Clear Light's" off the Aliexpress for $45 for curiosity. The appearence and visible build quality was shockingly accurate. The highs sounded very similar to the Parsecs, but seemd to have a better bass. I couldn't do A/B testing, but really! They bumped out the old and very real Quadlinks. I am willing to pay the high price (gulp) when the product warrents it, as the legit Clears really did. But, in defense of the Chinese manufacturing, they can make decent quality products. Not all of it is junk. I think they should just put their own name on the things (like SKW for example). The clones could say: "compare sound signature to (insert brand)" . A lot more of us would be open to trying them and they could be compared to the real thng in the open market. AND it might drive the authentic cable prices down. |
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