For those who were interested in the Odin Gold RCA ICs, I bought mine from the "audioconnector" store here: https://a.aliexpress.com/_msRQjL6 and they sound exceptional. A smidgeon shy of my Transparent Musiclink Plus RCAs. I’ve also just received these T Labs RSC Vector-2 ICs
https://a.aliexpress.com/_msRQjL6 and they are also excellent, with more air and detail but slightly recessed mids and upper bass as compared to the Odin Golds. These two would be the best of the 8 or so types I’ve trialled so far. All perform, in my experience, at a level expected of branded products carrying a price at least 7x what one pays on AE. It’s been quite the revelation, with similar experiences with power and speaker cables. I don't accept that any sane first buyer would consider these genuine, but understand the risk in secondary markets. My experience with the vendors has also been really fortunate, totally fair and decent. At least the xenophobia keeps the secret for the rest of us ;)
Counterfeit Chinese Cables
I thought that I would write this for those who are curious about one of the many counterfeit Chinese interconnect cables that are available these days. I know that there have been threads about the subject before, and I was always curious because they seem to be such a bargain. I don't really recall much about what any members actually said about the performance of these counterfeit cables, and I didn't look back and do any research, but a couple of months ago there was a thread that came around to discussing the quality of Chinese made components, and oldhvymec said something that made sense to me.
He said that people that say that what they are making is junk should consider that much of what is in our gear, and a lot of our American brands are actually manufactured there. I decided shortly after that that I would take the chance on a set of interconnects, because I suspected that the interconnects going from my pre to my amp were the weak link and needed upgrading. The interconnects going from my DAC to my pre were Kimber Select which are very good, but the other set were LAT International (now defunct) which had cost $500.00 when new, but I had reason to believe they were lacking because I have one of their digital cables that turned out to be very poor sounding in comparison to others I own.
I decided on a one meter pair of counterfeit Nordost Odin interconnects for a total of $104.00 from Aliexpress. I received them a couple of weeks later. They appeared to be well made, and the locking fake WBT rca's were very impressive and are very tight.
First impressions after installing them were light, thin sound, lacking bass. Each couple of days brought improvements, but from the beginning I noticed that they were quieter. Now, weeks later, I can say that they are drastically better that the LAT's in every way. Detail and ambience are much better, but it's the focus and separation of instruments that is most noticeable.
I have no way of knowing if they are really a copy of the Nordost design, but I am impressed enough that I am going to try a counterfeit Nordost digital cable.
Obviously, this isn't a comparison that is useful to most, because there probably isn't anyone here using the LAT's, and everything is system dependent. I just wanted to relay my positive experience.
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Before you buy and strip apart the lower cost AE purchased version, listen [back and forth over 30 days] and compare the sound to the authentic USA purchased version. This is what really matters. Then call Cardas and ask them to share with you a few stories of the fakes that get sent in [by curious and unknowing customers] for authenticity certification. Ask them where some of these other large well-known USA Mfgs source their copper from. They likely won’t share this, but you get the drift. You can make really good pasta and really good cookies with a great recipe and amazing ingredients and they taste fantastic. Or use a generic recipe made with crap ingredients, well...I digress. Best of luck on the mission to find real quality and value for great sound.
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Top US Companies OFHC Wire: Top US Suppliers Raw: https://www.thomasnet.com/products/oxygenfree-high-conductivity-ofhc-copper-19751700-1.html
Top Companies producing OFHC Copper are:
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