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. 

Nordost ODIN&2 RCA Fever Audio Signal Cable Double Lotus Sterling Silver Audio Cord Video CD Amplifier Tube Cable High Quality| | - AliExpress

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Wood blocks on the Authentic Nordost cables serve to direction. Also they conform to the cable to help reduce vibrations and noise. 

As with most reverse engineered products from offshore suppliers they do not have the IP or engineering capacity to understand the implementation of these technologies. 

So grinding or chiseling those blocks off the knockoff product will not be detrimental as I highly doubt their product is directional, ultrasonically treated (burn in).  

 

All Nordost cables are directional. To ensure the highest quality sound, the wooden blocks marked with directional arrows must point towards the loudspeaker.

As per previous HiFi DIY china cable purchases, they beat their estimated delivery time by almost a week. I received the Odin 2 gold PC yesterday (now one on my Audiolab 6000 CDT and LSA Voyager GaN 350 amp. I applied the Mad Scientist Contact Enhancer then plugged it in. Seemed subtly better (quieter= deeper sound stage) Letting it play all day today but softly as I do chores. Will listen later

@tweak1 I also own two Gold PCs. One on my active crossover, one on my DAC. The most impact was with the active crossover but on the DAC (the last I bought) I get deeper soundstage, quieter / more controlled highs, more details, and a tighter bass. On the active crossover I got all those improvements too and a much larger image on top of that, very impressive. All in all, despite the ridiculously low price (60$ each) the cheesy looks and the fact that the gold leaf around each wire apparently doesn’t work at all as screening, those two Gold cables are the best PCs I own. Impressive!

@rolox may I ask please which store you bought your Odin Gold PCs from, or the item number (it's in the web address)? 

+1 Rolox

I have noticed that when I put things in my cart, within a week or so, I have found significantly lower prices