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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

128x128roxy54
hdm
1,062 posts
 

Jetter:

 

The first two pairs I purchased from Preffair and the remainder (4 pairs) were purchased from Moonsaudio. All Nordost Odin Gold rca to rca. They appear to be identical in construction/plugs etc. and perform the same. 

Anyone who says these are garbage has clearly never heard them. To follow up on my last post, I did go ahead and have all the sets I owned cryoed and burned in on an Audiodharma cable cooker (I initially cryoed and burned in 2 sets and then compared them to stock without cryo/burn-in) and they improved further and exhibited the kinds of improvements I've always had doing this with cables: notably improved detail, refinement and smoothness, a slightly larger soundstage, etc. 

They are very good cables and easily displaced some pretty good stuff I was using (and thought was a bit of a bargain) before that retails around the $300 mark. And, as I said, I compared them directly in a very good system to real Valhalla version 1 (before cryo and burn-in) and preferred them to the real Valhalla v1. 

phastm3 seems to have them hooked up to some very nice equipment. It would be interesting if he could comment on (generally) what he was using before and how the Odin Golds compare (it looks like he is using all Odin Gold as well). 

 

phastm3's avatar
phastm3
88 posts
 

The “nordost” gold speaker cables are the only ones that I didn’t like. I also have a set of the”nordost” Valhalla speaker cables…..they sound really good. My previous speaker cables were Cerious graphene matrix. All of my previous power cables and interconnects were Shunyata, snake river, audioquest and audio Art. The CCP gold cables all sounded just as good or better than the expensive cables they replaced. I replaced $10k worth of cables with $600 worth or cables.

tksteingraber's avatar
tksteingraber
632 posts
 

@phastm3 which Valhalla speaker cables did you purchase Valhalla or Valhalla 2?

phastm3's avatar
phastm3
88 posts
 

Regular Valhalla from HIFI-DIY Store

duckworp's avatar
duckworp
257 posts
 

I am surprised when reading this thread just how many people do not recognise that buying counterfeit goods is fundamentally wrong. It is obviously illegal to sell counterfeit goods in domestic law but that law is not recognised by the Chinese authorities. But I do not understand how those that purchase true counterfeit goods (where the product is branded with a logo) can’t see the immoral nature of the purchase.


@roxy54 - if you designed something yourself, got it manufactured, invested in advertising it, priced it to pay for your labour costs, marketing and overheads; then you find that a product that looks exactly the same and with your own logo on it is available for 10% of the price - wouldn’t you think that is morally wrong?

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