2. cables
  3. 174002-406

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
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?

jerryg123's avatar
jerryg123
3,429 posts
 

@duckworp you may as well be talking to the wall. These folks in this thread participating in this criminal enterprise could care less. 
 

Save your fingers and the leader is of very questionable ethics and integrity. They are all about “me” , “what’s in it for me”. Kinda like that bunch in D.C.
 

 

evank's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
evank
309 posts
 

It's heading to the Nordost factory

tweak1
3,675 posts
 

Ive said from the beginning, whoever is making these knockoffs, is AFAIK, "only" pirating the name and most of the model names (BAD ENOUGH), BUT,... they are not actual 100% knockoffs of the Nordost products, they should have used something like NEARdost

Someone asked about Valhalla v Valhalla 2. I read a bonified review that the V2 was a big step above V1, and the Odin is above them.

Originally I ordered all Odin2, but as learned more I tried the Gold, which in my SS added some warmth, so I ordered Odin 2 Gold speaker cables in January 18th from Goltech at that time they said it would ship by now. I contacted them and was told 3 more weeks. I would not use them again. Sadly, AFAIK, they are the only Ali-E company selling them. HIFI-DIY Store has great service and communication updates throughout

HTH

hdm
1,062 posts
 

Let's put this into some context and perspective in terms of the "illegality". These knockoffs are being sold not at 50-60% of Nordost's prices, let alone the 10% stated above by a poster concerned about the counterfeiting. The Odin Gold IC's I purchased are being sold at 1/20th of 1% of the quoted retail price of the real thing lol! There was not much chance I believed them to be actual Odin Gold haha!

The idea that Nordost is being damaged in any real way is ludicrous as the buyer for one product is simply not the buyer for the other. So it's pretty ridiculous to suggest Nordost is being harmed in any meaningful way. If someone wants to suggest that there might be an issue with someone reselling and representing the item as the real thing then that is another issue entirely and far more reprehensible IMO. Save your outrage for that. 

So as far as any outrage I feel toward the Ali-express sellers of the interconnects I bought, I'd put it at about the same level of outrage that I feel toward people driving 2-3 miles per hour over the speed limit. That's illegal too, and much more likely to actually be harmful. As you can tell, I'm not losing any sleep over that either. I do that for things that are actually important. 

I'm not really interested in "slippery slope" type arguments here. It would be great if we lived in a black and white world but unfortunately we do not. Once again: context & perspective. 

Continue on with discussion about the actual cable (which as I've said, is really quite good). 

More to discover