@roxy54 , with nakamichi banana plugs. What's the difference?
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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What’s the difference? You must be kidding. First of all, those Nakamichi bananas are counterfeit. They don’t make them. I know that because I bought some of them myself a few years ago. Second, as you should know by now, everything makes a difference. Those bananas are made of brass not copper, and if they were copper, they would sound different depending on what they were plated with. If the wire is as good as you say, I think it would deserve some good quality copper terminations. |
@roxy54 From my amp to my crossovers & then my speaker terminals, it's all brass. So I'll stay with what works for me. There's no getting around it..... |
Also, your not speaking on deaf ears. I really don’t think I can hear the difference, but I did when I change the wire! I’m a FIRM believer to get the most out of my system no matter what the cost would be. I just can’t fathom getting, Furutech CF-202R & NCF for $600.00 or KLEI Classic Harmony Banana Plugs for $180.00. Also every connection in my system is treated with Stabilant 22. 😉 |
"I’m a FIRM believer to get the most out of my system no matter what the cost would be." You contradict yourself. If you won't spend $180.00, then obviously the cost matters very much. You can find a number of types of solid copper banana terminations on walmart.com for very cheap prices, less than a tenth of $180.00. I am only trying to point out that using inferior bananas is creating a bottleneck in the performance of your cables.
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