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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
bigtwin's avatar
bigtwin
1,211 posts
 

@tksteingraber  @tweak1  Thanks.  The likelihood of the ALI cables sounding better than my VH is pretty slim.  The Ali cable is using 7 stands of wire per side. 

The CHeLA OCC speaker cable is made of 48 individually insulated 24 AWG SOLID OCC (Ohno Continuous Cast) copper conductors that are insulated with VH Audio's AirLok� dielectric. VH Audio's AirLok� dielectric is a proprietary form of foamed/cellular Fluoropolymer that has a dielectric constant of LESS than 1.5 and an extremely low dielectric absorption. The 48 OCC copper conductors are braided into VH Audio's Counter Helical Litz Array TM geometry (C.He.L.A.) around a core containing strands of unbleached cotton. This special self-shielding speaker cable geometry results in very low inductance (.011 uH*), reasonable capacitance (230 pF*), and low DCR (1.35 milliohms per foot*). Additionally, the CHeLA geometry results in more symmetrical field interaction between strands vs. conventional braided designs. Aggregate AWG for each grouping of 24 conductors is 11 AWG, and approximate cable diameter is 3/4"  (cut and pasted from VH site)

I keep coming back to the number of people on this thread who claim these inexpensive replicas are the best sounding cables they have heard.  Not sure why this thread continues to fascinate.  The idea that a $200 Ali cable is going to bring a big improvement in sound is silly?  And yet we in the hobby continue to chase the dream regardless of what common sense tells us.

Tweak1  Can I ask what "well known/reviewed and expensive cables " you were referring to?  Thanks.

tksteingraber's avatar
tksteingraber
631 posts
 

@bigtwin Since your DIY post I have been thinking about trying VH ‘s Chela wire and work on my hand/eye coordination🤪.  If you do purchase the Valhalla I would be interested in how the SQ compares.  Yes, this hobby is a continual search for better SQ frequently defying logic.  I have found that quite often new tubes, cables, fuses or other tweaks the sound is not necessarily better but just different.  I find it nice to have those SQ choices for your mood or music type.  And the search goes on!

roxy54's avatar
roxy54 OP
8,014 posts
 

@bigtwin 

"I keep coming back to the number of people on this thread who claim these inexpensive replicas are the best sounding cables they have heard.  Not sure why this thread continues to fascinate.  The idea that a $200 Ali cable is going to bring a big improvement in sound is silly? "

And yet you haven't tried it, so how can you have an opinion?

bigtwin's avatar
bigtwin
1,211 posts
 

@tksteingraber  While not being a total denier of cables, as are some members on the site, I must admit I have never once heard a big change in sound when cables have been replaced.  Maybe it's because I started out with quality cables?  I would love to have the experience I read about on this site.  How swapping out an interconnect suddenly brings about these changes/improvements that are just so noticeable.  But for me, it just has never happened.  It's just been a LOT of money spent, and no big improvement.  Keep in mind, my system sounds great.  Maybe I just need to accept there isn't really anywhere to go at this point?   

mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,133 posts
 

The fact there is so much thread about cables improvement and very few compared to cables about mechanical vibrations controls about the lowering of the noise floor and about the EMI shielding not to speak about not only important room acoustic controls and not mere passive treatment but also about acoustics concepts and experiments say a lot about the ignorance level...And i will not speak about homemade  "tweaks"  because i will be labelled "tin foil hat" ...

I forgot to say most thread are about purchase and ectatic upgrades ...😋

And to make my point clear cables can make a difference ...A small one yes thats all compared to the list above ... 😊😉😁

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