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 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!

@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?

@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?   

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 ... 😊😉😁

@roxy54   I meant to type "why this thread continues to fascinate ME".  Not speaking for anyone else.   I have in fact bought some cables from the ALI site.  Not the Nordost cables, but the Furutech cables.  The sound was dull.  Kept them in for awhile but the music was just lacking in every respect.  Put my old cables back in (Silversmith Audio's FIDELIUM at the time) and presto, the full sound returned.  Would the Ali Valhalla cable prove to be the magic bullet?  Common sense tells me no, but...........   Do I want to spend even more money chasing the dream?