has anyone tried the $500 valhalla 2 speaker cables on aliexpress?
these are much more expense than other chinese fakes. what does that get you exactly?
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.
I have recommended the Xangsane brand before (available on Aliexpress), and they are not a counterfeit of anything. A few weeks ago, I ordered and received this silver digital cable that I had been looking at for a while. I had already had the silver interconnects for a while and been mor than happy with them. The same goes for this. If you are looking for a superior digital cable and you aren't rich, this cable is very well made and sounds great. It is well balanced from top to bottom as well as very organic and dynamic. Pay no attention to the "subwoofer cable" in the title. If I had looked closer sooner, I would have bought it sooner. That's just Chinese language error. Digital Audio Spdif Subwoofer Cable | Coaxial Digital Audio Output Cable - Silver - Aliexpress |
@questforhifi and Roxy I noticed when I saved an item but not buy it, that the price would drop significantly over time Roxy, I bought the Yangsane coax ( Pouch says Yangsane) Grey Knight High Fidelity OCC Silver Plated Coaxial SPDIF Subwoofer RCA TV HD Audio Cable 75 Ohm Digital Audio Decoder Cable ~ $9 including shipping. Truely amazing, bettering my fake Odin 2, and Odin 2 Gold coaxes I will order their XLR to compare to my Odin 2 Gold |
I'm not surprised. They clearly show you a cutaway of how their cables are constructed, and the materials that are used, which is not the norm. One thing that really impresses me is that their RCA's are all copper, not brass. Most importantly, they really let the music through. I think that we're all tired of hearing that this or that cable "blew away" another without a description of what is actually so good. I am sure that there are digital RCA cables that better this somewhere, but the price is likely far more. From treble to bass, this cable lets all of the color, texture and dynamic impact in the music through, more so than any other digital cable I have used, and the price for what you get is ridiculously low. |