Knockoffs- how can they just advertise so easily?

Thanks for the distinction @akg_ca and clarification- counterfeit it is.

I was also wondering, since from what I have read Audioquest cables are in fact made in China, that the parts one sees are the genuine products from the same assembly line as the authentic one, and maybe they just cheap out on the metal inside? 

I could see the factory workers just "loosing" some of the parts like the plastic connector bodies, sheathing, and making these cables on the sly, in some other production factory, or maybe the whole cable is entirely made in the same building by the same workers on the "nightshift" and everyone there is okay sharing the profits from selling the counterfeits. 

Many of these "counterfeits" are made in the same factories as the originals.   a company orders 10,000 and the disreputable manufacturer makes 20,000 and the sells them undercutting the OEM, stealing the intellectual property and all the other investments that OEM has made.  You may find they all have the same serial number or fake serial numbers but they are identical.  This is a very difficult problem to fix since the Chinese government has no interest in fixing it.

Jerry

Fake Cables Discovery 1 - counterfeit Nordost

Nordost’s roots were in the Military, Medical and Aerospace industries

. It gives the company access to the most advanced materials technologies known to man. Ever since the launch of the first audio products in the early 1990s, Nordost has always insisted on the highest quality, extruded FEP for use in cables’ dielectric and jacketing. FEP has many advantages; primarily, it is the most consistent and best performing dielectric material available, with the exception of air; which is where micro mono-filament technology comes in. The micro mono-filament technology is a process developed by Nordost to reduce the effect of the insulation material. It uses a thread of FEP which is helically wound over each highly polished conductor. A precision FEP jacket is then extruded over the thread and the conductor. A number of proprietory methods are used in this difficult and extremely precise manufacturing technique.
.
Now that we understand the construction of a genuine Nordost cable, it’s simply not easy to make.

We can see that counterfeit cables DO NOT have the technology and manufacturing technique, and it is very costly to even attempt to duplicate the same construction. Therefore, the counterfeit cable can only clumsily and poorly duplicate its outward appearance. When opened up, it’s obvious that it is crummy fake.

YouTube [Fake ODIN2 dissected vs the OEM ]

Some things we can notice on these counterfeit Nordost cables:

- Fake Nordost uses cheap and rubbish rubber /PVC insulator.

- They don’t have the manufacturing technique for proper twisting; instead they need an inner wire for the twist.

- They have poor printing; sometimes misspellings.and really obvious poor qualyu results They also don’t have the requisite NORDOST OEM serial number on the cable sleeve tgst matches the OEM paperwork supplied, and often no OEM wood box.

- They have poor soldering points, and also counterfeit connectors.

- The counterfeit can’t twist conductor like Nordost, they have to use inner wire ( cheap POS crap)

-

This counterfeit Valhalla power cord even comes with fake Wattgate plugs.

I’ve

This is a very difficult problem to fix since the Chinese government has no interest in fixing it.

I don't want this thread to get political, but I would say the Chinese Government encourages it. Look at what happened to Nortel from Huawei. 

@carlsbad2 You can substantiate this claim?  As most of the product in question is supposed to be of US origin as marked on the packaging and product. 

Many of these "counterfeits" are made in the same factories as the originals.   a company orders 10,000 and the disreputable manufacturer makes 20,000 and the sells them undercutting the OEM, stealing the intellectual property and all the other investments that OEM has made.  You may find they all have the same serial number or fake serial numbers but they are identical.  This is a very difficult problem to fix since the Chinese government has no interest in fixing it.