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Revisiting Chinese Knockoff Cables

Why I don/t know, but the first thread has been removed recently. So, having benefited from it greatly, I felt compelled to recap my journey, so that others of limited budgets might make a huge leap that they otherwise could not afford:

When I first got my EVS 1200 I was using Series 8 WireWorld interconnects, speaker cables and Pangea Premier XL 1.5m coax cable. As you mentioned, I was extremely happy with the amp (compared to PS Audio M700s). Eventually I came across the Chinese Cable knockoff thread and first tried the fau-Nordost Odin 1.5m coax which was/is amazing: as they were so cheap compared to the $169 1.5m Pangea, I also bought a 1.0M Odin, but didn’t try it until after I replaced both the WW cables with Odin 2 XLRs and cables. Then I replaced the 1.5m with the 1.0 and was kinda blown away that 0.5m of the same coax could be THAT much better.

While my all SS system sounded very good, it was a bit too sharp, so I ordered Odin Gold speaker cables (at ~ $170/2.5m). Unfortunately one leg must of had a bad solder joint as it barely sent the music . It took a couple months before they replaced it, which I finally installed 2 days ago: BAM. Even immediately, but of course it needs break in time. The weather here (Ft Lauderdale) has been really bad, I have only left for short quick trips. Today we are under a tornado watch, so won't leave, but as soon as I can get out for a few hours I will put on my XLO burn-in disc, which I use on everything I insert, including the M 700s, EVS, and Voyager which expedites break in, which still takes a good 50-100-200 hours!

Summing this up: cables can/do make or break a system. If I had these cables when I first got the EVS, I probably would never have gotten the Voyager, which of course I am itching to compare again, but could still be awhile

tweak1
ellisr63's avatar
ellisr63
4 posts
 

I have purchased the following wires from Aliexpress with excellent results...

VALLHALA 2 speaker wires

3' XLR Cables....

Odin 2 Gold, Odin 2 silver, Xangsane (the green ones), Xangsane xp9003ag (diy), and I am waiting on the Cardas clear and XLO

Power cables

Odin 2 Gold

ODin 2 silver

Cat 5 cable, Odin 2 gold

usb Cable, Odin 2 gold

I2s cable, Audioquest Thunder

My equipment is.. Jays Audio cd2 mk3, Denafrips Pontus 2, Denafrips Athena, Lumin U1 mini, Roon Rock, and Klipsch k402MEHs, with f20 bass bins, xililca xp4080, Icepower 50asx2btl and 125asx2btl amps!

 

All of the cables sound great and I am playing around with using them on different drivers to see which cable matches the best on my K402 MEHs...which are configured as a 3 way with a pair of f20 bass horns.

 

I first tried the Odin 2 gold on my highs and it sounded great, then I added it for my mids and it sounded good too. I have a very clear sound that is a little to dry for my taste...so I added the Xansane  green and it was a def improvement in the mids, as it is not dry sounding anymore and has a little more detail. I hope to have the 9003ag wires assembled next week to see how they compare.

Has anyone tried Cardas, XLO, or Xangsane speaker wires in comparison to Valhalla 2?

tweak1 OP
3,676 posts
 

@ellisr63 

Glad to hear. And the best part is Ali--E cables are incredibly inexpensive which allows for experimentation 👊

 

jayctoy's avatar
jayctoy
4,175 posts
 

How about the Jinwei cables are they good?

greg_f
106 posts
 

I have ordered few sets of the Xangsane and the 40th anniversary Accuphase clone power cables and also couple of Odin 2 aes/ebu cables. I will report once I get them and try them for few days in my system. I have several AC and IEC connectors of different materials to try with the power cables. I believe the plugs are more important than the wire.

zigstien
33 posts
 

Inspired by this thread , ordered a set of 8tc clones from China last year.

Cables showed up in about 3 weeks. Not expecting much, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality, PTFE insulated wire with screwed on brass bananas. Recently was bored and decided to re terminate the cables with some Kimber spades I had laying around from other projects. I was shocked when I removed the original connectors and found the wire had variable sized conductors.

 

 

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