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Chinese fake cables How fake, how good?

I have noted a number of warnings about cheap Chinese fake cables on this site but curiosity led me to the Aliexpress site where I found a number of presumably fake big name cables from predominantly Cardas, Nordost and Siltech at about 15% of the USA or Australian price. I found Cardas Clear Light interconnects at about US$100 and decided what the heck let's give them a try at that price. Before buying I asked the seller the daft question as to whether they were genuine and got the reply that they were an OEM and constructed the interconnects from genuine Cardas cables and connectors. They arrived in a plastic bag rather than the Cardas box , not a great start but the cables looked real, and when connected, much to my surprise, they sounded really good. After 100hours or so burn in they sounded great and better than the Nordost Quatre Fils I had been using. I then took them to an Australian hi end dealer who sold real Cardas and asked rather ingenuously whether my cables were the real deal. The dealer would not commit but agreed to compare them to the real thing on a set up costing at a guess around A$100,00. Neither I nor the sales person could tell any difference so he then tried them against the Cardas Clear. Then there was some difference, not extreme but subtle, and certainly IMO not worth the price difference even if you bought the genuine Cardas Clear Light. So are these cables really fake and even if they are given my experience they are well worth a try. Maybe I'll try Nordost Odin or Siltech 770i next.
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tksteingraber's avatar
tksteingraber
629 posts
 

@nasaman  If are they looking for a new home I could use them in my home theatre speakers. I do like them in some components.

locationsoundspeed
3 posts
 

Of course, I came here to vent!  That’s what forums are for. So get off your high horse.  So what if the topuc has been beaten to death. It’s a reality that never gets resolved, hence the continuous thread by hundreds of disgruntled audio professionals, who are trying to earn a living without being ripped off.   
 

RE: Alvin’s Cables.  They were used as an example, because they make it appear like they are an American company.  I actually asked them to make me custom audio cables, because I thought they were an American company.  
 

Every time I sent them my drawings, they would send me a link to a Chinese knockoff product, that is being sold by hundreds of other Chinese knockoff companies on Ebay.  

I went back and forth with them for months, before realizing they were not as they appeared.  They couldn’t custom make anything.  It was all reselling products. 
 

They are a Chinese company that sells knockoffs.  They are not an American company that sources Chinese cables.   
 

 

nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,884 posts
 

If you tried as many times as you've said, only to be referred to a Chinese company, one would wonder why you kept on trying. 

That was your very first post on your first day on A'gon which can make one wonder what your beef was about. How many times were you going to bang your head against that wall, expecting a different result?

As for my "high horse"...there are now three threads actively bashing Chinese made cables to add to all the others that came before and those that will keep on coming. If you don't want Chinese cables, don't buy any. How hard is that?

All the best,
Nonoise

grh1958's avatar
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grh1958
50 posts
 

I love my fake chinese cables, they sound really good and I paid my honest money for them. I know that these cables don't really have a resale value and I'm good with that. All of you virtue can go out and over pay if you want, just try not to act so pious about it.

mazian's avatar
mazian OP
406 posts
 

I'm also happy with the few Chinese interconnects I bought but really I wish I had never started this post. I think all that can be said has been said so best call it a day.

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