Thanks, I went ahead and ordered a 3m pair from Bassmin Audio Store. With the Black Friday discounts, $156 USD tot. They were less $ than the others by a bit and they have the wood ends (FWTW). I have been using Supra Quadrax, I'll be interested in how well they compare.
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
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I have tried many Chinese cable products and currently use some in a mix with other commonly marketed brands from here in the US. Some items are just OK and price appropriate, and some are very good and fantastic bargains. I am currently using an Audiomeca power cable that cost about $100 on my phono preamp’s power supply and it is great. I also have had good luck with inexpensive Chinese power conditioners. I would not call them Shunyata “killers”, but they clean up power in some challenging environments and improve sound. These products are all Chinese branded. I have also built many power cables from Chinese supplied parts that are clearly fake imitations of well known Japanese products and they make good sounding cords. I would never try to sell these as anything other than home made cables from carefully Chinese sourced parts, and if I ever did try to sell them, I would cover any markings that might hint at a false branding. Currently I just use them or give them away to friends. I also have experience with a couple of cables from China marketed as well known name brands and models. One was a supposed Furutech power cable that when available retailed for over $3k. I think I paid about $100 USD. Although it passed simple tests for continuity (no shorts or current leakage across conductors), resistance, and capacitance, it sounded dull and lifeless, and the connector which looked like $350 NCF product physically fell apart after about 6 months. I think that would qualify as “garbage”. The other name brand product I tried from China is an Odin 2 silver interconnect. The outward build quality and resemblence to the real thing is uncanny - either a cable that got lost from the OEM factory floor, or a remarkable forgery. My initial reaction to this cable was competent but not compelling enough to replace any of my existing cables. I have some recent experience with mid-tier Nordorst cables, and I don’t hear the pace and dynamics in this Chinese “Odin”. The reason I am posting today is that I recently pulled it out of my closet to try with a completely revamped digital front end and I was astounded by what I heard. It sounds very different from any other interconnect that I have, and in some ways better. I am leaving it in for the Nordost prescribed 168 hours of burn-in to see where it settles down. For comparison, my other cables cost between $200 and $500, so I am not saying this forgery is as good as the original, just that it clearly isn’t “garbage”. And I think it cost me about $45. kn |
Until today, I have not been getting updates since you asked for the VeraFi link https://verafiaudiollc.com/products/vibration-black-hole
They have quite a few excellent value products IE the Snubway, even with 20amp dedicated line and corepower 1800 the Snubway significantly improved my CDs |
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