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.
128x128mazian

Showing 17 responses by geoffkait

Commies do not respect intellectual property rights or international laws of commerce. 
There is a difference between a Foreign company using inexpensive labor in China to assemble or manufacture products using materials and methods supplied by the Foreign company in their own facility AND a Chinese company producing its own products with its own materials, methods, facility, etc. However, China is not shy about acquiring methods, materials, etc. any way it can, including espionage. Japan, on the other hand, produces great products. They always did. There is no comparison between China and Japan in that respect.
US - China trade agreement. They agree to buy our great products and we agree to buy their crap products. 
mazian OP16 posts04-09-2019 3:36amWhen I started this thread I mentioned that neither myself or the audio shop salesman could tell the difference between my fake Cardas Clear Light and the real thing. Geoff Kait seems to think that is not possible but I wonder how many Chinese cables Geoff has compared to the real thing. Anyway given my positive experience with the Cardas I decided to try the Odin copy for the mighty price of US$120.

>>>>>Actually I didn’t say it was not possible. Please don’t force words down my throat.

As I oft counsel, no single test is conclusive for a great many reasons. Especially when the results are negative. Perhaps especially when the subject of the test is cables. Read my lips 👄. Conclusions regarding possible differences between two cables might be established after many tests by many listeners in many different systems. But these conclusions can be very elusive. That’s why Cable debates are still going strong after 40 years. Hel-loo!
You can not necessarily determine if the cables are real or fake by looking at them. You cannot tell if the cables have been cryo’d, which most high end cables are. You can’t tell if the copper is continuous cast copper or the purity or country of origin. You can’t tell how the welds were made on the connectors. You can’t tell if the cables have been controlled for directionality. As to how good the fakes are, they might be better than Brand X but they won’t be as good as the real thing. No way, Jose!
It’s not really that hard, astlmostzal, all you need is a hole and a bunch of electrons. Anyone could do it. Even you.
Audioquest didn’t say they made their own wire, knucklehead. Nobody does, hel-loo!
The downside to dealing with China - obviously the cheap labor is the reason why many countries do business with China - is that China is an excellent example of a state that is heavily involved in technology theft and misappropriation of ideas and products by any and all means available. 
It’s not black and white. Many US audio electronics, speakers, etc. contain parts made in China. Resistors, capacitors, batteries, etc. or they are entirely assembled in China, or elsewhere. Those products are, nevertheless, designated as Made in the USA. This is not to say China isn’t capable of making some products, including some audio products, that are very high quality.

The List - High Audio products made in USA

http://americanmadeaudio.com/the-list/
astelmaszek80 posts03-06-2019 8:56pm@geoffkait Can you point out a flaw in my pricing of Nordost Odin cable? Because I do not see more than $400 of raw materials in them. What do they sell for? $25K. Pretty sweet racket.

>>>>>I never said Nordost priced their cables according to raw materials. That’s a Strawman argument. Is a box of cereal priced according to its raw materials? Is a Ferrari priced according to its raw materials? 

I’m fairly positive that if they can provide half of worlds 4G and 5G networks, they can craft a cable just as they can craft an iPhone. Mine looks pretty polished to me.

>>>>>Oh, please! Apple crafted the iPhone. Chinese workers simply assemble it. They are good assemblers, I’ll grant you that.
You’re right, they are excellent with jade. It’s cables they’re not too swift at.
Without knowing the invisible details and without using exactly the same high performance materials what chance do they have? It’s not as if you can reverse engineer these things. One thing I’m pretty sure the Chinese can’t duplicate is jewel like finish. Of, course if someone never saw the real thing he might be easily fooled. And even if someone was able to make an EXACT COPY they would lose money unless they charged $$$$$. I mean, come on! At the same time, I suspect the fake Chinese cables get good feedback. 😀