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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.
128x128mazian
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
You're ahead of the curve. If the people are so good then maybe eventually they will stand up for themselves. Until then- boat anchor.
ovinewar's avatar
ovinewar
172 posts
 
I am truly surprised at some of the responses here. Whether anyone in any geography can make a decent product is not really the issue. I know for a fact that legitimate firms across the globe are capable of quality manufacturing. And if those manufacturers market and sell using their own IP and brand- All good.

The issue is IP and brand equity theft-profiting off of another’s earned reputation and technology. Those of you in favor of this, I assume you are ok with having your identity stolen, your credit rating tarnished, and your personal reputation trashed? 
I will buy cheaply made items when it suits me, but I won’t knowingly participate in theft. Call me Pollyanna. 
boxer12
8,654 posts
 
+1 ovinewar
reubent
6,936 posts
 
+2 @ovinewar
shawnwes
33 posts
 
I don't own any counterfeit gear.& don't agree that anyone should support counterfeit goods that are trying to be passed off as the real thing.

However, I also don't have any issue with someone reverse engineering a cable and offering their version of it as long as they aren't treading on anyone's patent, logo, etc. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase a quality copy of a once well regarded item as long as it wasn't counterfeited and sold as legitimate. Nothing illegal or unethical in that.

At the same time I don't believe for a minute the argument that someone purchasing a $200 Odin copy on Aliexpress is somehow taking away a legitimate sale of a real Nordost Odin cable. Anyone looking to hook up their $100k speakers to their DarTzeel amps isn't going to balk at another $25k in cabling and would most likely not even consider it. I don't see anything on Aliexpress these days that says to me I can't tell the difference by just comparing the two visually. Many of the copies on offer there are of earlier technology as well or, more often, permutations of that technology & no longer being offered for sale by the original manufacturer. You aren't really fooled by that little piece of wood that says Odin on that IC are you? 

And how about all the dubious gear & claims that the Belts & other shamans have been peddling for ages? Expensive little stick on dots or $4k record clamps made from some dark exotic wood anyone?
I'll bet the OP is correct in that many of those cables probably do sound very good. They can be sold inexpensively because they don't have that same infrastructure, dealer and advertising budget to support. Just don't try to pass it off as the real thing and don't steal IP.

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