Chinese fake cables How fake, how good?

As long as this old thread has been brought back from the dead, I might as well pitch in my feelings.

I have no problems buying Chinese cable "clones", because I am not taking any money out of the pockets of the real companies. As much as I spend on audio, I am not about to spend high dollars for cables*.

So, if I buy Chinese cable clones, I do not do it in lieu of buying the original cable, but as a standalone purchase. I am not weighing the 2 options; spend thousands on this Nordost cable, or spend under $100 for this clone, because I would never do the the former in the first place. And I doubt, anyone with the kind of money who would be able to buy the original Nordost (or whatever other high end cable), is going to be buying the Chinese clone.

The first Chinese clone I bought was about 4 years ago. My cousin, who belongs to an audiophile club in Phoenix, told me about them after his club did listening tests of a flat cable Nordost clone. I bought a pair of .5 meter cables for about $50 to go between my phono stage and preamp. It’s built very good, uses non ferrous RCA connectors.

Does it sound as good as the real thing? I have no idea. But it is as good as the more budget level audiophile cables (Blue Jeans, Morrow, and their ilk), for still quite a bit less those.

I also bought a Chinese clone of a MBL 6010 preamp as a "stop gap" a year ago, after my preamp blew up. I doubt it sounds as good as the real thing, but it sounds better than my old Luxman (a highly thought of vintage unit), for sure, and it holds its own against my friend’s Parasound JC2.

*I am not a ’cable denier’ (I hate that term)

It’s not black and white. Many US audio electronics, speakers, etc. contain parts made in China. Resistors, capacitors, batteries, cables for instruments(like this) 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.

Totally agree with that. And, as a rule, quality depends on a budget. 

This is not a best case for saving money

My $10 interconnects sound like Telefunkens—open, clear, transparent, neutral and fast. I’ve compared them to ICs up to $500 and the win every time.

I purchased a cheap Chinese made PC on Amazon, just to try it and see for myself . Thick with red/black weaving for that “audiophile” look with a plug stamped “hospital grade”. Was $30 at the time. Looking closely at the plug through the semi transparent plug, you could see half or more of the wire was frayed and sticking out from the terminal screw not making contact.  Pure junk that might end up being a safety hazard..  even at $30, it’s a huge ripoff. 

This DIY bulk speaker cable (8 awg @ $13.75/foot) available from GR Research (construction instructions here) appears remarkably similar to this bulk speaker cable ($4.05/foot) available from China, which is supposed to be similar to Kimber 12TC ($35.50/foot @ Partsconnexion). 

Kimber 12TC is OFHC wire in Teflon, while the GR Research is apparently OFHC in polyethylene, and the Chinese version is advertised as OCC in Teflon.  In any case, the Chinese cable provides a lot of copper for $4/foot in a weave that appears identical to 12TC, so if I were just starting out to build a system I would have no hesitation giving the Ali Express version of this cable a try, leaving me more money to spend on electronics and speakers.