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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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oldhvymec
5,101 posts
 

mitch2, that is the point. The price and quality of the cable is actually better than GRs I have a few. The OCC silver clad with teflon coating and a 16 strand tight inner weave is really really good cable. I put silver clad over red copper fork spades for terminal ends. The same ends for the OCC silver clad teflon ribbon. 
65-125.00. 2-5 meter pairs of cables already made up.. I swap end too, it take me 20 minutes to swap to any terminal I use and shrink tube it up..

There is a silver twist RCA I use that is just stunning it's a silicone polyvinyl, VERY close to teflon.. 50.00 for 2 meters. 39.00 for a 1 meter and silver over red copper locking RCAs

I have a cooker, so they get a good conditioning for a couple of weeks..

jerryg123's avatar
jerryg123
3,429 posts
 

China gets it’s copper from the same place we do in the US. Chile. The largest copper mines in the world are in South America and 59% of the copper used in the US is from Chile. 
 

I used to be an engineer at Cooper industries (Belden wire and Champion Industrial Spark Plugs). Left after Federal Mogul bought us. 
 

So the quality of the core materials used in the US and China are the same. Not the case in finished goods, a few good mfrs in PRC though. 

joes44's avatar
joes44
128 posts
 

How would one tell if they're counterfeits ?

Is the only way to buy cables is to buy them brand new and through a reputable dealer?

mazian's avatar
mazian OP
349 posts
 

If you buy on Aliexpress you can be sure they are clones but it doesn't mean they sound bad, as many have indicated. If you are buying on ebay from a local seller you can't be sure even when the asking price is 10x that of the Chinese product . Buying from dealers, probably the safest option but can you still be sure? 

pesky_wabbit's avatar
pesky_wabbit
1,183 posts
 

as greater volumes of manufacture get shifted to China the boundaries become ever more indistinct..

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