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

tweak1
Post removed 

The profit margin for high end American Cables must be astronomical. I went for  Nordost and Kharma cables from AliExpress and the results are truly amazing.

Are the American cables better? I honestly don't care. All I know is that paying thousands of dollars for cables is just insane. American cable companies need to wake up and get real about their products. My guess is that most of what goes into American cables are from outside the country anyway. 

I would say that the state of American cable market is the equivalent of 'Professional Wrestling'.

@brauser 

100%

One of the issues cable companies face is the extreme high cost to advertise full page glossy adverts, without which, they won't be recognized by the public and certainly won't be reviewed

Meaning their profit margin is not based SOLELY on the cost of materials or manufacture

I'm sure there are a few clunker Ali-E cable companies, but the ones I purchased from are not

 

Don’t forget the R&D and product development upfront expenses that can obviously be considerable. 

@brauser 

I've been mentioned here all along that hi-end cables industry has profits similar or even larger than profits of drug cartel. Well profits of drug cartel turn out to be far more humble and honest. At least they risk their blood to get those...

Funny fact that folks here asking me to provide "source" of such information LOL!!!