High end speaker cables from Ali Express

[rontoolsie]

So, Ali Express has rightfully been shaded for selling inferior counterfeit products...the Nordost line of Valhalla and Odin wires being a prime example. Indeed I have used these with mixed results...the "Quodin" interconnect was overly warm sounding with loss of transients, while the Quodin power cable was actually pretty good.

But there are a plethora of OEM wire companies, who design and make their own lines of very competitive cables without making poor quality counterfeits..Xangsane, Wirewoo and TODL bring just a few that come to mind.

The silver Xangsane IC I have easily outperformed some Chord Anthems and Anticable interconnects I have at hand for a fraction of the price. A Wirewoo silver clad power cable custom built with a Neutrik Powercon connector for my Audience AR6 power conditioner again readily surpassed the supplied one. Note that some OEM Wirewoo cables are multiple kilobucks, but were too chunky to accommodate a Powercon plug....so it's not only mid- priced offerings.

Some Ali silver USB cables were also better than my Pangea one.

So now it's time to see what speaker cables I can try.

Starting with these 4 ga silver clad wires I got yesterday... $405 for a 3meter set.

These are heavy as fakk and look immaculately made. Even better looking than some $20k speaker wires that I tried out for a month.

These will go into my system this weekend and replace some Custom made Cardas ones, that in turn replaced NACA5 many years ago.

Let's see how these turn out!

 

[Somafunk]

“You need cable-lifters, for sure”

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[TimF]

There have been quite a bit of chatter on the Audio Asylum cable threads about Ali Express/Chinese cables. Interesting read from time to time.

 

[brab]

Have you come across any solid core speaker cables? I've looked but no luck so far.

 

[Salamander]

@rontoolsie Pleased to see you keep an open mind regarding Ali Express, I've bought plenty of stuff from there, not just hifi. The only hifi real disappointment for me were the Monoaudio pure copper banana plugs.
Any chance of a couple of links to cables you have purchased.

 

[RJohan]

'High end'. Does that mean one end of the cable must be kept higher than the other?

 

[ryder]

Reviews and links to purchased cables would be appreciated. I usually don't buy Chinese made cables and don't need any at the moment but may consider paying decent money for one that can rival originals costing up to £5k.

The only Chinese-made cable I have is a 3m length mains power cable ordered specifically for the subwoofer.

 

[rontoolsie]

'High end'. Does that mean one end of the cable must be kept higher than the other?

Yes, you need the difference in gravitational pressure to siphon the electrons from the amplifiers to the speakers. The speakers MUST be at a lower level than the amps, otherwise the current would flow from the speakers to the amps.

 

[Riotvan]

'High end'. Does that mean one end of the cable must be kept higher than the other?

It requires cable risers of various heights to create the frequency curve you prefer, generally a downward slope is preferable.

 

[per flemming]

usually don't buy Chinese made cables

I've heard the WH Phamtom cable was in fact a $3-4 cable from China.

Makes me even more happy I sold mine at a premium on ebay, in the days after they went bust.

 

[juicy_clams]

Cut one of the banana plugs off, post a cross-section photo, and then we can properly judge.

 

[P270]

I like the insulation, Reminds me of steam iron cable

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[edo]

I wouldn't trust any cable that claimed to be made with OCC copper on Ali Express actually was. The Italian guy that has the ANADialog YouTube channel sent some AE cable to an independent lab to be tested and they found that they were made of bog standard OF copper and not OCC as advertised. Ali Express is rife with fraudsters.

 

[ryder]

I wouldn't trust any cable that claimed to be made with OCC copper on Ali Express actually was. The Italian guy that has the ANADialog YouTube channel sent some AE cable to an independent lab to be tested and they found that they were made of bog standard OF copper and not OCC as advertised. Ali Express is rife with fraudsters.

That is my concern too. Material spec is not in accordance with what that was claimed. Sound quality is a separate matter though.

 

[Locheeboy]

OFC v OCC..."No audibly discernible difference except in the marketing. No manufacturer has ever provided any evidence except subjective pseudo-techno-babble that there can be any audible difference. It's a condutor. It conducts".

XLO cables founder Roger Skoff

A few years ago, I was looking at some Chinese interconnects. Went on an American site where there was a lively discussion on the merits of various Chinese cables. One guy was vociferous in his support of said cables. I struck up a PM conversation with him. He said that very many of the cables available were not fakes but genuine cables for well-known (usually US manufacturers). He said that he was visiting a manufacturer in China and was asking about "fake" cable. The guy threw open wall cupboard doors to reveal around 40/50 different cable examples . He claimed that he was producing and could produce any of those cables with the exact same cable and casings as the vastly more expensive versions. He would produce them in any design or colour combinations desired at around one twentieth of the cost of the boutique versions, saying that he was making these "copies" , often, on the same machines and at exactly the same time as the $$$$ cables. The American said (on the forum) that anyone should go ahead and purchase these "fakes" as there was a 70-80% chance that the cables were genuinely the same as the boutique cables being made, and even if ye did not get the same batch as the boutique gear, you were still getting very high quality cables at amazing prices.

Which ones are ” fake” and which genuine ?

Ah looked at half a dozen selllers on ebay. 4 of them were also on Aliexpress. I chose the cheaper of the remaining 2 ($2 cheaper ) free post. Ordered direct from the seller-not through Aliexpress.

PS Over the last few years , I've bought :
3 x 1 metre interconnects £84 for 3
2 x 2 " " " £68 for 2
2 x 4 " " " £170 for 2

How do they sound ? Well...they don't " sound" and that's the whole point of quality cables. Not to add or remove anything from the signal.

So.... saved around £ 2,700...allegedly ...

 

[Colin L]

I’m completely convinced.

 

[Beobloke]

AliExpress Interconnects and speaker cables? Well, if that floats your boat, go for it.

Mains cables, though? No, I really wouldn’t.

 

[kensalriser]

I've got a wardrobe full of Lacoste shirts bought at very good prices, I'm sure they're 80% genuine.

 

[Woodface]

It depends how you want to get ripped off?

 

[Locheeboy]

It depends how you want to get ripped off?

Nah, paying £000s for cable and e.g. still buying and believing Audioquest when they've been proven liars and cheats and giving them £100s more for truly dodgy cable...that's getting ripped off...