Final Thoughts On Differences Between Interconnects

I haven’t checked these factories but will assume that there is a mix of factories making all kinds cables. Some make industry power cables, some Ethernet, some commercial hifi cables etc, some just the raw material and some just assemble from finished goods etc. And then the line between what “made in” means. You might just order raw material from many different suppliers and assemble in UK to keep quality control closer.

Indeed, and when asked (in writing) some of these ‘ boutique’ cable sellers cannot even answer (or won’t for fear of being caught out) basic questions about the specifications of the cables they are selling!

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Indeed there will be a range of plant types, but clearly there are a significant number of cable manufacturing plants in the world, even assuming only a minor percentage by value of them manufacturer small signal cables.
I suspect there are as many if not more factories that package and construct around the wholesale cables for selling into specific markets. Indeed you don’t have to look to hard to find wholesale shrouds and presentational covers for cables… to make a product look distinctive for a market…

I remember the listening tests for new Linn K200 this was chosen then colour changed to red and white.
Oh and the price “ probably “ :wink:


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I’m pretty sure that if you zoom in on hifi cables for the medium high end market that you rapidly reduce the numbers that produce those to 5-10 factories globally.

Saying that all medium high end cables are just lipstick on a pig is false though just like saying it is like that for every headphone made. Some brands invest in making their products better than others according to their own design and specifications and choice of material. Indeed these cables can be made in the same factory that produce 10USD cables but there all similarities will end. I’ve been in the china manufacturing industry for headphones for 15 years so I have some experience in that area :blush: The best factories will also house the best brands meaning those factories might very well manufacture most well known brands against a specific target group (say high end hifi cables). They specialise and focus and have great expertise locally.

There is at least one name missing from Simon-in-Suffolks list:-
California Insulated Wire & Cable Co.

Cardas cable use these people.
Chord Co use a US manufacturer, perhaps a different one.

But can either Cardas or Chord Co. companies declare the electrical parameters of the cables they sell?
Well, I have on ongoing investigation into that………

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Hi, my list was from Wikipedia and it was not an inclusive list but only the largest companies… there will be hundreds of other smaller manufacturers globally I am sure. After all there is a market for cable manufacturing and extrusion machinery :grinning_face:
To your point point on cable specifications, I cant see any reason why a consumer or derivative manufacturer can’t state the core OEM cable specifications it buys in.

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I haven’t, but I have friends in publishing and publishing manufacturing business and they have successfully used Chinese manufacturing over the last two decades. The key I am told is to be super clear on your specifications and requirements… prototype well, and keep a tight reign on QC.. the higher the spec and more specific the requirements the more it obviously costs,… and it can be a great and effective experience.

100% :+1:

I’ve read about demonstrations with one of those companies and when asked what makes the difference they said we don’t know. :rofl:
I posted a link a while ago to a factory visit YouTube video on one of those and if anyone says they’re impressed I’m stunned. :wink:

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Snake oil is very expensive to manufacture.

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My goodness, would you really buy anything from this man. He keeps using the word ‘engineering’ but he’s doesn’t know the details. Engineering is about developing and applying requirements but he’s doesn’t know what they are… to the answer of cable geometry, he spoke about the cable being cylindrical, not about the geometry of the cable construct..
I am sure they package and prepare cables very nicely and accurately, and solder effective connectors, and test for errors in cable finishing etc… but the characteristics and quality of the cable.. he doesn’t seem to know what he is buying from his wholesalers/OEMs… other than one of manufacturers make screened cable for submarines… and so it has to be good so the Russians don’t know where the sub is.. Jeez.

This is really quite an eye opener… he really should have his technical partner/Chief Engineer/CTO with him on the interview.. assuming he has one…

Edit.. I don’t knock his enthusiasm… I suspect he makes a good living from this… if he got on top of why specific cables sound the way they do so they can evolve, develop and innovate with his OEMs I would have a different view.

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I too cannot see why simple technical questions are unable to be answered! But currently, based on the various responses received thus far, it seems not :thinking:.

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If the video that @Skeptikal posted is typical of other cable preperation companies, then the answer would appear to be they don’t know!
Every thing appears to be done through qualitative/subjective assessments and happy accidents rather than knowing the specifications of what they require.

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To be fair to Chord Co, they are one of the few HiFi cable selling companies that declare the AWG wire sizing and some material and other dimension information relating to the cable construction on their website - just not the useful electrical parameters!
Which by the way (in case any one on here is wondering) are quite capable of being sufficiently measured in a production environment.

Hi most do
Linn Naim and most others will reveal the wiring specs and they don’t even make cables themselves either. :wink:

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I can’t hear what he says rather than a muffled laugh about I think the high price. Can you enlighten me :grinning_face:

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Golden ears can get something else. :thinking:

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And that’s another thing, Chord are a European company and make their finished product in Europe, and I suspect, sell most of their products in Europe and the rest of the world, but not including USA. So why do they spec cables in AWG (American Wire Gauge) It’s a long out of date measurement that’s only used in USA, the rest of the world is Metric.

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I found the video very confrontational and unpleasant.
IMHO. :thinking:

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