[hwh]

Hi Guys,

I've been experimenting with optical links. I found that Toslink cables
can cost anything between 10 USD to, well, a lot of money.
What are your thoughts on quality versus cost here?

Hans.

[Serge Auckland[_2_]]

"hwh" wrote in message
...
Hi Guys,

I've been experimenting with optical links. I found that Toslink cables
can cost anything between 10 USD to, well, a lot of money.
What are your thoughts on quality versus cost here?

Hans.

The only cable that isn't worth buying is one that's too short. Otherwise, a
cable's a cable's a cable. For normal domestic length and service, if it
works, that's all you need to know. For long lengths (say over 10 metres)
I'd want to make sure the fibre was glass rather than plastic, and if you're
going to be connecting, disconnecting and reconnecting often, I'd want the
connector to be good, preferably metal, but otherwise, the $10 will be as
good as anything else.

S.
--
http://audiopages.googlepages.com

[Sonnova]

On Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:42:11 -0800, hwh wrote
(in article ):

Hi Guys,

I've been experimenting with optical links. I found that Toslink cables
can cost anything between 10 USD to, well, a lot of money.
What are your thoughts on quality versus cost here?

Hans.

There are differences. For instance, some Toslink cables have glass fiber and
some have plastic. Some of glass ones are solid and some are braided The
braided glass is usually more expensive. But mostly its one of those things
where the cost is whatever the traffic will bear.

I recently purchased a 5-meter Toslink cable on the internet to go from my
Apple TV box on my video system to the DAC connected to my stereo (they're
separate). It cost me less than $60 and I was surprised to find that it used
280 strand braided glass-fiber, had machined aluminum ferrules at each end
covering the connectors and the cable itself was covered with a black nylon
braid. A few weeks later I was in a stereo shop with a buddy and while
looking around noticed a TOSLINK cable sold by AudioQuest for something like
$450. Not only did the AudioQuest cable have fewer strands, but they weren't
made anywhere near as well as the ones I bought

http://tinyurl.com/ay3x7b

Notice that the brand I bought, Amphenol Ultra Series, from Cables On Demand,
sells their 1-meter, 280 strand glass-fiber cable for less than $20 and the
5-meter that I bought was only $54.95!

Recently a buddy came over and we started to talk about Toslink cables. He
was ready to buy some really high-priced cable that were only plastic fiber.
I suggested that he try the internet first. He ordered from he

http://tinyurl.com/75fyx4

When his cable came, he showed it to me. His 1-meter plastic cable had nylon
braid covering the optical cable, and aluminum ferrules on the connectors,
really high quality and unbelievably cheap. The cable cost him less than
$7.00!

Don't get euchred into buying expensive Toslink cables from AudiQuest, Cardas
or even Monster Cable. Good ones are available at very good prices from the
links listed above as well as others.

[Arny Krueger]

"hwh" wrote in message

Hi Guys,

I've been experimenting with optical links. I found that
Toslink cables can cost anything between 10 USD to, well,
a lot of money. What are your thoughts on quality versus cost here?

IME the most signficiant quality differences relate to:

(1) ability to work over long distances if that is what you need. 10 meters
is the usual limit, but you may need longer, in which case you may pay more
per foot.

(2) Reliability of the connectors. People who use these in an audio
production environment are often critical of this aspect of toslink cables.

(3) Flexibiilty and bendability of the optical *cable*.

Depending the length, an ideal cable of any reasonble length should not cost
more than $30. I've paid less than $10 for most of the ones that I have in
service.

[jamesgangnc]

I'm using the cheap ones. A piece of optical fiber should not be expensive.
There are literially millions of miles of it all over the world.

"hwh" wrote in message
...
Hi Guys,

I've been experimenting with optical links. I found that Toslink cables
can cost anything between 10 USD to, well, a lot of money.
What are your thoughts on quality versus cost here?

Hans.

[hwh]

Arny Krueger wrote:
"hwh" wrote in message

Hi Guys,

I've been experimenting with optical links. I found that
Toslink cables can cost anything between 10 USD to, well,
a lot of money. What are your thoughts on quality versus cost here?

IME the most signficiant quality differences relate to:

(1) ability to work over long distances if that is what you need. 10 meters
is the usual limit, but you may need longer, in which case you may pay more
per foot.

(2) Reliability of the connectors. People who use these in an audio
production environment are often critical of this aspect of toslink cables.

(3) Flexibiilty and bendability of the optical *cable*.

Depending the length, an ideal cable of any reasonble length should not cost
more than $30. I've paid less than $10 for most of the ones that I have in
service.

Thanks for your answer. As I use the cables to connect an Airport
Express and another device sitting close to the DAC without redoing the
connections all the time I guess that a cheap cable will do just fine.

Hans.

[hwh]

Sonnova wrote:
Don't get euchred into buying expensive Toslink cables from AudiQuest, Cardas
or even Monster Cable. Good ones are available at very good prices from the
links listed above as well as others.

Thank you for your answers. I might as well get cheap cable then, it
looks like expensive optical cables must be one of the 'audiophile
myths' then.
I use a short cable from my Airport Express to the DAC to stream the
CD's I coded in Apple lossless on the MacBook and some internet radio as
well. This works remarkably well by the way.

Hans.

[RoninTO]

On Dec 30, 11:42*am, hwh wrote:
Hi Guys,

I've been experimenting with optical links. I found that Toslink cables
can cost anything between 10 USD to, well, a lot of money.
What are your thoughts on quality versus cost here?

Hans.

The price of the cable is not related to its performance. Any decent
cable will give you the same performance.

I buy all my cables from www.monoprice.com. Good quality at great
prices.

Cheers

[Sonnova]

On Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:03:22 -0800, hwh wrote
(in article ):

Sonnova wrote:
Don't get euchred into buying expensive Toslink cables from AudiQuest,
Cardas
or even Monster Cable. Good ones are available at very good prices from the
links listed above as well as others.

Thank you for your answers. I might as well get cheap cable then, it
looks like expensive optical cables must be one of the 'audiophile
myths' then.
I use a short cable from my Airport Express to the DAC to stream the
CD's I coded in Apple lossless on the MacBook and some internet radio as
well. This works remarkably well by the way.

Hans.

Yes, I know. I do essentially the same thing with my Apple TV.

[[email protected]]

hwh wrote:
Sonnova wrote:
Don't get euchred into buying expensive Toslink cables from AudiQuest,
Cardas or even Monster Cable. Good ones are available at very good
prices from the links listed above as well as others.

Thank you for your answers. I might as well get cheap cable then, it
looks like expensive optical cables must be one of the 'audiophile
myths' then.
I use a short cable from my Airport Express to the DAC to stream the
CD's I coded in Apple lossless on the MacBook and some internet radio as
well. This works remarkably well by the way.

Hans.


Check out www.partsexpress.com as well. I've purchased very well made
Toslink and HDMI cables from them recently for very good prices.

Keith Hughes