UK Shops - Longer Optical cables? (1 Viewer)

[Iain Lambert]

The longest optical cable I can find on the Richer Sounds website (Richer being my normal place for hifi bits) is 2.25 metres. I'm (hopefully) getting an XBox soon, and I've also heard that the sound with my PS2 would be better using the digital out. In case anyone isn't aware, neither has a coax digital out (which is rather annoying) which is why I'm restricted to the more expensive and difficult to find optical route.

So, can anyone point me in the direction of where to find an optical cable that is at least 3 (preferably 4 or 5) metres in the UK?

thanks for any help...

 

[Chu Gai]

Well one approach would be to search ebay for what's going on in england.
This site which hails out of germany has a 10 meter optical going for 14.90 Euros as well as other lengths.
You might also consider contacting http://www.tac4.com/ as they deal in professional installations and can likely point you to a distributor that can meet your optical cable needs without getting ripped off.

 

[Iain Lambert]

Well, I've done a bit more work with Google, and I've found a few places that do have them; no-one I've heard of though. I might just ask in Sevenoaks.

 

[Chu Gai]

Is there a reason the optical cable needs to have a 'brand name' associated with it?

 

[GeorgeTW]

It is sad how these companies take advantage of people.

 

[Iain Lambert]

Is there a reason the optical cable needs to have a 'brand name' associated with it?

Oops - I didn't mean that the cable needed a brand name, simply that at the one or two sites I managed to find that offered such things the sites themselves looked rather amateurish. I was just hoping that a UK member might recommend someone they had been happy to deal with. Optical cable is digital; it either works or it doesn't, though something with a bit heftier build quality than the really thin wires would be appreciated - its going to get plugged and unplugged a fair bit.

 

[Chu Gai]

Well that's in part why I suggested in part that you contact some of those professional AV places. You see, some of these places are responsible for installing tens of thousands of meters of optical to meet demands (sporting events) that far exceed your particular needs in terms of reliability. While I don't know it for a fact, if you explain your particular needs, and yes they're modest in terms of dollars spent, you may find them to be somewhat accomodating. Any optical cable, or for that matter even coax, is going to require a bit of care upon your part if you're connecting, disconnecting. In fact, it might be a good idea to pick up some sort of optical switch box so you could insert several devices simultaneously and then simply toggle between them. The thing with optical is that the cable doesn't have to be particularly thick to do its job. While personally, I'd prefer you to select a local source, in the US there's a company that makes an armor-clad optical cable that's rugged to the point that you could step on it and not damage the cable. I don't know if they ship overseas, but they're prices are pretty reasonable. Information regarding this was posted in another thread.