[Kevin. W]

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/e5f8a...d7YMABKIQuiKbN

Ordered this cable thanks to Chu Gai's posting. Haven't tested it out yet, though from what you can see this cable is well constructed. Gold metal ends and tips with thick outer plastic sheath. Glass Fibre for $14.95

Kevin

[JamesGL]

Okay, link not working.

Very interested here, can you please tell me where you got it?

[Chu Gai]

http://mcm.newark.com/NewarkWebComme...jsp?id=24-6485

[JamesGL]

I suppose I can do a search but to save me the "agony", is there an advantage using Glass instead of plastic?

Chu, since you are the resident expert here, a YES/NO reply would suffice.

[Chu Gai]

Well I'll dance around this a little. The AES had floated a recommendation some time back (might've passed for all I know) that dealt with toslink in professional studio applications. Basically, their recommendation was that plastic was fine for lengths under 5 meters and glass was recommended past that. This is largely due to the rather severe attenuation losses with plastic. For short lengths, it's pretty much a wash and I wouldn't expect one to sound different from another. Yeah I know people claim to hear differences between toslinks but that's not going to stop no matter how many DBT's people read about.
The reason why I think this particular cable is a good deal is because it's reasonably priced, is sold through a reputable outfit, and it gives you some bragging rights.

[John Robert]

Quote:

it gives you some bragging rights.

At last, someone addresses the core issue behind most HTF posts...

John

[JamesGL]

I guess bragging rights at $14.95 sounds like money well spent.
Sounds so tempting at that price but like you said, my run is just 1 meter and since my set up is just modest (NAD T533 DVD player to an HK 630 AV), it is probably not a worthy upgrade.

Thanks for saving me the "agony" of doing a search.

[JohnMW]

How about a SonicWave Glass Toslink for under $25.00?

[Chu Gai]

It's $10 or 67% more money. I tend to think the other way. What can I find for $10 that people are willing to pay $100 for. Besides, I don't put much stock in that list price thing. It's like going to a store and finding watches with a suggested retail of $119.99 being sold for $8.95...and the store is still making money. Heck even in the glass toslink area people get obsessed over 144 strands vs 88 or whatever or the type of glass that's used. If you think about it, it's like all these kids and young adults going down to their local speed shops and buying high performance wires and anodized fittings for their stock ricers. I come from an era when we wanted horsepower, we went out and got horsepower. We didn't get off on dropping $500 on an exhaust for a piddling 4 hp gain. We dropped it on engines. Then if we had any money left over, we'd think about making the car look pretty.

I think one of these days I'm going to sell shrink fit labels with ridiculous sounding names just so people can put them on their wires and cables. Maybe even a website where I can concoct silly theories so when friends come over they can click and go ohhhhhhh...ahhhhhhh. Pull up a program that writes testimonials. Now we're cooking.

[Kevin. W]

John,

The cable in the link you mentioned is the same cable that MCM shipped me for $14.95.

Kevin

[Steve Griswold]

^^ What he said.

Black cables with the gold handles that say "Glass digital audio." Got 3 of them for $50 shipped from MCM. THey are heavy, solid, and perform flawlessly. I can't and won't say they perform better than the Acoustic Research plastic toslink cables they replaced (10% hearing loss in left ear = no 'golden ears' for me) but they look and feel way more "professional."

[Chu Gai]

Now stick 'em in your fridge and tell people you tweaked them.