Anish

Optical cable - brand/price matter?

I did a quick search on this topic and the general consensus that I got seemed to circle around the fact that the price of an optical cable doesn't really matter. But is there a brand to stay away from or are they all pretty generic?

I just want to make sure that I am getting the potential out of my speakers and receiver by using decent cable.

Thanks for any advice.

Chu Gai

As the price gets cheaper it seems that the connectors aren't so well made. If you want bragging rights then go for glass. Compartively inexpensive and well made ones can be found here although I don't know what your price would be in Canada.
RS and AR are also alternatives as is this place for custom lengths. They also will armor clad your cable which might be useful if you're going to run a longish length and think you might step on it. Prices aren't bad either.

Anish

Is glass the optimal material for optical cable? What would the generic optical cable from my local Future Shop store be made of (I bought it ages ago and use it with my DVD player)?

Chu Gai

For very long distances glass is optimal because there are signficantly less attenuation losses. For a couple of meters it doesn't make a squat of difference.

Anish

Both of my optical cables will only need to be about a foot long each... but I think that the minimum length that you can buy is 1m? If that is the case, does it really not matter even if I buy the cheapest one at Radio Shack, for example?

Kevin. W

Checkout http://www.factorydirect.ca/catalog/...p?pcode=AR0280



Only $9.99 for 3ft.

Kevin

Anish

Nice! I will also look at Future shop and look for those comparable properties in the same length and see how much it costs - fibre strands, gold ends.

Also I can check the store that I bought my speakers from since they are a high end audio store and compare prices there.

Thanks for the ideas.

Kevin. W

As far as build quality of the AR you can't get it any cheaper.

Kevin

cacu

It's a refurbished cable. How do they refurbish a cable anyway?

Anish

This cable shopping is getting really confusing. These cables are minimum $60/meter for the "cheap stuff" and then here Factory Direct has cable for $10! Refurbished or not, if a cable is a cable, why the huge difference?