Please help - Lightspeed 200 Cables not fitting into receiver? (1 Viewer)

[Steve Y]

Pardon if this has been covered somewhere; the "search" function is overloaded at the moment.
A friend of mine (who lives quite a distance from me) is hooking up his PlayStation2 (via its optical out - it has no coax out) to his new Sony DD/DTS Receiver. (sorry, don't have the model #)
He tells me that his lightspeed 200 (monster cable) fits snugly into his PS2, but that his Receiver optical input -- it's one of the newer 100W x 5 models, I believe -- will not receive the cable properly. He says it's too big for the cable. ("The cable's end is like a small pin, and won't fit comfortably inside")
He was able to get the signal through (and get 5.1 sound), but he tells me the cable connection is "sketchy".
Is there a "trick" to getting optical cables snugly in a receiver? Is the lightspeed 200 a different "size" than the 100? He seemed to think so, from his memory of the various cables available at the store. But that doesn't seem right to me, as I would imagine these optical interconnects should fit into any receiver with a corresponding optical input. Please help, if you can! I've done some web searching but no dice.
Thanks in advance,
~Steve

 

[Ted Lee]

there should be no issue. i'm assuming, by optical, you mean the toslink connection. i run optical from my dvd to my md player with no issues. i admit that the connection isn't rock-solid, but i'd definitely say it was snug.
i'd suggest trying a different cable. i'm sure he's probably reversed the ends?
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You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.

 

[Westly T]

It sounds like he got a cable with the 1/8 mini optical
plug used for portable equipment. He needs a cable with the standard component toslink connector on it.
Like the small end in this photo?
http://products.monstercable.com/portalpb/FMPro?-db=PB%5fPic.fp5&key=38427&-img
The 100 and 200 in the model doesn't refer to the size of the cable or the ends on the cable, but rather the quality of the cable.
Also keep in mind some cables come with a detachable mini optical connector that can be removed to provide a standard toslink plug.
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- Wes
My Home Theater
The MMG were replaced with 1.6QR's and added Marantz MA-700's. SVS is here. Ok, allot more then that has changed, I'll update my page some day...
[Edited last by Westly T on August 16, 2001 at 02:53 PM]

 

[Keith Mickunas]

Ask him if his optical cable has the same connections on each end. The PS2 uses the same type of connector that is used on most DVD and CD players as well as receivers. If he has a different connector on each end, then the problem is what Westly says.

 

[Steve Y]

Thanks for your responses. I just got a follow-up e-mail from him - it seems the connector at the end of the plug is in fact too large for the tiny hole inside the receiver input. I was able to find a picture of an optical cable plugged into the back of a receiver, but he tells me his plug won't go in that far (a physical impossibility, he says). I'll ask him if he's tried reversing the cable (I think he has).
He says in his e-mail:
"The OPTICAL IN on the receiver has a squarish shape, which is fine... but look inside the squarish port and you'll see a VERY VERY TINY round hole for the 'nub.' The 'nub' on my cable is TOO LARGE for this hole. This is why it has a weak connection... it's not bouncing around in there... it's actually just barely grazing the connector."
I've only used coax, so I assumed all optical connector were the same size. He's going to try and return the cable for one with a smaller connector on that end.
Pardon my lack of technical vocabulary. Again, your help is much appreciated.
~Steve
[Edited last by Steve Y on August 16, 2001 at 04:29 PM]

 

[donovan_chin]

Steve,
This might be a stupid question but did he remove the transparent plastic cap on the optical tip?

 

[Steve Y]

Donovan,
You have hit the nail on the head. He assumed the ends were part of the cable and that removing them would damage them.
Admins, we can close this thread now.
HTF is the best.
~Steve

 

[donovan_chin]

So, on the side that he connected to the PS2... did he jam it in with the cap on?

 

[Steve Y]

Good question. He tells me that he didn't have to "jam" the plug into the PS2 - that with the cap still on, it fit perfectly. Which tells me that the output on the PS2 must be different than the input on the (Sony) receiver.
The light information still traveled through the cap on both ends. Pretty amazing actually.
~Steve

 

[Keith Mickunas]

The PS2 is different from most devices I use in that it has a folding door over the optical jack, whereas all the others I've seen have a removable plug. Because of the folding door, which pushes in when you put in the plug, the innards are probably a bit wider than other jacks. That's probably why it fit with the protective cap on.