About 6 years ago I belonged to the "bits is bits" camp, and thought that interconnects couldn't possible matter. One weekend I brought home a Wadia dac from my dealer to try. He loaned me a $200 piece of coax to use, which I politely accepted without laughing.
When I hooked up the dac, I used Toslink from my Sony X77 CD player out of convenience. I already had a Toslink cable plugged in and the back of the player was hard to reach.
I was unimpressed with the dac. Before I brought it back, I decided to try the expensive coax just to appease my dealer.
The difference was unbelievable. The soundstage opened up, low level detail appeared, and I couldn't stop listening!
Moral of the story: I avoid Toslink whenever possible.
When I hooked up the dac, I used Toslink from my Sony X77 CD player out of convenience. I already had a Toslink cable plugged in and the back of the player was hard to reach.
I was unimpressed with the dac. Before I brought it back, I decided to try the expensive coax just to appease my dealer.
The difference was unbelievable. The soundstage opened up, low level detail appeared, and I couldn't stop listening!
Moral of the story: I avoid Toslink whenever possible.