Good Optical Coaxial cable under $200 ????

Thanks Again to ALL for the replies . I will have to make a decision on exactly which of these i would like to try. I'll will post when i do . It could be a while though ... like, after Christmas

Digital coax is a system thing. Digital transmission is affected only by the jitter, that can be induced either by the noise or transmission line effect (signal reflects on characteristic impedance boundaries). Cable that sounds great in one system might be not so good in another (different noise, different characteristic impedance of source and load, different slew rate, etc).

Transmission line effect exists (rule of thumb) when propagation time thru the wire (one way) is greater than 1/8 of the transition time. If your source swings in typical 25ns it means 0.6m (1m = 5ns). This distance includes all internal wiring from the driver on one end plus also internal wiring on the receiver end. For safety we should assume <1ft. You won't find cable like that and therefore you should look for at least 1.5m. It is because 1.5m will bring reflection (that was started by beginning of the swing) back in 15ns (1.5m x 2 x 5ns/m) just missing middle point (12.5ns) of 25ns swing. Reflection will distort waveform but it will be above threshold point. Perhaps 2m might be even safer but I wouldn't go too far since longer cable picks up more of electrical noise.

I couldn't hear a difference between digital coax cables until I tried the Creative Cable Concepts "Green Hornet" cable. Outstanding cable. Very natural sound. New they are about $300, but they pop up used every now and then just south of $200. Highly recommended.

One more idea. I went to monoprice.com and purchased one for $25. I compared it against the KImber and WireWorld optical cables and heard zero difference. None. By the way, I have heard differences (many) with speaker cables, so don't discount this idea on the idea that I'm a "cables make no difference" guy. I'm not.

Thank for all the replies .

I used for years and liked very much the Mapleshade Clearview cables (non-Plus version) - great sound and great value.

One thing to keep in mind is the length. You should use 1.5 meter and longer, or extremely short. See this review,

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue14/spdif.htm

I have heard this cable compared to many others, some quite a bit more expensive, and it was always the best overall sound.

http://www.sjofnhifi.com/servlet/Detail?no=147

I guess i Really meant to say Digital Coaxial ... Sorry not optical coax. DUH !!..My Bad

What's an optical coax?

Sounds like an oxymoron. Do you mean something that converts an electrical signal to an optical signal, conducts it through an optical cable, and then converts it back to an electrical signal?

Regards,
-- Al

@Mt10425
Thanks for the response.It looks like that is only made in toslink. I was looking for coaxial
Do they make it in coaxial digital ?
I can't seem to find it

Have a pile of Old Wadia ones - what they worth to you :-) However I think the Wadia connection is called ATT Glass

Good Listening

Peter

VDH Optocoupler.