Optical digital cables?


I'm moving my KEF LS50 Wireless into another room and will have a turntable connected via analog so I'm going to need an optical cable for my Node 2. The two I'm looking at are:
-BlueJeans w/Mitsubishi ESKA fiber
-Lifatek Toslink

I need about 20"-24". I've had very good success with BJ cables before but is the Lifatec worth the $60ish premium for my application?

Thanks for any input.
asahitoro

Showing 2 responses by auxinput

The Blue Jeans toslink, which is Mitsubishi ESKA, is just like all the other low cost mono-filament toslink cables.  It's basically a single plastic element that transfers the light.  These plastic mono-filament will sound dull and low-resolution compared to the better glass fiber cables.

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The Lifatec is the best bundled glass fiber cable for the money.  If you're on a budget, buy the Lifatec.  It performs much better than Blue Jean or the other mono-filament. 

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Other alternatives are the Wire World Supernova 7.  Or, if you want to get really expensive, the Audioquest Diamond.  They are all just bundled glass/silica fibers, so I don't expect much difference between them.  Lifatec will cut and terminate each cable to your order (you can order custom lengths).  Wire World is a manufactured cable that comes in set lengths.

No, there isn't any real difference between 2 feet and 3 feet for optical cable.  The disadvantages for short cable length come into play when we are dealing with digital COAX or USB/HDMI type cables, where the minimum length should always be 5-6 feet.