Toslink Cable Upgrade?

A guy at the local "Hi End" shop informed me that the only difference in Toslink cables is the connectors. The better cables have a connector that has a tighter seal. This is about light traveling from one unit to another, if the connection is not totally tight, you could literally lose information during the transmition. I have the Straightwire $50, it sounds better and the connectors snap a little more secure than a friends phoenix gold.

my 2 cents

Can somone enighten me to how optical works, or give me some web sources, because my searches are not really coming up with much. The application that I plan to use it for is recording from portable CD player to MD player. I assume that is toslink but I am not sure. I think I need a cable that is round at both ends, ie. not square on one end and round on the other. I have also been told that optical is better than a 1/8" to 1/8" connection. I know that what I am talking about isn't exactly hi-end, but any input would be greatly appreciated.

Upgraded to a Transparent Toslink, hum, if the wind blows correctly and the moons are aligned, maybe... a tad better

Matt

Massvm; Maybe the worms are loose? I'm certainly no expert in these technologies, and my observations were based on listening tests rather than on engineering considerations, and I'm comfortable with that. But I do think there are average copper wires and excellent copper wires (ie, ICs and speaker cables).

Aren't there both glass and plastic fibre-optic cables? If so, that could be an important difference, and I think the connectors may be important as well. Electrons may all be alike, but behave differently in different type/quality materials? Yes? Same with photons? The Kimber Toslink cable has more positive connectors. Cheers. Craig

I have tried three different Toslink cables; Kimber. Monster Lightspeed 100 and Optichord (UK). I purchased the Optichord after reading a review in What Hi-Fi magazine. IMHO the Optichord is the clear winner. The music is smooth, full and clear. Some newer reviews have preferred the Van den Hul Toslink over the Optichord. I have found digital cables and connectors to make a big difference in sound. Reducing jitter improves depth, ambience, bass ...

There was a thread back a couple of months ago, and one individual claimed that the issue with Toslink was not the cable, but the sending and receiving boards/electronics used by the audio component manufacturers; I believe dealing with wildly varying quality of components used in construction of same. (For the record, I own/used Monster Toslink, compared them to digital coax, and I prefer electrons over photons with my equipment.) Garfish's comments are noted, but don't you think that fiber optic cable is fiber optic cable, and photons are photons? Maybe I opened a can of worms by saying that.

I found the Kimber toslink ($50.) to be an improvement over an inexpensive Rat Shack toslink, but I've had no experience with the Monster. Craig

Ditto Sdcampbell. My experience is the same. Sony DSS to Lexicon MC1. The sound is better with the Monster Toslink . I have not tried one of the truly expensive ones though.

I tried several of the more expensive TOSLINK cables in comparison to the Monster. Frankly, I couldn't hear any differences -- if they're were any, it was so subtle they weren't audible to me. The Monster TOSLINK has gotten good reviews by several writers, who said it was as good as more expensive models. My own experience seems to substantiate that.